TITLE: GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
SCRIPTURE: ST. LUKE 2:8-14
What a Celebration this morning for Christmas Sunday. We have had a blessed Advent Season and what a spirit filled Christmas Candlelight Service this past Wednesday. Most of you really missed a treat. Surprisingly, for Oklahoma, the weather has not been very cooperative the past few days. It is a reminder to us that it is not about our – REHERSALS – PLAYS – CONCERTS – ANY OF OUR BEST LAID PLANS – HOLIDAY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS. In a few days the world will celebrate Christmas Day with the joys of the morning celebration with family. And then, just like that, in a span of 24-hours, it will be over. The sad reality is Christmas sure does not last. In the next two weeks trees will be on the side of the road for pick-up and be discarded - decorations taken down, stored in Garage or Attic and just as quick on to the next celebration of New Years Day. I wonder, how many gifts will break and wear out or be re-gifted within this next year.
• That is the trouble with the things of Christmas
• They all have a shelf life
• That is everything but the real meaning of Christmas
• That has carried over for 2000 years
With all that takes place during the Christmas season, I would like to set our focus back to where it belongs. We all can focus on FAMILY – GIFTS – MEALS – DECORATIONS – VACATIONS – HOLIDAY TRAVELS. We can also focus so much on the peripheral of the Christmas narrative. We can focus on – ANGELS – SHEPHERDS – MARY and JOSEPH – NO ROOM IN THE INN – all INTRICAL parts of the Christmas message. But, ultimately – CHRISTMAS IS REALLY ALL ABOUT GOD.
Our focus on this Christmas Sunday needs to be directed on the Lord. It is so easy to lose sight of that with all the hustle and bustle of the season. Especially when I hear so many, including the saints say, that this time of year is very difficult for them because a loved one is no longer here. And I do not want to trivialize that at all.
• Grandma made Christmas special for us back in Keyport, NJ - and she is no longer here
• My Aunts opened their beautiful home(s) and we enjoyed the decorations – another one has left us just a few weeks ago
• Perhaps your Mother and Father created great memories for you and now they are no longer here
• Siblings are transitioning and leaving voids in our heart
• Transitions of time can break our hearts
• But, Ultimately Christmas has always been and will always be about Christ
Handel’s Messiah had a song “AND THE GLORY”. So easily we can miss what it means, “AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHONE AROUND THEM.” This phrase is a powerful revelation of the Lord God’s presence at Christmas. “THE GLORY OF THE LORD.” If we lose sight of that, then Christmas time becomes a period of sadness and lack the capacity of Celebration. Remember what Jesus said in ST. JOHN 11:25 “…I AM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE: HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE.”
If I were to ask each of us this morning to define the word “Glory”, we would probably hear varied definitions and explanations. We have a good understanding when we define the word Hallelujah, the highest praise. We can define and understand the difference between Praise and Worship. Praise is what we do and Worship removes us from the equation. We even do well with defining and understanding the difference between Grace and Mercy.
Our text this morning places focus upon a different aspect - “THE GLORY.” What is the Glory that we read in this exciting text this morning? When we consider various artists renditions of how they depict the angels in the sky at Christmas, the artists try to make it look bright and shiny behind the angels. What is missed is that the bright and shiny is not from the presence of the angels, but rather from the presence of the Lord himself.
When the Lord in all his glory is seen it is too awesome for humans to behold with the naked eye. It would be almost like looking directly into the sun. Our eyes could not take the full glory and live. Remember what God told Moses when he had experienced and found himself in a Spiritual Meltdown? - EXODUS 33:20-23 “AND HE SAID, THOU CANST NOT SEE MY FACE: FOR THERE SHALL NO MAN SEE ME, AND LIVE. AND THE LORD SAID, BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BY ME, AND THOU SHALT STAND UPON A ROCK: AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, WHILE MY GLORY PASSETH BY, THAT I WILL PUT THEE IN A CLIFT OF THE ROCK, AND WILL COVER THEE WITH MY HAND WHILE I PASS BY: AND I WILL TAKE AWAY MINE HAND, AND THOU SHALT SEE MY BACK PARTS: BUT MY FACE SHALL NOT BE SEEN”
Other times we have the Glory of the Lord displayed and miss it, remember what happened on Mount Sinai. EXODUS 24:15-18 - When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it:
• And the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai
• For six days the cloud covered the mountain
• On the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud
• To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain
We also read in the Old Testament whenever the Glory of the Lord would fill the Temple, even the Priests could not enter in. The presence and the Glory of the Lord was too powerful even for the men of God to enter. When Moses stood before the Lord on the back side of the Median Dessert, he saw a bush burning but not being consumed. He said let me turn and see this great sight. Although God was present in a Theophany – he still said Moses don’t come any closer – TAKE THE SHOES OFF YOUR FEET FOR THE GROUND YOU STAND UPON IS HOLY GROUND.
Isaiah the prophet foretold the coming of the Christ Child. He wrote in ISAIAH 40:5 “AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHALL BE REVEALED, AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEE IT TOGETHER: FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT.” And then we land in our text this morning - ST. LUKE 2:9 “AND, LO, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME UPON THEM, AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHONE ROUND ABOUT THEM: AND THEY WERE SORE AFRAID.”
Imagine that – Shepherds being alone in the darkness, and suddenly surrounded by an incredibly bright light, the glory of the Lord. That Glory is a Heavenly Light it is divine truth. And the first time a person really sees the truth, it can be overwhelming. Swedenborg describes a time when person in the spiritual world heard something from the internal sense of the word – and his eyes filled with tears, and he was not even able to keep reading because he was so profoundly moved. This is a picture of the kind of awe a person can experience as they realize for the first time in their lives:
• I am seeing the Lord here
• That is the glory of the Lord
• The Lord’s Divine Truth
• And it can be almost frightening
• Because it is so intense, so brilliant
• And it is so much bigger than our own idea of the truth
• I PETER 2:9 “….WHO HATH CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELLOUS LIGHT”
• That’s the Glory!
So the next question we must ask – Where was the Glory in Jesus? I have to take you back to the Word again. Take a look with me at HEBREWS 1:3 “WHO BEING THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY, AND THE EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON, AND UPHOLDING ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER…”
• This baby found in the manger is the Radiance of God’s glory
• He is the exact representation of God’s being
So how was it possible for the shepherd to approach the baby Jesus? What does it mean for his very being? How could the Lord be in flesh and blood? The disciples would get a glimpse of his glory during his ministry. John would write: ST. JOHN 1:14 “AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, AND DWELT AMONG US, AND WE BEHELD HIS GLORY, THE GLORY AS OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.”
• The very presence of the Lord at the first Christmas invoked the full sense of fear
• Remember the words describing the shepherds?
• They were So Afraid
• Remember God’s own words to Moses?
• You cannot see my face and live
• For sinful human beings coming into the presence of God it is terrifying
• Our flesh would tremble just like the people of old
And when the angel had announced this news to the shepherds, and pointed them to the very animal shed where the baby lay, suddenly an army of angels appeared in the sky.
• Evidently, one angel can bring the news
• But it does not suffice for one angel to respond to the news
• The meaning of this news
• The ultimate outcome of this news
• That demands an army of angels
• Churches across the land should be full today proclaiming this news
• Churches across the land should be full on Christmas Day proclaiming this news
• Every Christian household should resound with the reading of this text early on Christmas morning
• We should be proclaiming Glory to God in the Highest
We would all be still terrified at the glory of the Lord. Each one of us would be able to say, “My CONSCIENCE - my PAST - my THOUGHTS - my ACTIONS - my FAILURES all would haunt me.
• Who am I to come into the presence of the holy, glorious God?”
• By faith we are able to pick up the baby Jesus in all his veiled glory and know him as God’s answer to a sinful world
• What a difference Christ makes
• He is the light of the world and then makes us light
• We end up showing the presence of God in our lives
When we really think about it, what a Paradox!
• The one who holds the world in His hands - Held in a manger
• The Eternal One - Caught in a moment of time
• Omnipresence - captured in a baby
• Omnipotence - cradled in a helpless infant who could not even raise His head from the straw
• Omniscience - confined in a baby who could not say a word
• The Christ who created the heavens and the earth - Cradled in a manger in a cave stable
• What unassuming love!
• What divine wisdom!
• What a far reaching grace!
• A new aspect of God’s nature is now revealed in His Incarnation
• What else could the Angles proclaim beyond – Glory to God in the Highest!
At this very moment, mankind did not realize what was going on. Had no clue as to what God had just done. I'm sure the angels stood praising in awe of God’s awesome love and humility.
• The love so great that the Father would not spare His own Son
• That the Son though Rich became Poor
• Though totally pure would vicariously bear the curse of sin
• So that the Holy Spirit could dwell in sinful hearts
• Any who have but a small realization of what has occurred could not but bow in awe of God's indescribable marvelous love and amazing grace
• The Angles knew what God had just done
• Proclaim Glory to God in the Highest!
• Glory, therefore; is the sum total of all the Praise – Power – Honor - Majesty - that belongs to God. Glory to God in the Highest!
• Men and angels do not give this "glory" to God
• It is already His and will always be His from eternity to eternity
• What the angels in the heavens and before the throne were doing is recognizing and acknowledging the glory that has always been God's
We have lost sight of that today. That’s why the early Christians called Jesus “EMMANUEL.” It’s a Hebrew word and it means “GOD WITH US.” In our modern world and modern thinking we no longer equate the name “Jesus” with the power of Emmanuel.
• The God of the Christian narrative does not live off on the margin of life
• He is more than a God exiled to Sunday morning and Christmas celebrations
• Christian faith is certainly not feeling spiritual goose bumps all or most of the time
• We should feel His Glory
• The Glory of Emmanuel
• God with Us
Who could have picked such a name? Mary and Joseph didn't. They would never have dreamed of giving their child this name.
• Parents may pray that God will give them a healthy child
• Parents may pray that God will bless their child
• But which parents have the audacity of calling their child: "God with us"?
• That name clearly has to come from God himself
• Back then it was not like today
• We name our children – Heaven – Emmanuel – God
• Back in antiquity a Jewish parent would not dare
• Mary and Joseph did not select this name for this baby now wrapped in swaddling clothes
• For it is a name in which God commits himself
• It is a name in which God commits himself to be by our side
• Emmanuel—that name sums up the heart of the gospel
Don’t get me wrong for the name Jesus means Yahweh Saves. We thank God for the name and the person of Jesus. For there is no other name whereby men must be Saved! That’s what Christmas is all about knowing that God is with Us! Christmas reminds us of a truth so profound and unsettling that we are afraid to unwrap it and pull it out to look at and examine.
• God chose to send his Son Jesus to be born and raised among simple, common folk
• God Himself in human flesh
• No stranger was he to struggle and the ambiguities of life
• He is God with us
This Christmas season he has come again to be Emmanuel to us. To be our Friend amidst the struggles we face.
• To lead us through the maze of moral grays and business temptations
• To sit down in our cluttered living rooms and help fold the laundry with us as the kids shout at each other from the bedroom
• No, he doesn't want to wait for us to be scrubbed and primped and at our best
• As we are He loves us
• As we are He came for our sins
• As we are He wants to be with us and let us tell him about it
• He knows how it is
• He knows the way through it
• And He has come to us
• He has come to be our Emmanuel
• Our God with us
• Yes, Glory to God in the Highest!
• This is why we are able to say on this Christmas Sunday – Glory to God in the Highest–
• Emmanuel, God wrapped in flesh
• Emmanuel, who came to earth in human form
• Emmanuel, who knows the struggle of our pain
• Emmanuel, who knows what it feels like to be disappointed by others
• Emmanuel, who knows what it means to be deserted by friends and ridiculed by many
• Emmanuel, God of very God
• Emmanuel, Robed in humanity knows what it is to be without, even without the presence of the Father on a cross alone
• Emmanuel, Our answer
• Emmanuel, Our ability to wait is found in the one who waits with us
• Emmanuel, Because he waits with us, never ever leaving us alone
• We should be able to shout Glory to God in the Highest!
This season reminds us of the Glory of our Savior during this Holy Season. I don’t know about you, but I am glad that I have a Savior that promised to never leave us alone. Emmanuel God with us no matter what, just as He was with –
• Adam when he ate the fruit
• David when he committed Adultery
• Joseph when he doubted
• Mary when she pondered
• Peter when he denied him
• Paul when he tried to stone those who believed in him
• Judas when he betrayed him
I close this morning with the words of CHARLES WESLEY (1707-1788) who said it well
VEILED IN FLESH, THE GODHEAD SEE
HAIL THE INCARNATE DEITY
PLEASED AS MAN WITH MEN TO DWELL
JESUS, OUR EMMANUEL
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING
GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING
