Good Will

Luke 2: 8-20

It's impossible for me to read the following selection from Luke without hearing the music from Handel's Messiah

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. . . .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,
Good will towards men. Luke 2:9-11, 13-14


Handel's arrangement of the music is powerful, but the reality would have been dumb founding. So dumb founding that the shepherd's are aptly described in King's James English as "sore afraid". And no wonder they were sore afraid. They didn't get a solo; they got the choir--"a multitude of the heavenly host".

For a moment heaven broke through to earth and oh how heaven broke through--with a joy so exponential that there's no number to measure it. I consider this moment God's gift to the angels. It's as if he said, "I know you're excited. Go, sing!"

The message that the choir sang is simple. It has two parts: praise to God--"Glory to God in the highest!" and God's intention for humanity: "Peace and good will toward men."

It is the latter part of the message that catches my attention. What does heaven have for earth? Heaven has "good will toward men".

What does it mean to have good will? Good will is wanting the best for someone. It is longing for another person's happiness. It is crying at a friend's wedding; it is rejoicing in a colleague's promotion. This is heaven's stance: good will toward men.

In Zephaniah, God is described as singing over us. "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save, He [takes] great delight in you. . . .He [rejoices] over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:16). I imagine his song is not a solo, but it is joined by the largest backup choir ever--the heavenly host. How strange to think that this little world--in its sinful, confused, selfish, hurting state--is so overwhelmingly loved.