Magyar Egyház, 1968 (47. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1968-12-01 / 12. szám
14 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Bertram J. Sathmary: IF CHRIST HAD MOT COME A few years ago a striking Christmas card was published, with the title, “If Christ had not come.” It was founded upon our Saviour’s words, “If I had not come.” The card represented a clergyman falling into a short sleep in his study on Christmas morning and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come. In his dream he found himself looking through his home, but there were no little stockings in the chimney comer, no Christmas hells or wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort, gladden and save. He walked out on the public street, hut there was no church with its spire pointing to Heaven. He came back and sat down in his library, but every hook about the Saviour had disappeared. A ring at the door-hell, and a messenger asked him to visit a poor dying mother. He hastened with the weeping child and as he reached the home he sat down and said, “I have something here that will comfort you.” He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, hut it ended at Malachi, and there was no gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and he could only bow his head and weep with her in bitter despair. Two days afterward he stood beside her coffin and conducted the funeral service, hut there was no message of consolation, no word of a glorious resurrection, no open heaven, but only “dust to dust, ashes to ashes,” and one long eternal farewell. He realized at length that “He had not come,” and burst into tears and bitter weeping in his sorrowful dream. Suddenly he woke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard his choir singing in his church close by: O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels, O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord. Let us be glad and rejoice today, because “He has come.” And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is horn this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10, 11.) “He comes to make His blessing flow, Far as the curse is found.” May our hearts go out to the people in heathen lands who have no blessed Christmas day. “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared.” (Neh. 8:10) What Is My Responsibility As An Elder In Shaping the Future of My Church? Address given by John Nemish, Chief Elder of the Eastern Classis, at the Elders’ Conference on November 10 in Trenton, N. J. As concerned Christians, we have a stake in the future of the church that is of prime importance. We live in a time that is threatening the existence of all institutions. The church has not been able to escape that threat. As we observe other institutions in our society, and how they have been able to insure their own survival, we are compelled to look at the church to bring about its own future. The organization of the church has often been compared with that of a large corporation which is run by a board of directors elected by the shareholders. As elders, we are not unlike the board of directors in a corporation, for we are elected to care for the matters of business that come before our individual congregations by those Christian men and women who contribute to them. In a large corporation, the board of directors must see to it that the business grows and shows economic gain. In the church, the elders are also concerned about growth, but especially, spiritual gain, for without spiritual gain, economic gain is meaningless. Our concern for the church, thus, has two aspects: one which is spiritual; and one which involves dollars and cents. If we don’t do well in the former, we can hardly expect to do well in the latter. The future of a large corporation depends in large part upon how successful the board of directors is in selling their product and administering the company of its workers, and caring for its plant and equipment. A church which is unable to sell people on its mission will not have to worry about its future. It wont have one, and if by chance it does, it will not be a bright one. It is convenient to view the typical congregation in three different categories: the young, the middle aged (as so many of us like to be called) and the aged. It is the older persons who have cared for the church many years and passed it on to us so that we might do our part in guaranteeing its future. Without their strong faith and hard work, the task before us might have been more difficult, hut because of them, the groundwork for God’s Kingdom here on earth has been laid. We must build upon this foundation to help our church to grow. And this is a task
