By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, RectorAnd suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”
The angels’ song of joy echoes through time. It echoes with the hopes and goals of all humanity. To give glory to God and to enjoy peace on earth.
When I was a child I grew up going to church and helped at services as an acolyte or a reader. One evening I was scheduled and the Rector asked me to poke my head out and see if anyone had shown up yet. I did and reported that the church was empty. He paused, went to the door and looked for himself and turned to me to say, “No it’s not, it’s full.”
Now, I was young but I wasn’t stupid, but he was not the kind of man you would contradict so I remained quiet. My dubious expression probably gave me away and the Rector explained that the church was filled with angels and archangels and they were waiting for us to get started. I looked again, in case I missed something the first time. And I was caught in that place between denial and hope. Since the choice was up to me, and it really could have gone either way, I decided to choose in favor of the angels, and I’ve never regretted it.
It’s easy to find ourselves caught in that place between denial and hope. And at that very moment we have a choice to make and our choice determines how we live. We can live in a way that offers possibilities or in a way that closes them off. Denial can paralyze and hurt, hope can inspire growth. Given the choice, I’ll take growth.
St. Paul tells us that faith is the hope of things unseen. I hoped that the angels were there and in that hope watered the seed of my faith which is part of my humanity. As my faith has grown I have seen many wonders and miracles and even angels. Sometimes when I’m in this church by myself I’ll listen to try and hear them singing. When I don’t hear them, I’ll sing, and then I realize they’ve done their job. They are not here to entertain me, but to inspire me to sing God’s glory. Faith is active, not passive. We are not spectators but participants. The word “angel” means “messenger”, and that’s the message I got. Angels sing in glory whether anyone is there to hear them or not. Lucky for the shepherds that at that moment they heard. It inspired them to move and search for the infant.
When they found Jesus, nothing had really changed for them and yet everything changed for them. They went back to their flocks, but they were not the same as before. Something in their spirits had changed and quite possibly how they viewed the world they lived in.
Our world is a very different one. We see more than shepherds in the first century could ever have imagined. They saw wars and calamities, but no where near the level we see today. They saw natural disasters, but not the scope of those world wide that we see. They saw political and social corruption, but not as sophisticated and far reaching as we do. And yet they chose to sing the song of the angels and continue to glorify God and again we have a choice.
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast of this country. Among the traumas of that event was the shock of discovery of a neglected portion of the population in New Orleans. Shameful conditions of poverty, unequal access to services and funded programs that were siphoned away from the very people they were intended to help. The national spotlight uncovered a sad commentary on the way we treat our own citizens.
The financial hurricane of 2008 has similarly blown the roof off and exposed untold corruption and abuse of wealth and power which has already devastated so many and is poised for even more damage. The frustration to be felt by people of good will who are so shamelessly treated by the very people they turn to for help is maddening.
And yet it is the same people of good will who step up to the task of addressing the acts of physical and spiritual violence perpetrated by greed and the addiction of power. Grass roots donations of time, money and professional skills to meet the challenges of need and desperation left in the trauma of natural and man made hurricanes is the inspiring silver lining in the dark cloud looming over us now.
Angels are God’s messengers and the angels in this world roll up their sleeves and offer real help and deliver the message of God’s unfailing love.
Just as the levels of our challenges are the highest the world has ever known, the level of our ability to meet them is also the highest it’s ever been. Not only do we rush to the aid of those affected by natural disasters and provide services for those hard hit by financial struggle, we see strides in social justice. The election of an African American to the presidency in a country whose entrenched racism has engendered so much despair and anguish over the centuries is a sign of change and progress. The presence of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people in two states as well as in the public arena for debate and discussion in many others is another sign of progress. Struggle is part of the fabric of this planet and yet the voice of the angels in God’s world call for justice and peace and sing between heaven and earth inspiring it to come to pass. And they won’t stop until it does.
This afternoon at the family service I talked to the children about angels. I told them I had a picture of them in my pocket and asked them if they wanted to see it. They said “yes” as I had hoped they would. I have it here, would you like to see it? It’s in a nice frame. Here it is.
It’s a mirror. And as each child saw his or her face in it, I told them that they are angels. You see, angels aren’t only in heaven, or flying about sheep pastures. Angels are here on earth bringing God’s message of love and hope to make a better world and return it to the paradise it once was. We are God’s hands and feet, we are God’s message to those in pain in the world.
Evil does happen and will happen. Greed and abuse do happen and will happen. Our choices are to remain paralyzed in the presence of it, join it in cynical frustration or confront to it in God’s love. The baby in the manger grew to be a person worked miracles. That baby in its fragile, vulnerable state calls out to us in our fragile and vulnerable states to work miracles too.
The angels over the manger sang “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace...” The shepherds found the baby in the manger and continued the song themselves.
A fragile and helpless baby was born in a manger 2000 years ago with a message and an invitation to be part of the love that heals. The angels in heaven told the angels on earth and the word has been spreading to this day. Never before has the world needed to hear this message more than it does now. Hear the message, allow its love to heal your spirit and inspire your actions to be a messenger of God’s love. Be an angel and sing to the glory of God. Amen.
© 2008 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
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