Second sermon.*)
Of the holy angels' sermon and their song.
Yesterday we heard the history and story of this feast, how the Son of God became man and was born of the Virgin Mary into this miserable world. Which is therefore written and preached annually in Christendom, so that we may take it to heart and learn to thank God from the bottom of our hearts for such a great, glorious blessing and grace, which He has shown us through such a birth of His Son.
After the story we will also hear from the dear angels, how they preach and sing about such a birth. For as soon as Mary gave birth to her son in a stable in Bethlehem, a heavenly announcement was made in the air by the angel of the Lord, who appeared with great clarity to the shepherds in the field and announced to them that Christ the Lord had been born in the city of David and was lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Now this is also something new, that our dear Lord God reveals the birth of His Son to the poor shepherds. He leaves the great lords of Jerusalem sitting, and thus sends a glorious message down from heaven to the poor beggars, the shepherds, in the field. The same angel does the same honor to the shepherds that their Lord Christ Himself did to all of us. He humbles himself according to the example of his Lord Christ,
*) Held on St. Stephen's Day, December 26, 1534, in the house.
and is not ashamed, nor is he disdained to preach to shepherds and poor beggars; he does not look on how glorious he is, but lowers himself and does this beautiful preaching, which still remains and will remain among Christians until the end of the world.
These must be fine spirits, since there is no hope inside. For as an angel humbles himself and preaches to the shepherds, so does the whole multitude of the heavenly host, as will follow: they sing at the same time about the birth of Christ and make the shepherds listen. But what is the Roman emperor with all his glory against an angel? Therefore all great lords, all scholars and all saints, who are still far from being as great, learned and holy as the dear angels, should take note of this example and learn from it that they did not exalt themselves in their art, wisdom, holiness and other gifts and did not despise others for it. For if the gifts were to be turned to hope, the dear angels would have reason enough to have done so, and to have despised the poor shepherds. But they do not. Let the shepherds be as lowly, poor and miserable as they wish, yet the angels do not hold themselves so holy and high that they should not be heartily willing and glad to proclaim such a message to them.
4. everything here is according to the nature of the kingdom of Christ, which is far different from the other kingdoms.
The kingdom is not like the kingdom of the world. For here it is not a matter of riding high and ruling, but of being brought low and serving others; as Christ says, Matth. 20, 25-28: "The worldly rulers rule, and the overlords have authority. It shall not be so among you: but if any man will be mighty among you, let him be your servant; and whosoever will be chief, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life for a redemption of many." Therefore, just as the Lord himself humbles himself and serves all of us, so also his servants, the angels, humble themselves and do not spurn the gray skirts of the poor shepherds.
(5) We should also do this and in all humility gladly use our gifts for the comfort and help of others and not despise anyone, for it is a good example that just as the Lord is a faithful Savior and serves us all, so also his servants, the angels, are faithful, loving spirits and serve us willingly and gladly. The shepherds of that time must have been devout, God-fearing people who desired this Savior with all their hearts, because they came to hear the angels of the Lord preach. Today the people, and especially the rude people, are worth nothing else than to hear the devil himself. Now this is the highest sermon that the angel preaches to the shepherds, and it reads thus:
Do not be afraid. Behold, I proclaim great joy to you, which shall be to all the people. For unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this is the sign that you will find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
(6) Every man, if he would, could grasp this sermon and learn it by heart, so that he might know the history of how it happened and what the angel of the Lord preached: On the night that Christ was born in Bethlehem, there was light, and a glorious sermon was preached by the angel of the Lord, and after that a beautiful hymn was sung by the multitude of the heavenly host. The sermon
was therefore: "Do not be afraid" etc. This could be grasped and kept by anyone who wanted to apply so much diligence to honor God and to make ourselves blessed.
The angel includes the whole gospel in this sermon, and says that joy is to be given to us men through this Savior, born in the stable by the manger, who is to save us from sins, death and the devil, and is Christ the Lord Himself; and this was done in Bethlehem. These are not the words of men, nor does such preaching grow in the heart of man, for even the wisest men on earth know nothing of it: but they are angelic words, sounding from heaven, which we (praise be to God forever!) have also received. For it is just as much, you hear or read this sermon today, as if you had heard it from the angel himself. For the shepherds did not see the angels either (for they do not let themselves be seen), they only saw the light and the brightness. But they heard the words, which you still hear today. For in these words, as I read from the book in the sermon, the heavenly and angelic sermon is composed, if only we would open our eyes and ears and hear and hear such things.
(8) Well then, one must and shall keep it, if one wants to be saved otherwise. This was the first sermon about the birth of Jesus Christ, which came down from heaven and will continue until the last day, that this child, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, is the Savior, Christ and Lord, who will save us from sins and death and comfort us forever.
After the angel's sermon, the whole multitude of the heavenly host sings a hymn of praise. A good sermon should be followed by a joyful song. So the dear angels are happy about the birth of this Savior of all the world, and also sing a joyful song to the glorious sermon, which reads thus:
Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
10. they divide their song into three voices or laws, and make a third; thus
That they set the three, God, earth, men, and ascribe to each of the three his own: To God the glory, to earth the peace, to men the pleasure. Wohlgefallen is spoken un-German; it is called eudokia, that is, joy and pleasure. So the first silence reads:
Glory to God in the highest.
The dear angels wish God honor, that is, they sing and wish that God be recognized in the newborn child, and that He be thanked for the great, infinite blessing, that out of pure grace and mercy He sent His dear Son, and let Him become man, so that He might redeem the human race. As if they wanted to say: God has sent His Son, thanks be to Him and praise be to Him forever. For such grace and good deeds we angels want to praise and glorify God, and all the people should follow our example and also praise and glorify Him. The other quiet one:
Peace on earth.
(12) They also desire that there be peace on earth, and that Christ's kingdom come on earth, which is a kingdom of peace. The kingdom of the world is stealing, robbing, murdering, killing, warring and bloodshed. All in all, on earth there is unrest; there one harms the other, no one is faithful to the other, they beat each other over the head. That is the nature on earth. Therefore the dear angels wish us a peaceful life, that we Christians may be kind to one another, that one may show love, faithfulness and service to the other, and that one may bear the other's infirmities, that no one may be at odds with the other, but that one may help and advise the other. That God would give such things on earth, the dear angels sing, wish and ask, so that the people do not create mobs or sects, but what one wants, the other also wants, so that it is friendly and peaceful on earth. This is the other silence. Follows the third:
A pleasure to the people.
013 As if to say, We would like it to be so, that all the world may know God.
honored in high places and would be satisfied with each other. But it cannot be like this everywhere. For many do not respect the gospel, nor do they accept this Son, but persecute both the gospel and the Son. May God therefore grant to other godly people a joyful and glad heart, so that they may say, "I have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord; if people mourn me and persecute me because of this Savior, it will be good for me, and I will have joy and gladness even in suffering. Such a heart do the dear angels desire for us Christians, that we may have pleasure in unpleasure, and sing when the devil is angry; that we may be hopeful and proud in Christ, and in him defy all adversity; and if the devil does us harm, that we may mock him for it, and say, Devil, canst thou nothing but touch my body, life, goods, etc.? If you can't do anything but harm my body, life, property, etc., you might as well leave it alone, because you can't harm me; I have an eternal Savior who will delight me in all bodily harm for eternity. etc.
14 This is the third silence, that one should have a cheerful, joyful, defiant courage against all suffering that can befall him, that one should say to the devil: You shall not make it so evil that you spoil my joy, which I have through this child. This is called eudokia, a merry, calm, cheerful, courageous heart, which does not ask much about misfortune, and only confidently says to the devil: Be as evil and poisonous as you can, I will not let my joy, dear devil, be bitter nor spoiled for the sake of your anger; Christ gives me more joy and comfort than you sorrow. Such a heart the dear angels grant and wish us with their song.
(15) If you turn this song around, as unfortunately happens in the world, you will find the devil's song, cursing and blaspheming God on high, committing murder, and keeping house so that no man can have a happy sight or eat a happy morsel with peace. There help the wicked spirits, who are the devil's mouth, defile and blaspheme God in heaven with their false doctrine.
16. after that, that princes and lords at
We have to be on each other's heels, we have to do all the unfaithfulness and discord, we have to say the best things under our noses and prove the worst things. That's how I like it, sings the devil. That means honor in hell for the devil, strife on earth and a stupid, despondent heart for the people. How many are found to whom God gives everything enough, but they do not rejoice and have no happy hour; even if they have cellars, chambers, tables full, they still go, hang their heads, all they have is sadness, they can have no pleasure in any thing. That is the devil's song and wish, he does not grant us humans any pleasure that we may have in God's gifts.
On the other hand, the dear angels sing and wish us a courageous heart that can defy and throb in all kinds of misfortune and temptation. That is how they would like it to be.
(17) Let this be said of the song of the holy angels, that ye may understand it aright. Such things are not found written in any other books, not even in a single letter. For this song did not grow on earth, nor was it made, but came down from heaven through the angels. May our dear Lord God help us with His Holy Spirit to keep it and do it, through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, amen.