Skip to main content

Gloria in Excelsis Deo -- A Sermon for Christmas Eve

Luke 2:8-20

Shepherds are tending their sheep in the hills near Bethlehem, when to their surprise a choir of angels gathers in the heavens and begins singing Gloria in Excelsis Deo. What a treat that must have been! After all angelic visits don’t happen every day, and it can get a bit boring sitting out there in the fields in the cold of night.

In the spirit of angelic visits, J.B. Phillips tells a wonderful story about the day when a senior angel takes a new recruit on a tour of the cosmos. This rookie angel is quite impressed by the grandeur of the cosmos – who wouldn’t -- but then, as they walk through the multitude of galaxies and stars, the older angel points out a small insignificant star and the planet that orbits around it. To the young angel, this "small rather insignificant sphere turning on its axis . . . looked as dull as a dirty tennis-ball.” Why would this senior angel point out this plant? It seemed so insignificant and unimpressive in light of what she had just seen in her tour of the cosmos. In spite of his first impressions, the guide leaned over and said, look closely because this is the "visited planet."

"You mean, visited by . . ."
Yes, the senior angel replies, it has been "visited by our young Prince of Glory."

Now this news made no sense to the young angel. Why would the Prince of Glory stoop to visit this little planet?

The senior angel replies: it's not for us to know the reason, but remember, God isn’t impressed by size or numbers.

"Do you mean to tell me," he said, "that he stooped so low as to become one of those creeping, crawling creatures of that floating ball?" Yes, said the senior angel, but God would prefer that you not call them "creeping, crawling creatures."

The increasingly skeptical rookie angel, couldn’t see the wisdom of this, and so the mentor takes the recruit back on a little tour of the past so that the younger angel could witness the glorious event described for us by Luke. As they watched this scene from above, they saw a tiny, but intensely bright, light shine in the midst of the darkness, and then they watched as the light was extinguished. The younger angel turned to the older one and asked, why would these creatures do such a stupid thing as to kill the prince of glory? But, then to his amazement, a bright blazing, radiant point of light emerged on the planet. That, said the senior angel is the resurrection of the prince of glory. What a glorious sight it was to behold, but the story isn’t over yet.

Watch said the older to the younger.

As they looked, in place of the dazzling light there was a bright glow which throbbed and pulsated. And then as the Earth turned many times little points of light spread out. A few flickered and died; but for the most part the lights burned steadily, and as they continued to watch, in many parts of the globe there was a glow over many areas.

"You see what is happening?" asked the senior angel. "The bright glow is the company of loyal men and women He left behind, and with His help they spread the glow and now lights begin to shine all over the Earth."

"Yes, yes" said the little angel impatiently, "but how does it end? Will the little lights join up with each other? Will it all be light, as it is in Heaven?"

His senior shook his head. "We simply do not know," he replied. "It is in the Father's hands. Sometimes it is agony to watch and sometimes it is joy unspeakable. The end is not yet, But now I am sure you can see why this little ball is so important. He has visited it. He is working out His Plan upon it."

"Yes, I see, though I don't understand. I shall never forget that this is the visited planet." [J.B. Phillips, "The Angel's Point of View," in Behold that Star: A Christmas Anthology, edited by the Bruderhof, (Farmington, PA: The Plough Publishing Company, 1996), 2-9.]
The angels sing Gloria in Excelsis Deo that night because the Prince of Glory has visited our planet. In visiting our planet in the person of the babe of Bethlehem, God brought into the open the promise of peace and joy for all of creation. It is as Isaiah declared:
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6 NRSV)
But, the end of this story has yet to be written. As the senior angel said, only God has foresight to know where this story is leading. We don’t even have the same vantage point as the Angel, for we can’t look down upon the flow of history from above. All we can do is join with the Prince of Peace in the work of spreading the joy and the love and the peace that is embodied by the Christmas event. It is our calling as followers of the one whose birth we celebrate this night, to participate in spreading the light of God around the globe.

Tonight we will light our candles and sing "Silent Night" and then go into the world as light bearers with the song "Joy to the World" upon our lips and in our hearts. Like that littlest angel, we may not understand the “hows” and the “whys,” of God’s ways, but let us not forget that this is the visited planet, and that God has chosen to visit us in the one who was born the babe of Bethlehem. Therefore let us join the angels and boldly sing boldly: Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Troy, Michigan
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2010
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Living Faithfully in Times of Crisis - Sermon for Pentecost 23C (Luke 21:5-19)

  Luke 21:5-19   It’s almost Thanksgiving. The weather is changing, the leaves have dropped, and pumpkin spice is everywhere, letting us know that winter is on the horizon. We also seem to be living in a time of crisis. The United States government suffered its longest shutdown in the history of our country, which only ended late Wednesday evening. People who were working without pay, or trying to figure out how to put food on the table with the suspension of SNAP benefits, are thankful that the government has reopened. However, damage has been done. We can’t forget the war in Ukraine that continues unabated, while the ceasefire in Gaza remains tenuous, and trouble is again brewing in the West Bank. Then there are the political and cultural divisions here at home that continue to get worse, which can make for challenging times at many a family Thanksgiving table. Times like this can lead people to wonder if the end of the world might be at hand.  As we ponder the chal...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meeting Jesus, Changing Direction in Life - Sermon for Pentecost 21C (Luke 19:1-10)

    Luke 19:1-10 People often had life-changing experiences when they met Jesus. While not everyone responded positively to his ministry, there were many others who left behind their old lives after they met Jesus and chose to follow him. This was especially true of people like Peter and Andrew, who, along with James and John, left behind their fishing businesses to follow Jesus. Then there’s Levi, who left his tax collection booth when Jesus invited him to join his band of disciples, but not before he threw a banquet for Jesus and his friends. Jesus would add seven more members to his inner circle, but there are others who followed him. Luke also mentions the seventy who went out on a mission. Then there were several women who joined his team after they encountered him, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others who provided for Jesus through their own resources.  Even if they didn’t join the band, there are many other stories of life-changing encounters. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is It Time For a Lament? - Sermon for Pentecost 17C (Lamenations 1)

  Mourners, Pran Nath Mago, 1947 (National Book Trust, India) Lamentations 1:1-6 It is said that American Christians struggle with laments. We like our religion to be positive and uplifting. I understand why. We often go to church when life is difficult, hoping to be inspired, but there are times when we need to be in a community where it’s okay to weep. We need places where it’s okay to share our concerns as well as our joys, a place where we can acknowledge that there are things happening in our world that trouble us. Because we are a religious community, when bad things happen to other religious communities, we’re affected as well. We can empathize with them. So, when news came last Sunday that a man drove his truck into the front of the LDS church in Grand Blanc, shot and killed four members, while wounding eight others, before setting the church on fire, we feel their pain. Next time it could be us. There were also two other mass shootings that day, one in North Carolina a...
Post a Comment
Read more