Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-12-21
THE BIRTH OF JESUS.
Luke 2:S-20.
Fl Golden text-There is born to
you this day in the City of David
a Savior, which is Christ the
Lord.

nave pSSil OlHcE SiCdl OsShkSs AAAh0
doms have risen and fallen. Nations
have been born. Battles have been
won. Great discoveries have been
made. But who would suggest that
the turning point in all history should
be any other event than the advent
Of David? No wonder then that every
year the world turns from its course
and pauses to pay tribute to Him who
came in the fullness of time to reveal
the Father.
Who was this Jesus? In the short
! space of thirty-three years he lived
such life among men that ever since
He has been the great example. He
was carpenter who knew what it
was to earn His bread by the sweat
of His brow. 1t is not strange. then.
that the Workman of Nazareth stands
high in the esteem of the working
, class. However the masses may feel
toward the church as an institution,
they bow in holy reverence before this
| first Representative of the People"
as Jesus was styled by the French
communists. But He was more than
carpenter. He was head and shoulders
above His race and time. There can be
but one explanation for the place He
| holds in history; that is. that He was
| all He claimed to be. the Divine Son
| of God. No other explanation will
! suffice.
1t is peculiarly fitting that at this
! Christmas time we should pay homage
| to the Prince of Peace. 1t was more
than a coincidence that this child of
Mary and Joseph was born in period
of almost universal peace. The Tenn
| pie of Janus was closed. 1t had been
closed only three times in seven hun
bred years. Yet this Prince of Peace
was no servile pacifist. He took the
sccurge in His hand to drive the
money changers from the Temple. He
never sacrificed principle to expedi-
ency. This Savior came with teachings
that startled the world.
| For those teachings the world has
been at war. In a recent address
a noted southern educator has point
; ed out that the great war can
be traced back to the saying of
| words. Fear We not, therefore; ye
are of more value than many spar
| rows" This was indeed a declaration
of the value of the common man.
Previous history was devoted to the
lives of kings and princes. Here is the
germ of modern democracy. Glance
at the writings of the ancient chron-
! iclers. Their interest lay only in po-
tentates and conquerors. History was
not concerned with the degrading
| cient civilization was thus given a
! glittering hue. Modern historians
have peered behind the imposing
:. facade and seen the slaves working
the silver mines of the Athenians, in
! the brick fields of Rome. in every
| which Jesus was born. 1t was truly
upon the submerged masses that rest
ed the boast of heraldry and the pomp
! of power portrayed in the writings of
the ancients. 1t was this Christ the
Lord who planted the seed of social
| revolution that has been working
! through the centuries. Every step in
J the growth of democracy, Including
! the Magma Charta of England, the
French revolution, the birth of our
the last few fateful months. can be
directly traced to the teachings of
this low1y NaZarene. He was the
worlds first democrat.
| But there is another sphere, besides
| those of economics and politics, upon
which the birth of the Christ-child
! had a permanent effect. That is the
spiritual world. For centuries be-
fore His birth the wisest and best
men of every race had been looking
this been true of the Hebrews. From
the earliest days they had been look
ing for the coming of one who would
assist them to realize true fellowship
with Jehovah. But they had had GER
tain preconceived notions concerning
this Messiah who would deliver them
from their enemies. who would as
sumo lordship over all the peoples OF
the earth and who would usher In the
golden age of prosperity.
! They had been expecting the ad-
vent of one who would be wiser than
solomon. The world was to be saved
from sin by wisdom. THIS idea has
been found to be worthless. This age
in surprise and in sorrow suddenly
iawoke to discover that intelligence
and so-called culture by themselves
had developed a race of brutes and
tends. The worlds sin and suffering
can never pe overcome by mere
Knowledge.
Similarly the Jews had long looked
for a warrior ruler who would lead
them on to world wide victories over
their enemies. Their dreams of world
domination have only been equaleo
by the master minds that. believing
in force have tried to found empires
by the sword For centuries. 1orce ma
been worshiped by rthe world. HIS
, tory has been largely the story OIL
nation after nation, rising by power
attempting to redeem the world only
to plunge it into even more dismal
despair But the truth was never sc
ton; the fallacy of the right of might
has been heralded to the four cor
ners of the globe by the conquerine
forces of the democratic nations OF
the world. The world then cannot be
saved by force.
Messiah. The old prophets had sung
of a time of national and persona
prosperity. Under the rule of thi:
descendant of the Davidic line each
Israelite was to sit under his owl
vine and fig tree. The restoration OF
wealth was to symbolic a restora
ton of divine friendship. Even today
there are those who would tell u:
that the elimination of poverty is the
final end of human endeavor: tha
wants would come an end to sin. The
record of the past is against Sucl
= teaching. For where wealth has &C
cumulated men have deSayed. Witt
wealth of goods has generally gon'
impoverishment of soul and spirit. IL
other words. gold does not produce
goodness and silver does not eradicat'
sin. The world cannot be saved b,
wealth.
The sign by which the shepherd!
were to know the Savior was that the!
should find a babe. pure and limo
cent. holy from the hand Of God
guarded and shielded by mother!
love and care. Sin cannot exist where
there is pure love. This is the gift o.
Jesus to the world, the cure for sin
And in the twenty centuries from
then to now. no man or woman ha:
accepted His teachings, followed Hi!
will. allowed His holy presence K
dwell in the soul, without find
ing the power to conquer sin
Likewise. you will not flint
among the men and women wht
have come to know the Christ sin
gle instance of one who has doubted
that this same Christ the Lord Woul(