And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men
with whom he is pleased!"
Luke 2:13-14
Don’t you just love search engines like Google? You can find out anything. For example, I just typed in “How many angels at Christmas?”
One of the more reputable sites – BeliefNet.com – answered boldly. “Luke 2 states … there was ‘a multitude of heavenly hosts.’ There are countless angels (think millions and billions as a start) … [T]he choir was limited only by the space in the sky over the shepherd’s field.”
That’s a guess, of course – the guess of a limited human … but fortunately a faithful human who rightfully views God as awesome and powerful, bigger than the confines of our little imagination.
But I love his image: “limited only by the space in the sky.” God is awesome and powerful, indeed!
But the real question isn’t, “How many?” The real question is, “What did they do?” And the real answer is, “They sang praise!”
That’s really the most important thing any of us can do. Whether you have an angelic voice or not, your highest purpose is live is praise God. It’s not to work a job. It’s not to raise a family. It’s not to enjoy your wife. (Important as all those are.) Rather, as the Westminster Confession famously says in its first line, “the chief end of man is to glorify God.”
The angels modeled that in the Christmas sky. They didn’t show up for a piece of good theatre, a bunch of shepherds hurrying to a cattle stall. No, when they came, they simply worshipped. Indeed, the chief end of angels is to sing, “Glory to God in the highest.”
In Christ’s Love,
a guy still imagining
a horizon that’s unable to hold
the multitude of angels
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