Magyar Egyház, 1970 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-12-01 / 12. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ MAGYAR CHURCH Cfjríőtmaeí 1970 No other holiday is preceeded with greater preparation and more elaborate decorations than Christmas. In practically every city of the U.S.A., right after Thanksgiving Day, as if some magic change would take place, streets are lit with colorful lights, shopwindows are filled with displays to please the untimate desire of the buyer, radio and TV stations beam programs and music to herald the Christmas season. The emphasis is on “giving.” Parents hide the toys and gifts for their children, relatives and friends go searching and exploring to find the right gifts for one another; shops and business establishments try to bring happiness into the hearts of their employees by giving Christmas parties, bonuses and other gifts. Advertisements are all filled with reminders, that “Christmas gifts are still available”’ as if nothing else in the world would matter, but the “gifts.” What makes Christmas a true Christmas? How can Christians really celebrate Christmas in 1970? Christmas is the time, when God sent down to earth His only son to be the Savior of the world and to really celebrate Christmas, Christians should accept this greatest gift from our Heavenly Father and worship Him, the king of kings, who is the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesized in the Old Testament: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” . . , Concerning the time when God’s promise was fulfilled and Christ Jesus was bom in Bethlehem, Judea John the beloved disciple wrote in his gospel: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son!” Indeed, true Christmas joy is, when we rejoice over the birth of the Son of God, who descended from heaven to earth, that through Him, we may enter into the kingdom of God. Yes, this is the center of our Christmas message. This is the true spirit of our holiday joy, that God kept His promise, and gave us His son, to be the “way, the truth and the life”. The first Christmas became a reality when the everlasting God was the “giver”, and His holy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ the gift. Then this Savior was received into the hearts of shepherds and wise men, who first felt the true joy of Christmas. There will be true Christmas joy, where people make humble preparations to meet this child of Bethlehem, where they bow down before Him in devotion, where men and women glorify the name of God the Father and God the Son. Christmas should be tlie time and opportunity to receive this “gift of God” into our heart, home, church and into our world! Advent is the preparation for Christmas, advent is the season, when you may open your heart more readily to let Jesus Christ enter in. Christmas giving is the outward sign of Christian living. Once a person has received the “supreme gift of love” from our Heavenly Father, then He is willing to share this joy with his fellow men, he is ready to give gifts of love, to those who are near and dear to his heart. True and happy are the ones, who have already received this gift of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and who are willing to share their joy with others who have never heard the “good news”, that the Savior was born in Bethlehem. Long ago, rulers of nations liked to travel ‘incognito” in order to see the people as they really were. What disappointments there must have been, when people heard, that their prince or king visited their humble village, perhaps, even knocked at their very door, and they did not let him in. So it happened with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the King of kings; the Bible records the great disappointment with these words: “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not!” There were so many during the lifetime of our Lord, who did not receive Him, moreover, who planned to capture Him and kill Him. Just, think about king Herod, who ordered all the little children in Bethlehem, Judea to be killed at that time. Think about the martyrs, who were killed in the Roman empire at the very beginning of Christianity, or the ones, who died in various parts of the
