The Gospel According to Whom . . .? ~ Luke 2:8-18

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ~ Luke 2:8-18

“Good news of great joy for all people.” Our world seems in short supply, right? In fact, the holidays for many seem to be much more about stress, running around, getting into debt, more than anything we might call “good.” So our passage today struggles. Not because it isn’t true but because we’ve lost the ability to hear it, to find the world filled with angels and to discover that God is good. So to re-inhabit the story, the drama of it, I’d like to do something a bit different this morning. I am going to offer an imaginative perspective of three angels who are supposedly auditioning to be the arch-angel who will lead “the heavenly host” to the shepherds. In Galatians 1:8, Paul mentions that we should not listen to angels who preach another gospel. Apparently, angels, like humans, can misunderstand, misrepresent, simply miss God. So what follows is my own dramatization of how many of us get the gospel wrong – in ways that are all too familiar in our world, even in the church. So keep your Bible open to Luke 2:8-18 and listen critically. But first an apology for my acting – let grace and forgiveness abound, for this I am truly sorry, and second a disclaimer.  

DISCLAIMER: The events, characters and entities depicted in this sermon are mostly fictional. Any resemblance or similarity to any actual events, entities, or persons, whether living or dead, is only sort of coincidental - except when the Gospel of Luke is quoted, which it is a lot. Okay, so this is kind of fictional, but nonetheless seeks to unmask that which seeks to portray itself as true. So it’s not truly fictional but it seeks to be fictionally true. 

Angel One: Okay – let’s see tone, message, and audience. How would God want me to do this? What’s my motivation? Okay, get into character – be angelic, majestic, perfect.  Oh I’ve made a few changes to the script. I hope that’s okay? This story felt a bit too rated R for my taste. Here we go. Ha! Be afraid, be very afraid! – yes, you should be afraid. Do you know who God truly is? And God knows, God knows everything! Every breath you take and every move you make. Every bond you break, every step you take, He’s watching you. For unto you is born this day – the One who’s coming to clean house – the pure one, the Almighty Smiter (that’s my own addition), do you hear what I’m saying? Now, I am bringing you God’s message of good news for some people – okay, you, you, not you, maybe you, and definitely not you. A king is born in the city of David – a city which, I might add, God could easily wipe off the face of the earth. And  . . .  And . . . Line? Oh yeah, oh yeah, “sign.” The sign? The sign is big, huge, uncontestable – it’s uh, me, I mean us – the angels! We are the sign – perfect, moral angels – white teeth, fresh breath, righteous anger, ready to do battle with a sinful world! “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth – this miserable planet filled with no-good sinners – peace for those whom God loves like . .  .Wait, who are you guys? Uh, there’s a problem – this is not the right audience. Shepherds are you kidding me? Their dirty and I don’t just mean their hands and faces. Who’s the script writer? Luke? Come on! I heard there was another version with “wise men” and proper gifts like gold and frankincense. Where are the priests? SPOILER ALERT: Priests will love him. What? I can’t change that? Okay, fine. But wash your hands you filthy animals and no, I’m not talking to the sheep.

We’ve heard angels one’s message. That God is a morally strict God – itching for vengeance, focused on strict rule following, and seeking starched white, religious people. What’s insidious about this message is that religious people constantly talk about trusting in God and knowing God but are constantly the ones in the gospel story who miss God and misunderstand Jesus’ words and actions. The only priest in the birth story is Zacharias and we all remember what happens to him – he’s the one made mute. And while many of Christians may not be committing notable sins, their hearts are increasingly filled with pride, self-righteousness, insecurity, envy and spite – making the world a miserable place to live in. A gospel like that simply makes outcast out of people who don’t live up to your standards – and the outcasts ARE the audience of the gospel. I’m reminded of the scene from the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, when the main character, Owen, who is very small due to birth defects is forced to play the baby Jesus though he’s almost a teenager. Embarrassed – he forbids his parents to come to the Christmas play only to discover during it that they are sitting on the front row. When he sees them, he stands up in the manger, points at them and says, “Who let you in here?” How many churches sound like that? Yet the good news is that the gospel is not a moral tale and God is not some heavenly Santa with a naughty and nice list. We all need a savior and aren’t saved because we are good. But let’s return to the story and the second, messed up angel.

Second angel: Okay, whoa that first angel needs decaf. I’ve also made a few changes to improve upon the script. Okay? Be all that you can be. Find success join Christianity! Hey no cowering, no cowering, it’s all good. Don’t worry be happy, right? What do you have to be afraid of, except Roman taxes? Am I right? Okay, fear those but for everything else, no problem. I’ve got good news for you – you can be a success, have it all, for unto you is born this day – in a city whose gdp is still very strong - is One I liked to call “the fixer, the Heavenly CEO, Success Guru for how to make friends and influence people. This will be a sign for you – no problems. No problems, no surprises, no mistakes, no headaches, no weepy phone calls in the middle of the night, no divorce or kids on drugs, or bad financial decisions, because, hey, we know why bad things happen, right? Poor planning, poor thinking, poor prayer and well, just being poor, if we’re honest. Remember what the Bible says, “God helps those who help themselves.” What? That’s not in the Bible? Well, it should be! The sign is that you will find the babe wrapped in . . . what? Lying in a what? Uh, what’s that sign of other than bad parenting? They had nine months to get the Bjorn crib. And can we do something about this audience? Why are we in Bethlehem anyway? I mean Rome is the real scene. Send me and the boys there and this baby will have proper care, I guarantee it.

Angel two’s message also resonates. It imagines that God is all about our hard work and the Gospel God’s assurance that, like Ben Franklin says, “Early to bed, early to rise, will make a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Christianity then is about success and has no time for failure and little to say to those whose life doesn’t turn out like they plan. There’s no mystery and in the end no gift of grace. The gospel message becomes what we are able to simply do for ourselves and a source of shame for all of us who have failed. In the comedy Talladega nights – Will Ferrell displays this way of thinking for many Christians in an utterly ridiculous sort of way at a meal time prayer. His character – a famous race car driver – prays: Okay. Dear 8 pound, 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant and so cuddly, but still omnipotent, we just thank you for all the races I’ve won and the 21.2 million dollars – woo!– love that money, that I have accrued over this past season. Also, due to a binding endorsement contract that stipulates I mention Powerade at each grace, I just want to say that Powerade is delicious and it cools you off on a hot summer day. And we look forward to Powerade’s release of Mystic Mountain Blueberry. Thank you for all your power and your grace, dear baby God. Amen.

Now Angel Three – the one who gets it right: Don’t be afraid – oh, I know, I know, it’s hard to see why you shouldn’t be. Augustus is emperor – a military occupation of staggering proportions, the economic situation is dreadful, and no prophets have brought any word from God in a long time. But I am bringing good news of great joy. Right, great joy! Don’t you know that you were made for joy? That God created you because God thought you would enjoy it? And don’t worry because you can’t buy it, don’t have to manufacture it yourself, pretend to be happy, really do anything. God is doing it and doing it for everyone –good news of great joy for all people – rich and poor, young and old, women and men, the righteous, the not-so-righteous, the tattooed, the busy body, the slacker and even that irritating person who voted for the candidate that you did not. And this one who is born in the city of David – is savior, which means that there is something we ALL need saving from– is king, which means that we ALL need help ruling our own lives – is the Lord, which means that God is not distant or far removed from anyone. This will be a sign for you - you will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Do you get it? That’s clever, amazing – that’s God. God with us – God in it, the thick of it, the bumps and bruises of it – every nook and cranny of our lives. God is not some abstract thought experiment to be believed or not believed  – God is a flesh and blood person. God is now someone you can see. God is now someone with whom you can share your life and receive his in return. I know I’m off script here but another writer will say, “in him the fullness of God dwelt.” We can look now and see who God truly is and what God really wants. So look at the baby in the stable and sing with us: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. And I love that this comes to shepherds. Shepherds remind us of the shepherd King David (2 Sam. 7:8), but also because shepherds belong on God’s guest list for the kingdom: the poor, the maimed, the blind, the lame – the prophecy of Isaiah 61is fulfilled even in his birth. His birth truly reveals who God is and what God has come to do.