Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text on which this morning's message is based comes from our Luke 2 lesson and our Hebrews 1 lesson.

Americans are currently infatuated with angels. We use to see them only once in a while, portrayed in movies like last night's "It's a Wonderful Life." Now they are everywhere: TV, movies, college courses, newsletters, books, even 'angel-only' boutique stores.

Dr. Lawrence Cunningham, chairman of Notre Dame's theology department, believes that Americans have moved angels center stage because nobody knows much about them and, therefore, unlike God, angels can be remade into our human image. Trudy Bush goes farther.

She suggests that angels function as a kind of "Santa Claus for grown-ups." (from Rev. David Koch, Concordia Pulpit Resource, Christmas 1998). I wonder if angels haven't filled the misguided role that religious relics filled for the church during the Middle Ages. People's attitudes toward angels can step over into idolatry, distracting us from the worship of the one true God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Having said that, I do like the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." There's not much Gospel in it, no explicit message of Jesus Christ. But it does remind us how all the little, ordinary good works we do for Christ may be having an impact we can never see. I like Clarence the angel character and enjoyed watching him again last night. But Clarence is far from an accurate portrayal of angels from a Biblical perspective, the only trustworthy perspective we actually have. Angels are spirits, created by God somewhere in the creation of the universe and all living creatures. Clarence claimed to be 293 years old. Angels are 1000's of years old by this time. None of them are trying to "earn their wings." They were created to praise and serve God their creator. They are already perfect and holy. While they may differ in power and gifts, the good angels need not do anything to earn God's favor. They simply, humbly respond to God's requests.

Some angels, sometime at the beginning, rebelled against their creator. They chose not to praise and serve Him. God had to throw them out and create hell for Satan and all his followers (2 Peter 2: 4). Satan, through the serpent, tempted Adam and Eve into sin, thus creating the need for a Savior.

Prior to this Christmas Eve visit by the angels to the shepherds, angels usually had more limited roles among humans. Angels were used as messengers for God, errand boys if you will. They also acted as protectors of God's creation (Genesis 3:20) or His people. When the Israelites were escaping their slavery in Egypt, the angel of God along with the pillar of cloud protected His people from Pharaoh's attacks. When the King of Aram wanted to capture the prophet Elisha, God sent his angel hosts, his chariots of fire to defend the prophet's city and blind the eyes of the opposing army (2 Kings 6). When Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, an angel was sent to protect him (Daniel 6: 22). As much as I like It's a Wonderful Life as a movie, Clarence the angel depicted in it is not at all like the angels of the Bible. They are not bumbling like he was. They are holy and powerful creatures He sends to do his bidding. They have no sin, which means they are not proud or arrogant. They simply live to serve the God who created them.

Whenever we get too focused on angels we can remember the words from our Epistle text in Hebrews 1: "5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU"? And again, "I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME"? 6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM." " (NASB translation puts Old Testament quotes in all capital letters).

The angel worship of this first Christmas Eve was to announce the birth of Jesus, God's only begotten Son. A new protector, a new Savior would be for God's people. A new covenant had come. The angels had protected the Hebrews out of Egypt, Daniel, Elisha. But now the angels come simply to herald a new message, a fulfilled message. Now the Protector and Savior of the world would come as a great and glorious�. Baby! Who'd have thought?

A South African diamond miner found one of the world's largest diamonds. It was the size of a small lemon. The miner needed to get the diamond safely to the company's office in London, so he put it in a steel box and hired four men to guard it. When the box arrived in London, it contained only a lump of coal. Later the diamond arrived by parcel post in a plain package. The owner assumed correctly that people would pay no attention to an ordinary cardboard box. That's what the angels were celebrating � a priceless diamond in a plain-looking box. God lying in a manger wearing our flesh and blood to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He concealed his power in weakness to fulfill his promise to be our Savior from sin, no matter what (from Rev. David Koch, Concordia Pulpit Resource, Christmas 1998).

The angels came to celebrate, to sing of the wonders of this Savior, not to "earn their wings". As I told the children here on Sunday, we are given the words here to a heavenly song. We chant this heavenly song in our liturgy. We sing "Gloria in excelsis Deo." The angels of Christmas didn't come here because they wanted to be center-stage or be "Santa Claus for we grown-ups." The angels came at God's bidding to give to us the little two-line song: "Glory to God in the highest" and "Peace to His people on earth on whom His favor rests."

The angels didn't come and sing their songs to executives of the music industry, looking for a lucrative recording contract. No, they sang to lowly shepherds, the rabble and low-brows of society at that time. If Willie Nelson had been writing songs back then his popular one would have been "Mothers don't let your babies grow up to be shepherds." We live in a culture that wants to be entertained with music, in which the latest pop stars make millions of dollars. But the angels came as humble servants, singing free-of-charge to the humble shepherds the most important little two line song of all time. "Glory to God in the highest" and "Peace to His people on earth on whom His favor rests."

The Savior, that diamond of priceless worth hidden in the flesh and blood of a little baby, that Savior came to bring peace on earth. This was a new song for the angel choir, one they had never sung before. The world had not known peace since the fall into sin, and still earthly peace alludes us. But Jesus Christ, the Savior, came to bring peace between God and man. This peace is the gift of God's grace. The Son of God came down from heaven and gave Himself as a ransom in this war. He took upon himself the sin and death of this world. He, the Prince of Peace, has restored the unity between God and man through his mediating work on the cross. Now He looks down from heaven and says to those who trust him "I have taken your punishment on myself." He says to us "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14: 27). At Christmas He says to us through the angel choir "Peace to His people on earth on whom His favor rests."

Those singing angels didn't come here to help "earn their wings." They didn't even come here to tell us "how to earn our wings." They came to announce that the Savior had come to purchase salvation for us. We here this morning have been given the great opportunity to continue their singing, to continue that praise through the wonderful Christmas hymns we know and love. I encourage you to sing them more at home, to hum them on the streets and in the stores, again announcing peace to the world. I wish you and yours a most peace-filled Christmas.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)