The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-06
Sunday Sermon
CHRIST'S BIRTH
STORY TYPICAL
OF LIFE TODAY
Each Newborn Child
Brings Hope for Future
of Greatness.
Text: Matt. 2:1-12
BY VIM. E. GILROY, ID. d.
Editor of The CongregatiOnalist

The thought Of the whole world
during the recent Christmas sea-
son was turned toward the story Of
our lesson-the story Of the most
wonderful birth.
We always should remember that
the division of our Bible into chap
ters and verses is the work OF a
later age and was not in the orig
inal manuscript. There is, there
fore. no break between chapter one
and chapter two, but the story in
our lesson of the coming of the
wise men to visit Jesus is an in
cident in the whole record Of his
birth and infancy.
Who were the wise men, and
where did they come from? There
has bee ma great deal of specula-
ton about that, but the question
can not be answered with any GER
tainty.
II was an age in which much i'm
portance was attached to the stars,
and in which the precursors of later
Seers and scientists, who observed
the stars, were men with a deep
response to the wonder and mystery
Of the universe in which they lived.
These wise men may have come
long distances, for even in an era
when transportation and travel
were slow and tedious, mans in
Stinct for adventure and gain had
established far distant routes of
trade.
There is a tradition, without any
clear proof. that the wise men
came from the far east, possibly
from India. The incident as it
stands in the new testament serves
to emphasize the universally of the
Christ who was born, even as his
teaching and the salvation that he
brought have applied to all men
without distinction and to peoples
Of every land and cline.
There is something suggestive in
the journey of these Wise Men to
see a newborn babe, and in their
reverential attitude. Their coming
and their worship were a mani
festation of faith; but even be-
meath this faith was a deep and
splendid humility.
1t means much when we can see
in a newborn babe a possible saint
or prophet of kings of the future.
Considering all the men of great
ness and goodness who have risen
from poor and humble surround
ings, we well might assume an atti-
tude of reverence and humility to-
ward every child.
There can be no great home life,
no SOundness of national life. and
no hope for the world where there
is not the supreme value placed
upon the child. The story of our
lesson represents a high plane Of
human life and interest.
AS in so many passages and in
cidents OF Scripture, we have, also.
the strong contrast between the at
titude of the Wise Men and that Of
Herod. How typical Of human life
even in our own day is that con-
traSt!
One the one hand we see today, as
we have seen in past ages, the love
| and goodness hat reverence the
child, the forces of education and
nuture that work to beautiful and
ennoble child life; while on the
other hand there are the Herod- like
forces Of distraction, the forces that
for the sake of gain will keep chill
dren in the slums and novels un-
nourished and for the most part
uncared for.
A lesson concerning the child
Christ means little to us unless we
can see it in the terms of this con-
trast, and unless it moves us to pu6
all our emphasis and interest upon
the things that make for the we'll
being and proper development of
the child.
The Christ. who was born in
Bethlehem later, was to take the
children in his arms and bless them.
1t is only as we live in the same
spirit and practice that we truly
rejoice in his birth.