The Shepherds, Angels And The Kingdom Of God.

This sermon was delivered to Holy Trinity Church in Ayr,

Ayrshire, Scotland on the 31st December 2023

(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).

“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14).

Introduction: A belated merry Xmas

Today is 31st December, the last day of 2023 and if I haven’t done so already, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a belated Very Merry Christmas.

Now I don’t know if it’s just me, but somehow Christmas just seems to go in quicker each year, and now suddenly, we have a New Year to face, so let us take a look at our readings this morning to see if that helps, and a reading where we hear the story about the angels appearing to the shepherds in the fields, a Christmas story that we have all heard a million times before, (normally during advent), however is not an advent story as it takes place after the birth of Jesus.

Introduce the kingdom from previous sermon.

Now I did not pick today’s reading, it was given for me in the lectionary, but it is a coincidence … as I can use this story as a continuation from my last sermon, where I spoke on the kingdom of God, remember that heavenly kingdom that is, right in front of us, yet we cannot see, feel, hear, smell or touch it … but that is God’s kingdom here on this earth … and do you remember me saying, “if I was to choose a scripture to introduce this kingdom of God, I would not use the one I was given that day, which started, “the kingdom of heaven is like …”” … . So, you may ask, what scripture would I use to introduce the Kingdom of God, and I would say this one. I know it sounds strange, let me continue.

The angels appear, but from where?

Let us start by looking at the very familiar verses 8 and 9 in Luke chapter 2, “And there were in the country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. … And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them … “:

Now, you have to ask, “if the angel of the Lord come upon them … where did it come from”? I mean, the angel appeared from nowhere … but it must have come from somewhere! … That place where it came from, I believe to be the Kingdom of Heaven, right here on this earth.

And it wasn’t just one angel, verse 13 goes on to say, “And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”. … Where did they all come from? … Well, obvious the same place, so this place where ever it is, must be big and substantial, and somewhere … right in front of our very eyes … a place that we can neither see, feel, hear, smell or touch, and it is right there in front of us, right now … and it is up to us whither we believe that or not.

An analogy to radio and TV waves

And to help appreciate that, here is an old analogy, and I apologise if you have heard this before but, what if I was to say that all around you right now, were electromagnetic waves, just where you are sitting right now, and many different types of electromagnetic waves, none of which you can see, feel, hear, smell or touch, but there are there, right in our midst.

And I can prove it, that is, if I have a radio, or television, I could tune into these waves and receive music, and pictures for example. The waves are still invisible, but by having a receiver, we can tune in to them, and we can prove they are there … and subsequently use them. And we all know this, but just because we cannot see, feel, hear, smell or touch the kingdom of God, it does not mean it is not there. Now I cannot give you definitive proof that it is there, but we are all here this morning because we know something is there, we all sense that something, a something that is all around us … and is all powerful.

A glimpse into this kingdom.

Now, I don’t believe any of us have seen this kingdom in its entirety, but I do believe many of us have had a slight glimpse of this kingdom, (in a variety of different ways), or we would not be here this morning to worship a living Jesus Christ, whom we can neither see, feel, hear, smell or touch, either.