The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1879, Page 39

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

earth peace, good will toward men.’ The
shepherds then went to Bethlehem and found
the Child. Jesus and believed in this Saviour as
poor sinners, and rejoiced. .And I tell you,
Uncle, all the saints that are now on the golden
streets of heaven have got there by faith in this
Saviour, who grew up in poverty and want,
and suffered and died upon the cross for our
sins, and was buried, and rose again, and went
to heaven, and now says to all sinners in the |
Gospel: ‘Come unto me all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’
‘Look unto me, and be ye saved.’ ”’

I paused, and Old Uncle, who had listened |
to all I said, now asked, ‘‘And did that Saviour
come for every sinner?’’ |

“Yes, Uncle’’, I said, ‘‘He came for every |
sinner, He came for me and for you; for the
angel said that this Saviour belongs ‘to all}
people’. THe does not say that the Saviour be- |
longs only to the white people, or
only to the rich people, but ‘to
ALL people’, mark this, Uncle, ‘to
all people’. And our loving Jesus
Himself says, ‘Him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out.’
Just come to Him, believe in
Him; in Him your sins are all
forgiven, in Him you have sal-
yation, in Him you will have
strength to fight against sin, in
Him you will be happy and saved.
Let me tell you one more word
of the Gospel, Uncle, for the train
iscoming. ‘God so loved the world,
that He gave His only-begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.’”’ -

We had already before turned on the road,
and, interested in the talk, Uncle had walked
back with me to the station.
in sooner than I expected—‘All aboard!”
cried the Conductor—‘Merry Christmas, Old
Uncle’, I said, ‘Merry Christmas’’, and
jumped on the train. And as the train was
passing slowly out of the station, I saw Old

{death, he prayed the 13th stanza of Luther's | true.

Christmas Eve, the great Reformer forgetting
all his cares in the midst of his joyful children. }

That song sank deep into the hearts of the; Make what known? The glad Christmas
people, and has become a favorite Christmas | story of the Saviour’s birth, the good Christmas
song in our Lutheran Church. It is still sung | tidings of great joy. The shepherds did so.
before daybreak on Christmas morning from; When they had heard the good tidings, they
the steeple of a Lutheran church in the city | came with haste to Bethlehem, and found Mary
of Dresden. From that Christmas song many and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
sinners have learned the Gospel, and got com-| And what did they do, when they had seen it?
fort by it in their last hour. A boy, twelve | ‘‘ They made known abroad the saying which was
years of age, cried out on his death-bed: ‘Come, | fold them concerning this Child.’ Now, true
Death, I am not afraid of you; no matter | Christians are persons who have come to the
whether you are green, or black, or yellow, , Bethlehem of the Church and have found the
Tam not afraid of you.’? And then, as if to| Saviour. They have not only heard the Gospel,
tell those around him why he was not afraid of | but they know that those Gospel tidings are
They have seen Jesus with the eyes of

Make it Known.

The train came |

Uncle going up the road, walking very slow,
as if he was thinking about that Christmas talk.
I hope that Christmas day became a day of joy
and gladness to Old Uncle.

——> +e

_ Luther’s Christmas Carol.

Luther’s Christmas song, which we publish
on our first page, is surely the most touching
of hymns. Remember that Luther was the
great and powerful Reformer, who, without
fear, stood before kings and princes; the great
Reformer, whose mighty words rolled like
thunder and flashed like lightning, and made
the pope and his men tremble—think of this,
and then read that Christmas song in which
Luther tells his children the glad Christmas
story in such a simple and childlike manner.
ae vane the hymn for his children in the year

» And it was sung in his home on every

Christmas song:

“QO dearest Jesus, holy child,

Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be ;
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.” |

(Translated for the ‘‘Luth. Pioneer’? by A. ©.) >

Christmas-Joy.

Let us all be of good cheer,
Praise the Lord of Heaven,
For to us He e’en His dear
Only Son hath given.

He comes to this vale of tears
Low-born and in sadness,
That with Him in heavenly spheres
We may reign in gladness.

He becometh poor, that we
May be rich; O wonder!
Praise the Lord eternally,
Here on earth and yonder!

O Lord Christ, our Saviour dear,
Be Thou ever near us;
Grant us, Lord, 2 blest New Year,

Amen, Jesus, hear us!
: (U. Langhanns.)

—_—— ~~

'TuixK who you are! Is it not true that you
are a poor sinner, and worthy of nothing better
than that you should lie upon thorns? Yet,
whilst your Lord lies on hard straw, in a
manger, you lie on a soft bed; and still you
are discontented and complain of great suffer-
ings.—Laither.

| their faith in the manger of the Gospel. ‘erri-
| fied by the thunderings of God’s holy law they
j have come to Jesus with the heavy load of

their sins, and in Him they have found for-
giveness of sins, life and salvation.
They now love Him, and their
hearts leap with joy at the good
Christmas tidings of a Saviour’s
birth. They cannot but tell to
others the glad Christmas story of
God’s eternal love. They know
that the good tidings are ‘“‘to all
people’’, colored and white, rich
and poor, young and old. The
true Christmas of our congrega-
tions, therefore, cannot but gladly
help our dear Lutheran church in
her mission-work. It is true, the
waves of infidelity are rising
higher and higher, the good tidings
of great joy are sneered at by
many, the Christmas gift of our
heavenly Father, the dear Saviour
of sinners, is rejected by many; our missionaries
and our pastgrs know this better than we do.
But, oh, dear Christians, it is our sweet privilege
to cry out into this world of sin and wickedness,
to cry out itito the very tumult and uproar of
infidelity: Rejoice, ye sinners, unto you is born
a Saviour! Some at least will be snatched by
redeeming mercy as brands from the burning.
Oh, then, tell to others the sweet Christmas
story of God’s eternal love! Make known
abroad what you know concerning the Child
Jesus!

Tell to others around

What a dear Saviour you have found!

‘The Christmas gift of God’s great love

Is the only way to heaven above!

—s +P oo

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioneer’? by A. C.)

The Manger of Christ.

When the empress Helena had caused a
church to be built in Bethlehem, over the very
spot where the Saviour was born, St. Jerome,
one of the old ‘Fathers of the Church’, made
it his dwelling-place and became so fond of it
that, when one day he was offered a very in-
fluential and important position at another
place, he declined the honor and said: ‘Do