Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 2:14
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 18, 2019

Tonight we look at our final Advent Hymn of Scripture: The Gloria in Excelsis. This is the song that the angels sing to the shepherds of Bethlehem and the part of Jesus’ birth that Luke especially wants us to experience in the way wrote. Just imagine, for a moment, that Luke chapter 2 were a movie. The beginning verses would open as panoramic shots of the Roman Empire over which the narrator speaks to set the stage. “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” And then there would be a few passing shots of Joseph and Mary on their way to Bethlehem, speaking to the innkeeper, and then giving birth to Jesus in the stable. But all that would all pass quite quickly, the point of view is at some distance from the events described Have you ever noticed that? The actual birth of Jesus in Luke’s gospel is told in summary. So if Luke were directing the movie, the real first scene wouldn’t be Mary and Joseph, it would be the shepherds. In verse 8, Luke moves from summary to scene, taking us to the fields of Bethlehem where shepherds keep watch over their flocks by night. And that’s when verse 9 happens:  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified! The camera is much closer; the lense narrows in letting us see terrified reaction of the shepherds.

And then, on the edge of our seats in anticipation, the angel speaks, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. What? The Messiah, the Christ, has been born tonight and in Bethlehem of all places? How can this be?! And as if in answer to this silent question, the angels answers: This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Ah, now we see, the angel‘s message dovetails with the preceding account of Jesus‘ birth and divinely confirms him to be Christ the Lord. And our view shifts again: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying…” The camera began with an initial tight shot on the sole angel, and now pans to take in the spectacle of angels filling the sky. The resulting glorious display heightens the intensity until it reaches a climax in the thunderous sound of myriad angels singing in perfect unison: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind.” This is what the Holy Spirit, through Luke, wants us to hear. This is the big moment: the Gloria in Excelsis. 

This song explains the whole meaning of Jesus’ birth, and in turn, the whole meaning of Christmas for you and me. The song is quite short and can be summarized in just two thoughts: Glory to God; Peace to earth. Sounds pretty simple, but there is quite a lot to unpack here—specifically with the meaning of “glory” and “peace”. These are two words which do not have the same assumed definitions that they did 2000 years ago. For instance: how would you define “glory”? If you had to write the dictionary entry for the word “glory”, what would you put? Think about that for a second… We hear this word all the time in church, but rarely do we really grapple with its meaning. And, honestly, it isn’t a word that has a simple definition. Yet, after looking at its use in Scripture, there are two main ideas that it conveys. 

In Hebrew, the word used for glory is כבוד [kavod]. (There are other Hebrew words that are translated as “glory,” but kavod is used most often.) The root meaning is “heaviness” which can refer to literal, physical weight like in Exod. 17:12 when Moses’ hands were kavod, or something figurative. Other uses of kavod refer to value (Gen. 31:1, first use of kavod in the Bible), reputation (Gen. 45:13), honor (Ex. 20:12) or dignity (Joshua 7:19). And we even use that sense today. We might say someone’s opinion has a lot of weight. We say that people shoulder heavy responsibilities. We also talk about light reading as opposed to very dense, substantial material. The idea of glory, therefore, carries the idea of making something heavy in this sense. That’s the first meaning of glory we find in Scripture.

The second aspect of glory is that it is always something that is revealed or made known in some way. The apostle Paul speaks of unbelievers who “glory” in their shame. As in they celebrate and make public sins of which they should be ashamed. He talks in another place about the glory of the sun as different from the moon and stars, talking about how much light they emit. So glory is connected with something being made visible, or made public, something being celebrated even.

Putting these two aspects of glory together we come to a fuller understanding of the angels’ words. God’s glory is the making known of his value, his heaviness. We cannot add to God’s glory. We cannot make him more glorious than he already is. He is infinitely worthy and infinitely holy, honorable, substantial, infinitely important. We can’t add to that. But we can make it known! Right? Jesus says “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). So the goal of my life should be that when people know me well enough, they think “God is important, God is worthy of praise, God is glorious! Not Peter is glorious. God is. So when the angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest!” They aren’t adding anything to God. They are saying that what is happening in Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, is—in an incredible way—proclaiming the infinite goodness and worthiness of God.

And the result? “Peace on earth.” Here again we need to adjust our concept of peace. The word peace is common in most languages. People talk about peace treaties or times of peace. It means the absence of war. And in the Bible the word “peace” does refer to the absence of conflict but it goes further. In the Old Testament the word for peace is shalom  and in the New Testament the word is eirene. The most basic meaning of shalom is “complete” or “whole”. It can refer to a complete stone with no cracks as in Joshua 8:31 “Make an altar of shalom stone.” It can also refer to a complete wall that has no missing bricks. Job says that his tents are shalom because none of his animals are missing. (Job 5:24) 

Life is complex and full of moving parts with relationships and situations. And when any of these is missing or out of alignment our peace breaks down. Because of sin in us and others, our lives are often strained. We get anxious, stressed, angry, hurt. It is like when our spine gets out of alignment, problems start. We get tight muscles, headaches start, stuck joints lead to arthritis, back pain, you name it.  We need a chiropractor to put it in place. In fact that’s the meaning of shalom when used as a verb. To bring shalom means to make complete or restore. King Solomon brought shalom to the temple when he completed it (1 Kings 9:25). Or when your animal accidentally damages your neighbors field you can shalom them by paying back what is lacking to make their property whole again. The same is true with relationships, in the book of Proverbs to reconcile or heal a relationship is to bring shalom (Prov 16:7). So in the Bible the idea of restoration or realignment, the idea of completing or making whole is included in the word peace.

This is why the angels announce Jesus birth as the arrival of eirene, that’s the Greek word for peace. Because Jesus came to bring us into alignment with God. He came to restore our relationship and set all of God’s will in place on our behalf. Paul says that “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus (Rom 5:1). When Jesus died and rose from the dead he restored the broken relationship between sinful humans and a holy God. That’s why Paul says in Ephesians 2:14-15 that Jesus himself is our peace or as Isaiah calls him the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6). Or as Jesus said in John 14:27 “My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” The peace Jesus brings is unique. In him all sin is forgiven, life is restored, we are made complete and brought into alignment with God and his will.

I could go on for a while here, but suffice it to say that as short as the Gloria in Excelsis may be, the meaning is deep and profound. Glory to God; Peace to  earth. Something substantial about God’s infinite value and love is being revealed and celebrated. Through the birth of a baby boy wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feeding trough, the Almighty Lord has begun to reconcile the world to himself. Peace, completeness, satisfaction, is not to be found in circumstances but in Jesus Christ who loved us all the way to the cross, through the grave, and into eternity. Luke was right to focus on this. Hark! the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king.

Amen.