17 Dec Advent: The Announcement
Read: Hebrews 1:1-4
Last Sunday Pastor Ken began our Christmas series, God’s Greatest Gift, and preached the sermon, “Jesus is the Final Word” from Hebrews 1:1-2. This Sunday Ryan Heard will preach a sermon entitled, “Jesus is the Glorious Son,” from Hebrews 1:2-3. As for the Mediation for Preparation, for the next several weeks we will use it to prepare our hearts for this season of Advent. As you prepare your heart for our corporate gathering this Sunday, let these words from Paul Tripp challenge and encourage you in your relationship with God.
Heart Preparation
“14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Luke 2:14
I live at the edge of Chinatown in Philadelphia, and in the winter to avoid the cold, I cut through Macy’s to get to where I need to go. During the Christmas season, every day, six times a day, from Black Friday until New Year’s Eve, Macy’s displays a holiday light show with over 100,000 LED lights. It’s a Philadelphia tradition that dates back half a century and continually draws a huge crowd, but as a local resident, I’ve seen the light show 722 times already this year (that’s an exaggeration for you mathematicians trying to calculate).
As I walk through Macy’s, holiday sounds accompany the Christmas displays, so naturally, the refrain of Luke 2:14 is played over and over again. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Considering the amount of times I walk through Macy’s, it’s quite easy for me to tune out this chorus. That got me thinking – I wonder if we understand what these words really mean. There’s something about familiarity that puts our brains and hearts into a spiritual monotone. In doing so, I’m afraid that we might miss the deep and expansive content of the words of this little hymn. So slow down. Pretend with me that this is the first time you’re reading this verse.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Glory and Peace are the two principal words of this hymn. We’ll look at Glory first.
I don’t know if you have noticed this about yourself, but you’re glory focused. Everything you do in your life – everything you say, every choice you make, every reaction you have – is done in pursuit of some kind of glory. Maybe you’re a bit confused about glory, so take a short biblical tour with me.
You were created to live with the glory of God in view. The principal motivation of your heart was supposed to be that God would be praised in every moment of life. All of creation was designed to remind us of the glory of God. Whether it’s the unique pattern of a snow flake or the brilliant sound of a trumpet or the warmth of a fire, all those things were meant to reflect the glory of God.
That’s the way it was meant to be, but in a moment of disobedience and rebellion, Adam and Eve chose to live for the glory of the creation rather than the glory of God (Genesis 3:6). Ever since that horrible moment, there has been a glory war raging on our hearts. We don’t always live for the glory of God; we want to fight for our own little glories.
Some of you were sitting in traffic this week, and I would wager that you probably didn’t think first of the glory of God. Some of you struggled with lust this week, exchanging the glory of God for the glory of momentary sexual pleasure. Some of you struggled with materialism on Black Friday, or as you think about what you want for Christmas, replacing the glory of God with the possession of physical things that don’t satisfy. Some of you struggled with pride, choosing to live for self-glory instead of the glory of God. We all are, in some way, glory confused.
“Glory to God in the highest.” Imagine what the world would be like if every person lived that way. Imagine what it would be like to live in a society where every heart was ruled by the glory of God. No war, no poverty, no divorce, no murder. But that’s far from our reality. Our planet is populated with people who live for their own glory, and so is the church.
The second word is Peace. “Peace among those with whom he is pleased!” You and I were not only created to live for the glory of God; we were created to live at peace with God. We were created to have the high honor of being the worshipful and obedient friends of God. There’s a horrible moment in the garden where God comes down in the cool of the day to commune with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8). It should be a beautiful picture, where God walks with his friends, but Adam and Eve are hiding in guilt and fear and shame. Peace with God has been shattered.
Peace with God would also allow us to have peace within, not because we’re strong or wise or know what will happen next, but because we have an intimate relationship with the One who rules over everything for his glory and our good.
I love the Old Testament word “shalom” because it pictures something more fundamental than just the absence of conflict. It pictures that all things are in their proper order and are working the way they were designed to work. Peace with God results in personal peace of heart. But we don’t always have that. We experience anxiety or anger or frustration or depression or hopelessness. Our hearts all struggle to find rest. Shalom has been shattered.
Peace with God finally means peace with others. When you and I don’t have peace with God, and we don’t have peace inside ourselves, it makes it very difficult to live at peace with others. Our lives become marked by conflict. I don’t think anyone reading this has lived a conflict-free [2016]. In fact, I would go as far as to say that you probably haven’t lived a conflict-free December [2016]. All you need to do is watch the news to know that peace with others has been shattered.
“And on earth peace…” Imagine what the world would be like if every person lived that way. Imagine what it would be like to live in a society where every heart was ruled by peace with God and others. No war, no poverty, no divorce, no murder. But that’s far from our reality. Our planet is populated with people who live for their own glory, and so is the church.
Now, if you have a Glory problem (which you do), and if you have a Peace problem (which you do), then what you have is a Heart problem. Yes, traffic is frustrating and the sexual insanity of our society doesn’t help, and yes, your child is often disobedient and your spouse is often difficult, but your biggest problem is still you. There’s something broken in your heart. That’s why David gets it right when he prays, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10). What we need is radical, personal, permanent heart-change.
This little hymn is a celebration of the baby’s birth, but it’s so much more than that. These words define our biggest need, and in defining our need, they define the mission of Christ. The prophecies of his coming are very clear that Jesus will address this issue: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26).
There’s another thing these words do – they define the price of Christ’s mission. It’s captured in that final phrase, “Peace among those with whom he is pleased!” A different translation could be, “Peace on whom his favor is placed,” or “Peace to those to whom his grace is given.” The only hope of peace is grace, and the vehicle of grace is a death. You won’t fully understand the weight of the baby in the manger unless you know that the baby came to be a Lamb.
This little hymn from the heavenly host announces your redemption, but it also reminds you of your ongoing need for grace. While the power of sin has been broken, freeing you from bondage to all the little self-glories that used to rule your life, you still struggle to live for the glory of God everyday. And while the ultimate sacrifice has been paid so that you can experience eternal peace with God, you still struggle to live at peace within and live at peace with others everyday.
This Advent season, remember that the birth of Christ frees you from living for little glories and invites you into a much more glorious kingdom. And remember that the birth of Christ not only gives you eternal peace with God but also enables you to live at peace within and at peace with others.
From Advent: The Whole Story, by Paul David Tripp
Song List for Sunday
- “O, Come All Ye Faithful,” by Chris Tomlin
- “The First Noel,” by Shane and Shane
- “O, Holy Night,” by Chris Tomlin
- “Doxology”