Calvin Synod Herald, 1979 (79. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-11-01 / 11-12. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK IAPJA 5 not believe that Christmas not only involves a manger in Bethlehem but a cross on Calvary, that the Baby in swaddling clothes became a man with a crown of thorns, that He was born to die for the sin of the world, and that if they do not believe in Him as their Saviour, they do not really have Christmas at all. It is a shocking thing in the Christmas story to note that God had to circumvent the State and the Church and the people of the holy city when He invaded this world in the person of His Son. He simply left them in their ignorance. They missed the whole wonderful event of the Incarnation. God by-passed them completely. Instead He went to a stable in Bethlehem, to a poor girl who had no status, to humble shepherds watching their flocks by night, and to a few foreign astronomers who did not belong to the chosen people of God. They knew about Christmas, but they were the only ones. And they did not count for much. They didn’t know anything about politics, they had nothing to do with making the great government decisions of that day. And they didn’t know much about religion; the temple of Jerusalem had no honored place for them. Nor were they prominent in the society of that day; there wasn’t even a place for them in the inn when they came to bring Christmas there, no place for the Babe and no place for the shepherds and the wise men when they came to worship Him. But there is something strangely beautiful about that, especially about those shepherds and those wise men, who knew all about Christmas. The angels had told the secret to the shepherds and a star had told it to the wise men. And they went to Bethlehem. Men of utter simplicity and men of great learning got down on their knees to worship the infant Christ. Watchers of sheep and watchers of stars — they celebrated Christmas, the way it should be celebrated. The coming of Christ was intelligible for both. Two extremes, men who work in the pasture and men who study the sky, but they had one quality in common: humble faith. The simple and the wise became brothers in Bethlehem’s crib. The shepherds found their great Shepherd that night, the One who laid down His life for the sheep. And the wise men found Wisdom Incarnate in the little Babe who could neither ask nor answer questions. They did not turn away in ignorance, nor in pride, but they presented their gifts and more important, they presented themselves. The people of Jerusalem, together with their leaders were too proud to be shepherds and too stupid to be wise men. It has often been said that Christmas is only for those who believe, whether they know much or nothing, whether they think profoundly or simply, but never for those who only think they think. They must be able to believe in a God whose canopy is the starry heaven, but who became Incarnate under the roof of a stable; who not only created human nature, but who was willing to wear it in order to save it. People who are too big to see the greatness of God in the littleness of that tiny Babe will always Our current issue of the Calvin Synod Herald — Reformátusok Lapja appears through the courtesy of MR. WILLIAM KÖTELES, President PEMCO, INC. 5663 Brecksville Road Cleveland, Ohio 44131 The cost of printing this issue has been underwritten by this Corporation. We wish to thank Mr. Köteles for his ever present help — we are deeply appreciative. A Reformátusok Lapja jelen száma költségét a PEMCO, INC., Cleveland, Ohio — Köteles Béla tulajdonos fedezte. Köszönjük szíves segítségét! miss the point of Christmas. That great event never happens to them. You will find those big, unbelieving people in the field watching their sheep, and in the laboratories of science, and in the many areas of life between those two extremes. You will find them occupying positions of State, public officials who make no pretense of being religious. You will find them in the church, refusing to accept the miracle and the mystery of Christmas. And you will find them in society in general, thousands of people who celebrate Christmas without the redeeming Christ. Where do you find yourself in that picture? Here come those wise men again with their question: Where is the King? Would you be able to tell them? There is only one good answer to that question. You might be able to tell them where they could find the Christmas story in the Bible. But that wouldn’t do. They know all about that story. They know Christ is bom. They want to know where they can find Him. They are looking for the place where He lives. The only good answer to that question today is this: He lives in my heart — and in my home — and in my life — and in my church — and in my business — and in my pleasure and in my pain. You could not tell those wise men to go to Bethlehem today, for Bethlehem has moved — it has moved right in the hearts and lives of all those who put their trust in the saving grace of that infant King. Christmas today is not a place but a faith, not merely something that happened twenty centimes ago but something that has happened to you — if you really have it. If anyone asks you: Where is Christmas? I hope you will be able to tell him that it’s in your heart. Ret;. Zoltán Király
