IV–A PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS<\/p>\n
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT.<\/p>\n
Rejoice in the Lord always.–PHILIPPIANS iv. 4.<\/p>\n
This is the beginning of the Epistle for to-day, the Sunday before
\nChristmas. We will try to find out why it was chosen for to-day, and
\nwhat lesson we may learn from it.<\/p>\n
Now Christmas-time was always a time of rejoicing among many heathen
\nnations, and long before the Lord Jesus Christ came. That was
\nnatural and reasonable enough, if you will consider it. For now the
\nshortest day is past. The sun is just beginning to climb higher and
\nhigher in the sky each day, and bring back with him longer sunshine,
\nand shorter darkness, and spring flowers, and summer crops, and a
\nwhole new year, with new hopes, new work, new lessons, new blessings.
\nThe old year, with all its labours and all its pleasures, and all its
\nsorrows and all its sins, is dying, all but gone. It lies behind us,
\nnever to return. The tears which we shed, we never can shed again.
\nThe mistakes we made, we have a chance of mending in the year to
\ncome. And so the heathens felt, and rejoiced that another year was
\ndying, another year going to be born.<\/p>\n
And Christmas was a time of rejoicing too, because the farming work
\nwas done. The last year’s crop was housed; the next year’s wheat was
\nsown; the cattle were safe in yard and stall; and men had time to
\nrest, and draw round the fire in the long winter nights, and make
\nmerry over the earnings of the past year, and the hopes and plans of
\nthe year to come. And so over all this northern half of the world
\nChristmas was a merry time.<\/p>\n
But the poor heathens did not know the Lord. They did not know who
\nto thank for all their Christmas blessings. And so some used to
\nthank the earth for the crops, and the sun for coming back again to
\nlengthen the days, as if the earth and sun moved of themselves. And
\nsome used to thank false gods and ancient heroes, who, perhaps, never
\nreally lived at all. And some, perhaps the greater number, thanked
\nnothing and no one, but just enjoyed themselves, and took no thought,
\nas too many do now at Christmas-time. So the world went on,
\nChristmas after Christmas; and the times of that ignorance, as St.
\nPaul says, God winked at. But when the fulness of time was come, He
\nsent forth His Son, made of a woman, to be the judge and ruler of the
\nworld; and commanded all men everywhere to repent, and turn from all
\ntheir vanities to serve the living God, who had made heaven and
\nearth, and all things in them.<\/p>\n
He did not wish them to give up their Christmas mirth. No: all
\nalong He had been trying to teach them by it about His love to them.
\nAs St. Paul told them once, God had not left Himself without witness,
\nin that He gave them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts
\nwith joy and gladness.<\/p>\n
God did not wish them, or us, to give up Christmas mirth. The
\napostles did not wish it. The great men, true followers of the
\napostles, who shaped our Prayer-book for us, and sealed it with their
\nlife-blood, did not wish it. They did not wish farmers, labourers,
\nservants, masters, to give up one of the old Christmas customs; but
\nto remember who made Christmas, and its blessings; in short, to
\nrejoice in The Lord. Our forefathers had been thanking the wrong
\npersons for Christmas. Henceforward we were to thank the right
\nperson, The Lord, and rejoice in Him. Our forefathers had been
\nrejoicing in the sun, and moon, and earth; in wise and valiant kings
\nwho had lived ages before; in their own strength, and industry, and
\ncunning. Now they were to rejoice in Him who made sun, and moon, and
\nearth; in Him who sent wise and valiant kings and leaders; in Him who
\ngives all strength, and industry, and cunning; by whose inspiration
\ncomes all knowledge of agriculture, and manufacture, and all the arts
\nwhich raise men above the beasts that perish. So their Christmas
\njoys were to go on, year by year while the world lasted: but they
\nwere to go on rightly, and not wrongly. Men were to rejoice in The
\nLord, and then His blessing would be on them, and the thanks and
\npraise which they offered Him, He would return with interest, in
\nfresh blessings for the coming year.<\/p>\n
Therefore, I think, this Epistle was chosen for to-day, the Sunday
\nbefore Christmas, to show us in whom we are to rejoice; and,
\ntherefore, to show us how we are to rejoice. For we must not take
\nthe first verse of the Epistle and forget the rest. That would
\nneither be wise nor reverent toward St. Paul, who wrote the whole,
\nand meant the whole to stand together as one discourse; or to the
\nblessed and holy men who chose it for our lesson on this day. Let us
\ngo on, then, with the Epistle, line by line, throughout.<\/p>\n
“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.” As much as
\nto say, you cannot rejoice too much, you cannot overdo your
\nhappiness, thankfulness, merriment. You do not know half–no, not
\nthe thousandth part of God’s love and mercy to you, and you never
\nwill know. So do not be afraid of being too happy, or think that you
\nhonour God by wearing a sour face, when He is heaping blessings on
\nyou, and calling on you to smile and sing. But “let your moderation
\nbe known unto all men.” There is a right and a wrong way of being
\nmerry. There is a mirth, which is no mirth; whereof it is written,
\nin the midst of that laughter there is a heaviness, and the end
\nthereof is death. Drunkenness, gluttony, indecent words and jests
\nand actions, these are out of place on Christmas-day, and in the
\nmerriment to which the pure and holy Lord Jesus calls you all. They
\nare rejoicing in the flesh and the devil, and not in the Lord at all;
\nand whosoever indulges in them, and fancies them merriment, is
\nkeeping the devil’s Christmas, and not Jesus Christ’s. So let your
\nmoderation be known to all men. Be MERRY AND WISE. The fool lets
\nhis mirth master him, and carry him away, till he forgets himself,
\nand says and does things of which he is ashamed when he gets up next
\nmorning, sick and sad at heart. The wise man remembers that, let the
\noccasion be as joyful a one as it may, “the Lord is at hand.”
\nChrist’s eye is on him, while he is eating, and drinking, and
\nlaughing. He is not afraid of Christ’s eye, because, though it is
\nDivine it is a human, loving, smiling eye; rejoicing in the happiness
\nof His poor, hard-worked brothers here below. But he remembers that
\nit is a holy eye, too; an eye which looks with sadness and horror on
\nanything which is wrong; on all drunkenness, quarrelling, indecency;
\nand so on in all his merriment, he is still master of himself. He
\nremembers that his soul is nobler than his body; that his will must
\nbe stronger than his appetite; and so he keeps himself in check; he
\nkeeps his tongue from evil, and his stomach from sottishness, and
\nthough he may be, and ought to be, the merriest of the whole party,
\nyet he takes care to let his moderation, his sobriety, be known and
\nplain to everyone, remembering that the Lord is at hand.<\/p>\n
And that man–I will stand surety for him–will be the one who will
\nrise from his bed next morning, best able to carry out the next verse
\nof the Epistle, and “be careful for nothing.”<\/p>\n
Now that is no easy matter here in England; to rich and poor,
\nChristmas is the time for settling accounts and paying debts. And
\ntherefore in England, where living is dear, and everyone, more or
\nless, struggling to pay his way, Christmas is often a very anxious,
\ndisturbing time of year. Many a family, for all their economy,
\ncannot clear themselves at the year’s end; and though they are able
\nto forget that now and then, thank God, through great part of the
\nyear, yet they cannot forget it at Christmas. But, as I said, the
\nman who at Christmas-time will be most able to be careful for
\nnothing, will be the man whose moderation has been known to everyone;
\nfor he will, if he has lived the year through in the same temper in
\nwhich he has spent Christmas, have been moderate in his expenses; he
\nwill have kept himself from empty show, and pretending to be richer
\nthan he is. He will have kept himself from throwing away his money
\nin drink, and kept his daughters from throwing away money in dress,
\nwhich is just what too many, in their foolish, godless, indecent
\nhurry to get rid of their own children off their hands do not do.<\/p>\n
And he will be the man who will be in the best humour, and have the
\nclearest brain, to kneel down when he gets up to his daily work, and
\n“in everything, by prayer and supplication, make his requests known
\nto God.” And then, whether he can make both ends meet or not,
\nwhether he can begin next year free from debt or not, still “the
\npeace of God will keep his heart.” He may be unable to clear
\nhimself, but still he will know that he has a loving and merciful
\nFather in heaven, who has allowed distress and difficulty to come on
\nhim only as a lesson and an education. That this distress came
\nbecause God chose, and that when God chooses it will go away–and
\nthat till then–considering that the Lord God sent it–it had better
\nNOT go away. He will believe that God’s gracious promises stand
\ntrue–that the Lord will never let those who trust in Him be
\nconfounded and brought to shame–that He will let none of us be
\ntempted beyond what we are able, but will always with the temptation
\nmake a way for us to escape, that we may be able to bear it. And so
\nthe peace of God which passes understanding, will keep that man’s
\nmind. And in whom? “In Jesus Christ.” Now what did St. Paul mean
\nby putting in the Lord Jesus Christ’s name there? what is the meaning
\nof “in Jesus Christ- This is what it means; it means what
\nChristmas-day means. A man may say, “Your sermon promises fine
\nthings, but I am miserable and poor; it promises a holy and noble
\nrejoicing to everyone, but I am unholy and mean. It promises peace
\nfrom God, and I am sure I am not at peace: I am always fretting and
\nquarrelling; I quarrel with my wife, my children, and my neighbours,
\nand they quarrel with me; and worst of all,” says the poor man, “I
\nquarrel with myself. I am full of discontented, angry, sulky,
\nanxious, unhappy thoughts; my heart is dark and sad and restless
\nwithin me–would God I were peaceful, but I am not: look in my face
\nand see!”<\/p>\n
True, my friend, but on Christmas-day the Son of God was born into
\nthe world, a man like you.<\/p>\n
“Well,” says the poor man, “but what has that to do with my anxiety
\nand my ill-temper?”<\/p>\n
It would take the whole year through, my friend, to show you all that
\nit has to do with you and your unhappiness. All the Lessons,
\nEpistles, and Gospels of the year are set out to show you what it has
\nto do with you. But in the meanwhile, before Christmas-day comes,
\nconsider this one thing: Why are you anxious? Because you do not
\nknow what is to happen to you? Then Christmas-day is a witness to
\nyou, that whatsoever happens to you, happens to you by the will and
\nrule of Jesus Christ, The perfect man; think of that. THE PERFECT
\nMAN–who understands men’s hearts and wants, and all that is good for
\nthem, and has all the wisdom and power to give us what is good, which
\nwe want ourselves. And what makes you unhappy, my friends? Is it
\nnot at heart just this one thing–you are unhappy because you are not
\npleased with yourselves? And you are not pleased with yourselves
\nbecause you know you ought not to be pleased with yourselves; and you
\nknow you ought not to be pleased with yourselves, because you know,
\nin the bottom of your hearts, that God is not pleased with you? What
\ncure, what comfort for such thoughts can we find?–This.<\/p>\n
The child who was born in a manger on Christmas-day, and grew up in
\npoverty, and had not where to lay his head, went through all shame
\nand sorrow to which man is heir. He, Jesus, the poor child of
\nBethlehem, is Lord and King of heaven and earth. He will feel for
\nus; He will understand our temptations; He has been poor himself,
\nthat He might feel for the poor; He has been evil spoken of, that He
\nmight feel for those whose tempers are sorely tried. He bore the
\nsins and felt the miseries of the whole world, that He might feel for
\nus when we are wearied with the burden of life, and confounded by the
\nremembrance of our own sins.<\/p>\n
Oh, my friends, consider only Who was born into the world on
\nChristmas-day; and that thought alone will be enough to fill you with
\nrejoicing and hope for yourselves and all the world, and with the
\npeace of God which passes understanding, the peace which the angels
\nproclaimed to the shepherds on the first Christmas night–“On earth
\npeace, and good will toward men”–and if God wills us good, my
\nfriend; what matter who wishes us evil?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IV–A PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. Rejoice in the Lord always.–PHILIPPIANS iv. 4. This is the beginning of the Epistle for to-day, the Sunday before Christmas. We will try to find out why it was chosen for to-day, and what lesson we may learn from it. Now Christmas-time was always a time of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}