HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING Luke 2:8-14 First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas Dr. Michael A. Roberts December 4, 2016

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1 1 HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING Luke 2:8-14 First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas Dr. Michael A. Roberts December 4, 2016 Luke 2: In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, [a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, [b] praising God and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors! [c] Charles Wesley s familiar carol Hark! The herald angels sing is rooted in and informed by the scripture I just read in Luke 2:8-14. Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled! Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With the angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem! This most familiar scripture in Luke 2 is read several times every Advent season. I think we are so familiar with it we sometimes overlook the radical nature of the story and the radical message that is delivered. The passage begins with shepherds, familiar characters in ancient Israel. In the first century, they were in the lower economic class, often struggling to make ends meet with the increasing taxes of the Roman government. They were considered peasants. They were out in the open field. The traditional site, Shepherd s Field, is about two miles from the town of Bethlehem. While they were keeping watch over their flock at night, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. No wonder they were terrified. While they were sitting there, an angel is about the last thing they expected to see. Just as an angel would be the last thing we expected to see if we saw one today. This was startling, amazing, very scary. Angels have frequent occurrences in the Christmas stories.

2 2 Let s talk about angels a bit. They are very popular nowadays. There are over 300 references to angels in the scriptures. What does the Bible say about them? The angels are created by and for God. They are another order of creation. Just as there are human beings, there are angels in scripture. Psalm 148:2,5 says "Praise him, all his angels...for he commanded and they were created." The common idea that before we were human we were angels or the idea that after we die we become angels is incorrect. Angels are a different order of creation from humanity. In fact, the apostle Paul even says that we, the church, will judge the angels in the end (1 Cor. 6:3). Angels do not normally have bodies but can take on human appearance in the world. An angel appeared to Abraham. Angels appear in Jacob's dreams. Balaam's donkey sees the angel in the road before Balaam does (Numbers 22:22). They are powerful creatures but they do not know everything. Of all the places where angels are mentioned in the Bible only two are named, Michael as the archangel and the angel Gabriel which appears in the nativity stories. Angels are personal although often frightening. You can carry on a conversation with them as people do in the Christmas stories. You find angels in two primary places in scripture. They are in heaven offering praise and thanks to God who created them. Revelation 5:11 is representative: "I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: Worthy is the Lamb...(NIV)" The second place you will find angels is on earth as God's messengers and ambassadors. They seem to protect people. They offer peace. They serve God's people (Hebrews 1:14). Most of all, they deliver messages, they are heralds. This is what the angel does in the Christmas stories of Luke 1 and 2. The angel first appears to Zechariah announcing the coming birth of John the Baptist. Then the angel Gabriel appears to Mary in Nazareth announcing "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." Then a single angel appears to the shepherds in this story. The shepherds are terrified at the sight. The angel begins by asking them to replace their great fear with great joy. The angel says: "Do not be afraid I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. There is great joy because of the good news. The angel heralds a message of great joy: I bring you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

3 3 The combination of titles here is unique. The only time Savior, Messiah, and Lord occur together in the New Testament is right here. All of these titles have Old Testament precedent. God was the Savior, the one who would save them physically and spiritually. The Messiah or Christ or the anointed one would be a spiritual leader following in the footsteps of the great kings of Israel. Lord, of course, was one of the most common names for God in the Old Testament. To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This person would also claim an allegiance that no other would. In the Roman world, of course, the Caesar was the ruler of all. Luke 2 begins with a decree from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. Now that s authority and power. You decree and everybody in the empire must obey. In Roman culture, Savior and Lord were common titles. Caesar Augustus himself was known as the Savior, as were others- gods, rulers, doctors, and so on. Augustus was also known as Lord. Throughout the eastern Mediterranean, choirs in temples celebrated Caesar s birthday. He was hailed as Savior and Lord and announced good news of a Roman peace that he had established throughout the empire. The most radical claim of the early Christians was that Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. This baby, this child, this person would radically transform the world. And this person would call forth from his followers, from us, the ultimate allegiance. This will be a sign for you (the angel says): you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." To see a child swaddled with bands of cloth was not unusual. But to see a baby lying in a feeding trough was most unusual. Bethlehem was not that large a town. The shepherds probably took off and ran among the caves and houses. looking at all the feeding troughs to see if lo and behold a baby was lying in one of them. Before they take off, something else radical takes place. The single angel is now joined by a multitude of the heavenly host, many more angels. Their message is two-fold: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" The response to this magnificent birth is two-fold: Glory to God and peace to human beings. It s amazing how many times we say or sing the word Glory in church and especially during Advent: The glory of the Lord shone around them. The angels said, Glory to God in the highest. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard

4 4 and seen. Gloria in excelsis deo. Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king. Before Jesus birth, the people of God had been experiencing God s glory for centuries. Glory is best understood in scripture as God s radiant, majestic, direct presence. We learn in the pages of the Old Testament that the glory of God was present in the tabernacle, present on Mt. Sinai when the commandments were given, and present in the temple. And now God s glory shines on the shepherds. The Christmas stories also remind us that the display of God s glory is not the whole story. God s glory and presence is expressed to us. There is then a corresponding response of God s people. We respond to God s glory by glorifying God. In Luke 2 we find the angels praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest heaven. The shepherds learn from the angelic choir because after they see the child, they return glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. Glorifying God is an essential activity of the Christian life. The dictionary says glorify means to exalt and honor God as in worship; and to praise extravagantly, honor, extol. When we glorify God we are honoring and praising God. We do well to remember the centrality of glorifying God. We often emphasize learning about God, serving God, reaching out for God, sharing life together in God. All are important, but the highest priority is glorifying- offering our praise with our lips and honoring God with our lives. This is why worship has always been and always will be the most important activity or task of the church. It is here in worship that we glorify God primarily. We offer our praise for what God has done, we offer our thanks for the ways that God has worked in our lives. We stop for this one hour out of the 168 hours we have in a week to focus and center our lives on God. In this hour we are glorifying God. And we glorify God by the way we live our lives after we leave this place. We honor God by the way we live. In our relationships, with our priorities, the way we use our spiritual gifts, with our love and kindness. We glorify God. A second result of Jesus birth is the peace offered to human beings: On earth peace among those whom he favors!" That phrase is often interpreted as peace between human beings. The primary meaning, though, seems to be the peace that human beings have with God.

5 5 Charles Wesley interpreted correctly I think when he wrote: Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled! We believe that in the person of Jesus, we have achieved peace in our relationship with God. There are times when we feel that God is distant, removed from our troubles. There are times when we don t sense any closeness or intimacy with God. There are times when there is animosity or even anger towards God. We have said that in Jesus- we are brought close to God. We have peace with God through Jesus person, his life, his death and resurrection. When God became a human being in Jesus, God understood our human condition- with its joys and struggles. God knows what its like to be tired, anxious, depressed, grieving. God relates to us, understands us. When the multitude of angels said on earth peace among those whom God favors the church has said the Christ child has reconciled us to God, brought us close, enabled us to know God in a personal way. When the angel said I bring you good news of great joy for all the people - the news was that the child born would give us peace with God. One final comment. When one reads this scripture carefully, we are struck by the dramatic contrasts. God reveals the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, members of a humble and lowly profession, people who might never be admitted to Caesar s court. This is the Savior of the world and he is placed where animals feed. This is the Lord of the world, of the universe and he is born to common people in an insignificant part of the world. This is the Messiah, the anointed One, the king of kings and he is born in the most humble of circumstances. The baby is for all people, rich and poor, healthy and sick, hungry and full, powerful and weak. He comes for all people. He comes for us. With Charles Wesley, we affirm together: Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the sun of righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, Risen with healing in his wings. Mild he lays his glory by, Born that we no more may die. Born to raise us from the earth, Born to give us second birth. Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king. Amen.