True story: in the summer of 1991, I was on a camp team for Pacific Christian College. Our job was to go to Christian camps all summer long, promote the school, and do whatever the camp directors needed us to do. It was a tough summer in many ways - driving from camp to camp (this was before cell phones and GPS devices), pouring your life into high school students for a week, and then having to say goodbye to them and then do the same the next week, etc. The last four weeks of the summer were even more difficult because my camp team partner had some health issues, so she had to return home while I went out on my own. Thankfully the last four camps I was part of were incredible - one in northern California, two weeks at Wi-Ne_Ma in Oregon, and one week up in Washington, just north of Tacoma.
At the California one, I was asked to be the "sponsor" for the kids who came without youth groups, so I hung out with them all week long. One night everyone broke into their groups outside, and my smaller group hung out at the campfire. Nobody was really in any mood to talk about stuff that happened that day, so someone suggested singing some songs around the campfire. Now mind you, there were eight of us at the most around the campfire. We sang for about an hour and had one of the best worship times I've ever had. The best part of the story is this (and remember, it's true): later that night I was talking with a youth minister, and he was telling me that although he had a good night talking with his students, that he wished he could have gone over to the campfire to sing songs, since everyone else at the camp went over there. I told him that actually there were only eight of us at the campfire, and with an incredulous look on his face, he told me that from where his group was, it sounded like there were 200 people around the campfire singing songs. Another talk with a different youth minister confirmed this.
Ever since then, I have attributed it to angels singing with us. At the time, I wasn't really that "into" the idea of angels or demons or the supernatural. But it opened my eyes to the fact that the spiritual world is out there, and things happen that can only be explained by "other" forces at work in our world. Just thinking about that night at the campfire brings me to a sense of awe, of being grateful that for a brief moment in time, it was like God pulling open the curtain so I can get just a glimpse of His glory.
Angels We Have Heard On High has been a favorite carol of mine for some time. I'm not sure what my favorite version of this song is, although I've always liked Michael W. Smith's Gloria on his first Christmas album. I've loved that album for a long time - one of the reasons is that it is the last really good memory I have of my stepfather. When I was in college, he flew out to California from Florida, and then we drove up to see his daughter in Merced. I happened to have this Michael W. Smith Christmas cassette with me, and we listened to it all the way up and all the way back.
One of my favorite Bible stories as it relates to Christmas is the story of the shepherds being visited by the host of angels. I love it because it reminds me of how ludicrous it sounds, that God didn't announce the birth of his Son to Caesar or the heads of state or to the chief officials. He announced it to a bunch of lowly shepherds, smelly dudes out in the fields who had no power, no royalty - just a bunch of sheep. It reminds me that God doesn't care about prestige or position or pedigree. He cares for all, and gives his most important announcements to those who are willing and ready to hear.
I want to close with an excerpt from the YouVersion devotional on this carol:
"It seems like people tend to have fewer experiences these days of complete awe. Technology has brought so much of the world to our living rooms and fingertips that we can see anything we want and feel like we are at anyplace we want to be. Unfortunately, most of us probably have fewer awe-inspiring moments with God like we should. Our relationship with Him often becomes too comfortable and even ordinary.
This Christmas, make an attempt to regain those awe-inspiring moments with God. Strive to make your relationship with Him something so inspiring that it causes you to rejoice like the angels did. Don't let your relationship with Him be ordinary, but rather make it extraordinary."
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