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Glorious and Timeless

December 24, 2024

Isaiah 9:2-7|Titus 2:11-14|Luke 2:1-14

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.    – Luke 2:8-9

Is there anything more glorious and timeless than this passage from St. Luke’s Gospel?  I’m taking the liberty of quoting these verses from the King James Bible, which I, and many others, heard in our youth.  I always loved the phrase:  “And they were sore afraid.”  Ouch!  Decades later, I ascertained that the English vernacular of the times indicated that the shepherds were shocked, amazed, gobsmacked.  In a state of wonder.  And probably terrified, as today’s version describes. 

But what was – what is? – the Glory of the Lord?  Thunder, fireworks, laser light shows, a beam from above?  A voice?  Did the angels sing in eight-part harmony?  We sing of it, in our Advent and Christmas music, and, really, in so much of our liturgy and our hymns.  Our Choirs know that “Glory” is a favorite word of Rodney, our beloved Minister of Music.  Indeed, it is emblazoned on the tabletop lectern that Bruce Dearnaley made for him, perched above the piano in the Choir Room.  

Perhaps ‘glory’ is just the manifestation of God’s presence to and among us.  Today’s Scripture readings all speak of God’s Light coming in the darkness, – of declaring His glory among the nations, – of the heavens rejoicing and the earth being glad.  Of the birth of Jesus, God’s Son.  Of Hope.  The Glory of the Lord, coming to us.  May we all be gobsmacked with wonder, two millennia-plus later.

But how do we process and keep alive the timelessness of God’s Glory among us?  I always draw on the wisdom of my Old Testament professor in college, who admonished us to discern what is cultural, and what is eternal.  World events, governments, cultures, trends, schemes and schisms, will come and go, rise and fall, but in the midst of this cacophony, God’s Word, Promise and Love will endure.

As we, in 2024, behold the Glory of the Lord in the celebration of His Son’s birth, I am mindful of all who have celebrated Christmas in years and centuries since, all around the world.  This includes members of my own family:  Grandfather and Grandmother Tingley, Uncle Jimmie and my mother Marian, – 16 months old, and holding her doll, probably a Christmas gift, – all standing by the iconic birch tree in our yard, a century ago. 

Glorious and Timeless Christmas:  Then and Now.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit –
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.
World without end.
Amen.

Laura Sullivan