Will Vaus

One Sunday evening, a mother overheard her five-year-old daughter practicing Hark! the Herald Angels Sing , a song she’d been rehearsing that morning in church for the Christmas program. It was all the mother could do to suppress her laughter when, in place of “with angelic host proclaim” she heard her daughter sing “with the jelly toast proclaim”. [1] We laugh at that child’s rendition of a well-loved Christmas carol; but I wonder: how much do we know about the angelic host vs. jelly toast? I want to meditate with you for a few moments on the angels of Christmas. I would like to ask and try to answer four important questions: Who are the angels of Christmas? What is their work? What is their perspective on Christmas? Why does it matter? Who are the angels of Christmas? The word for angel in Hebrew means “one going” or “one sent”, “a messenger”. The word in Greek also means “a messenger”, either divine or human. Today I want to focus with you on the divi...

Do you know who gave the best Christmas gift of all time? I believe God did, when he gave the gift of his one and only Son. Personally, I think John 3:16 gives us God’s perspective on Christmas…. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. During the days of World War I there was a Scotsman who took his son for a walk at twilight. As they were walking along through their neighborhood the son noticed the figure of a star placed in the windows of the homes of several families. The son said, “Da, why are there stars in some of the windows?” His father replied, “That comes from this terrible war, laddie. It shows that these people have given a son.” Just then, the boy looked up in the sky and saw the evening star. He reflected for a moment and then said, “Da, God must have given a son too.” Of course, God did not simply give a son, as many families did during World War I...