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From Fear to Praise

December 24, 2025

Isaiah 9:2-7/ Psalm 96/ Titus 2:11-14/ Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God…” (Luke 2:13)

Luke tells us that on the night of Jesus’ birth, heaven could not remain quiet. What begins with a single angel speaking to frightened shepherds becomes, in an instant, a multitude of the heavenly host, an army of praise, filling the sky. This is not a gentle background choir. It is heaven breaking open. God’s joy refuses to be contained!

The shepherds are not powerful or prepared. They are ordinary, tired, and startled by glory. Yet they are the ones entrusted with this moment, the first to hear heaven’s song. The heavenly host appears not in the courts of kings or temples of prestige, but in an open field, under the dark sky, among those who least expect it. God chooses to announce peace in the midst of vulnerability.

On Christmas Eve, we gather much like those shepherds. We arrive carrying weariness, hope, grief, gratitude, and longing. We come from a world that knows division and fear, and yet we dare to listen for a song of peace. Luke reminds us that peace does not come through power or force, but through praise. Heaven sings because God has drawn near.

The heavenly host proclaims, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace.” Glory and peace belong together. When God is glorified, peace follows. When love takes flesh, fear loosens its grip. The birth of Jesus does not erase the darkness, but it fills it with light and song.

This Christmas Eve, may we lift our eyes with the shepherds and trust that heaven still sings. Even now, God’s peace is being announced, God’s love is taking shape among us, and the song of heaven invites us to join in praise.

Glory to God. Peace to the earth. Emmanuel 

John+