Angels, From The Realms Of Glory

What this episode covers

I just finished an excellent book, 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, by Tony Rienke (2017). He opens his conclusion with the following, familiar routine. Today, tired after work, I opened Facebook on my phone, looking for a diversion. I flicked past a video of a cat that sounds like a crying child; then I saw a new study about gun control; then I saw an innovative new keyboard for tablets; then I read a story from the latest celebrity gossip; then I was offered twenty pictures of actors who have aged badly (which I ignored); then I saw a breaking news story about a rogue militia group in Oregon; then I read that North Korea apparently had detonated a test atomic bomb; then I watched a viral video of a “monster shredder” that crushes refrigerators, couches, and cars with large metal teeth; and then I saw pictures of a friend and his wife on vacation in Iceland. On and on I flicked down a list of disconnected and fragmented items, and most of them only barely important or interesting. I was not edified or served, only further fatigued because of missing a nap I should have taken or a walk I could have taken, and easily lured back to my phone for more. He illustrates the frustration of the nature of his distractions with a reference from The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The senior demon, Screwtape, is teaching his nephew, Wormwood, about the goal of distracting his “patient” (a Christian). Instead of communing with God, Screwtape commends the “Nothing” strategy, which he assures is… “…very strong: strong enough to steal away a man’s best years, not in sweet sins, but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them…or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off.”You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts, Your affectionate uncle SCREWTAPE”. In other words, according to Lewis, one of Satan’s chief strategies is to leave us with no time to treasure and ponder the things of God because we are too busy doing nothing important. Last week we noted that the events surrounding the birth of Christ reveal a sovereign and humble Messiah who fulfilled the Old Testament promises regarding his birth. This week we will see several responses to the good news of Christ’s birth. The goal is that we will be drawn into a higher theology and a deeper doxology. Read Luke 2:8-20 Receiving the Good News of Christ’s Birth (8-14) The shepherds are prominent characters in Luke’s gospel, but it is significant to know something about the way the culture viewed them. Shepherds could not participate in religious rituals because their work often left them ceremonially unclean. Due to their reputation of being unreliable witnesses, they were not allowed to give testimony in court (Talmud). It would seem that only lepers were a more despised class in Israel. The actual date of Jesus’ birth remains unknown. It’s always interesting when anyone confidently asserts that Christ was born on a specific day. There are serious proposals for almost every month of the year. Last week, I mentioned it most likely was not in the winter, but I can’t be certain of that. December 25th does have some traditional references (especially

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