The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1887, Page 46

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"~ ‘but especially for His ‘unspeakable Gift,” af

46 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Himself becomes man that man might be par-
taker of God’s grace and the divine nature,
2 Pet. 1, 4. ‘He is born pure and holy, that
He might sanctify our impure and sinful birth.”
He who was the true light that illumines the
darkness of this world, was born in the gloom
of night. ‘‘He who is the true food of our
souls was laid in a manger.’’ He was born in
Bethlehem, that is, in the house of bread, be-
cause He brought with Him the rich fullness
of divine bounties. He who, according to His
divine nature, is the First Born and Only Be-
gotten of the Father in heaven, was the first
born and only begotten son of his mother on
earth. ‘‘He was born in poverty and want in
order to secure for us the treasures of heaven.’’
He was born in a miserable stable in order to
bring us into the mansions of heaven. The
messenger who should publish this gracious
event to man was sent from heaven, because
no one on earth understood its magnitude. Yea,
it is meet that heavenly gifts should be pro-
claimed by heavenly messengers. The hosts
of angels rejoice that now by the incarnation
of the Son: of God we can become sharers of
their happiness. This great wonder was first
announced to the shepherds, because the true
Shepherd of souls had come, who should bring
back lost sheep into the right path. To lowly
and despised people this great joy is proclaimed,
because none but those who are base in their
own eyes can share it. To the shepherds who
kept watch over their flocks the Saviour’s birth
is announced, because not those who lie in the
deep sleep of-sin, but those whose hearts are
awake to God, become partakers of the divine
gifts. Now the multitude of the heavenly host,
who once were sorrowful on account of our first

parents’ fall, are filled with joy. In the heavens
the glory of the Lord and of His King shine
forth, whom in His lowliness men despised.
The angel bids the shepherds rejoice, because
He was born who should remove all cause of
fear. Joy is proclaimed to us from heaven,
for He is born who is the source and giver of
all joy. Men are called upon to rejoice, be-
cause the enmity between God and man, which
is the only ground of sorrow, is taken away.
To God in the highest the glory is given again
which our first parent by transgressing the di-
vine command had sought to usurp. By the
birth of the Saviour true peace has been se-
cured; for men were enemies of God before,
their own conscience was against them, they
were divided among themselves. True peace
is brought again on earth, because he is over-
come who held us captive.

Come then, Jet us go with the shepherds to
the manger of the Lord, thatis, to His Church;
there we shall find the child wrapped in his
swaddling clothes, that is, in the Scriptures.

ter which the missionaries tried to impress on
the people the cause of all their happiness.

We look over the assembled audience, it isa
sight long to be remembered, the house filled
to its utmost capacity, even to a hundred
little folks sitting on the floor with upturned
faces trying to comprehend the beauty of those
wonderful trees with their strange fruit. We
see all styles of costume, from the broad-
cloth suit, immaculate shirt bosom and jaunty
necktie of the young Indian-swell, to the un-
combed native with scarlet blanket and shoe-
less feet.

The articles are distributed, yet not one puts
out a hand to receive them. Why is this? Do
they not want them? Yes, indeed; but it is
contrary to Indian style to reach out the hand
for a gift; it savors of greediness, consequently
the articles must be received by a friend, and
then handed over or placed on the lap of the
Indian.

The good ladies of the East have kindly sent
for the young men and boys pocket pin-cush-
ions, tops and reins with bells; let us watch
them as they receive these things. ‘‘ Yana-
tun, here is a pin-cushion for you.’”’ He takes
it, looks at it, turns it over, pulls out a pin,
and then looks up with blank amazement de-
picted on his face and says: ‘‘ What am I to
do with this???’ Wereply: ‘It is to hold your
pins and to carry in your pocket.’? When you
understand that he has not a pocket, and never
uses a pin, you can appreciate his disgust; but
look! there are some who have found a use for
the bright covered pin-cushions, pinned on their
breasts as an ornament,—happiness is restored.
Having no horses, the boys never play horse,
so they tie the reins and bells around their
hats; but the little chaps with the tops are left
in an unsolvable dilemma, not understanding
the art of spinning tops, nor having any floors
whereon to spin them. But asa rule, every
one is made happy by a present of an article
of clothing, or a toy, or both.

I doubt sometimes, if the thought of Christ
is realized as the main source of joy at this sea-
son in the Christian household in the favored
East, but to the isolated missionary when he
sits down in his house after the day’s work,
and looks at the presents which have been
made by loving hands, and sent by warm
hearts from his far-off home, and calls to his
mind’s eye the dear faces of those cherished
ones; Christmas would not be a day of joy if he
did not realize the presence of the Christ who
hath said: “‘Lo, Iam with you all the days,’’
then the heart responds: ‘‘I sat under His
shadow with great delight, and His banner
‘over me was love.”

————- oo

The Mystery. of the Saviour’s Birth.

Christmas in Alaska.

In the following letter a missionary in Alaska
describes a Christmas celebration in that far-off
country :-—

You naturally connect the Christmas time
with the holly and evergreens so profusely used
in the decorations of your houses; then, when
you have the beautiful snow covering all as
with a mantle, the picture is complete. We,
of Alaska, have these associations with us all
the time, in the forests of the stately cedar and
lofty spruce growing on the sides of the mount-
ains, whose tops are covered with the snows.
Yet, even then, when the day of joy ap-
proaches, with its memories hallowed from
childhood, we must adorn our walls with the
green tokens of the One ‘‘ who ever liveth.”

It was our first Christmas in that far-off land,
when, with many thoughts and longings for the
loved ones whom the morrow would gather
around the hearthstone in our dear old home in
the East, we went to bed and slept; but in our

-dreams we seemed to hear angelic music, which
grew more and more distinct as our waking
senses returned to us. We lay and listened to
the strangely sweet refrain, our lonely hearts
- gathering comfort and joy from the cheering
words, ‘‘Peace on earth, goodwill to-men,”’
which came floating in to us on the still night
air. But who is it that is singing these beauti-
ful Christmas carols in this wild, desolate land
of the seal and bear? On Jooking out of our
window, we see standing about fifteen Indian
men and women gladly voicing these hosannas;
men and women who only a short time before
would have raised their voices in the wild say-
age music of the dance or the superstitious
dirge for the dead. The name of Christ her-
alded by angels, born on Judah’s plain in the
land flowing with milk and honey; now re-
echoed from these rocky shores of the far north
by hearts that beat with love for the Saviour.
We opened the door and distributed candy and
home-made cakes, which were duly appreciated
by the Indians, who then left to wake the
echoes at some other favored house.

The morrow brought the long-expected day,
for, for weeks, the Indians had eagerly asked
‘on all occasions: ‘‘ Koon yukee sayah Christ-

~mas kuk’”’ (How many days to Christmas)?

The Indian young men had been detailed,
some to go to the mountain-side and bring the
handsomest tree whereon to hang the presents,
‘others to our kitchen to make doughnuts and
‘popcorn, so that all who came, from the old
grandfather to the infant in arms, should have
a token of our goodwill.

I can assure you, that it was a happy com-
pany who met on that Christmas morning to
receive some trifle sent by Christian friends in

. the East, and to partake of the cheer. When

all were seated; the school children rose and

_ sang the Christmas-hymns they-had learned,
_ then God’ was thanked for all His many gifts,

which the great mystery is published to us, 48
did Mary, the blessed mother of our Lord, and
repeat them daily without ceasing. Let us
still sing the song of the angels and_ offer to
God the thanks that are due for this great

Let us withdraw our minds from the things
of this world and contemplate the great mys-
tery of our Saviour’s birth. The Son of God
comes down to us from heaven that we might is- child i i is_given
receive the adoption of sons, Gal. 4, 4; God pe gone s bene Guasinn, Dobe

whole multitude of the heavenly host. For!
the angels so greatly rejoice on our account,

Let us too keep in our hearts the words in

grace. Yea, let us rejoice and exult with the_

how much more then should we rejoice, uD I

a

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