Magyar Egyház, 2003 (82. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2003-10-01 / 3. szám
6. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ cWiinessesy a^c^Aűsl Christ is revealed only to a few witnesses, and that at dead of night. Further, while God had at hand many of rank and high ability as witnesses, He puts them aside and simply chooses shepherds, of little account with men, of no reckoning ... If we desire to come to Christ, we must not be ashamed to follow those whom God chose, from the sheep dung, to bring down the pride of the world. (John Calvin, Commentary on Luke 2:8. In A Harmony of the Gospels) The true Christian religion ... does not begin at the top, as all other religions do; it begins at the bottom. You must run directly to the manger and the mother’s womb, embrace this Infant and Virgin’s Child in your arms, and look at Him - bom, being nursed, growing up, going about in human society, teaching, dying, rising again, ascending above all the heavens and having authority over all things. (Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians) We are the mother of Christ when carry Him in our heart and body by love and pure and sincere conscience. And we give birth to Him through our holy works which ought to shine on others by our example. (St.Francis of Assisi) The incarnation accomplished the following: that God became human and that humans became God and shares in the devine nature. (Thomas Aquinas) cflAnÁjstm(i5H eAfenl "Jesus said, ’Who touched me ? ’ ’’ (Luke 8:45.) Imagine for a moment ... There she is, a young woman with the radiant smile - leaning against one of the stalls, her eyes in her happy face closed. A man is at her side, and behind them, in the manger where the cows gather for their food, is the Baby. He is a tiny thing, wrapped tightly in a long linen robe and sleeping as soundly as any newborn baby - sleeping as though the world has not been waiting thousands of years for this moment; as soundly as though your life and my life and the life of everyone on earth were not wrapped up in His birth; as soundly as though, from this moment on, all the sin and sorrow of the world are not His problem. Should you speak to His mother resting so quietly there ? Should you ask her if you might touch the Baby - not to wake Him, but just to touch His hand ? What a moment that would be ! To reach out your own hand and touch the Son of God ! rrie&satyey "We are to love them because He loved us first. ” (l.John 4:19.) Are you willing to ... stop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough; ... to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts; to try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you; ... to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your good thoughts, with the gate open - are you willing to do these things even for a day ? Then you can keep Christmas ! Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem two thousand years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love ? Then you can keep Christmas! And if you keep it for a day, why not always ? But you can never keep it alone ! ”God loves a cheerful giver. ” (II. Corinthians 9:7.) The young native boy on a remote Pacific island listened carefully as the missionary teacher explained why it is that Christians give presents to each other on Christmas Day. ’’The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship for each other,” she said. When Christmas Day came, the boy brought the teacher a sea shell of lustrous beauty. ’’Where did you ever find such a beautiful shell ?” the teacher asked as she gently fingered the gift. The youth told her that there was only one spot where such extraordinary shells could be found. When he named the place, a certain bay several miles away, the teacher was left speechless. ’’Why ... why, it’s gorgeous ... Wonderful, but you shouldn’t have gone all that way to get a gift for me.” His eyes brightening, the boy answered: — ’’Long walk part of gift.”
