“Glory to God in highest heaven,and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

 It is Time To Sing Gloria!

Luke 2:1-24

May your hearts resound with great joy, as you glorify God with your life!

Forty-one Sundays a year, as part of our regular liturgy, we sing the song of angels.  It’s in different settings, from a chant, to hymns that were meant for hundreds to sing together in 8 part harmony, to the music Chris has written that we’ve come to treasure.

Gloria in Excelcis Deo.

The Gloria

The Doxology, words that have been sung in 1000 languages, by soloists and mass choirs, to every kind of instrument.  Simple words, yet… full of wonder and awe.

The greatest musical performance, as the largest choir sang in front  small exclusive audience.  As we lend our voices to them tonight.

The first performance so staggering, that the response was awe, and joy, and a mad desire to rush to see that which inspired the heavenly song.

For 11 weeks a year, this song is omitted.

Chris, cover you ears for a moment.

Come on. …..

there you go.

What Chris doesn’t know, is that we don’t have to have to omit it.  There is a tradition that we do, but there is an exception to the rule.  There is an exception for the Alleluia’s as well.   We could sing them, but we do not.

We don’t sing it, not because it would grow old to keep singing it.  Though for some perhaps it might.

We don’t sing it so that when we do, it will be more powerful either, though that is actually a reasonable reason.   And actually we do throw ourselves into a bit more.

We put it aside, to think of the blessing that we’ve been given in Christ, to spend time in Advent and in Lent in the dark so to speak.  To think about what life would be without God.  We can’t really remember – the difference is the difference between death and life.

The times of penitence, the thinking through the sorrow we feel, the struggle we have against sin.  That’s advent…. When we remember why we need God, why we desperately needed him to come and to be with us. To come and live among us, to come and die…

For the Messiah that was placed in a manger, was the offering for our sin.  In a very real way, that manger was an altar, though his death would come years later, the Father put Him there, to be the sacrifice that would bring grace and people to Him, that would buy us out from sin.

That’s why it is time to sing the praises of God, to sing Glory to God in the highest, , to praise Him with everything we are.

It’s time to sing, It’s time to rejoice with everything we are.

For God’s come to us.

To make us ready, not just for tomorrow, but to spend eternity with Him…..

So let us sing…. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!