Magyar Egyház, 1973 (52. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1973-12-01 / 12. szám
6 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ MAGYAR Christmas 1973 It is difficult to understand that as the month of December arrives people become more kind to each other, more friendly with neighbors, more understanding with the poor and destitute. What a change takes place in cities and even in small towns where the preparation for Christmas gets under way! All because almost two thousand years ago Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind was born in Bethlehem Judea. We count the days and years from his birth; More authors have written about his life and ministry than any other person in the whole world. His words and teachings were inscribed into more hearts and souls than that of any other teacher around the globe. In his name men and women faced death and sacrificed their fortune, life and possessions: countless thousands have put on the sword and fought battles facing peril and destruction for his name, and have counted death itself a price not too high to pay, indicating their allegiance to the Lord. How marvelously the divine condescension became evident in the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ, who was rich yet for our sake he became poor, that through his poverty we might become rich. How paradoxical the Bible seems, when you consider that the King of kings, the Lord of lords came down to earth as a servant, that he might bring into his kingdom his own whom the Father predestined and called. I. The angel of the Lord and a multitude of heavenly hosts praised God saying: “Glory to God in the highest!” What a difficult responsibility it is to give “glory” to God, when in the history of mankind people always wished to retain all the glory, praise and honor for themselves. Start from pre-biblical times and recall the Egyptian Pharaohs who had perennial monuments erected to themselves; go on in time to the Roman empire, when generals of the victorious legions had magnificent “arches of triumph” erected CHURCH way down to our modern age when politicians are making plans for glorified memorials to honor themselves. Why should we give glory to God? Because He gave us His only Son, our Savior as His Christmas gift to mankind. If there would have been no manger in Bethlehem Judea, if Christ would not have been born, there would be no Christmas here in our country, no Christmas in other parts of the world, and no thought about the love and peace that Christ brought down from heaven to us. What an invaluable gift God gave us that first Christmas. Let us remember for ever, that Christmas is not a holiday but a holy day. Let us keep the tradition of our church and appear before the Lord singing and praising our Savior and giving glory to God for His supreme gift. Christmas gifts are being bought and sent everywhere. The postal workers are overtaxed with the many packages from parents to children and distant relatives and friends, but did you ever consider that Jesus Christ himself was the most precious gift of our Heavenly Father, and because of this gift of God we must treasure all other gifts too? The real meaning of Christmas is not the cheap little gifts, the trinkets and the gimmicks, but Jesus Christ the Heavenly gift of God; this is why the Christian world sings praises to our Creator and gives Him all glory in the highest. II. The second part of the angel’s message was “peace on earth!” Oh, how much this peace was needed at that time! How much this peace became the “number one issue” throughout the history of mankind. We find just the opposite: warfare, hatred and destruction often tore apart continents and even divided nations into two, as we were able to observe in the past few decades when world wars and atomic wars threatened the very existance of the human race. Peace on earth, how elusive that was just recently in Korea, and Vietnam: or in the Middle East. And if you come closer it is the desire of rich and poor, prince and pauper, church and government, men in all walks of lice desire PEACE.
