Glory to God in the highest

Luke 2:8-14 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Just imagine all those angels, spread out across the sky, praising God. That’s some kind of celebration! Clearly something wonderful is happening, something out of the ordinary, something that has never happened before in the history of the universe. The angels have to get in on it – not just one angel, not two, but a great company of the heavenly host.

Hark! The herald angels sing! What are they singing about? They are singing “Glory to the newborn King!” They are celebrating “good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Think about that for a moment. These angels are not celebrating anything that is for them, anything that might benefit the angelic host. They are celebrating a uniquely human joy – that God Himself has come into the human race, been born among us as a baby, has come to save the children of Adam and Eve. The primary beneficiaries of this Christmas miracle aren’t angels, but humans. The angels are celebrating on our behalf – praising their Lord and ours because the Christ Child has brought “peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

That’s the kind of joy we have today. We are here this morning celebrating with the angels what God has done for our sister in Christ, Eleanor Sorenson.

When I was creating the worship bulletin for today, I asked one of my daughters what Christmas hymns we should sing for Eleanor’s funeral. She told me that she thought it was morbid to sing Christmas hymns at a funeral. I gently disagreed with her. I told her that the whole point of Jesus coming to earth as a baby was so that those with faith in Him as Savior would come with Him to heaven.

We do not have a God who remained aloof in heaven and barked down orders forcing us to trust Him. Instead He spent nine months in the fetal position beneath the bulging belly of Mary.

Those chubby little baby hands would one day be pierced with nails to save us from our sins. That beautiful head crowned with a tuft of brown hair would one day be crowned with thorns. His first cry in the manger would be echoed 33 years later by His last cry on Calvary’s cross as He proclaimed salvation finished!

The Son of God left His heavenly throne to be laid in a manger. He set aside His golden crown, took off His royal robe, and put on the work clothes of a servant. He put on our humanity. He rolled up His sleeves to go about the business of saving us by becoming one of us – in His birth, His defeat of the devil, His healing of the sick, His raising of the dead, His suffering, dying, and rising again.

The Son of God entered time and space to be our Redeemer from sins. On Christmas Day, a Savior was born to us, He is Christ the Lord. He was laid in a manger so that 33 years later He would be laid upon the cross. God was born with blood coursing through His divinely human body so that He could shed that blood to pay for the sins that separate sinful humanity from a holy and just God.

Jesus is the world’s Savior. He deserves glory to God in the highest.

Jesus is Eleanor’s Savior. He deserves glory to God in the highest.

By the grace of God, Eleanor believed in Christ the Lord who was born, bled and died to be her Savior.

Eleanor was given faith in Christ the Lord at her baptism on October 22, 1931. She told me that she had been baptized in her home. The angels gathered around her as the pastor poured God’s Word and water over her head, baptizing her as a new child of God. Before her baptism, being born in sin and unbelief, Eleanor belonged to the devil. But at her baptism, as faith was poured into Eleanor’s head and heart, the angels pulled Eleanor out of the demons’ hands and placed her in the care of her heavenly Father.

And the angels were celebrating.

Eleanor stood before the Lord’s altar at Epiphany Lutheran Church on May 24, 1942 and made her confirmation vows of remaining faithful to the Lord. By the grace of God, she definitely did that. She was an active and lifelong member of Epiphany. Two of her fellow students, Lois Miner and Marjorie Wentzel, were confirmed with Eleanor and remained active and lifelong members of Epiphany. That must have been quite a confirmation class! The angels who are charged with our protection were there in church that confirmation day as Eleanor was able to receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for the first time.

And the angels were celebrating.

It is that faith that was given to Eleanor in her baptism and confirmed in her at her confirmation, that faith that was fed weekly in worship through Word and Sacrament that made Eleanor into the mother, grandmother, aunt, co-worker, friend, neighbor, and Home Guild member we all new and loved.

She was always an active and caring person. She didn’t like it, then, when others had to be active and caring for her. Dennis coming to stay with her. Jeffrey coming to visit her. Her neighbors bringing her food. Everyone getting together for her surprise birthday party. I kept reminding her that God had used her to take care of people for so many years. Now it was time to let God work through her family and friends to take care of her.

I’ve been pastor at Epiphany for 14 years. One of the first homebound members I visited with Word and Sacrament was Rose Wirt. I looked a lot younger back then. When I visited Rose, she liked to call me “Kiddo.” She meant no disrespect. I was probably the same age as her grandchildren. After Rose was called home to heaven, Eleanor asked it if was OK if she called me “Kiddo.” So that’s what she did.

As her Kiddo, she told me she was always defending me. About a decade ago, we had someone writing nasty anonymous emails to our school faculty. Eleanor thought I was receiving those anonymous emails, too. She told me one Sunday, “If you find out whose writing those, just let me know. I’ll talk to them for you!” She was serious.

And I was celebrating.

When Eleanor became homebound and I would visit with her with Word and Sacrament, she would tell me that she was still defending me. This time it was to other older ladies in the church who weren’t happy with something I did or didn’t do. I would sit down on the sofa and she would say, “I had to defend you again, Kiddo.” I would roll my eyes and say, “Now what?” She would tell me and then add, “Don’t worry. I asked them if they had anything better to do than worry about what the pastor did or didn’t do.” Although, what she actually said was probably a little stronger than that.

That’s the Eleanor we all knew and loved. That’s the faith in God as her Savior that came out in her words in defending her pastor. That’s the faith in God as her Savior that came out in her actions as a loving wife, a caring mother, a thoughtful grandmother, a faithful member of Epiphany’s Home Guild, a lifelong member of Epiphany Lutheran Church.

God called Eleanor home to heaven on Christmas Day. On Christmas, Jesus came to earth so we might be taken to heaven. He surrounded Himself with Mary and Joseph and the shepherds so we might be surrounded by saints and angels in heaven. He endured temporal sufferings, earthly pain, and His Father’s wrath so we might enjoy life and blessings eternal. He who is divine became mortal, so that we who are mortal might be in the presence of the divine.

The angels were there rejoicing at Christ entering our world on Christmas Day. The angels were there rejoicing at Eleanor’s baptism, confirmation, wedding, the baptisms of Eleanor’s children and grandchildren. The angels were there by Eleanor’s side when she fell asleep in the Lord. The angels then carried Eleanor’s soul to heaven. She is now gathered around the throne of God, singing with the saints, listening to the trumpets of the angels. Worshiping her Savior, Christ the Lord. 

That’s some kind of celebration.

“Glory to God in the highest.” Amen.