Jewish Contributions to Christmas - Christian and Missionary Alliance

IDENTIFIED WITH
This Christmas message was preached in Saigon's International Protestant
Church while the writer, now pastor again in Minneapolis, served that
pulpit in South Viet Nam's capital.
HE HAD to be made like these
brothcrs of his in every way, so that
he might he merciful and faithful as
their high pricst before God" (He-
brews 2: 17 NEB).
Simon and Garfunkel produced a
song several years ago during the
Christmas season that is taking its
place among the growing repertoire
of secular Christmas music: "Silent
Night and the Seven-O'clock News."
The recording presents a soft, flow-
ing, folk rendition of the carol "Silent
Night" while in the background therc
drones the voice of a news commen-
tator chronicling man's awesome in-
humanity to man. Atrocities in Vict
Nam, strife in the Middle East, riots
on campuses, violent strikes, crime in
the streets, corruption in government,
hatred, grecd, murder.
The incongruity of Christ the
Prince of Peace in a world yet filled
with hatred is not a new idea. Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow voiced this
same problem a century ago in a
Christmas poem written six months
after the bloody battle at Gettysburg:
I heard the bells on Christmar Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.
By PAUL F. BUBNA
And in despair I bowed my head;
"Thcm is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
O/ pence on earth, goodwill to men!"
Onc woman called hcr local radio
station to protest the playing of the
Simon and Garfunkel song. "They
have no right to make such a record,"
she contended. "After all, the news
is onc thing and Christmas is an-
other."
And that is fairly typical of peo-
ple's responsc to the birth of Christ.
To most folk Christmas symbolizes
the lofty but unattainable ideals of
love and brotherhood, the consider-
ation of which, for a brief time, gives
us an escape from the unpleasant
reality of the seven-o'clock news.
In truth, h,owever, nothing is
more relevant to Christmas than the
seven-o'clock news. Christmas de-
clares that God stepped into history
and identified with man-not man as
he ought to be, hut man as he is.
Hatred, prejudice, sickness, grief, re-
jcction, misunderstanding, suffering,
de~ath-these are the ingredients of
the seven-o'clock news, and it was
these which marked the life of our
Lord from thc manger to the cross.
John did not include in his Gospcl
the wonderful events surrounding
Christ's birth as did thc other writers,
but he interpreted those events when
he boldly declared, "The Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among us"
(John 1:14).
The first two chapters of the Epis-
tle to the Hebrews gives a detailed
statement of this mystery of the In-
carnation. Chapter 1 tells who the
Word is, and chapter 2 plumbs the
depths of what it meant for the Word
to hecome flesh:
"In this the final age he [God] has
spoken to us in the Son whom he
has made heir to the whole universe,
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