Luke 2:1-14
In an effort to hear the Christmas story anew, over the
years I’ve pondered what we have in common with different characters in the
Christmas story: the shepherds, the wise men, the stable boy (he must have been
there!). And I’ve explored what we
can learn today by thinking about their place in the Christmas story.
This year at the early Christmas Eve service we did the
“pageant” a bit differently… Young
people from the parish read reflections written in the voices of those who were
there. Gabriel, preparing to visit
Mary; Mary, after Gabriel left; Joseph; a nosey neighbor of Mary and Joseph’s;
a very evil, slimy Herod.
Interestingly, the angel who appears to the shepherds and
the angels of the heavenly host aren’t in the book we used.
We just heard that part of the story from Luke:
Then an angel of the Lord stood before [the shepherds], and the glory of
the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is
the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child
wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with
the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’
This year I’m thinking that maybe the characters we’re really
most like in this story are the angels.
Your first thought may be, no.
We could hardly be more different.
I don’t feel the least angelic most of the time! And angels aren’t even human, are they?
But there is one very, very, very important similarity
between the angels and us. They
knew the story. They knew what was
happening. Nobody else did,
really, not yet. But the angels
knew who this baby was and what this birth meant.
And so do we.
We know who this child is and what he brings. We come to this night, this time, this
birth, knowing who this child is and what he brings.
He is our Savior.
Come to save us from ourselves.
He is born to make God’s love and healing and peace real in
our lives. So real that we can
touch it and feel it and hear it. He
is God come so close that we can hold him to our hearts like we might cradle a
newborn child.
Later in Luke, Jesus himself will quote Isaiah: “The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight
to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”
The angels knew who this baby was and what he was bringing
into the world.
And we know, too.
So maybe we should look to the angels as models for our
actions at Christmas time. Let’s be
like the angels. Let’s do what the
angels do.
They praise God.
That’s pretty much what angels do most of the time. Praise God.
Let’s proclaim God’s peace to the world. Do our best to dwell in peace, to bring
peace on earth.
Angels fly. Maybe
we can’t literally fly but at least we can let our hearts soar with hope at the
birth of this baby.
And then praise God some more. Sing out these tidings of great joy for all people.
And everywhere we go, let us, like the angels say, “Fear not.” God is with us. We are the bearers of the angel’s
message to a world today that desperately needs it. Fear not. God is with us.
