Starry, Starry Night – December 18, 2022, Fourth Sunday of Advent

Luke 2:1-20
December 18, 2022

As you know, music is always running through my head.  And this week, the song that’s been running through my head has been “Vincent,” by Don McLean.  And if you don’t know who Don McLean is, he’s the one who sang “American Pie.”  And if you don’t know the song “American Pie,” boy are you young!!!

Well, if you’re not so young, you know that “Vincent” starts with these words, “Starry, Starry Night.”  And if you’re a Don McLean fan, you know the song was inspired by the painting “Starry Night,” by Vincent Van Gogh.  In fact, the song is about Van Gogh.

The reason that whole thing came to mind, and often comes to mind when I read this story – and probably will come to your mind from now on – is that these shepherds were having their own version, their own story of what happened on a starry, starry night.

And I know, Luke doesn’t actually say there were stars out that night.  That’s one of those “artist’s depiction” things.  We know there are stars associated with the Christmas story – one in particular, so people easily assume the presence of stars in this story, too.  And that’s the way I picture it.  But then again, I’m an astronomy buff, and I like stars and planets and constellations!

So, it was night, and there may well have been stars, but that’s where the similarities with the song end.  Because in his song, near the end, Don McLean sings, “And when no hope was left in sight, on that starry, starry night…”  And in our story, these shepherds were hearing the greatest message hope, ever!

Luke tells us that “In that region there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.”  “And an angel of the Lord appeared to them.”  And when you read those words, don’t you hear Linus reciting them in “A Charlie Brown Christmas?  I always do!

If you love the Christmas stories, and if you’re counting, this is the fourth story with an angel visitation.  The first two were also in Luke’s Gospel.  Do you remember?  In the first one, the angel came to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, telling him his wife was going to bear a son.  In the second, the angel came to Mary to tell her that she too would bear a son.  The third, chronologically, was in Matthew’s Gospel where the angel came to Joseph, after Mary was found to be with child.

That’s an interesting one to me!  Because we’re told that when Mary was found to be with child, Joseph, “being a just man resolved to divorce her quietly.”  The more I think about that, it appears that the “just” part of him being a “just man” was not so much about breaking things off with Mary, but doing it quietly!  Doing it with the least embarrassment to her!  Or himself, I suppose.

We could talk a lot about that, but what I wonder is this.  Didn’t Mary tell Joseph what was happening?  Did she not tell him about her encounter with the angel?  Or did he just not believe her?  “Hey Joseph, God told me I’m going to have a baby.”  We can only imagine what Joseph was feeling about the situation.  And the human reaction, and maybe the expected social reaction, was to break it off with Mary.  That’s what he “resolved to do.”  And so the angel came to him to “straighten things out.”

That brings us to this, the fourth appearance of an angel.  And it is by far the most glorious.  An angel of the Lord appeared to these shepherds, “and,” we’re told, “the glory of the Lord shone around them.”  We aren’t sure what that looked like.  We only have artists’ depiction of this.  Maybe you’ve seen some.  And of course we have our own mental images.  And I’m sure that none of them really do this justice.  But the glory shining around them would seem to be some kind of bright, glowing light, a light that shone in contrast with the night sky and the stars.

We don’t know if that was the same with the other angelic visitations.  We don’t know if “the glory of the Lord shown around them.”  We don’t even know if it’s the same angel.  In the first part of the story in Luke it’s the angel Gabriel both times.  There’s no mention of a name here, but my money’s on Gabriel!  He was a pretty important angel!  Whoever it was, “the glory of God shone around them.”  And of course they have the same reaction everybody else had!  That is “they were filled with fear.”  As I always point out, angels were fearsome beings!  And what’s the first thing an angel usually said to someone?  “Be not afraid!”

Again, it’s really hard for us to picture what this was like.  It’s hard to imagine the frightening nature of this encounter.  Our images of angels, and our imagination of what it would be like for us to have such a visitation, is pretty benign, isn’t it?

But I want us to try to picture this.  Because, whatever these shepherds saw, there was great power in this vision!  And there was great fear.  But as I said, there was also equally great hope!  The angel said, “For behold, I bring you good tidings of a great joy that shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this night in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

There was no doubt in that message that this was about the Messiah!  There’s no doubt that this was about the one they had heard prophesied for centuries!  This was about that which generations had longed for and prayed for!  “O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel.”  Our old hymn gives us that feeling of the people longing for the Messiah.  As you sing it, try to feel that longing those people felt, for all those years!

This was, then, the heavenly announcement that the day had finally come.  The angel told them everything they needed to know about that.  He told them about the city of David, he said it was the Christ, the anointed one.  They saw the fearsome angel.  There was the glory of the Lord shining all around them.  It all fit!  And again, we can’t begin to picture this completely enough or powerfully enough!

But wasn’t over yet!  As if this scene wasn’t fearful enough, as if it wasn’t glorious enough, “Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host.”  One angel was frightening and powerful enough, now there was a host of angels!  There was a plethora of angels!  I find myself wondering if all the angels of heaven were there.

If we can’t imagine the scene with one angel, we really can’t imagine this one!  All the power and glory of that moment was multiplied exponentially!  And all the angels in heaven were all praising God for this thing that had happened.  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to mankind.”  This is that important!  And as I said last week, there was still darkness in their world, and there still is darkness!  But this child has come to bring light into a darkened world.  And he still does!

I want us to try to picture all this.  I want us to get this into our mental imagery.  It’s hard, because the glory and majesty and power of this story is beyond our imagining!  But I want us to try.  At the very least, I want us to try to take in the fear and the power – and the glory of this!

And then, I want us to remember that it all happened for us – for each one of us!  Remember, this whole angelic encounter came to shepherds!  Not kings!  Not priests or councils or rabbis.  There were no world leaders here, no Romans.  Just shepherds!  I think that adds to the picture!  I think it emphasizes the part of the angel’s announcement that this great joy was “to all people!”  Not just the important people!  Not just the “chosen” people!  All people!

I hope we will think about all this.  Because one of the real problems with Christmas in our world is that people have let its power and glory dwindle.  They’ve lost any concept they may have had of what it was like to see legions of angels praising God because of what has happened.  This is a watershed mark in all of history!  This is when God himself stepped into our world.  How can anyone be unmoved by that?

Don’t let that happen to you!  And if you get a chance, and the weather is good, take a step outside on a starry, starry night, and look into the heavens.  Try to think about these lowly shepherds, out in the field, minding their sheep, and minding their own business.  And try to picture a plethora of angels, and the glory of God shining round about!  Try to imagine that moment, that moment when Immanuel had finally come, and God had stepped into our world!

Prayer

Eternal God, through your great and unfathomable love, you once stepped into this world.  May the meaning of that grow within us this year.  May we see visions of your glory shining round about us this Christmas season.  May we know your power in our world in our lives.  For we pray this in the name of the holy child of Bethlehem, Amen.