Emphasis Preaching Journal

When Moss Hart, the late Broadway playwright, was a boy of ten, his father was out of work. So on Christmas Eve Moss was surprised when his father invited him to go for a walk down 149th Street in New York. That was where the pushcarts full of toys were lined up for Christmas shopping. As the two would pass one cart after the other Moss would say, “Look at that chemistry set!” Or, “There's a stamp album!” Or, “Look at that printing press!” And each time the father would ask the price, and each time the two would move on. Gradually the boy caught on. His father had managed to scrape up a few coins but didn't realize how few they were. Moss wrote: “As I looked up at him I saw a look of despair and disappointment in his eyes that brought me closer to him than I had ever been in my life. I wanted to throw my arms around him and say, 'It doesn't matter ... I understand ... This is better than a chemistry set or a printing press ... I love you!' But instead we stood shivering beside each other for a moment, then turned away from the last two pushcarts and started silently back home. But the silence carried a Christmas message to me — the Christmas message of love and giving as I had never known it before.”

You, too, can see the love of God in his silence this Christmas. God isn't exactly like that poor father, of course. He could give us anything. But he knows what is best. Somehow he hopes that, like young Moss Hart we will see his love as “better than a chemistry set or a printing press.” God loved us enough to come into the world and be born and die for us. That's the message in the feet of the Baby Jesus, the feet of the angels, the feet of the shepherds, the feet of the wise men, and the feet of all who have brought “glad tidings” and “published salvation.” What a beautiful sight!