RELIGIOUS WORLD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19821, 24 December 1938, Page 13

RELIGIOUS WORLD

This column will be conducted weekly by the Gißborne Miuisteri' The matter doee not .rutmifi to be urlgliial lining culled fim many sources. Lilt tt IB hoped through it to give jomothius ot ''!i OhnetiM viewpoint

THE IDYLL OF BETHLEHEM

WAY TO TRUTH AND UNITY

Between the outer circumstance:; and tiie inner spirit ol ai. event i is often a quickening, conau-i.. so that a prophet is born in u t and lives in a nation's hear, ior ev-j., and lliere are two scenes Oi tne Nativity. One is what appeared to the •vicness who happened rest that nigiH at an Inn u; wnen .V&S enacted the chiei incident of human history. What he saw wa.. -a roadside inn of the East, the lowe; ;yace filled wUh beasts ,a mass < .evil-smelling life. Into this stab; these beasts of burden the Yirgh. brought forth her child and laid Hi in the straw. No outcast of the highways or the streets came . into this world more humbly than cur LordThe disciples of Jesus prefer, however, to see the inner glory of the Nativity rather than its outer circum. lance? Had Jesus been born in a .. ii;H.-e or n rich m m's house, had He received instant attention and ' o-np.ge it would not have been in keeping with Himself, for He was t show unto all ages that the greatest force in life is not position nor wealth, but character, and that haracter is independent oi' all ;■■••- ■umstancos. so that goodness, cradled and reared in poverty, without advantages and without favour, p°r e '' l ed and slain is yet the m:st beautiful and triumphant power on earth. Loyalty of the Faithful nefore this imam so innospitab±> received by the worid lay tne ot Herod, the narrow lot of wazareui, the homeless mission of Galilee ano the shame of the Cross. But tnL would be only Jhe appearance oj things not the "heart. Around Him w'ouid gather the loyally ot faithful disciples—the love of women, the praises of little children, the gratitude of the poor. On Him would rest the Spirit of God and the love of His Heavenly Father.

This iascmatuig quiCKemna contrast between tne weakness and spiritual mignt ot JeaUa Aativity aiso has Deen a prupnecy o. the continual contradiction between the power and the appearance 01 Hia religion. it meets the disciple at the beginning with the condition ox repentance; it demands tne renunciation ol self, it enjoys tne surrendei of his goods as tne master may command; it offers Him a reward none can see or handle; it assures him u. surierings and humiliations. lu weapon cf aggression is preacning—and of defence is humility; its champions are martyrs and its viccories holiness. Its crest and coat of arms are the Cross, and its symbolic rite the remembrance of the Master's crucifixion. rower of the Faith

Yet this faith has laughed to scon, the sword and the stake, has broken to pieces strong tyrannies and the kingdom of unrighteousness; has raised its throne on the ruins ol ancient theologies and plilosophies; has changed persecutors into missionaries; has made free men out of slaves, and saints out cf profligates and nations out of savages; has created peace and civilisation; has given the revelation of God and the sure vision of tlu life to come. What weakness! IVhat omnipotence! And the sign thereof is the Babe wrapt in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger. When the disciples of the Master are dazzled by false lights cr are intoxicated with success it is wholesome to take their way back to tr.t obscure and lonely spring and understand the single secret of Christian strength. For if one supposes that it consists of the things that fill the eyv and are matter of boasting, then he has missed the inwardness cf the Nativity. Christianity is strong and fruitful' in proportion to the number of men and women who are like Jesus; who are pure, and gentle, and patient and faithful; who are bravely carrying their cross and serving their fellowmen and making life sweeter and striving for the best things.

Reinforcement of Love

The Nativity remains the appreciation and reinforcement of lcve, the chief and most beneficial of all passions seem to sway life and direct its issues; there are moments when it seems that ambition, greed, hatred and envy were omnipotent when stout hearts are ready to fail for if these be lords of life; the end mu>t be death.

Now is it that one had better v

Bethlehem and learn of a truth trn' beneath all the spume upon the surface of life, the deepest current, wine* is ever running clear, is love—the 'nve of man for woman, of mother for child, of friend for friend, of for us all, which lcve has declared and enshrined at Bethlehem. Withcnv' love the king's palace is a prison; with 'ove a stable is the vestibule o f heaven. Without the light of love. is a hopeless mystery, with i* liXn '" an open secret; for as the ages pass. we are coming to see that the wr to all truth and the urv*v a*t »•*'*•' .science and philosophy f ' , - t " seek is to be 'found in the Nativity of Jesus.—Dr. John Watson.