Too Busy...?

"Joy and the spirit of good will are in the very air."

Joy and the spirit of good will are in the very air. No need to tell us Christmas is coming. Feverish preparations are everywhere. Already the populace is on a buying spree. But what does this season mean to us? Can we wisely enter into its spirit? What is our denominational position, if any? On page 3 of this issue appears an article from the Lord's messenger on this subject, which we have re printed from the Review and Herald of December 9, 1884, and December 26, 1882.

A World Hungry for Happiness

Like the other messages from that inspired pen, this article reveals a sound and balanced attitude. True, we are "not of the world," yet we are still "in the world," and even if we wanted to, we just could not ignore Christmas. Although it comes to us branded by ancient pagan customs and laden with modern commercialism, yet in spite of all these things the sea son brings with it a rich opportunity for evangelism. Is not the world hungry for happiness? Do not our neighbors and friends need to catch the gospel note of joy? Is it not a privilege to lead men to cease their struggle and strife and help them to hear the angels sing?

Christmas is more than cards, ribbons, and bunting. It is a time when wise men pay their homage at the manger. The gaiety and tinsel, bright lights, and paper streamers are a strange contrast with the story of Bethlehem. While the angel messenger brought assurance of joy to all men everywhere, yet the Child who was to bring that joy was at the very outset threatened by a tyrant and hounded by treacherous enemies. Loneliness, pain, and poverty were to dog His footsteps to the end. Yet in it all He triumphed.

Today we sing "Silent Night, Holy Night," but Bethlehem was neither silent nor holy that night when God suddenly walked in upon the scene. Impatient throngs jostled in the crowded alleys of that Eastern town. Noisy laughter, ribald songs, bitter and heated arguments, mingled with curses as other groups came pushing and arguing for the best accommodation. But that night when the angels sang over the Bethlehem hills a new sense of values was born.

The Busy Innkeeper of Bethlehem

Little did the busy innkeeper realize, when he shut himself in that night, that something was happening out there in the stable that was the solution not only to his problems, but to the problems of the whole war-weary world. Viewing it now, after nineteen centuries, we are able to make a true evaluation, but had we been living then we too might have made the same mistake as that busy innkeeper. It is not easy for human pride to sense that great hearts often throb beneath rags, and peasants are sometimes more important than princes. The only room the world remembers today, as it thinks of Bethlehem, is the stable. Of all the great who visited the inn that night, the only names we know are Joseph and Mary. In fact, the only reason for our remembrance of the keeper of the little inn at all is that on that fate ful night he sent the mother of our Lord to the stable. His sole claim to fame is that he missed Christmas. But he was a practical soul; so practical, in fact, that he missed the greatest event of history. Not wicked; just busy. Not vicious; merely practical. But he failed to sense the di vine opportunity that was knocking at his door. Think of it! His most important guests he sent outside to sleep with cattle. Is there not a les son here for us? This innkeeper of Bethlehem was probably the very soul of kindness and solicitude on an ordinary day, but this occasion was not ordinary. Business was pressing, and, after all, he was not a philanthropist. Shepherds could leave their flocks; Wise Men could travel hundreds of miles to worship the newborn King, but the innkeeper was just too busy.

Too Busy With the Lord's Work

The priests in Jerusalem also were busy men. They must have known something about the strange star. Others besides the Wise Men had surely seen it, but the priests were too busy to bother about stars and stables. They were so preoccupied with the work of the Lord that they never realized that the Lord of the work was in their midst. They never went to Bethlehem, nor did they hear the angels sing. Is there not a challenge here for us? Even a minister can be too busy to share the joy of Jesus with his family and friends, his neighbors, or even his congregation.

Luke's Gospel breathes the atmosphere of happiness as he records the angels' message. He emphasizes the "tidings of great joy," and also tells of the shepherds returning to their flocks "praising God." Then Simeon also praised the Lord in the Temple, and so did Anna, and Matthew adds that the Wise Men "rejoiced exceedingly with great joy."

When Luke tells the story he sets it in the framework of world events. How elaborate is his detail! Caesars, tetrarchs, kings, and governors—the dignitaries of the world are all there, and yet in the midst of all the imperial pomp and power suddenly in marches God. These great names are mentioned only because they happened to be the setting into which came God.

"When Human Hope Was Burning Dim"

Had someone told Caesar Augustus or the Roman senate that something important was happening down there in southern Palestine they would have been amazed. But now history makes the real evaluation. These men are mere foam on the face of the hurrying stream of time. They have been forgotten, but Jesus is known around the world, not only as the Babe of history, but as the King of eternity. "He came when human hope was burning dim, when none but angels dared to breathe a song," but His coming brought reality to life. That plaintive cry from the stable still holds the secret of the universe. It is tragic but true that the busy innkeeper is even yet a pathetic picture of the mind of man—apathetic, suspicious, even impatient and avaricious, too often inclined to give the best rooms of his heart to such unworthy guests as bitterness, malice, greed, and selfish ness ; even pleasures, profits, and pride, while the Lord of glory is sent to the stable.- Let us as heralds of the gospel seize the opportunity of this season of good will to begin some spiritual stocktaking of ourselves. And while attaching little importance to the actual day, let us not lose the reality of His message of joy in an argument over theology or history. One important reason for our existence is what we can contribute to the sum total of others' happiness.


"More Light and Less Smoke

Would it not be good for us at this season of the year to stop and consider the needs of the poor, the underprivileged, and the children? Let us also remember the infirm and especially those who are growing old. Henry van Dyke has expressed much in these beautiful sentiments so appropriate at this time: "Trim your lamps so that there is more light and less smoke; make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with a wide-open gate." These things well done will put us in a spirit better to worship Him who tabernacled Himself in human flesh and by His presence sanctified even the manger.

A group of notables gathered in London. They were meeting with the king. He was well known to them; in fact, he was their friend. Yet they honored him as their king. When he entered they solemnly stood to their feet. "Take your seats, gentlemen," said the king, "I count you as my personal friends." And then with a smile he added, "I am not the Lord, you know." At this one of those men, a true Christian at heart, spoke up and said, "No sir! If you were our Lord, we would not stand to our feet, we would fall on our knees." That is what this season of the year should find us doing — falling on our knees before our Lord, the holy Child of Bethlehem. In planning our worship services, then, let our songs express our joy and thus help both saints and sinners to breathe the holy atmosphere of His love. And let us pray that every occasion of assembly will be a true expression of that joyful fellowship which is ours in Him. And since fellowship is the very heart of the gospel should we not seize this season to encourage and inspire the unity of spirit which is so vital to the spiritual growth of the church? We must not be too busy to follow the shepherds to the manger. With the Wise Men of old let us wend our way to Bethlehem and lay our trophies at the feet of Him whose sacrifice has immortalized the story of the angels' song. So we say, not Merry Christmas, but a joyful season to you all. And, God bless you!

 

 


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December 1950

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