Stan Moody

1434 Ohio St., Unit 44 Bangor, ME 04401 207/607-3055 stanmoody1@aol.com

Listening for the Song of the Angels

December 24, 2012

It is customary on Christmas Eve to deliver a homily that tugs at the heart strings and give us a warm, fuzzy feeling as we go back to our homes in anticipation of a day of family and friends. In that sense, the Church fulfills a noble service by reminding us that the gift of Christmas, as driven as it is by consumer appetites, is about an announcement to the world of God's greatest gift to mankind - the triumph of angels over emperors. I shall not be delivering one of those warm, fuzzy homilies tonight. Instead, I hope to point us to the invitation of the angels at Nazareth and Shepherd's Field to enter a world of triumph over emperors. In our little congregation here at the Meeting House Church, we call that world the Kingdom of God, the kingdom that was announced by the angel Gabriel to a teenage girl by the name of Mary: "The Lord God will give him the throne of David, and he will reign over the house of spiritual Israel forever; his kingdom will never end!" The Prophet Isaiah spoke of that kingdom this way: For to us a child is born; to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT and peace, there will be no end. He will reign over David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESSS from that time on and forever. The ZEAL of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. This Kingdom that the Prophet Isaiah declares will be expanding exponentially throughout redemptive history, cannot be seen with the naked eye nor through the good intentions of emperors, kings and presidents. It can only be seen by those who have heard the song of the angels: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ALL the people...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on who his favor rests". The announcement at Shepherd's Field was not an announcement of escape from the reality of oppression, injustice, politics and economics. The announcement
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at Shepherd's Field was God's promise to the ages that He was about to reverse, through His people, the expulsion from the Garden of Eden where sin and self set the stage for a human race looking for justice and mercy where there is no justice and mercy. That kingdom that Isaiah describes as exponentially increasing from Bethlehem on into our day and that Mary was told would never end left an open invitation to become engaged in a present, dynamic and victorious force that can triumph over emperors, kings and presidents. The problem, of course, is that the Church of Jesus Christ in our day has abandoned hope in the song of the angels and, instead, has placed its hope in the ability of emperors, kings and presidents to restore faith and purpose. We who profess Jesus Christ as Lord have an open invitation to answer with our lives and fortunes the call of the Prophet Micah: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. God is at last addressing these problems brought about by emperors, kings and presidents by entering our world -- HIS world - shouldering the burden of self-serving authority, dealing with the results of evil and turning the chaos of daily life into "...peace to men on whom his favor rests". The birth of the Christ-child was not an invitation to a private religion where we can help each other feel warm and fuzzy and removed from a world in despair. It was not about taxes and political oppression. It was about victory over taxes and political oppression. Bethlehem, like most of the known world, was under the heavy boot of Caesar Augustus who declared a census and a tax on all nations conquered by Rome. Riots had broken out, and people who felt they were entitled to freedom from oppression were being killed. Into this chaos walks a young lady pregnant out of wedlock and her husband-to-be. In a feeding trough in a cattle cave lies a newborn baby so obscure and unqualified and uncredentialed that no human force could possibly establish him as emperor, king or president. Thirty-some years later, that newborn baby died alone on Caesar's cruelest execution rack at the city dump outside the eternal city of Jerusalem. Can you hear the song of the angels yet? Perhaps not! Some 40 years after that, the eternal city of Jerusalem lay in ruins, the temple mount eventually to be dominated by the Muslim Dome of the Rock. Can you hear the song of the angels yet? Perhaps not! Some 2000 years later, nations have risen and fallen, but the Kingdom of the living God has reached into the lives and hearts of every corner of this earth. Great Britain and America, for all their false doctrine of exceptionalism, have sent the gospel of hope to a world under the
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boot of emperors, kings and presidents. Those who came to America intended to rebuild the eternal city of Jerusalem in what they referred to as a "city-on-a-hill". They did not listen to the song of the angels which was that "God would build His kingdom in HIS way, in HIS time, through peace to men on whom HIS favor rests. Can you hear the song of the angels yet? Perhaps not even yet! Perhaps you have listened for it in the church of Jesus Christ that has abandoned hope in exchange for political power and saving of all other souls than those of its own. Perhaps you have listened for it in political party platforms designed to entice the voters into thinking that ours is a Christian nation. Perhaps you have listened for the song of the angels in business, community life, neighborhoods and friends. Perhaps you have not heard it because Caesar Augustus and those who have followed his lead have taken control over your life, your fortune and your future. There are those, however, who down through history have heard the song of the angels. I am reading a biography on the life of Roger Williams, by author John Barry. The book is called, Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul. I would urge you to get a copy of that book. What Roger Williams was about was listening for the song of the angels. He was the author of the doctrine of separation of church and state, or in our context this evening the separation of Caesar Augustus' world and the eternal Kingdom of God separation of America as the eternal city-on-a-hill from the eternal Kingdom of God; separation of the Church of Jesus Christ from its dependence on party politics as the enforcers of morality instead of the agents of RIGHTEOUSNSS through faithful service. For his troubles, Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies, lived under their oppression for most of his life and was excommunicated from his church. He stood alone against a Puritan ethic that had blocked its eyes and ears to the song of the angels. Yet, his singular courage was the very life force that leaves open to us today to seek that Kingdom, to immerse ourselves in being agents of love, justice and mercy and to hear the song of the angels announcing an exponentially-expanding, present, dynamic and victorious kingdom without end. About 205 years ago, the slave trade was ended, but not without hearing the song of the angels. Wm. Wilberforce and a few colleagues sacrificed their lives in dealing with what ought to have been the most obvious violation of justice in the history of emperors, kings and presidents. He began that task in 1787 and continued on for 20 years, bringing bill after bill to the British Parliament until, on his deathbed in 1833, he was told that his bill finally had been passed. Here in America, a president sacrificed HIS life to bring passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, not because it was a popular thing to do but because it was the RIGHT thing to do. Can you hear the song of the angels yet, or has it been obscured by the crafting of religion as a private spirituality, a con game to save souls or an escape hatch from
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reality? The song of the angels is a cry of hope that we can face and conquer Caesar not over our differing ideas of morality but with the promise of real peace and justice - the internal kind that cares less about Caesar and more about doing the work of God. The zeal of the Lord Almighty, cries the Prophet Isaiah, is and will accomplish this. For lo, the days are hastening on, by prophet bards foretold, when with the ever-circling years, comes round the age of gold; when peace shall over all the earth, its ancient splendors fling. And the whole world give BACK the song, which now the angels sing. I cannot leave it there, however. Wm Wilberforce and Roger Williams have been enshrined in a history that rejected their vision of peace and justice because it had drowned out the song of the angels. The emperors, kings and presidents in our world press on with crushing the little people who live on our streets, in homeless shelters, in our hospitals and in our prisons. The song of the angels is not about taking up causes or trying ourselves to become emperors, kings and presidents in order to impose our brand of morality on our nation. The song of the angels is about listening and fixing our eyes and ears on what those angels are saying to you and me. The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few who hear the song of the angels and, in the words of the Virgin Mary, reply, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be done to me as you have said". From there we are led to our own baby-in-the-manger scenes - places where we find God surprisingly at work - hospice, jail, prison, day care centers, drug rehab programs, prostitutes, gamblers and even the hated tax collectors. The song of the angels calls us away from categorizing people into good or evil and plunging ourselves into touching the lives of those whom Caesar has isolated from faith, hope and love. For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government will be on HIS shoulders. And his kingdom will establish justice and righteousness from this time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests! Can you hear the song of the angels yet?