the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." Why did He prefer to be born in a village rather than in a splendid city? In a village He was more easily found than in a city. To find a stranger in a large city is often not easy, and who could find an infant, as yet without a name, in a city like Richmond? Christ was born in a village where He was easily found, because He desires to be found by every one. The shepherds did not need to wander about long to find Him; for the town was not large. Thou, too, needest not wander about far, if thou wouldst find Him, for He is the King of glory who cometh unto thee, the good Shepherd who seeks thee. Seeking some one in a large city you are in anxiety about finding him. Seeking Jesus you need be in no such anxiety. He comes to you even at this Christmas-day. See, that you receive Him kindly. He is worthy of a kind reception; for He brings you the bread of life, even as the name of His birthplace indicates. Bethlehem means Bread-house, or House of Bread. Around Bethlehem much grain was raised, whence its name. It is significant that Christ was born in a village with this name. All works of God agree in harmonious symmetry. Fitly is He born in Breadhouse who is the Bread of life. He says: "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger." John 6, 35. As natural bread is the nourishment of the body, so Christ is the nourishment of the soul. The soul in which Christ dwells is satiated; its desires are stilled. Natural bread satiates the body for a time, Christ satiates the soul forever. He that partakes of natural bread will hunger again, but the soul that partakes of this Bread of life will hunger no more, even as the Lord said to the Jews: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world." John 6, 51. Jesus is so precious a food for the soul as both to satiate it and to give it strength and vitality to live forever. The soul which partakes of this food cannot die, because its food is a living food. At Christmas you give sweetmeats to your children and friends; do not let your own souls starve, but feed them with the bread which came down from heaven that they may be filled with life and light and joy. Behold, the love of the Father in sending this living bread down from heaven. Do not, do not despise His love, but take and eat. Why! the whole earth is now become a Bethlehem, a Breadhouse. The bread of life is scattered among all nations, and would you let your souls starve in such great affluence? Because He came to be the food of our souls this Child was not only born in Bethlehem, the Breadhouse, He was also laid in a manger. That which is put in a manger is not put there for safe keeping, but to serve for food. O let Him not complain: I am the bread of life, but no man desires me. Rather say unto Him: Lord, I am an hungered, feed me. And let no one be bashful in stretching forth his hand for this Bread; for in order that no hungry soul might be abashed by the sense of its unworthiness He was born, not in a palace, but in a stable. Jesus was born in a stable. We are not to pity Him on account of this. We should rather rejoice over it; for it, too, affords sweet consolation. If a common man is to enter a kingly palace his heart palpitates and his feet are loth to ascend the marble steps, particularly if his dress is torn and soiled; but who is afraid to enter a stable? Some are; the proud are, they fear to soil their finery. So the self-righteous will have nothing of Christ's righteousness, because they think themselves clean, or clean enough without being washed by Him, but unto us who know our uncleanness before God that stable is a welcome shelter. If He had been born in a stately palace we might think, He had come only for noble and well-dressed people, to such whose consciences are not soiled with flagrant sin, but being born in a stable, an unclean place, surely represents Him as coming to the unclean. He was born in an unclean place, because He came to take upon Himself our uncleanness. Soiled and ragged clothes are not a hindrance in entering a stable. If your soul is soiled by wickedness and your heart rent by remorse, do not dread to go to Jesus and to cast down your sins at His feet; for He is come to bear our iniquity. Or do you perhaps say, your conscience is too badly scarred, your soul too much soiled? Surely, the deeper the sense of your abjectness, the more should it drive you to the stable. Does your conscience say that you are an outcast? Aye, but where do the outcasts find refuge? Do not those who must shun the eyes of men find shelter in, stables? Jesus is born in a stable. He is come to save sinners. From his holy sanctuary on high He came to the unclean place of this earth to cleanse the unclean. Does sin appear before your view Of scarlet, or of crimson hue? If black as hell, why should you doubt; Does He save sinners? Will He not cast out? O let me seek Him! But where is He found? That stable is decayed long since. Shall I climb to mountain tops? Shall I sail to the uttermost parts of the sea? My friend, you will find Him in His swaddling clothes. He was not wrapped in costly silks, an article which only the wealthy can have, He was wrapped in linen cloth as new born babes in warm countries generally are. A very common article which every one can obtain. Even so now He is wrapped in an article common and cheap: the Word and the sacraments. Bibles are cheap, the churchdoors are open for every one, the sacraments cost no money: "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Behold, how excellent His love! Hold His wrappings and you have Him. Hear His Word, use the sacraments, grasp His promises and you shall not fail to find Him, and, having Him, you have the light of life. Therefore was He born in the night, because He is come to be the light of the world. Fitly in the night; for night it was in the hearts of men. All nations were walking in idolatry and blindness, in vice and hopelessness. Night it remains in the heart until Jesus comes and kindles in it the light of faith and hope. Like a wanderer in a dark night, becoming aware that he is in the wrong way, but not able to see and not knowing in which direction to turn, becomes more and more bewildered and cannot help himself, so is man without Jesus. Without Him man must walk in uncertainty. His conscience tells him that he is not in the right way to communion with God, but knowing nothing of a safe and sure way, he cannot but walk in uncertain, evil and pernicious ways. Therefore the heathen sought help from their idols and inquired for light from sorcerers and diviners only to sink into deeper darkness. But in Bethlehem has arisen the "true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1, 9. Seek ye light? Seek it not in yourselves. not in yourselves. Reason is a light for the life that now is, but of the world to come it knows nothing certain. Seek ye light? Seck it in Him who says: "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8, 12. Receive the Light which shone forth in Bethlehem, and it will be a light unto you even in the valley of the shadow of death. This Light sent His messengers that very night to turn the darkness into light. This heavenly light of the angels bright did not shine in a temple or a walled city, it appeared to the shepherds in the open field, in token that this child is He of whom the Lord said by the prophet: "I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Is. 49, 6. There is no place unto which the rays of this Light had never penetrated. Brightly does it shine over us in this far western land. Be glad and rejoice in this Light, all ye that love the light more than darkness. I have endeavored to set forth that even the smallest circumstance of Christ's birth pictures Him as our Savior. It is but an attempt; for in Him the smallest is too deep for human understanding and too high for human speech. Remember the little that has been said, and rejoice that we have a Savior whose every act is full of comfort and consolation for the soul. Amen. CHRISTMAS. SECOND SERMON. TEXT: Luke 2, 1-14. When Moses reviewed the great deeds which the Lord had done for the people of Israel, he was filled with admiration of God's mercy and goodness and he exclaimed: "Yea, he loved the people." Deut. 33, 3. When we consider the deed of God which this day commemorates we cannot otherwise than be filled with the admiration of God's condescending love, and we are constrained to open our lips and to say: Yea, He loved the world, loved it with a divine and everlasting love. Since the Word was made flesh, since God is born man we can no more doubt the love of God toward us. God created man in His image and placed him into Eden to enjoy immortal happiness, but man lent his ear to the voice of the Old Serpent and of his own free choice he deserted to the camp of God's enemy. Now God is born man to re-unite man unto Himself, to restore in him the divine image and to bring him again to the paradise lost. Yea, He loved the people. He came into the world not as a great and mighty Lord. He was not born in the gilded chamber of a splendid palace. No heralds on swift horses with rich trappings were sent out to proclaim His birth. No chambermaids were set to work to prepare a soft bed in a silver cradle. Filled with wonder and love the church sings: For velvets soft and silken stuff Thou hast but hay and straw so rough, He He was born in a stable and was bedded in a manger. H |