A War Cry: Shepherd and Angels - Luke 2:8-20
When you think of Christmas angels,
what images come to mind? For most of
us, pageants over the years, have left us with images of pretty, young angels,
often female, singing over a field of shepherds. What
if, however, we pictured the group of angels, less like a professional music
group dressed in choir robes singing…and more like a group of angels, swords by
their sides, standing in military formation, who just happened to be gifted in
music and singing. Why this image? We’ll explore that in just a few moments.
We have taken a break from our sermon
journey through the Christmas story as, first the choir, and then the children,
led us in wonderful times of praising God and considering the gift of God found
in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We
give thanks and praise to God for their gifts that they were willing to share
with us. Today, though, we pick our
journey back up.
Let’s take a moment to remember where
we have been on this journey, that we have entitled, “A War Cry,” so we will
have a grounding point for where we find ourselves today. We began our journey by noting that while
Christmas time has traditionally been a point of thinking about “peace o’er all
the earth,” an image highlighted in 1914 with the Christmas cease-fire during
World War I, that in reality, Christmas is God’s declaration of war on evil,
sin, and death.
We began in Bethlehem. We recalled that Bethlehem’s history was a
very dark history…throughout the Old Testament, Bethlehem was associated with
death, betrayal, idolatry, violence, brutality, sorrow, and prejudice. It was no Garden of Eden, and yet, it is the
location that God chose to declare war on those very things that marred the
history of this tiny town. For us, this
means that there is no life too small and no history too putrid that God will
not enter in, fight for, and declare victory.
Next, we considered Mary. We reflected on the fact that while she
submitted herself to taking part in God’s war plan, that she didn’t jump up and
run to the recruiting office to volunteer, but when God said, “I want you,”
with fear and trembling, and probably a little hesitancy, she put her life and
her relationship with her family on the line, and said, “…let it be with me
according to your word.”[i]
Joseph, put family, finances, and
reputation on the line as he agreed to serve God, by marrying Mary, his teenage
fiancée who had become pregnant by someone other than himself prior to their
becoming wed. We saw that both Mary and
Joseph experienced the cost of their commitment to God’s service as they found
themselves alone, in the stables, with Mary giving birth amongst the sounds and
smells of the animals.
It was in this humble and humiliating location
that we encountered the fourth element of our series…the one who uttered the
“War Cry,” the baby Jesus. We realized
that in giving our lives to the service of Jesus, we must be willing to endure
the same humiliation He did. This is the One who stepped from the glory of the
Heavenly throne room, to be nursed at a woman’s breast, endure wearing soiled
garments until they could be changed, face the same temptations we face day in
and day out, and then be crucified as a common criminal, all to bring us victory
over sin and death…and He says, “come, follow me.”
Today we move from inside the little
town of Bethlehem, to the fields outside the city gates. Here we encounter the shepherds who have the
joy of working the night shift taking care of the sheep. While there may be a bleat here and there,
for the most part the sheep were probably sleeping and not grazing. This did not lessen the workload of the
shepherds, it most likely increased it, as they would have to be on watch for
any four, or two-legged thieves that would seek to steal or destroy the sheep
that were under their care. Suddenly the
darkness of their night as illuminated in a way that most likely startled and
surprised them, and there standing in their midst was an Angel of the
Lord. Remember, angels as they appeared
on earth, from the time of Abraham were not noted by their winged appearances
(those appearances were reserved for visions of heaven), but when God’s people
encountered angels, they looked not too differently than you or I. Suddenly this angel appears in dazzling light
before the shepherds, seemingly coming out of nowhere—think of the Air Force member
suddenly appearing in the Smithsonian with his chello, catching everyone by
complete surprise.
No wonder the angel began his speech
by saying, “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 Savior, who
is the Messiah, the Lord....”[ii] Then, just as suddenly as the first angel had
appeared before the shepherds, a whole multitude of the heavenly hosts joined
him. Two notes on this—one is about
“multitude.” I have often thought, well
maybe there were 20 or 30 angels in this angelic chorus…but if we consider the
ways that Luke uses the Greek word plethos
through his gospel, from the fish that the disciples caught when throwing their
nets off the side of the boat, to the number of people that gathered on the
plain to hear Jesus teach, Luke is encouraging us to think in terms of hundreds
and thousands of angels that appeared to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem—no
wonder the lead angel had said, “fear not.”
The second note is the Greek word that refers to “hosts,” and will move
us from considering the sweet angelic cherubs we usually think of singing
sweetly over the plain, to thinking more in terms of the Air Force descending
upon the Smithsonian, the Greek word translated hosts is strateia—a word consistently considered to have military
connotations. So here we have enough of
God’s heavenly warriors to fill anywhere from a battalion to a brigade to a
whole division, standing before these shepherds. These members of God’s army just happen to be
gifted musicians and are singing God’s praises, offering up prayer to God, and
words of encouragement to those who were listening in reference to the Messiah
who had been born—singing of the child laying in the manger:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
“Wait Preacher! I don’t like that translation…I like how it
sounds in King Jimmy’s version: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men.” That is
the traditional way we are used to hearing it in the English because of the
popularity of the King James Version. It
seems to have the angels declaring peace over all the land and good will to all
people. However, the KJV is the only
translation that seems to have a worldwide declaration of peace. Almost every other translation of the Greek
suggests that these peace that the angels are declaring are a peace to be found
among the people of God.
While a peace that consists of the the
absence of war and disaster is a peace to be loved and the way in which we
normally think of peace…we remember that Jesus promised that the peace that He
offers is not peace as the world traditionally thinks of peace—it is a divine
peace—the peace that is not dependent upon the circumstances we find in this
world, but a peace that comes from knowing that God, through Christ, has our
back. It is knowing that in Christ, God
has come to dwell amongst us….it is knowing that God has declared war on evil,
sin, and death…it is knowing that this battle, this war, is not simply
something being fought on this level, but it is a divine battle between the
forces of God and the forces of Satan, and while we already know who has
already claimed victory in the war, while battles are still being fought, a
whole division of angels surround us waging war on behalf of the Messiah—the
promised Victor of God’s war.
It is here that we find the Christmas
peace—a peace that is more than a cease fire, but the assurance of God’s love
for us. With God’s heavenly army around
us, singing of our savior, their swords drawn against the enemy, we can be free
of anxiety and fear in any situation and rest in God’s peace…
We can have peace when we find our
bank accounts empty…
We can have peace when unemployment
hits our lives…
We can have peace when family
conflicts and crises rage around us…
We can have peace when injury, sickness
and death grip our lives, or choke the life out of our bodies…
We can have peace when storms rage
around us…
We can have peace when terrorists
attack…
We can have peace in the face of all
the attacks of darkness wage war against us because there are a multitude of
God’s angels, led by the newborn babe turned risen Messiah, surrounding us,
reminding us and our attackers of God’s victory.
In the Name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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