V–CHRISTMAS-DAY<\/p>\n
He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a
\nslave.–PHILIPPIANS ii. 7.<\/p>\n
On Christmas-day, 1851 years ago, if we had been at Rome, the great
\ncapital city, and mistress of the whole world, we should have seen a
\nstrange sight–strange, and yet pleasant. All the courts of law were
\nshut; no war was allowed to be proclaimed, and no criminals punished.
\nThe sorrow and the strife of that great city had stopped, in great
\npart, for three days, and all people were giving themselves up to
\nmerriment and good cheer–making up quarrels, and giving and
\nreceiving presents from house to house. And we should have seen,
\ntoo, a pleasanter sight than that. For those three days of
\nChristmas-time were days of safety and merriment for the poor slaves–
\ntens of thousands of whom–men, women, and children–the Romans had
\nbrought out of all the countries in the world–many of our
\nforefathers and mothers among them–and kept them there in cruel
\nbondage and shame, worked and fed, bought and sold, like beasts, and
\nnot like human beings, not able to call their lives or their bodies
\ntheir own, forced to endure any shame or sin which their tyrants
\nrequired of them, and liable any moment to be beaten, tortured, or
\ncrucified at the mercy of cruel and foul masters and mistresses. But
\non that Christmas-day, according to an old custom, they were allowed
\nfor once in the whole year to play at being free, to dress in their
\nmasters’ and mistresses’ clothes, to say what they thought of them
\nboldly, without fear of punishment, and to eat and drink at their
\nmasters’ tables, while their masters and mistresses waited on them.
\nIt was an old custom, that, among the heathen Romans, which their
\nforefathers, who were wiser and better than they, had handed down to
\nthem. They had forgotten, perhaps, what it meant: but still we may
\nsee what it must have meant: That the old forefathers of the Romans
\nhad intended to remind their children every year by that custom, that
\ntheir poor hard-worked slaves were, after all, men and women as much
\nas their masters; that they had hearts and consciences, and sense in
\nthem, and a right to speak what they thought, as much as their
\nmasters; that they, as much as their masters, could enjoy the good
\nthings of God’s earth, from which man’s tyranny had shut them out;
\nand to remind those cruel masters, by making them once every year
\nwait on their own slaves at table, that they were, after all, equal
\nin the sight of God, and that it was more noble for those who were
\nrich, and called themselves gentlemen, to help others, than to make
\nothers slave for them.<\/p>\n
I do not mean, of course, that those old heathens understood all this
\nclearly. You will see, by the latter part of my sermon, why they
\ncould not understand it clearly. But there must have been some sort
\nof dim, confused suspicion in their minds that it was wrong and cruel
\nto treat human beings like brute beasts, which made them set up that
\nstrange old custom of letting their slaves play at being free once
\nevery Christmas-tide.<\/p>\n
But if on this same day, 1851 years ago, instead of being in the
\ngreat city of Rome, we had been in the little village of Bethlehem in
\nJudaea, we might have seen a sight stranger still; a sight which we
\ncould not have fancied had anything to do with that merrymaking of
\nthe slaves at Rome, and yet which had everything to do with it.<\/p>\n
We should have seen, in a mean stable, among the oxen and the asses,
\na poor maiden, with her newborn baby laid in the manger, for want of
\nany better cradle, and by her her husband, a poor carpenter, whom all
\nmen thought to be the father of her child. . . . There, in the
\nstable, amid the straw, through the cold winter days and nights, in
\nwant of many a comfort which the poorest woman, and the poorest
\nwoman’s child would need, they stayed there, that young maiden and
\nher newborn babe. That young maiden was the Blessed Virgin Mary, and
\nthat poor baby was the Son of God. The Son of God, in whose likeness
\nall men were made at the beginning; the Son of God, who had been
\nruling the whole world all along; who brought the Jews out of
\nslavery, a thousand years before, and destroyed their cruel tyrants
\nin the Red Sea; the Son of God, who had been all along punishing
\ncruel tyrants and oppressors, and helping the poor out of misery,
\nwhenever they called on Him. The Light which lightens every man who
\ncomes into the world, was that poor babe. It was He who gives men
\nreason, and conscience, and a tender heart, and delight in what is
\ngood, and shame and uneasiness of mind when they do wrong. It was He
\nwho had been stirring up, year by year, in those cruel Romans’
\nhearts, the feeling that there was something wrong in grinding down
\ntheir slaves, and put into their minds the notion of giving them
\ntheir Christmas rest and freedom. He had been keeping up that good
\nold custom for a witness and a warning that all men were equal in His
\nsight; that all men had a right to liberty of speech and conscience;
\na right to some fair share in the good things of the earth, which God
\nhad given to all men freely to enjoy. But those old Romans would not
\ntake the warning. They kept up the custom, but they shut their eyes
\nto the lesson of it. They went on conquering and oppressing all the
\nnations of the earth, and making them their slaves. And now He was
\ncome–He Himself, the true Lord of the earth, the true pattern of
\nmen. He was come to show men to whom this world belonged: He was
\ncome to show men in what true power, true nobleness consisted–not in
\nmaking others minister to us, but in ministering to them: He was
\ncome to set a pattern of what a man should be; He was the Son of Man–
\nTHE MAN of all men–and therefore He had come with good news to all
\npoor slaves, and neglected, hard-worked creatures: He had come to
\ntell them that He cared for them; that He could and would deliver
\nthem; that they were God’s children, and His brothers, just as much
\nas their Roman masters; and that He was going to bring a terrible
\ntime upon the earth–“days of the Son of Man,” when He would judge
\nall men, and show who were true men and who were not–such a time as
\nhad never been before, or would be again; when that great Roman
\nempire, in spite of all its armies, and its cunning, and its riches,
\nplundered from every nation under heaven, would crumble away and
\nperish shamefully and miserably off the face of the earth, before
\ntribes of poor, untaught, savage men, the brothers and countrymen of
\nthose very slaves whom the Romans fancied were so much below them,
\nthat they had a right to treat them like the beasts which perish.<\/p>\n
That was the message which that little child lying in the manger
\nthere at Bethlehem, had been sent out from God to preach. Do you not
\nsee now what it had to do with that strange merrymaking of the poor
\nslaves in Rome, which I showed you at the beginning of my sermon?<\/p>\n
If you do not, I must remind you of the song, which, St. Luke says,
\nthe shepherds in Judaea heard the angels sing, on this night 1851
\nyears ago. That song tells us the meaning of that babe’s coming.
\nThat song tells us what that babe’s coming had to do with the poor
\nslaves of Rome, and with all poor creatures who have suffered and
\nsorrowed on this earth, before or since.<\/p>\n
“Glory to God in the highest,” they sang, “and on earth peace, good
\nwill to men.”<\/p>\n
Glory to God in the highest. That little babe, lying in the manger
\namong the cattle, was showing what was the very highest glory of the
\ngreat God who had made heaven and earth. Not to show His power and
\nHis majesty, but to show His condescension and His love. To stoop,
\nto condescend, to have mercy, to forgive, that is the highest glory
\nof God. That is the noblest, the most Godlike thing for God or man.
\nAnd God showed that when He sent down His only-begotten Son–not to
\nstrike the world to atoms with a touch, not to hurl sinners into
\neverlasting flame, but to be born of a village maiden, to take on
\nHimself all the shame and weakness and sorrow, to which man is heir,
\neven to death itself; to make Himself of no reputation, and take on
\nHimself the form of a slave, and forgive sinners, and heal the sick,
\nand comfort the outcast and despised, that He might show what God was
\nlike–show forth to men, as a poor maiden’s son, the brightness of
\nGod’s glory, and the express likeness of His person.<\/p>\n
“And on earth peace” they sang. Men had been quarrelling and
\nfighting then, and men are quarrelling and fighting now. That little
\nbabe in the manger was come to show them how and why they were all to
\nbe at peace with each other. For what causes all the war and
\nquarrelling in the world, but selfishness? Selfishness breeds pride,
\npassion, spite, revenge, covetousness, oppression. The strong care
\nfor themselves, and try to help themselves at the expense of the
\nweak, by force and tyranny; the weak care for themselves in their
\nturn, and try to help themselves at the expense of the strong, by
\ncunning and cheating. No one will condescend, give way, sacrifice
\nhis own interest for his neighbour’s, and hence come wars between
\nnations, quarrels in families, spite and grudges between neighbours.
\nBut in the example of that little child of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ
\nthe Lord, God was saying to men, “Acquaint yourselves with Me, and be
\nat peace.” God is not selfish; it is our selfishness which has made
\nus unlike God. God so loved the sinful world, that He gave His only-
\nbegotten Son for it. Is that an action like ours? The Son of God so
\nobeyed His Father, and so loved this world, that He made Himself of
\nno reputation, and took on Him the likeness of a slave, and became
\nobedient to death, even to the most fearful and shameful of all
\ndeaths, the death of the cross; not for Himself, but for those who
\ndid not know Him, hated Him, killed Him. In short, He sacrificed
\nHimself for us. That is God’s likeness. Self-sacrifice. Jesus
\nChrist, the babe of Bethlehem, proved Himself the Son of God, and the
\nexpress likeness of the Father, by sacrificing Himself for us.
\nSacrifice yourselves then for each other! Give up your own pride,
\nyour own selfishness, your own interest for each other, and you will
\nbe all at peace at once.<\/p>\n
But the angels sang, “Good will toward men.” Without that their song
\nwould not have been complete. For we are all ready to say, at such
\nwords as I have been speaking, “Ah! pleasant enough, and pretty
\nenough, if they were but possible; but they are not possible. It is
\nin the nature of man to be selfish. Men have gone on warring,
\ngrudging, struggling, competing, oppressing, cheating from the
\nbeginning, and they will do so to the end.”<\/p>\n
Yes, it is not in the NATURE of man to do otherwise. In as far as
\nman yields to his nature, and is like the selfish brute beasts, it is
\nnot possible for him to do anything but go on quarrelling, and
\ncompeting, and cheating to the last. But what man’s nature cannot
\ndo, God’s grace can. God’s good will is toward you. He loves you,
\nHe wills–and if He wills, what is too hard for Him?–He wills to
\nraise you out of this selfish, quarrelsome life of sin, into a
\nloving, brotherly, peaceful life of righteousness. His spirit, the
\nspirit of love by which He made and guides all heaven and earth, the
\nspirit of love in which He gave His only Son for you, the spirit of
\nlove in which His Son Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for you, and
\ntook on Himself a meaner state than any of you can ever have–the
\nlikeness of a slave–that spirit is promised to you, and ready for
\nyou. That little baby in the manger at Bethlehem–God sacrificing
\nHimself for you in the spirit of love–is a sign that that spirit of
\nlove is the spirit of God, and therefore the only right spirit for
\nyou and me, who are men and women made in the image of God. That
\nbabe in the manger at Bethlehem is a sign to you and me, that God
\nwill freely give us that spirit of love if we ask for it. For He
\nwould not have set us that example, if He had not meant us to follow
\nit, and He would not ask us to follow it, if He did not intend to
\ngive us the means of following it. Therefore, my friends, it is
\nwritten, Ask and ye shall receive. If your heavenly Father spared
\nnot His own Son, but freely gave Him for you, will He not with Him
\nlikewise freely give you all things? Oh! ask and you shall receive.
\nHowever poor, ignorant, sinful you may be, God’s promises are ready
\nfor you, signed and sealed by the bread and wine on that table, the
\nmemorial of Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem. Ask, and you shall
\nreceive! Comfort from sorrow, peaceful assurance of God’s good will
\ntoward you, deliverance from your sins, and a share in the likeness
\nof Him who on this day made Himself of no reputation, and took on Him
\nthe form of a slave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
V–CHRISTMAS-DAY He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a slave.–PHILIPPIANS ii. 7. On Christmas-day, 1851 years ago, if we had been at Rome, the great capital city, and mistress of the whole world, we should have seen a strange sight–strange, and yet pleasant. All the courts of law were…<\/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-5730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5730","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=5730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5730\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}