“ALL YE THAT PASS BY”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 236, 24 December 1927, Page 9

“ALL YE THAT PASS BY”

Christmas Messages From Church Leaders

FROM THE LEADERS OF. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OF AUCKLAND COME CHRISTMAS MESSAGES FOR THE READERS OF THE SUN.

The Archbishop of New Zealand. (The Most Rev. Dr. A. W. Averill) TT has been said with truth that “it is a terrible thing to have outlived Christ, and to have made Bethlehem, Gethsemane and Golgotha historic names or mere spectral shadows.” The holy season of Christmas comes

round, but we fail to realise the events connected with it because Holy Day is spelt holiday and we have no time to inquire why it is a holiday. The setting of Christmas (which means Christ’s Feast) has passed from Bethlehem, the House of Bread, to the rush and bustle and excitement of the House of Pleasure. Is the world really better for losing the Bethlehem atmosphere? Is Christmas Day really more helpful to the world by its dissociation from the House of Bread? Is it quite playing the game to get all the worldly pleasure we can out of “the day which the Lord hath made” and find “no room for the gracious Giver”? Is it quite wise to forget that the “House of Bread” means everything to the fullness of life, for “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proeeedeth out of the mouth of God.” Is it quite honourable to rejoice in the Christmas spirit and ignore the owner and giver of this great world asset? The world wants a great deal more of the Christmas spirit, the world wants all the love and

kindness and sympathy which is so typical of this holy and joyous season, but the world wants still more, though it may have no time to think the matter out, to bow the knee before the Divine 'Child of Bethlehem. May God give to you all a blessed and happy Christmas! mm. mm. The Rev. J. J. North (Principal New Zealand Baptist College) HRISTMAS is a very Christian feast. In sheer historic fact it is a mixture of the paganism of the world’s morning with the historic manifestation of God in Christ. The pagan and the Christian wrestle with each other with varying success in the Christmas holidays. Let it be said that he is a very bad Christian, or not one at all, who at Christmas eats and drinks and gratifies himself with congenial surroundings and company. Christmas on the Christian side of it is the giving of oneself to those in need. It is the brightening of the lower reaches of life by the more happily placed. “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though He was rich yet for our sakes He became poor.” And that great Grecian and greater Hebrew Paul adds, “Let that mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.” Christ’s giving had nothing to do with money. And it is not money or gifts purchasable with money that the world chiefly needs. The gift of gifts is interest and love. “Ignominy thirst for respect.” Old Carlyle’s remedy for the apathy of the society woman was: “Seek out some bairn and be kind to her.” The pagan background has its rights, and is never backward in asserting them, but we can tell ourselves that we are steering straight for the ossified heart if the greater thing is not accorded pride of place. mm. mm. , The Rev. Frazer B. Barton (Moderator Auckland Presbytery) WHAT does Christmas mean to us? To get the right answer we must go even to Bethlehem, for only in the presence of the Incarnate Son of God can we realise the true spiritual meaning of this great day. In an age whose faith is being undermined by secularising even the most sacred occasions, one hears at Christmas time much talk of a festive season, of merry-making, but little of the real source of the incalculable blessings that have come to mankind through the Incarnation. The inn of the world is still so crowded that there is no room there for Jesus. Let us recapture in these difficult days of depression and uncertainty the transporting joy that resounded in the Angels’ Song at the Nativity. “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” How greatly the world needs the stimulating influence of men and women of active goodwill, whose lives are constantly radiating the attractive sunshine of the Founder of our Faith, Who, let us never forget, was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. To make it the habit of one’s life to brighten, purify and ennoble one’s environment by practical Christ-like deeds is to live out every day the inspiring message of the Christmas season. mm. mm. Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Toomer D.C. (Salvation Army) T AM indebted to the Editor of THE SUN for the opportunity to send greetings to my comrade soldiers of the Salvation Army in the Auckland Province. Christ’s coming brought with it the carol “On Earth Peace, Goodwill Toward Men”: in a particular sense it has been given to Salvationists to continue that song. In the days when Salvation Army methods were misunderstood, the Bishop of London said: “Let these people alone and they will sing their way round the world.” That prophecy is fulfilled. In almost every country the songs of Salvationists are heard in city and country in the languages of the nations: praise God! I call upon all to make this Christmas a season of joyous consecration for enthusiastic effort to demonstrate the spirit of Christ Who came to be the Saviour of all mankind. His name is Jesus. The humble shepherds heard the carol. They who sat in darkness saw a great light. The poor had the gospel preached to them. The hungry multitude were fed. His arms gathered the children. Almost His last words were to the thief: “To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. Go on, Salvation Army. Sing your songs; carry the Light; proclaim the message of Love: feed and clothe the needy; gather the children and obey the call of your Founder —“Save the lost and go for the worst.” This is the Christ spirit. Let it become more and more your spirit and in the coming year, march on to victory.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. H. W. Cleary (Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland). ‘L'ACH year, as the holy festival of Christmas approaches, all Christendom -*- 1 “listens in” to the message of the angels, first put on the air for the shepherds on a winter’s night long centuries ago: Peace on earth to Men of

Goodwill. Not to the ear alone was that Christmas wish expressed, but to the understanding hearts of all mankind. The lesson of the first Christmas needs no translation into the polyglot tongues of men: in its evident simplicity, it is understood in the heart’s depth in every clime under heaven. Worldly wealth, power and glory, are not essentials of that enduring happiness which the Christ-Child came to give the world. Simplicity, the spirit of poverty and innocence of heart, are the solid foundations upon which individual joy and peace of mind are based; and these, relayed from one to another among individuals of goodwill, will make this world of ours the reflection of the lowly Cave of Bethlehem. My people join with me in wishing all our fellow New Zealanders an abundance of the joys and blessings of the happy festival we celebrate, and in hoping that the year shortly to commence mn.v hrine to them and to

our country all peace and happiness and prosperity, in good measure and pressed down and flowing over. Mater Misericordiae Hospital, December 23, 1927. mm mm The Rev. Prof. H. Ranston, M.A., Litt (President of the Methodist Church) tPHE SUN has asked for a message to the Methodist people. May this .Christmas be to them, as well as to all others, a season of Gracious Blessing! It will be if its true spirit is carefully preserved. It is a time of holiday for most. To many a beloved home; children with their own children will gather. Greetings will be received and presents will pass from one to mother representing heartfelt affection. These in themselves are fruitful sources of joy. But to make this season a real Christmas let all seek to be filled with the spirit of Christ. May it be very far from a secular event, but indeed the richest of religious festivals! Act on the truly Christian principle that it is more blessed to give than to receive. At this festival of the birth of Jesus to become soaked with His gracious spirit. Give Him first place in your thoughts. Read over once again the Sermon on the Mount and resolve that its teachings shall be guiding principles in every department of life. Our Lord went about doing good; let us copy His wonderful example. The Christmas message is one of the goodwill of a love that gives to the uttermost in self-sacrifice. This world of ours needs much —to be peopled with men and women with healthier bodies, finer imaginations, more sensitive tastes in art, music and literature, better equipped educationally for the duties of life. More equitable conditions of living for very, very many are imperative, and national and international peace are blessings for which we long. But our greatest need is a baptism of the love which Christ exemplified and taught long ago in Palestine. With that at work within us culture will become more refined and genuine, and between individuals and nations the ideal of goodwill will be begotten or intensified. Then will the promise of the Angels' Song be realised. Christmas would be Christmas indeed.

mm mm The Rev. Lionel B. Fletcher (Congregational Church) F OOKING into the future the prophet Isaiah said: “Unto us a child is born .. . and His name shall be called .. . the Prince of Peace.” St. Luke tells us that when the angelic choir sang their message to the shepherds it was this: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth Peace.” No matter how people view the claims and teaching of Christianity, they must admit that the prevailing spirit of Christmas is one of peace. Wanderers long to get to the peaceful surroundings of the old home; quarrels are made up; misunderstandings are set right; presents are given and received; old friendships are renewed and the world seems to be filled with an atmosphere of goodwill. We who call ourselves Christians believe that peace is impossible without Christ. We know that there is inward peace of mind and heart for those who yield their lives to His love, and although that may appear a mystery to many—and it is a mystery—nevertheless, it is true. The secret of God has never been wrested from the bosom of heaven by the power of a man’s intellect, and it never will be. “In the fulness of time God sent forth His Son,” and those who accept His rule find peace. And peace in the world is impossible until Christ’s rule and reign are accepted by the peoples of the earth. The inspired souls of the Old Testament looked forward to His coming because He would bring peace. “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow in sunder and cutteth the spear in sunder,” sang the Psalmist. “And He shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks . . . neither shall they learn war any more,” affirmed the prophet. Two thousand years have come and gone, and the world prepares for war, and millions of money are poured out to destroy life and destroy peace. Every other way has been tried but the right way and the only way. It is the way of Christ. In Him is the brotherhood of man possible, and only in Him, for even as in the individual life there is peace when He is enthroned, so there will be when He is enthroned in the nations of the world. For this we look and work and pray, and amidst the joy of this Christmas time, we should try and realise that the happiness which we have in this beautiful land of the southern sea, shall be the happiness being experienced by all nations when Christ is enthroned and unrighteousness and cruelty and greed are dethroned.