Does the coming of Christmas daunt or delight you? It is surprising, once September is here, how soon we become aware of a growing anticipation of the festive season.

Differences of Approach

      "What is Christmas going to bring you this time, dearie?" was a question we overheard in the street recently. Usually the idea appears to excite pleasant interest, but not always.

      "I hate Christmas," one man declared, having accepted a ride with a friendly motorist. Being asked, "Why?" he told how, in his home town he had thought of Christmas as a religious season, but in his new location in the city, he observed that "nearly everyone gets drunk. I hate Christmas. I can't drink. My health is at stake. My doctor has warned me off liquor. I hate to smell the stuff wherever I go. Yet I seldom enter a house where there isn't a cocktail party. I hate Christmas."

      For Paul Schneider, the Pastor of Buchenwald, his "Mother's Christmasses" were all his life, the best and happiest--the essence of all that was lovely. For, "she took part in the joy of life and sang and talked as one who is in the main stream, not as one watching from the bank."

      One evening a group of students sat together in the college common room. They were the few that remained waiting for late trains and buses to take them home for the Christmas vacation. The talk had now subsided and some were the more deeply thoughtful. Presently one student said: "You know, there ought to be a course in Christmas at this place!" Perhaps that expresses something we all need. For, unless we are content with a Christmas that is chiefly a matter of eating, drinking, and going to places to the accompaniment of some vague sentimentality, we will really wish to know what Christmas is all about.

The Transformed Festival

      We should certainly recall one of the greatest wonders that history has to show, the early Christians conquest of paganism. In its beginnings the Christian Church was "a sect everywhere spoken against" in the Roman world. It looked as though the Christian faith had no possible chance of survival. As one writer says, "If we can imagine a lion, a tiger and a wolf uniting in desperate effort to destroy a lamb, and failing, we should have a fair parallel to that which actually happened in human society at the commencement of the Christian era. The practical alliance between Jewish hate, Roman might and Greek subtlety against the infant faith is absolutely without parallel in history."

      However, by the end of the third century A.D. Christianity had so far triumphed as to sway the Emperor on his throne and become the great and favored religion of the State. In the words of T. R. Glover, "The Christian out-lived the pagan out-died him, and out-thought him."

      Now the twenty-fifth of December had been kept over a large part of that ancient world as the "Day of the Unconquered Sun." Men north of the Equator had observed how the days had ceased to shorten and began to lengthen, showing the increase of the reign of light once again. They lit fires, freed slaves, and indulged in excited homage to the mysterious powers of nature.

      Of course the season was accompanied by all manner of heathen degradation and excess. But this ancient festival was not dropped or obliterated, it was rather transformed, as Christian people commemorated that greater event in the calendar of the soul, the birth of Jesus the Christ of God. Here is something universally true. When gross darkness was enveloping mankind, God intervened by the birth of his Son into the world, at Bethlehem, so that, he might become indeed, the Light, of the world.

      The transformed festival bears witness to the transforming power of God through Jesus Christ and his Church. Pagan festivals were changed because lives were changed by the grace of God.

      How are we modern Christians keeping Christmas? Is our Christmas Christian? Do we actually commemorate the birth of the most arresting person in history? Or ought we to repent, and pray in the words of the child who confused a familiar prayed sentence--"Father . . . forgive us our Christmasses"?

Colorful Variety

      As a well-nigh universal festival, endless variety appears in Christmas celebration.

      Occasionally we experience a thrill of delight when we come upon some striking variation of the Christmas pattern in the home of a New Australian. A review of customs in different countries holds a fascinating interest, as we find life's infinite wonders suggested by the merest simplicities.

      Straw under the table-cloth or under the gift tree, reminds some of the lowly stable where the Mother Mary cradled her Babe in Bethlehem. Mince pies, made in oblong shape are the Christmas symbols of the Bethlehem manger. Christmas carols recall the songs of the heavenly host on the occasion of Christ's birth.

      In some lands, the shoes of the household are carefully set in line on Christmas night as a sign of the peace and good-will which the original carols celebrated. With many people the holly that has sharp spikes and red berries reminds that, the Babe of Bethlehem was destined to wear a crown of thorns and to shed his blood for our sinful race. While Christmas candles tell how Christ has become the light and the hope of the world. Stars call to mind the leading of the Magi in their long quest of the new-born King.

      As our pre-eminent gift time. Christmas should keep us in touch with the spirit of the Magi who offered their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh to the infant Son of God. Nor should we forget that our festival is essentially a commemoration of God's unspeakable gift. From heaven's viewpoint, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Thanksgiving to God

      Whatever the incidentals of Christmas, one of the great essentials is thanksgiving to God.

      Fulton Oursler tells how his old Negro nurse taught him the lesson of the thankful heart. Her name

was Anna Maria Cecily Sophia Virginia Avalon Thessalonians, and she was born a slave. Says Oursler, "I remember her as she sat in the kitchen in our house, her old husky voice saying: 'Much obliged Lord for my vittals." "Anna," he asked, "What's vittals?" "It's what I've got to eat and drink, that's vittals." "But you'd get vittals whether you thanked the Lord or not." "Sure, but it makes everything taste better to be thankful." After her meal she thanked the Lord again, and said, "You know its a funny thing about being thankful. It's a game an old colored preacher taught me. It's looking for things to be thankful for. You don't know how many of them you pass right by unless you go looking for them. Take this morning; I woke up and lay there lazy-like, wondering what I got to be thankful for now, and you know what? I couldn't think of anything to thank him for. And then from the kitchen comes the most delicious morning smell that ever tickled my old nose. Coffee! Much obliged, Lord, for the coffee, much obliged for the smell of it."

      At a time of his life when Mr. Oursler went through much disappointment and failure, he said that the remembrance of Anna's spirit of thanksgiving gave him a handle to work with. It literally pulled him up and out and onward. Then came at length the call to the old nurse's dying bed. Standing beside her there in her feebleness, he wondered what she would have to be thankful for now. Then she opened her eyes, smiled, and the last words she spoke were, "Much obliged Lord, for such fine friends."

      It is really good to be sensitive to the wonder of God's natural benefits, food, friendship, beauty, song. But then God has an order of gifts, more glorious. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." . . . "He that spared not his own Son, but freely gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" . . . "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." . . . "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!"

Authentic Gratitude

      Our Christmas Scriptures record some of the ways in which the meaning and worth of the Christ-child were thrillingly realised from the first. Angels were jubilant, for they saw in the birth of the child of Bethlehem the glorious sign of the good-will of heaven towards our needy earth. "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men."

      Shepherds were animated and happy that one designated their Saviour should be born to such people who are often overwhelmed by the burden of life or the monotony of human toil. They went about their work and among their acquaintances, with a story to tell and a song in their hearts. Wise men, students of earth's mysteries were deeply intrigued by their contact with one whose new and kingly glory imparted something satisfying and compelling to such men who could easily succumb to the vagueness and futility of human ideas. They devoted themselves and their gifts to him, deliberately altering their course on his account. Old faithfuls, who had come to the edge of their life-span and wondered, were comforted no end by the holding of the Babe in their trembling old hands: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy words; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation!" Such gratitude was evident in the lives and the words of many others as the New Testament records.

      John was thankful and said: "This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." Peter shared the secret, saying, "His divine power hath given us all things

that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." Paul also could thankfully refer to "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption."

      For the graphic testimony of one grateful for Christ in this modern age, we may turn to such a book as Dr. George A. Buttrick's, "Christ and Man's Dilemma," with its incisive chapters on, "Christ and Our ignorance", "Christ and Our Wickedness," "Christ and Our Mortality," "Christ and Business," "Christ and Education," "Christ and the Machine." With realistic thankfulness the author concludes, "Every age is momentous; but, if we see our time aright, our age is climactic, as though man, emerging from a labyrinth, might now stride toward the light. There is a Light for our ignorance, Pardon for our sins, Life for our mortality. 'These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name'."

      But the witness of gratitude can come from a humble soul, such as consulted the Scottish preacher, 'Rabbi' Duncan, because of her coldness of heart. She was most unhappy because she did not feel her love for the Lord any more. Looking her in the face, Duncan asked, "How much would you take to give him up?" A sudden rush of emotion surged through the woman. All at once she saw how much Christ meant to her, realised as never before, that there was no one else who meant so much. "I would not give him up for all the, world," she said, with radiant conviction.

      "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!" The gift of Christ, God's gift for the world! The gift that we receive with our minds, our wills and our hearts! Who proposes to spend an ungrateful Christmas?

Devotion to Christ's Way

      Genuine Christian gratitude for the gifts of God in Christ, leads to a strong and steady devotion and sharing of God's loving programme for the cheering and the saving of the world. Here is the true Christian's reckoning. and has been from the first, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins . . . If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

      Christian good-will and graciousness will find expression freely and sincerely in a host of life's everyday commonplaces.

      Far beyond this, of course, our Christian gratitude should impel us to such earnestness and enterprise as Jesus himself suggests. Here is a good word for us to implement at Christmas time and always: "Jesus said, 'When you give a dinner or supper party, don't invite your friends or your brothers or relations or wealthy neighbors, for the chances are they will invite you back, and you will be fully repaid. No, when you give a party, invite the poor, the lame, the crippled and the blind. That way lies real happiness for you. They have no means of repaying you, but you will

be repaid when good men are rewarded--at the Resurrection'" (Phillips).

      We may manifest this wider, loving concern when we change many of our Christmas functions from occasions of getting presents, to events of giving for the benefit of those whom the Spirit would lead us to love for Christ Jesus' sake, We will possibly become more faithful partners in the plan of the "Remembrance Bowl," whereby Christmas gratitude is channelled to needy people in this wide world, to the glory of God.

      Moreover, as our Christian gratitude grows we will become stronger witnesses for Christ, as we live by his faith in face of human confusion and cynicism; showing his universal love in the presence of persistent hate and racialism; expressing his spirit of service in contrast with earthly vanity and greed.

      For many, the quickening of gratitude for Jesus Christ may work out as it did in the experience of Dr. Paul Quillian, of whom Curtis Jones tells. Years ago, Quillian worked at an aerated water factory at Pine Bluff in Arkansas. He became a church member, and was a man of good character and influence. But one day he was confronted with the question, "How old are you?" "About thirty," was the answer. A conversation ensued about a man's work and witness for Christ. Then he was challenged: "When you stand finally before the Lord God, what will you tell him you did on earth--made red soda water?" Young Quillian replied angrily: "And what is wrong with red soda water?" "Nothing, nothing," he was told, "except you happen to be endowed with great talents and abilities which I cherish for God and the Christian ministry." Subsequently, Paul Quillian undertook the necessary training and became a really notable and effective minister of Jesus Christ.

The Star of Bethlehem

      One of the best things that Christmas can do for us is to give us a new and distinctive interest in Bethlehem. This ancient town in Palestine, situated some six miles South of Jerusalem was the birthplace of Jesus the Christ. For this is one of the striking features of Christianity, that it did not arise out of some ill-founded fable or legend, neither is it primarily a system of ethics or a philosophy. Christianity rests foundationally upon historic happenings, and upon the fact of Christ's birth at Bethlehem.

      In the New Testament Gospels there are references to three journeys to Bethlehem. The first was a journey of courage and fortitude undertaken by Joseph and Mary at a most inconvenient time, and due to the relentless decree of Caesar. It was one of those forced and irksome necessities which many of us know so well in life. However, this journey took the Nazareth couple from their village in the North, down to the town in the South, where, according to God's higher plan, the Christ-child was to be born. "And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." Here is reminder that life's irksome necessities may be among the things that "work together for good, to them that love God."

      The second journey to Bethlehem was the journey of obedience and inquiry undertaken by the shepherds in the fields, who said, to each other, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem. and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." What they experienced one never-to-be-forgotten night was not left as if it were an unrelated phantasy, for they journeyed to where the Babe was cradled in the manger, even as the heavenly voices had said. It was essentially the same spirit which led Paul,

years later to rejoice, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision."

      The third journey to Bethlehem was that of the Wise Men, and it became a journey of committal and devotion to the highest when they gave their gifts and themselves to the infant King. The amazing star which the Magi followed has come to have an abiding significance. It is really a matter of historic, scientific and spiritual record, and involved with the conjunction of the three, planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, which occurs every 805 years. and which is due again in A.D. 2409.

Where Is Bethlehem?

      Bethlehem is discovered to be more than one of earth's historic spots, a place in Palestine. Bethlehem is indeed a point of experience. As Walter Russell Bowie says:

      We have ample endorsement of this in Christian experience as well as from the New Testament records.

      Bethlehem is where any babe is born and we see and receive him in the name of Jesus, not as shoddy to be despised and neglected, not as another creature for greed to exploit, but as a precious child of God. Listen to Jesus in the presence of children! "It is not the will of your Father that one of these little ones should perish . . . Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven . . . Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven . . . whoso shall receive one such little one in my name, receiveth me!

      Bethlehem is where we begin to see God, not in his creation only, but in the glory, the grace and the truth of that Person, Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." . . . "For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself."

      Bethlehem is where a heart opens and receives the Christ of God with humility and faith. Hence the persistent purpose in the prayers of so true a Christian evangelist as Paul: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, . . . That he would grant you to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." And hence also the objective in all of the Apostle's hazardous missionary undertakings, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you."

      Christ's birth into this world at Bethlehem was the necessary prelude to his being born in human hearts, and so that countless children of God might know the experience to which Paul testifies: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

      "Christ in you the hope of glory!" says Paul, and thus the poet sets forth the abiding challenge:

      The Christ whose coming into the world was to "seek and to save that which was lost", and so that we "might have life" and that we might have it more abundantly, seeks his Bethlehem in human hearts. Bethlehem need not be far away, but very near.

A Wonderful Christmas

      How frequently we find ourselves saying to one another, "I hope you have a wonderful

Christmas!" The thought in mind may be of feasting, the friendly family occasions, the giving and receiving of gifts, the carolling and similar experience of joy. But in the light of the New Testament, a wonderful Christmas will include a profound and gladsome thanksgiving to God, a delight in being in the Will of the Lord; and a breathtaking sense of awe, that Christ seeks to dwell in our hearts by faith. May we say with Walter Russell Bowie:

GORDON JOSEPH ANDREWS

      Was born at Northcote, and baptised into Christ at Castlemaine, Victoria. He graduated from the College of the Bible, Glen Iris, in 1922. Among other ministries, he has served with the churches at Shepparton, Ormond, Surrey Hills, and Dawson Street Ballarat, in Victoria; Lismore and Rockdale in New South Wales; and is now serving with the church at Albion, in Queensland. He has been a contributor to our church papers in several States over the years, and was Conference President in New South Wales for the year 1953-54.