Advent Week 4: The Angels Are Full of His Light and Fire
This blog is the final part of a four-part Advent series.
This final installment of our four-part Advent series on Martin Luther’s Christmas sermon at Wartburg,[1] highlights his emphasis on the song of the angels: Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good will toward men. In this way, Luther redirects the celebration of Christmas beyond the formalities of tradition and focuses instead upon theological reflection about what the birth of Christ signifies for humanity’s relationship with God. Glory to God in the Highest: Luther stressed that the birth of Christ is primarily for the glory of God, reflecting the core Reformation belief in soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone). Peace on Earth: Luther interprets this to mean peace between God and humanity, reconciled through Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. Good Will Toward Men: Luther underscores God’s grace and mercy in sending Jesus, not because of any merit in mankind, but out of his own good will. This connects to Luther’s doctrine of sola gratia (grace alone), where salvation is a gift of God’s grace, freely given to all who believe.
As a whole, Luther’s Christmas sermon served as both a theological anchor and a call to resilience for the burgeoning Protestant community during the transformative period in Western Christianity known as the Reformation.
A Sermon by Martin Luther, from his Wartburg Church Postil, 1521–1522
Finally we must also treat of the angels’ song, which we use daily in our service: Gloria in excelcis Deo. There are three things to be considered in this song: the glory to God, the peace to the earth, and the good will to mankind. The good will might be understood as the divine good will God has toward men through Christ. But we will admit it to mean the good will which is granted unto men through this birth, as it is set forth in the words thus, “en anthropis eudokia / hominibus beneplacitum.”
The first is the glory to God. Thus we should also begin, so that in all things the praise and glory be given to God as the one who does, gives and possesses all things, that no one ascribe anything to himself or claim any merit for himself. For the glory belongs to no one but to God alone, it does not permit of being made common by being shared by any person.
Adam stole the glory through the evil spirit and appropriated it to himself, so that all men with him have come into disgrace [and] there is no vice in them as great as vanity. Everyone is well pleased with himself and no one wants to be nothing; the spirit of vanity is the cause of all distress, strife and war upon earth.
Christ has again brought back the glory to God, . . . so that we may not be boastful and self-satisfied, but rather be filled with fear and shame, so that in this manner our glory and self-satisfaction may be crushed. And we be glad to be rid of it in order that we may be found and preserved in Christ.
The second is the peace on earth. For just as strife must exist where God’s glory is not found, so . . . also, where God’s glory is there must be peace. Why should they quarrel when they know that nothing is their own, but that all they are, have and can desire is from God? They leave everything in his hands and are content that they have such a gracious God. . . .
Therefore, our Lord Christ is called a king of peace . . . that inwardly he may give us peace in our conscience toward God through faith; and outwardly, that we may exercise love to our fellow men, so that through him there may be everywhere peace on earth.
The third is good will toward men. By “good will” is not meant the will that does good works, but the good will and peace of heart, which is equally submissive in everything that may betide, be it good or evil. The angels knew very well that the peace of which they sang, does not extend farther than to the Christians who truly believe, such have certainly peace among themselves. But the world and the devil have no reproof; they do not permit them to have peace but persecute them to death. As Christ says in John 16:33, “In me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation.”
Hence it was not enough for the angels to sing peace on earth; they added to it the good will toward men, that they take pleasure in all that God does, regard all God’s dealing with them as wise and good, and praise and thank him for it. . . .
Behold, it is such a good will, pleasure, good opinion in all things whether good or evil, that the angels wish to express in their song; for where there is no good will, peace will not long exist. The unbelieving put the worst construction on everything, always magnify the evil and double every mishap. Therefore, God’s dealings with them does not please them. They would have it different and that which is written in Psalm 18: 25-26 is fulfilled: “With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, with the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect; with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure”, . . . and with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward, that is, as thou and all thou doest, does not please him”. . . .
From this song we may learn what kind of creatures the angels are. Don’t consider what the great masters of art dream about them, here they are all painted in such a manner that their heart and their own thoughts may be recognized. In the first place, in that they joyfully sing, ascribing the glory to God, they show how full of his light and fire they are, not praising themselves, but recognizing that all things belong to God alone, so that with great earnestness they ascribe the glory to him to whom it belongs. Therefore if you would think of a humble, pure, obedient and joyful heart, praising God, think of the angels. This is their first step, that by which they serve God.