THE ANGELS ARE STILL SINGING
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Lk 2;13,14
This was the strangest day ever for these shepherds. They were just simple men, after all, they were only shepherds, they were just ordinary jewish men, just taking care of their flocks, trying to survive and support their family. But this was not an ordinary night, this was the night that would define their lives. They had never seen an angel, they had never met or even heard of anyone who ever had, but that was about to change. Suddenly a light like they had never seen filled the meadow where they were resting, they were suddenly all wide awake. Then they heard it, it was a sound like they had never heard before, it was music, but much more than music. This music was like a living being, it seemed to be full of life itself. It was all around them, it was inside of them but seemed to be coming from these strange, holy creatures that were lighting up the sky with the glory reflecting off of them. They were singing about a Savior, born of a virgin in a manger in nearby Bethlehem. As unbelievable as it sounded, after what they had just witnessed, they knew it was true. Suddenly they were on the run, they couldn’t stop until they found this child wrapped in swaddling clothes in the stable at the inn in Bethlehem.
These angels are still singing, after 2000 years, and they are not about to stop. How could they stop ? Living in the presence of such greatness, they have to sing! Those that have ears to hear can still hear their singing today. Charles Wesley heard the angels singing in the 1700’s and wrote his famous song “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. Listen to one of the verses of his song, you never know, maybe you will hear the voice of the angels in his song.
“Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King”
“Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface”. All of us carry the “likeness” of the fallen man, Adam. Christ came to stamp His image in it’s place. As we draw near to the Lord, the hope of Christmas is being formed in each of us, the image of Christ Himself.
