Advent as War
By Andy Young
The Western world is on a fast track to outright paganism. And yet, for now at least, a semblance of the advent story has been left in tact. We still have a baby in a manger, a guiding star, amazed shepherds and worshipping wise-men. Once a year we have this half-chance of inviting our non-Christian friends to something that we know they might enjoy – singing carols, sipping mulled wine, and hearing a heart-warming message about the love of God for all.
Only are we missing something? In the midst of the good news and the love of God and amazing birth of God’s Son … have we missed a vital part of the story? As much as we need to proclaim the love of God in Christ, and as much as we should declare the good news of peace with God through Christ, are we only telling half the story?
Luke 2:14 and the praise of the heavenly host epitomises this for me. We all know the scene:
The shepherds watching their flocks by night.
The angels fluttering about in the warm after glow of ambient light.
The consoling song of the heavenly host: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those whom he is praised!”
What better passage of Scripture to declare the re-affirming nature of the love of God?
But have we missed something?
Return to the scene. Only think about it through a different (and more redemptive-historical) lens:
Angel appearances are rare and frightening.
Angels are fearsome warriors. The Bible consistently describes them as formidable other-worldly beings.
The ‘heavenly host’ (Luke 2:13) refers to the innumerable angelic armies of God, who serve and do the bidding of ‘the Lord of hosts’ (Isaiah 6).
There are millions of them- a “multitude”. The whole host has turned up. The sky is littered with them. The shepherds are out-numbered 1,000,000 to 1.
Are you beginning to get a feel for the scene? This is no place for the light-hearted. I would not be surprised if the shepherds’ hearts stopped, legs wobbled, bowels moved and bladders emptied.
To get a better idea of what is happening perhaps 2 Kings 6 should serve as a point of reference. Remember the story:
Elisha and his servant in Dothan.
The King of Syria out for his blood.
A great army comes by night and surrounds the city.
Elisha’s servant pulls back the curtains in the morning and is filled with fear at the sight of the army, horses and chariots.
Elisha prays for his servants eyes to be opened and to realise that “those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
The Lord answers his prayer and the servant then sees the reality of the situation.
Surrounding the hordes of the King of Syria are the heavenly armies of the King of kings. And they are not there to pass the time of day.
A blinding (literally) escape takes.
Luke 2 is similar. The appearance of the angels is nothing short of the arrival of the army-host of the living God. And their sung praise is nothing short of a declaration of war.
“Glory to God in the highest” is the angelic embodiment of the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer – “Hallowed by your name”. Or to put it another way: God’s kingdom has come (in the birth of Jesus) and all other kingdoms will be conquered. It is the angels announcing to this world, that in the birth of Jesus, the end has come. Armageddon has begun. A world-to-end-all-wars has started. Or rather, is beginning to end. God has come in the flesh to wage war on the evil one and his kingdom of darkness (1 John 3:8). The whole scene is actually the near-climax of the warfare that has raged between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent since the Fall (Genesis 3:15).
When understood in this light, the birth of Jesus loses much of its homely comfort. Rather than a heart-warming message of love we have the heart-stopping declaration of war.
Is this the other half of the story we need to recover? I would humbly suggest it is. And not only is this the other half of the story. It actually completes the story. Without this second half, the first half is not even a half, let alone a story. God is love, detached from war on his (and our) enemies, is not love. At least it is not biblical love. The heart-stopping declaration of war at the birth of Christ displays the heart-warming truth that God so loves sinners that he will go to any length to save them. It secures for us more than the notional comfort of the love of God. It realises for us the reality of the eternal love of God, by defeating sin, death and the devil. It gives us victory in the Victor – Jesus Christ.
Which is actually what God’s love is all about. Not satisfying our egotistical desires to feel important, but crushing our enemies so that we can be brought into his kingdom as willing servants of Christ who readily worship, honour and adore the King.
Advent is war. The birth of Jesus a declaration of war. And it is the best news this world could hear.
