The Detroit Times

IN DETROIT PULPITS—No. VIII.

St. Paul's Cathedral.
Sermon by the Rev. S. S. Marquis, Dean

They are dead which sought the young child's life.—Matt. 2:20.

The first Christmastide was not the joyous season it is popularly supposed to have been.

The song of the angels was followed by the threats and mutterings of evil men against the Babe of Bethlehem. The visit of the Magi aroused in Herod fear and jealousy. A plot to take the life of the newborn King of the Jews was immediately set on foot. Joseph took the Child and His mother and fled. The fact is, the days immediately preceding and following that first Christmas day were among the very darkest in the lives of Mary and Joseph.

The winter journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem must have been to Mary, under the circumstances, a wearisome and painful one. And at its end even such care and rest and comfort as an inn might afford were denied her, and lodgings in a stable were the best that could be found.

Let any woman imagine herself in Mary's place, and she will understand what must have been her anguish and humiliation. I doubt if the visit of the shepherds quite dispelled her anxious thoughts, or the song of the angels quite made her forget the shame she felt because of her surroundings. I imagine that it was not until after the lapse of many years that Mary could look back with joy and gratitude upon that first Christmas night.

Every Real Gift a Sacrifice.

The experience of Mary is the experience of the world. Some sacrifice must go into the gift that brings a lasting joy.

Is there a pleasure in your life worth having that has not cost you, or some one else, labor and sacrifice? There is no privilege or possession that you can claim as wholly your own, for into all you have and are, has gone the toil of others. Remember today the price which others have paid, and are paying, for the privileges and opportunities which you enjoy, and give in turn to others until your giving becomes a sacrifice. You who are enjoying more than the average comforts and luxuries of life—think of the cost of these things, not to yourselves, but to others. If we have more than our share can it mean anything else than that some one—it may be some hungry, half-clad child—has less than justly belongs to him? Out of our abundance we give, but seldom so much that we feel it. It costs us nothing. We but hand over to others a part of our surplus. And this is no real gift, for it does not belong to us but to those in need.

Remember, then, while the spirit of giving is on you, that the real gift—the gift that brings to the giver and the recipient a lasting joy and benefit—costs something.

Think today of the gift of the Christ-Child, and of the cost in suffering and sacrifice to her who made it, and make your gifts such that they will carry with them something of what you are.

Time Solves Many Problems.

The threat of Herod to take the life of the Christ-Child turned a season of joy into one of gloom. It was the strong against the weak. It was a king on his throne against a helpless infant in a manger. What could Joseph and Mary do? How were a humble carpenter and his wife to meet the plottings of a king? What could be done? Nothing—but wait and let events under the guidance of God take their course. And time solved the problem. Herod died. And the word came to Joseph and Mary, 'They are dead who sought the young child's life.' Time, and time alone, brings the solution of many a problem. This is one of the truths which this Christmas story brings to us. Some difficulties we must face with patience, doing the little we can do day by day toward overcoming them, and wait.

Who at some time has not confronted a problem similar to that which Mary and Joseph faced when Herod sought the life of their child? Powers greater than any you were able to command, were working against you. Circumstances surrounded you, in the presence of which you were helpless. You were confronted by a task which you were unable to perform. You could do nothing but wait. And time solved your problem for you. It eventually swept away those things which once threatened your life and happiness.

In the light of the Christmas story we see the senselessness of much of our worry, and the need of giving over to time the problems which time alone can solve, and of trusting more to Him who works slowly, it may be, but surely toward his own divine ends, that the peace of which the angels sang may keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Time is not only the solver of problems, it is the revealer of truth. Mary and Joseph experienced little joy in that first Christmas season. To them, as they were passing through it, it seemed full of sorrow and suffering, of danger and adversity. But afterwards they saw the joy in it. The stable in Bethlehem was no longer recalled with a sense of shame and humiliation; Herod was forgotten, and only the song of the angels, the visit of the shepherds, the adoration of the wise men, the prophesy of Anna, and the Nunc dimittis of Simeon were remembered.

So, under the influence of this Christmas season may you see light where once was darkness; may your sorrow be turned into joy, and your doubts and fears dispelled by faith in God.