Glory to God In the Highest!
Pastor Mathew Magera – 1/3/16 – Sermon 137
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why would anyone ever want
to keep Jesus to themselves? Why would anyone ever want to hold onto the
greatest birth story ever told? As we experienced already just a few days ago,
the Christmas story is one of the best ones ever told. Ask anyone on the street
and there’s a good chance they’ll be able to tell you some or all of the story
of Jesus’ birth. Not only is this story one of the greatest of all time but since
then, the methods through which this story is told evolve and change, feeding
and nurturing that story over time. Art, theatre and music are ways in which
the Christmas story continues to bring life and light to the world.
However, over time, the
story that is shared in multiple ways, begins to take on a new life, perhaps
even straying from the original story like a long game of telephone. You never
know what the message will be once it reaches the end of the line. So, why
would anyone ever want to keep Jesus to themselves? Of the many ways we could
answer that question, I will focus on the worry that by sharing Jesus we are
just starting another game of telephone where at the end of the line all traces
of Jesus have disappeared. If the message can become so distorted, why share
it?
Have you ever gone out to
eat, enjoyed your meal so much that you wanted to try making it at home? Some
people do this. How many do you think actually get the recipe right? For many
years, Lane and I always enjoyed going to eat at Olive Garden and I would
always get the same thing. Once I found it, I liked it, and I always wanted it.
Then, what had been a staple on their menu for many years, was going to be
removed from their menu for good. I remember trying to find a recipe for it
online but I never got it just the way it was made at the restaurant. Something
just wasn’t right about how I made it. I think this might be the way it goes
with many restaurants and meals. There might even be a secret ingredient. Why
do they keep these things secret? Well, they don’t want others to copy it and
make money. They don’t want others to use it in the wrong way and change the
recipe. So, it remains a secret in hopes that by keeping it a secret, it will
remain as good as it has always been, providing little chance for it to be changed.
Perhaps this is how the
Christmas story might work. Think about Christmas carols. Looking specifically at
music, we can experience the story in many different ways through the many
different carols of the season. Each carol carries its own version of the story
and tells it in a unique way. Looking at the life of a Christmas carol gives us
the opportunity to experience the story of Christmas in an entirely new way,
one in which we may not have ever experienced the greatest story ever told
because even in the world of Christmas carols, there is something special
within them that might causeus to hold them in and keep the true message to
ourselves.
So, this story starts out a
long time ago. And, no, it’s not in a galaxy far, far away. It starts a long
time ago, because frankly, nobody is quite sure when this story actually
begins. We’re going to join up with this story in the 1500s in Europe where for
almost 1500 years the observation of the birth of Jesus was not a widely
celebrated holiday like it is today. In fact, the celebration of Christ’s birth
was mostly reserved to a few selected men who led a hard and demanding life,
serving other and toiling with poverty. They helped those who had little knowledge
of the Bible, of life and of the soul. Yet, it was these men who ultimately
left their fingerprints on every church of every denomination in the world
today. I’m talking about monks. For the world in this time period, monks were
so dedicated to the Lord they gave up their own families. Their mouths were
often the only ones that told the story of the first Christmas and their lives
were the only example of the Christian faith. The stories of the faith were
often kept between themselves. Since they were the select few, they were very
mysterious.
Like the lives of monks
there is a particular Christmas carol that is surrounded by mystery. While the
origins of many carols whose writers are unknown, yet their country of origin
can be traced to a certain time and place, this specific carol seemingly
appeared out of thin air. The first time it was sung in public was in France in
the nineteenth century and many people today call it a French carol. However,
there is no evidence to prove it originated there. It was first published in a
French songbook in 1855 and there was evidence it had been sung prior to being
published for at least 50 years in which the words were coupled with the melody
we still use today when we sing it. Still, by looking at its words, many
researchers can agree that it was written by someone who had a great knowledge
of the Bible as well as the talented skill of taking a story and putting it to
music. There is a particular part of the carol that leads people to believe it
was a monk who published it, but we’ll get to that a bit later. Either way,
whoever wrote it may not have intended it to be shared outside of that inner
circle.
As I said before, people
thought this carol came from France because that’s where it first appeared
publicly. It was sung in French so the rumors kept circulating. Yet, deep
within the words of this song are clues that lead some to believe there is more
of a history to it than meets the eye. A portion of the carol was found to have
been used in Christian church services at the birth of the Roman Catholic
Church.
The story within the song
itself captures the iconic moment the angels appeared to the shepherds in the
fields. The purpose of the carol is to show that the angels were descending to
these menial workers and informing them, specifically them, of the birth of Jesus.
This tells us, the singer, that Jesus came for all people, rich or poor, humble
or powerful. It would be the common man, the shepherd who would first carry the
story of Jesus’ birth to the masses. This story can be identified throughout
the carol, but there is a focal point in the song when we sing “Glory to God in
the highest”, a phrase that was an integral part of Christian worship dating
all the way back to around the year 130. The Pope during this time said that
all churches should have an evening service to celebrate the Lord’s birth and
that after the conclusion of certain readings or prayers the congregation
should respond “Glory to God in the highest.” This became a practice even into
the 1500s where we find our mysterious monks in France that first published the
carol. Those integral words, “Glory to God in the highest” are said to have originated
within 100 years of Jesus’ birth and it is often speculated that those words might
have even been first spoken by someone who actually knew Jesus when he walked
on this earth.
So, what is it about this
particular carol that kept it so popular for so long, under the radar? It was
probably the fact that unlike other carols that tell the story, this one not
only invites the singer to lift up their voice and observe the beauty of what
God is doing in the giving of Christ to the world, but the words of the song
and the way they echo pretty much demand that our voices are lifted. It
embraces the relationship between heaven and earth through the music of the
angels. It provides one of the most important elements of faith, that
relationship we have with heaven through the angels’ encounter with the
shepherds on that night. It was definitely rooted deep in theology.
Steeped in mystery, this
carol has stood the test of time. It’s a wonder it was not published sooner.
Yet, some of the most treasured traditions can be ruined by over-popularity.
The fact that this carol did not surface until many centuries later shows us
how invested these leaders and, later, monks, were in the giving this song its
sacredness. Think about this for a moment. If we have a special family recipe,
we may not tend to give out that one secret ingredient that makes or breaks it.
If we do, it is very possible someone might misuse it. We treasure things that
are closest to us. We keep watch on family heirlooms. We put valuables in safe
places. This carol, however, was one that proved to be safe after it reached
the public realm. After its publication it maintained its melody and its words.
They remain the same as they were first sung after its publication. They may
even remain the same as they were first sung many years before that. Of course,
we will never know.
So, you might be asking what
carol it is that we are talking about. In order to narrow it down further we
need to look at those words again, “Glory to God in the highest” and we need to
think of the demand on us the singer to lift up our voice. It is these two
facets combined that make this a unique song, but only if you know that these
words that we sing are done so in Latin. Yes, we don’t even say the English
phrase itself, but its Latin version, simply, “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” The
carol, Angels We Have Heard on High captures those words the angels sang in the
multitude and it does so in a way that requires us to raise our voice. It does
so in a way that brings us in touch with history via the Latin language. It
also does so by connecting us with the very phrase many may have used to
celebrate Jesus’ birth in its earliest forms.
I share this story with you
because like the story of this carol, sometimes we might be reluctant to share
the good news of Jesus because we wonder if we are simply starting a new game
of telephone that will eventually distort the message. God had a special
recipe. God had a special ingredient in that recipe. God had His Son. God gave
us His Son on that Christmas Day. God gave out the most precious thing we could
receive and gave it to us. We had the opportunity to embrace Jesus but of
course we crucified him. We in this world may alter the things that Jesus has
done or we might even deny parts of his existence, but it doesn’t change who
Jesus really was.
If people were nervous about
letting this great carol out in public, their anxiety was not well founded.
Even if the words were changed, it does not change who Jesus really is. Just
because we share Jesus with the world and that message may be changed over time
does not mean that Jesus is changing. Jesus is remaining the same past, present
and future. While the game of telephone might garble the message as it
continues down a line of people, Jesus remains the same throughout. We need to
share Jesus with others so that those distorted messages can be taken away. The
more often we proclaim the true Jesus, the more the true message will diminish
the false ones.
We could be singing
different words to Angels We Have Heard on High but I don’t think we are. Other
carols are not so fortunate. The point is, though, that while some songs
change, Jesus does not. The reason we can sing so many different tunes and
carols this time of year is because of their root. They all point to the same
place. These carols that we sing do not misuse that special recipe or the
secret ingredient. But, we, too, are holding on to the Jesus that was given to
the world and we value him just as much yet we try to hold on to him and not
give him away. Don’t be afraid to share Jesus. Jesus isn’t changing. His words
will not pass away. He is our song that we sing. He is our melody. He is our
Word. Put him out there. That’s what the angels wanted the shepherds to do. Put
Jesus out there. And then they sang. Glory to God in the highest. Gloria in
excelsis Deo. To God be the glory, now and always. Amen.[1]
[1] Some
story content taken from the following resource: Collins, Ace “Stories Behind
the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas” Grand Rapids, MI: Zonervan, 2001. Pgs.
18-22.