With Angelic Hosts Proclaim…

I was listening to a Christmas carol today, and I thought about how little I understood of the true meaning of the words when I sang the carol as a child… or even as a young man. The carol, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, is pretty familiar to most of us, but I’m going to include it here anyway (at least the first verse). Just see if you can read it without the melody making you sing it. 

Hark the herald angels 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 angelic hosts proclaim:

"Christ is born in Bethlehem"

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

An interesting aside is that this Christmas carol was written by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, in 1739. A somber man, he requested slow and solemn music for his lyrics and thus “Hark the herald Angels Sing” was sung to a different tune initially. Over a hundred years later Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) composed a cantata in 1840 to commemorate Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. English musician William H. Cummings adapted Mendelssohn’s music to fit the lyrics of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, already written by Wesley.

When I was a kid, I thought the angel’s were all named Harold… thus, “the Harold angels sing.” The Michael and the Fred angels didn’t make the cut, I guessed. Later, I came to understand these angels to be kind of like celestial town criers… proclaiming the fantastic news. And it must have seemed utterly fantastic to the shepherds who were among the very first to hear the angels proclaim the good news. I mean, it’s pitch-dark, the shepherds are out in the fields with their flocks, and this incredibly powerful heavenly creature appears! And the first words the angel speaks? “Do not be afraid.” Yeah… like that’s gonna help. Shock and awe! But the angel certainly had the shepherd’s attention, and they did listen and hear:

“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the city of Bethlehem a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:10-12

As if that were not enough, the one (very terrifying) angel (see Luke 2:9), was suddenly joined by what the Bible calls “a great company of the heavenly host.” Now, if a host is an army… and we are talking about God’s army of angels… I would guess that there were a whole lot of angels that filled the sky. And they were not content to just hover there; they began to praise God, saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:14

 

When half a bazillion angels appeared and began to praise God, I’m betting the sky was a terrifying sight, the sound was overwhelming, and the ground was probably shaking from the force of their combined heavenly voices. The shepherds were thinking: “Do not be afraid. Yea… RIGHT!”

After the angels finally left and went back to heaven, it was probably a while before the shepherds regained enough composure to talk about what had just happened. They were probably all like: “Did you see that?” Were we dreaming?” “What just happened?” But they figured that Bethlehem was pretty close by, so they all went off to see this great thing that had just happened. How could they know what it was? They weren’t scholars, or scribes, or rabbis, or prophets, or wise men… they were simple shepherds… but they recognized that God had invited them to some great happening, so off they went to see.

What an amazing night for those shepherds. When they got to Bethlehem, they found everything just as it was told to them concerning the child. Their hearts leapt for joy, and they spread the word; they shared their great joy with everybody they came in contact with, and they glorified and praised God.

God has already done the angel thing, so don’t expect it this Christmas Eve. You have, however, been given the “good news of great joy,” as it was given for ALL people. Have you dropped what you were doing, and gone to see the Savior? Are you spreading the word? Are you glorifying and praising God?

Think about this: We will have peace on earth, when God’s favor rests on all of us!” (See Luke 2:14) This will only occur when all of us come… and have our hearts changed… at the manger!

To all of you, I wish a merry Christmas, and proclaim:

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Your brother in Christ,

Dave