Glory to God! Luke 2:13-14, Col. 3:12-17 December 27, 2009,

On Christmas Eve, around 6:30, I hopped into the car to come here. There was a bit of snow everywhere, just enough to add some sparkle - and unfortunately just enough to make the roads greasy. On the news, reports of accidents all over the city, one particularly tragic accident in which four men died when the scaffolding under them collapsed.

Here at the church, our absolutely wonderful youth were rehearsing their play. People were setting things up, and there was a generous and warm atmosphere around. The service came together as a piece, we sang Silent Night, and in that candlelight I saw faces glowing too.

Driving home, the Hallelujah chorus was on the car radio - and I bellowed along at the top of my lungs. Above everything, there was indeed angel song - oh, not MY voice, but the voice of the angels was there. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to all people.”

I found myself wondering again why it is that we have made such a commercial venture out of Christmas, that people rush to the point where they lose track of care, and end up either being hurt, or hurting someone else. I wondered why there were people working so late on a Christmas Eve; I wondered about the company that allowed such a shabby scaffold to be built and put people up there. I wondered about all the hurt people do to each other in so many ways, how we become so obsessed with the giving and getting, and the commercial ventures, that the voice of angels is drowned out. I know, this isn’t a new sentiment - but the contrast was particularly striking.

Humanly speaking things weren't really that joyful for Mary and Joseph either. The entire Christmas story is one of human dilemma. We have a tendency to romanticize it, but I doubt Joseph or Mary found it romantic. The whole of their known world was in bad shape, and they really didn’t want to be where they were. More than 2000 years later, we celebrate God's display of peace, and things are still pretty bad in the world. We are surrounded by a world that seems doomed to unrest. In the midst of such uncertainty, we're supposed to celebrate Christmas and sing "Glory to God in the highest!” and “Joy to the World!” like we really mean it.

Circumstances couldn't have been much worse for Mary and Joseph. There was no medical care for Mary or her baby, they could not even find a decent place to have the baby. There was a question surrounding the birth of her baby, since she and Joseph weren’t married. All of this was happening amidst a political crisis forced upon the Jewish people by then super-power Rome.

How do we sing “Glory to God” and “Joy to the World” in this world of today? In the letter to the Colossians, Paul - who is under house arrest and likely facing his own death for being a follower of Jesus - writes about relating to each other in the community of faith. He squeezes everything in - be good, kind, humble, patient, forgive each other, be thankful, help each other understand the way of Jesus. The instructions can be summed up in one line - “above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”. His version of how to sing Glory to God, and Joy!!!

Apparently, in Paul’s mind, Christians have a choice about how to live. In his mind living out our Christianity--loving one another--may be like putting on a new, freshly washed piece of clothing. Putting on love….

I got to thinking about clothing, and how different cultures treat clothes. In Japan, for instance, putting on traditional clothing is a very exact process. Every piece has to be put on in a particular way. The whole ensemble is held together with a wide band of woven stiff fabric called an “obi”, tied on with.......if it is not put on properly, even if it does not all fall off - it will certainly look funny.

Stacey Nicholas, in Canton Missouri, talks about being a firefighter. There is a whole outlay of uniform, and everything has to be put on, and it is all important. There isn’t one piece which can be left off.

Paul’s instructions for living together - cast in the framework of putting on the virtues like clothing - include the one thing which is important. The text in the more modern translation uses the word “love”, but the original Greek translates the word “agape” as ‘charity’. While I don’t normally read from the King James version - it’s a little stilted for today - this translation uses the word ‘charity’.

“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

So we live together, in a community which celebrates a birth of a child, and together we celebrate being children of God. We are asked to put on the clothing of charity - kindness, humility, peace, patience, gratitude, and teaching and encouraging each other. We are asked to sing - psalms and hymns and spiritual songs - and Paul says “Singing with grace in your hearts.” Above all else, we are asked to hear the song of the angels, and sing it back in full voice, wearing the clothing of faith - “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will to all people!”


Sources:
1. “Last Words to Live By” a sermon based on Colossians 3:12-17 by Rev. Frank Schaefer.
2. Stacey Nicholas, Canton, Missouri