A Season of Advent part 3

Preparing for the Season – Hark the Herald Angels

Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains. And the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains. Gloria in excelsis Deo!

We sing of angels who proclaimed the coming of the Lord. We find them throughout the Christmas story, so this week, I want to tell the Christmas story from their perspective. Several people encountered angels. Each had their own responses. And the angels appeared in several different ways. Some appeared in person, some appeared in multitudes and some appeared in dreams. In all these appearances, it shows me that God communicates to us in a variety of ways. And each person responds to God differently. It has been fascinating to travel through the story on the wings of angels. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Hark the Herald Angles sing, Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With the angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!” Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.

To start our venture, we travel to Jerusalem. There we find a man named Zechariah who is a priest. His division was on duty at the temple and the lot fell to him to burn the incense before the Lord. As he was burning the incense, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and says, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. There will be joy and delight for you, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.” We later find out that this angel is none other than Gabriel who stands in the presence of the Lord. He has been sent by God to deliver this message to Zechariah, but Zechariah doesn’t believe the message – he questions the possibility. Because of this, Zechariah is muted until John is born and named. I have read this many times in the past, but with this reading, I noticed a few things for the very first time. First, Zechariah and Elizabeth have been praying about her barrenness. We know this because the angel tells us that their prayers had been heard. Yet Zechariah questions the angel – how can this be? Isn’t that often how it is? We pray and pray and pray about something – then when it happens, we question it. Did God really answer that prayer? Maybe it was just a coincidence. Instead of rejoicing we question. Instead of being happy about his answered prayer, Zechariah questions. Second, this child was going to be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it. And we have evidence of this – when Mary came to visit Elizabeth. “In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her.” From the womb, John was already proclaiming the Messiah. The third thing I noticed was John would go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah. Last week we looked at John as the forerunner of the Messiah. He would be the one to proclaim Jesus as Messiah. Most importantly, John was going to go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah. It is what every Jewish person looks for during Passover – Elijah returning to make way for the Messiah.

Next we travel to Nazareth where we find Gabriel again six months later. “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?” The angel replied to her:“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.” A couple of things to notice here. First, Mary questioned the angel too, but didn’t seem to have the same kind of consequences. Why? Probably because this isn’t an answered prayer – an expectation. Mary really couldn’t understand how this was possible at all. The amazing thing though – when it was explained to her, she says, “I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Wow! Pretty amazing if you think about it. She had just been told that something impossible was going to happen to her and she excepts it. A woman of great faith – the very reason God entrusted this to her.

We don’t have to travel to far for the next appearance. Probably around the corner in Nazareth. This time it is Joseph who encounters an angel – but not in person, in a dream. As I read this again, it struck me how integral Joseph was in all of this. He had to come along side Mary, support her, raise Jesus, deal with the fact that he could not be with his wife until after Jesus was born… But first, he had to accept what had happened to her. Mary and Joseph were engaged – back then they were all but married. They had a covenant – money had changed hands – families had made agreements. It was all done except the wedding. For Mary to be pregnant… Joseph could have made a huge scene and even called for her stoning. But even before an angel makes an appearance, we see Joseph’s character and love for Mary. “So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.” Now enter the angel. “But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins… When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.” So Joseph came through. He believed the angel. He believed God’s calling in his life – a calling to be a father to THE Son of God. No easy task. Most of all, Joseph had to be a person who would listen to God without question and do exactly as He was told – to obey without question. We will see why this is so important in a bit.

It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold. Peace on the earth, good will to men from heaven’s all gracious King. The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.

Next we travel south to Bethlehem – actually just outside Bethlehem – to some fields at night where shepherds are abiding. “In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly there there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors! When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They were excited – they just got up and ran to Bethlehem. They had to see it for themselves! What a sight it would have been when you think about it. First one angel, then a multitude – all praising God. It must have been the most amazing choir ever!

Next, there are wise men from the east following a star. They get to Jerusalem and find they must go to Bethlehem to find the king they seek. They make their way there and discover the King of kings. They bow and worship him leaving some very amazing gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh. Afterwards, they get ready to travel back to Jerusalem to report to king Herod. Enter our next angel. “And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.” No questions asked, they just change their route home. Meanwhile, back in the house, Joseph has another dream. It seems this is the way God speaks best to him. “After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”  So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.” This is where Joseph’s unquestioning spirit is most important. He didn’t have time to question God. He just had to act. He didn’t even wait until morning. He got up and left in the night – a VERY dangerous time to travel. Nighttime was when all the robbers and others where out and about. The road could be treacherous. Joseph had to trust God completely – and he did. The last appearance was also to Joseph, “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, because those who sought the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.” Again, Joseph was obedient without question. He took his role as father seriously. He followed God’s direction perfectly.

Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight o’er all the earth. Ye who sang creation’s story now proclaim Messiah’s birth. Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

In looking at the story through the angel’s stories, I find many responses. First, each of the personal appearances were accompanied by fear. Each person knows they are in the presence of a messenger of the Lord. This wasn’t just some person that approaches them – this is the glory of the Lord showing up, reducing all who come into contact to fear. Thus the angel has to say – don’t be afraid. We are here with good news. Once the fear passes and the good news is passed along, it is followed by different responses. Zechariah’s response was disbelief. Mary’s response was acceptance. Joseph’s response was total unquestioning commitment. And the shepherds? Pure absolute joy. Let’s go straight to Bethlehem… No hesitation – just get up and run. The wise men responded by believing and changing their direction. And what is our response? God is calling us in this day to bring that same message of peace to the world. He says – come and worship Christ – the savior of the world. How will we respond to His call? Disbelief? Acceptance? Commitment? Change the path we are going to the one God wants? Joy? Maybe a bit of all of the above. But most of all, I think I want to be more like the shepherds. I want that pure absolute joy. The kind that just wants to go and shout it out in the streets – Jesus Christ is born!

Sing we Now of Christmas, Noel, sing we here! Hear our grateful praises to the babe so dear. Sing we Noel, the King is born Noel! Sing we now of Christmas, sing we now Noel!