"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors," a multitude of angels sang to some shepherds working the night shift just outside of Bethlehem. They sang in response to the birth announcement one of them, The Angel of the Lord, had just made to the shepherds, that a Savior had been born, the anointed one of God. They could find the child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. That information was about as specific as telling us to look for a baby dressed in a onesie and swaddled in a receiving blanket. The manger part may have been a bit more unusual, though babies in the first century surely survived with less stuff than babies today seem to require.
Whatever the specifics, a whole bunch of angels, a heavenly host, a multitude, praised God and said, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors." Say that with me now, it is printed in your worship guide: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors."
I always picture this scene with the multitude of angels in flowing robes filling the sky above the shepherds who are cowering in fear on the ground, with light flooding the previously darkened sky. After all, earlier when the angel of the Lord made the announcement the glory of the Lord shone around them. I picture glory as light.
I also imagine the multitude of angels singing. Over the centuries we have turned their words into song again and again. "Gloria in excelsis deo," is the Latin translation so many of us have sung.
Everyone has his/her favorite Christmas carol. I know that Angels We Have Heard on High, with its chorus of Glooooooria is at the top of many lists. I read the Bible more closely, however, and I see that it says the angels said not that they sang. Maybe it is a minor point. I'll probably continue to imagine them singing. For now, however, say the words with me again: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors."
Over time, I have developed my own pattern of prayer, modeled loosely on the Roman Catholic Rosary. Each morning I say a series of prayers which are spaced by one verse, in my case, our verse tonight. It is my favorite prayer of praise. Pray it with me: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors."
What I had never realized until I began to prepare tonight's sermon is that in the Gospel of Luke very nearly the same prayer of praise comes back at the end of Jesus' life. A week before he died, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey. People hailed him as a king. They cut branches from the palm trees and put their cloaks on the road before Jesus and they praised God joyfully, saying, "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven." The word order is a little different, but the sense is the same as the angel's words at his birth. Say with me again the angel's version: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors."
Glory to God. In Greek the word is doxa. One meaning is splendor, brightness, or majesty. That's the meaning which gives rise to our imagery of light. The primary meaning of doxa, however, is that of opinion, or judgment, usually resulting in praise and honor. It has a little different mood, perhaps a darker one.
I've been wondering, what if glory is not so much about light as it is about night, about darkness? The shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night. Maybe the fields were not so much flooded with light like the noonday sun as with the twinkle of starlight?
Jesus rode in triumph into Jerusalem, but not long after the people praised God saying, "glory in the highest heaven," they began to demand, "Crucify him!" The Bethlehem Babe became the Man of Sorrows who died on the cross. At the moment of his death darkness came over the whole land for three hours, a cosmic judgment that the world had changed forever. Not our typical vision of glory. And yet, it was Jesus' death on the cross which led in the end to our salvation. Jesus could not rise to new life without dying first. There would be no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. And there would be no Good Friday without Christmas. Born as an ordinary human baby, Jesus grew up with a body like ours; as an infant he had diaper explosions and spit up, as a child he grew in wisdom and stature, and as an adult he had a body which felt the blow of the nails and which died a real death. The glory of Easter Sunday began on Good Friday and the glory of Good Friday began on Christmas Eve when the angels sang to the shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors."
So you see, I think glory comes in the night. It is fitting that in a few moments we'll come to everyone's favorite part of Christmas Eve: the candlelight ceremony. We do it in the dark. Passing the light from one candle to the other would not be the same if we left on all of the lights. It only works in the dark, just like we can only see the twinkle of the stars at night.
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors."
Peace on earth is the other half of this Christmas equation. Peace on earth, yet despite this promise war prevails. After fourteen years of war in Afghanistan now it looks like we may go to war in Syria. Al Queda has morphed into ISIS. The attacks on Paris, Nigeria, Bagdad, Beirut, and the downing of a Russian plane over Sinai remind us all too vividly of the attacks on our own country on 9-11. When will it ever end?
Peace on earth, yet despite this promise tensions persist in communities. Police brutality, especially against minority groups, is a real problem. It seems that the election of our first African American President, rather than being the crowning glory to decades of civil rights struggles has only heightened the problem. So much for peace on earth.
Peace on earth, yet despite this promise interpersonal strife persists. We love to imagine a warm glow of loving families gathered under the Christmas tree where everybody is happy. The truth is that it doesn't always work out that way. Kids squabble, relatives bicker, and sometimes it even comes to blows. Domestic violence is a year round problem, and takes no Christmas vacation.
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace among those whom God favors." So what does peace on earth mean if tensions continue?
Just as glory comes in the night and not at noon day so God's peace comes precisely in the midst of tension. The earthly counterpart to God's heavenly peace is God's gift to us. It is the gift of God's forgiveness OF us and the gift of forgiveness THROUGH us. We don't need to forgive the people who do nice things for us or whom we like. We are to forgive the people who hurt us. And it is hard. Forgiveness does not mean allowing other people to continue to wound us. If someone is hitting you, get to a safe place. You don't have to take it. Forgiveness comes later.
In the end, forgiveness is more of an internal thing. It is letting go of the resentments and grudges which eat away at us from within. It does not mean that what the other person did is ok. It does mean that I choose not to get stuck in the hurt. And doing that is difficult. The vast majority of us need God's help to do it. We need the help to realize we need not be defined by the other person's abuse; we need the assurance to know that God loves us; and we need the recognition that the other person is a fallible human being just like we are.
Forgiveness is a gift of God which comes to us, not in the light of peace and harmony but in the darkness of tension and conflict. Peace is the gift of God that comes to us in the darkness of sin.
As the burden of resentment is lifted we too can sing of glory.
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God has favored."