The Songs of Christmas (Gloria in Excelsis Deo)

Luke 2:1-20 A Songs of Christmas (Gloria in Excelsis Deo) Introduction: The first two chapters of the book of Luke read like a musical... An announcement will be made (usually by an angelic being), and the recipient will burst into song or praise. The First songs are filled with anticipation, tension and hope. They are setting us up, preparing us, pointing us to a grand event. In Music, this is called tension and it is the perceived need for relaxation or release created by a listener's expectations. Tension may also be produced through reiteration, increase in dynamic level, or gradual motion to a higher pitch. So this is where Mary and Zechariah’s songs (The first two songs of Luke) leave us... In tension, in great anticipation and wonder. And now we are given that release here in the third song. This song tells us one of the main meanings of Christmas! What does Christmas mean to you; If you were to summarize it in a few words how would you describe it? Santa Claus, presents, family, charity, Jesus’ birth, Yule Log, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....etc. This song is unique among the songs of Luke because it doesn’t come from Men who are the recipients of salvation, but from Angels, who need no salvation. This hymn gives us a heavenly view, an outsider view, on Christmas; we get to hear what Christmas meant to the Angelic world. Let’s allow the Angel’s message to inform our perspective on Christmas. So what is their message; how do they summarize the meaning of Christmas? “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths 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, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” For the Angelic world, Christmas means: Glory to God and Peace on earth. 1. Glory to God a. What does that mean? b. God you deserve Glory because you are sending the Savior. You deserve all the praises and fame and cheers. Because you are such a great God - you deserve that everyone would recognize how great and glorious you really are. 2. Peace on Earth a. The Old King James version says, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. The ESV translation says, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” b. The older wording seems to be saying that Christmas means that everyone will have peace through Christ the Savior. The newer ESV seems to be saying that only God’s special favorites will have peace through him. Neither of these interpretations is the most accurate.. c. First we need to remember what Peace usually means in the Bible. It is not a general peacefulness with prosperity, and a trouble -free life. “Peace” means the end of enmity and warfare. 1. The peace that the angels sing of is the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom is not simply the absence of war, but it is the positive peace of righteousness/justice, truth, and love... Shalom is peace in its fullest meaning. a. Health to the sin-sick soul. b. A sound and healthy relationship between God and sinners, and sinners and fellow sinners. c. Sound condition of universal righteousness and prosperity prevailing over the earth. d. Talk about the need for peace….and we need this as people, we are disconnected and hostile toward people that are different than us, or disagree with us, we have enmity and conflict in our places of work, in our homes and even in our own souls… Heaven on earth We need it now I'm sick of all of this Hanging around Sick of sorrow Sick of pain Sick of hearing again and again That there's gonna be Peace on earth Where I grew up There weren't many trees Where there was we'd tear them down And use them on our enemies They say that what you mock Will surely overtake you And you become a monster So the monster will not break you And it's already gone too far Who said if you go in hard You won't get hurt? Jesus can you take the time To throw a drowning man a line? Peace on earth Tell the ones who hear no sound Whose sons are living in the ground Peace on earth No who’s or why’s No-one cries like a mother cries For peace on earth She never got to say goodbye To see the color in his eyes Now he's in the dirt Peace on earth… U2, Peace on Earth 3. How are the two connected? Earth’s Peace brings God Glory a. "The angels have offered a two line summary of good news that encompasses not only what salvation looks like, but for whom such salvation is intended, and by whom. The story's central character, God, intends, peace on earth. This, apparently, is God's glory: to find peace among those on earth whom God favors.” -Paul Borgman, The Way According to Luke i. Listen to that again..what pleases God? What Glorifies him?? ii. What is happening in heaven (glory to God) is connected with what happens on earth (peace among those whom God favors). This means, God's glory is connected to, and expressed in, Earthly Peace. Such peace presumably brings glory to God. "Glorifying God and recovering human wholeness (Peace) are not mutually exclusive: they are an indissoluble whole. - Charles Talbert 1. “If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.” Lewis b. The fact that it glorifies God to bring peace to mankind is an amazing statement because it seems that most of us would view these ends as mutually exclusive. But isn’t logical to assume that the Creation (nature/life) would find it’s purpose, wholeness, and it’s peace in it’s Creator....and that the Creator, the artist, would be most glorified when we are most satisfied in him. c. “God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. - Lewis 4. How Does Peace with God Come About? a. Our cultural narrative tells us the only way to experience true peace, freedom and happiness is if we are fully in charge of our lives. We are even taking that further now - thinking that any responsibility put on me by any authority -religious, familial, sexual, moral, societal - is a curb on my freedom and me becoming my true self. But of course this self-centered desire to command and control is what leads to conflict with other human beings. And in the end this freedom may be “unlimited” but it brings little meaning and purpose to life - total freedom, removal of obligation and responsibility = loneliness, disillusionment and increased hostility. i. The Bible actually tells us that our lack of peace and fulfillment runs much deeper than that. It is because we are out of touch with our creator and we are hostile to our Creator which is why we have hostility with others.. There is no lasting peace on earth, or personally, because we don’t have peace with God. ii. The claim of Christmas though is: God and Sinners reconciled! God and Sinners at peace through the coming of the prince of peace!. b. Maybe you don’t feel that you are hostile to God - but we need to be clear about which God or version of God we are talking about. We are talking about the God of the Bible. The God who says, I created you, I love you, I sustain your life I give you breath in your lungs, my world to enjoy - you are mine. I deserve to have all of your allegiance/ loyalty, trust, obedience, all of your praise and affections. I alone have the rightful kingship or authority over your life. This God says, You are hopelessly lost without me, you desperately need my grace, my love, my light, for your own healing, wholeness and hope. Without me your life is meaningless and hopeless. That’s the God we are talking about. c. The truth is that every single one of us Christian or not, have a problem with this God, we have a cosmic authority problem. At the core of the human heart there is an impulse that says, “ No one tells me what to do,” and this as I said is the root to all our other problems in life. We actually create God’s of our own liking to mask our own hostility to the real God, who reveals himself as our absolute King. d. Augustine said, If we loved God perfectly we could do whatever we want. But the truth is that none of us do and this leads to also sorts of self-centeredness, conflict, chaos, and evil. i. And we express this hostility to God both in outright disobedience and Irreligion ( I want to live the way I want to live, no one tells me how to live) and also in religious or moral ways (using obedience as a way to put God in our debt…. I’m a "good" person so God owes me -blessing, health, happiness, eternal life). A way to control God, not trust him. 5. Here in our passage we have God’s message to the world! Peace. It’s not a negotiation, it’s not asking us to come half way. It’s a declaration of something that is coming to pass and an invitation to receive it with gratefulness. 6. We have great fears about giving up control of our lives - how can we trust God to be gracious, how can we trust him to be good and safe; How can we trust this declaration of peace? a. First - the host of heaven are announcing this peace from God These are the powerful angelic armies of God who in the OT destroyed massive human armies.. here they are extending the olive branch.. strange… b. Second - recognize how God has made peace with you - their message - "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. i. This child is called a savior - this would harken the people of Israel back to when the were slaves in Egypt, when God saw their affliction and raised up a savior a deliverer, Moses to lead them out of slavery and into a new land..this Child is a rescuer, a redeemer, a savior - he’s not here for Judgment he’s here on a rescue mission. ii. "Come and stand amazed, you people, see how God is reconciled! See his plans of love accomplished, see his gift, this newborn child. See the Mighty, weak and tender, see the Word who now is mute. See the Sovereign without splendor, see the Fullness destitute.” - Klaas Hart iii. Look at Jesus! Jesus lived a life of radically allegiance/loyalty, trust, and obedience to God - the life we owe to God. He was fully surrendered to Him. He had total peace with God. But he lost that peace there at the cross so that we might have peace with God. Jesus gave his life to set us free from sin and the power of sin over our lives, so we can be a part of God’s kingdom.. 1. If the omnipotent Son of God would radically lose control - all for you - then you can trust him. This scene should dispel our fears and draw us closer to seek to understand, and know this God; to know why the God of the universe would act this way… iv. He has laid down his weapons of warfare. Again, God could have come with the sword of his wrath and demanded allegiance and dealt out justice. But instead the bow of God’s judgment against sinner's is pointed into the heart of heaven. Or look to the end of his life - there he is again laid out in helplessness, arms and feet pinned to a cross - all for you, all for you, all for his great love for the world - to redeem it, to rescue it. How can you not be disarmed by his love? How can you doubt his good intentions for you? v. Accept his offer of peace - surrender - give up your warfare. Lay down your arms and surrender to him. vi. And know this, to surrender to God the creator, to Jesus the Messiah is to truly become human. 1. You see, in Christianity I don’t discover my true self. Instead, God comes to rescue me from myself and from what sin has worked in my life, in order that I can be who he created me to be. This is what you were made for. You were made for God, for his love, for his friendship, for His fatherly care, to know him, to serve him, and when you surrender to him all these things come together to give you a whole new way to experience life. Life in all it’s fullness. Life at peace with the Creator. This is the peace being offered to us here in the Christas story! vii.Does this mean then that Christmas only brings peace for christians; for those who have surrendered and made peace with God? viii.No, in the sermon on the mount Jesus calls all of his followers to be peacemakers.(admitting faults and weakness, surrendering their pride, to love without needing to control. These skills or characteristics have amazing power to defuse conflicts, to facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation between people.) These are the skills that God has equipped you with -to go and make his peace known through your relationships ix. Those who have peace with God, and have been filled up with his love, approval, acceptance, with his life and power now go out into the world and diffuse that peace everywhere they go. They are agents of God’s peace and reconciliation among races, classes, families, neighbors and even enemies. x. "Christmas means that through the grace of God and the incarnation, peace with God is available; and if you can make peace with God, then you can go out and make peace with everyone else.” -Tim Keller Conclusion: 1. Are you experiencing Peace with God, peace in your soul, peace with others? a. God’s great Glory is to bring peace on earth, by bringing peace to our individual lives.... You might think that your peace and joy are in conflict with God’s glory, and they might be.... At least, your version of your joy and peace, your thoughts and dreams of what will truly satisfy you and give you the security that you long for...but of the things that you’ve sought for in the past, and the things that you’ve received have any of them brought the peace or satisfaction that you thought they would? I don’t imagine they have. b. Only God, your Creator knows what will truly satisfy you, what will bring peace to your life...and the good news is that he has made a way that you can come to him and receive that peace, and that life. It is through the work of his son, Jesus Christ, who came and established the kingdom of God, and died for your sins that kept you from God, from his kingdom, and from the joy and peace that he has for you. So now you can be part of that kingdom, now you can draw near to God, and have peace and true fulfillment.....In his presence there is fulness of Joy and at his right hand are pleasures evermore... There is joy, peace and righteousness in the Holy Spirit.... He satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with good things.....God declares that he is the fountain of living waters; Jesus said if you are empty inside you can come to him to have that inner thirst satisfied..... See God’s glory and our peace are not mutually exclusive, they are bound up together in an eternal bind. c. If you want this peace of God at work in your life call out to him today, Luke says, it is for those with whom he is pleased...over and over again the scriptures tell us that God looks upon and favors those who are humble, those who are needy and know it, those who call out to him in humility and dependence on him... So there is peace waiting for any and all who call upon the Lord in humility.. 2. Who are you gonna tell? a. What an awesome God, who is glorified in giving peace to his creation. It’s like what Zechariah’s song said, “God is tender in mercy.”...When we see that God’s heart, his glory is to bring peace to fallen sinful mankind doesn’t it cause your heart to cry out, Hallelujah what a Savior?! b. When the Shepherd’s saw for themselves what the angel had described, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child - this message of Glory to God and peace on Earth….who are you going to tell?