The Sabbath Hour

Northern Advocate, 24 December 1938, Page 13

The Sabbath Hour

(Notes of sermon by Rev, j R. C. Lamb, 8.A.) i IN the Gospel according to St, Luke, we read: “There were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field and keeping watch by night over the flock. And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” In. this passage of scripture, tjre shepherds have little to say. It is to the messenger of God that the speaking falls. “Angel” comes from the Greek word, “aggelos,” and means a messenger. It. is the messenger of God who speaks. The shepherds are lost fa wonderment and sore afraid. As they hearken to the words of the angel, open hearts arc made expectant of great things. Now while we cannot recapture the feeling of astonishment and fear which possessed the hearts of the shepherds,

Glad Tidings of Great Joy

and are unable to enter into their experience of wonder at the heavenly visitant, yet are we able, by faith, to hear again the good tidings of great Joy which were brought to them, and Christmas might well bring with it renewal of faith. What are these good tidings of great joy? They are the tidings of God’s presence with His people: that He is with them in their joys: that He marks their careful anxiety; that He wants to bestow upon all men. His peace and power. Most of us are possessed of a very limited range of thoughts with which tr occupy our minds. The concerns of our daily life arc confined to a humble routine; so that when we hear tell of heavenly visitants, of messengers of God or of angels, as set forth in this passage of scripture, we feel at once that such things lie outside 1 the province of our ordinary work-a-day world, that they are foreign to

our way of thinking and surpass our fondest imagination. And yet when we take up and read the simple narration of these events in scripture and of all that surrounded the birth of the Lord Jesus, we are made to feel that these things have become a part of our life. The song of Mary is rejoicing when she said: “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour” —this song of the Blessed Virgin has been sung through all generations of the Christian era. Likewise, the words of Simeon’s rejoicing, as he took the child Jesus into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: accordng to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” —this song of Simeon’s rejoicing has become an integral part of the evening service of the Anglican church. The heart of Mary was made glad, and Simeon, too, was possessed of a blessed peace. But the rejoicings which heralded the birth of the Lord Jesus were not confined to those two people. The lowly shepherds, likewise, must have been possessed in their hearts of a singular joy. Just what words passed between them or just what exclamations of wonder escaped, then- lips, we are not told. It is briefly recounted of thorn that they wore sore afraid and that when the angels wore gone away from them the shepherds said to one another: ,- Lot us now go even into Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” Had there been preserved in scripture some more copious reference to

the words of the shepherds, had. there been handed down from those distant times some fragmentary notice of the expressions of faith to which these gave utterance, then would their words have found a place with those of Mary and of Simeon in the Churchh liturgy. As it is, the meagre statement of scripture—the few words attributed to these men—have become the theme of a great hymn. We might call it the song of the shepherds, but it is the song of th faithful in all generations. “O come all ye faithful. Joyful and triumphant . . . Lo! in a manger lies the King of Angels. O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.” v As the coming of Christ Jesus into this world was heralded with a burst of song, so the yearly remembrance of His birth is accompanied with hymns of adoration and praise. For a Christmas carol ff we rightly define it. is a hymn of adoration and praise, and can mean nothing at all if it does not imply a bowing of heart and, mind before God. who has sent His son to give light in darkness, peace in disquiet—the garment of peace for the spirit of heaviness.” Thus it is. that of all the sweet and enobling influences of life—of ail (lie occasions that contribute to its sum of simple pleasures and innocent enjoyment. there are few more warm and treasured than the season of Christmas cheer. For then is the heart of man bowed — and made glad at the remembrance of God's mercy.