Calling All Angels

Calling All Angels!
Luke 2:8-15
Christmas Eve 2022
William G. Carter

 And 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!”

Normally I don’t preach a sermon in rhyme.
But Christmas Eve is a most special time.
So if you’ll indulge a few minutes to spare,
I offer some couplets as my gift to share.
For this night is different from all other nights.
The stars are rejoicing. Our candles are lights
That beckon the universe to join in rejoicing
And sing with the angels, the Good News re-voicing:
Calling all angels!

One angel’s enough to announce a new child
So Gabriel went to speak news that was wild.
To Jerusalem’s Temple, he went with great mirth,
To the priest Zechariah with his feet on the earth.
Old Zeck scratched his head and couldn’t believe
That his ancient wife would soon conceive.
He knew the old stories of Abram and Sarah,
Thought they were finished, and his wife was barren.
“You’ve got nothing to say,” said God’s messenger bright,
“so wait nine more months and see that I’m right.”
The priest stumbled out, as mute as a stone.
And in God’s good time, the promise was done.
The lesson for us is to always remember
An Angel speaks truth. And so in December
We gather this night beneath bright stars above
And listen for God to speak new words of love.
Calling all angels!

And then three months later, the angel was sent
To speak startling words of the announcement
That young Mary, too, would bear a miraculous baby.
It was certain and sure, and I don’t mean maybe.
“But how could this be?” she asked with a whim.
“I’m engaged to my Joseph and haven’t touched him.”
Gabriel nodded and he understood.
She was promised to Joseph (the worker of wood).
“In time it shall happen, and then you will see
That God can do anything,” he said with great glee.
This angel, he comes from the right hand of God.
He speaks what the Lord speaks, even if it’s odd.
So Mary, she pondered, then said, “Let it be,”
Not knowing yet trusting God’s strange mystery.
She believed in her soul what she couldn’t foretell,
’cause she knew in her heart she can trust an angel.
Calling all angels!

And then one more time, to shepherds at night,
This angel appeared and provoked a great fright.
The old story declares they were all “sore afraid.”
Would they, too, be pregnant? Oh, no, but they stayed
All frozen in fear, terrified in their wonder
That God should come find them wherever they wandered.
Dismissed as bad sinners by priests in the temple,
Rejected as thieves by the smart and the simple,
Yet to them the angel was sent that good night,
And to them came news that forever ignites:
That God, the Good Shepherd, had found them in grace,
“And you,” said the angel, “shall see God’s great face.”
They shuddered in wonder. “A Savior, for us?”
But Gabriel fiercely smiled ‘til they could adjust
To what they were hearing. This marvelous Word!
That “The Christ shall be like us,” which sounds so absurd.
The news was astounding and so unexpected.
Not one of them knew quite what God had projected.
They were shepherds, yet loved, not dismissed in disgrace,
But welcomed to witness the Child near their place.
The angel said all of this. O, how graciously they fared!
And then something more which they couldn’t have prepared.
Above them, around them, a multitude did sing.
They were bright, shining soldiers – a choir with wings
Calling all angels!

Now, here is the question that I raise this evening:
Why should God add ten thousand angels to sing?
Isn’t Gabriel the messenger angelic enough?
Can’t he get through to those who are rough?
Well, of course, he can. To the priest and the lass,
He’s already spoken with clarity and class.
But a multitude joins him in God’s generosity
To amplify grace without a shred of pomposity.
It’s “sacred excess,” the evidence of abundance,
And those who see scarcity are invited to dance.
The Bible enlarges what others can’t see.
Moments get larger and louder, so we
Can hear heaven’s exuberance in joining the song
That ignites the joy that drowns out all the wrong.

A “heavenly host” is Luke’s rare description.
It’s big, loud, and mighty, defying depiction.
A “host” is an army with armor and spears.
Fierce, strong, and powerful, they provoke fear.
But this host is different, a legion of joy,
Proclaiming good news in the birth of a boy.
What kind of army sings of this great grace?
The kind that drops weapons and reveals God’s Face.
This Face that shines mercy, forgiveness, and peace
And wages a mission for love to increase.
“Let peace rule on earth,” the army shall sing,
“God’s glory is shining on each person and thing.”
These are the words from the celestial choir
They sing with full gusto and heavenly fire.

Now, one single angel may announce a new birth
Yet a choir resounds with great news for the earth.
Voices are multiplied and gladly expanded
A community sings and all hearts are banded
Together they proclaim with one message for all:
The Christ’s birth signals our redemption from the Fall.
Our first parents distrusted what God had to say.
Disobedience was planted in our DNA.
But God now forgives our impulsive rejection,
Steps into our brokenness, dismisses dejection.
Through life, death, and raising, Lord Jesus restores
what disrupted God’s union with us; and what’s more,
Christ offers great light and the life eternal.
It’s sung in the angels’ bright anthem nocturnal.

I suppose you could have a Christmas by yourself,
You and your tree and your elf on the shelf.
But here you have come to join in the Song.
In pew or on YouTube, it’s clear you belong.
We gather to join and combine in one voice
In singing the Song that cuts through the noise
In a world so distracted by lesser pursuits
Like eggnog, and cheap toys, and brown furry boots.
There’s something above us, around us, and here,
Much holier than sin and greater than fear.
For God has come near us, descending from a cloud
To lift up the lowly and scatter the proud.
The Song from on high is best sung by a crowd.
It’s large and amazing and deserves to be LOUD.
Calling all angels – those far off and near!
Calling all angels – Oh, wait. They are here!

William G. Carter
Christmas 2022