I’ve been thinking about these words, “Gloria in excelsis deo.”

 It’s “Glaw-reeah ehn egg-chel-sees deyoh.”

 Right.  What he said!  Glaw-reeah ehn egg-chel-sees deyoh.  I’ve got a lot of twang in my voice, so I have a hard time saying it in the formal way choir directors do.  They always want us to pronounce the vowels as if they contain some deep theological truth.  Which in this case, they do!  Gloria in excelsis deo means glory to God in the highest!  Glory to God in the highest—that’s important stuff.  The word “glory” comes from the Hebrew, Shekinah, which is an Old Testament word that means the Divine Presence of God.  In ancient times, the Hebrew people looked to the heavens for God’s presence—they looked for the pillar of fire by night, and the cloud by day.  I can imagine the multitude of angels in the sky on Christmas night.  They probably glowed just like the Old Testament pillar of fire.  God’s glory was shown in the glow-ria of the angels in the sky.  So I think it’s okay that I pronounce that word with too much “ooh”.  Glow-ria!!!

 In excelsis deo.

           Glory to God in the highest.  Can you picture that Glow-ria?  Luke tells us that the angels were bringing good news of great joy for all the people.  All the people—that’s us, too!  There were shepherds out in the fields, watching their flocks by night, and an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was all around them, and the shepherds were very much afraid.  The angel said to them:  Fear not, for I bring YOU good news of great joy which shall be for all the people, for UNTO YOU is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  This shall be a sign FOR YOU, you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  Suddenly, there was with that angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts, hundreds of thousands of angels together, singing,

 Gloria in excelsis deo.

          Why did the angels sing?  To announce to the WHOLE WORLD that God had sent the Messiah.  A Savior, for EVERYONE!  At first the shepherds did not understand.  After all, they were shepherds!  They weren’t perceived to be religious all-stars.  Since their jobs involved being outside with the sheep all the time, they didn’t get to worship every week, that’s for sure.  In fact, they were hardly able to keep any Jewish customs.  Shepherds were often looked down upon by their fellow Jews.

So it’s no surprise that the shepherds did not understand right away that the Christ Child was born FOR THEM.  Luke tells us that initially, the shepherds did not sing the Gloria.  It wasn’t until they came to the manger and could see for themselves that they could really rejoice.  They found Mary and Joseph and the baby, and they told the story of what had happened to them.  Everyone was amazed.  A savior.  For me?  For us?  Once they knew Jesus was God’s gift for their very own, the Bible goes on to say, then the shepherds went home, glorifying God, singing,

 “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.”

          Glory to God in the highest?  The words are strange, but let’s not let the message get lost in translation.  Those singing angels are for us!  They are God’s invitation for us to come and see for ourselves the Savior born in Bethlehem.  When we hear that glorious song and see the Savior as our very own, then that glowing presence of God become our song.  The glow from the sky becomes the glowing fire of God within each of us.  When there is a glow-ria in your heart, then you can begin to sing the Gloria with your life.

  “Gloria in excelsis deo; gloria in excelsis deo.”

 This year at Lima we’ve been reading the entire New Testament, and one of the recurring themes is the kingdom of God.  Jesus’ birth signaled the start of a whole new kingdom reigning over the world.  This change is still in progress, but one day Christ will come again, and there will be no more tears, no more suffering, no more injustice or pain or strife of any kind.

Until that day comes, we are invited to join with God in this kingdom building work.  But Jesus came as a baby to show us that transforming the world starts with something very personal.  It starts in our hearts!  Some four hundred years ago, Martin Luther wrote the following words, “Of what benefit would it be to me if Jesus would have been born a thousand times and it would have been sung daily in my ears that Jesus Christ was born, but that I was never to hear that Jesus Christ was born FOR ME?”  It’s not enough to have the Gloria sound in our ears.  We need it to resonate deep within us.  We can celebrate Christmas year after year, but if we never realize that the gift of Jesus is for us, personally, and for the whole world, we miss the key to Christmas.  We miss the peace the angels came to announce.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss out on that peace.  Even as we are gathered here tonight in this beautiful place, in this sanctuary away from the troubles of this world, our problems are never far away from us.  We need that glowing of God’s presence deep within us!

Come to Bethlehem and see Christ whose birth the angels sang

Come adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn king.

Tonight, immersed in the magic of Christmas Eve, it’s easy to sing that we have indeed heard those angels.  But sometimes it’s hard to remember that God is with us, and that God is always at work for good in us.  Our circumstances can really challenge our faith!  The shepherds had a hard job and lived during a very hard time.  They may have often felt far away from God.  But on that first Christmas, the angel came to them with good news of great joy:  that God is with us.  God is for us.  No matter what.  The shepherds going home with a song reminds us that we too can go home with a song.  We can “glow” with the presence of God, not just on Christmas Eve, but all year through, good days and bad, because God is with us.

And so, the song of “Gloria” doesn’t just help us glow with the presence of God.  The song of the angels becomes the glue that binds us to the truth about God’s presence.  I know it sounds terrible to sing, “Glue-ria!”  But no matter how much that might bother our ears, those vowel sounds do convey deep theological truths.  God sent his son so that we might glow with the presence of God within us.  And God sent his son so we might always be glued to our faith.  Like the virgin Mary, we have never experienced a love like this before.  God sent his Son so we could glow in, and be glued to, God’s perfect and forever love.

Glory to God in the highest, yes.  But there’s more glory in God than can be held in the highest heavens.  God’s glory extends all the way down to the earth!  It is at work to redeem the whole world.  But it’s not just a universal love.  It’s a personal love as well.  God’s glory wants to rest, right here in each of us.  So let us sing Gloria in excelsis deo, from deep within our own hearts.  Amen.

  Gloria in excelsis deo; gloria in excelsis deo.