I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC. Or perhaps I should say that I love Christmas itself, and the music helps evoke the feeling that the child inside of me associates with the season. I know I’m not the only one. Isn’t that why Christian radio stations begin playing Christmas music non-stop for almost the entire month of December? Not Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer, perhaps, but Rudolph, Frosty, and their respective noses will surely come up at least a dozen times a day.

And of course, Christmas carols, many of them recalling Luke’s story of the shepherds and angels. Remember this one? “While shepherds watched their flocks by night / All seated on the ground / An angel of the Lord came down / And glory shone around.” (Feel free to sing along in your head.) Or this one: “The first Noel the angel did say / Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay.” Some carols—like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, or Angels We Have Heard on High, or Angels from the Realm of Glory—take Luke as describing the heavenly host as a choir, singing their praise to God.

I like to imagine things that way too; but in fairness to Luke, it should be noted that he doesn’t actually say this. Here’s the passage again, beginning with the angel’s words of comfort to the terrified shepherds:

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:10-14, NIV)

The angel’s words are good and joyous news. Here, we might think back to what Gabriel had promised Zechariah months earlier, about the birth of his son John: “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth” (Luke 1:14). It’s not just Zechariah and Elizabeth who would have cause to rejoice; John’s birth was part of a larger plan that was meant for the benefit of all.

What is this good news? The birth of a baby in itself is cause for celebration. But this isn’t just any baby, born in any random place. The angel first refers to Bethlehem as “the town of David,” presumably because the shepherds knew the significance of that association. The angel then piles up the descriptors of who this baby has been born to be: the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord. There may be a sociopolitical dimension to the angel’s words, for “Savior” and “Lord” were terms used of the emperor Augustus. Salvation, the angel announces, is not from mighty Rome but from the little town of Bethlehem, and this baby, not the emperor, is Lord.

The shepherds don’t ask for a sign to confirm this good news, but the angel gives them one anyway: if they go into town, they’ll find a baby, swaddled and lying in a manger. I’ve sometimes wondered how the shepherds found the baby; did they have to do a house to house search? Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but we’re looking for a baby in a manger? Luke doesn’t tell us that part. Suffice it to say, though, that if God could direct magi across hundreds of miles to find the right house, he could get the shepherds there just fine.

At this point, the shepherds’ initial fear may be giving way to curiosity and wonder. Then, all of a sudden, a great company of angels appears alongside the first one, praising God, perhaps in song—giving the startled shepherds even more reason to both be afraid and to rejoice.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,” the angels exclaim. Their praise is in response to the good news of the birth of the Messiah; for this they give glory back to God in heaven. But the shepherds are already surrounded by the brilliance of God’s glory, revealed on earth. That’s the other side of the angels’ praise: “on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

You may be more familiar with the King James Version of the text, as reflected in Christmas carols like I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, which sings of “peace on earth, good will to men.” That way of saying it is part of the general niceness expected of people during the holidays: Hey, come on, it’s Christmas. Can’t we just get along or even think of other people for a change? And that’s certainly not a bad thing, as far as it goes.

But the angels aren’t referring to some generic sense of “good will” between people. They’re speaking of peace among people with whom God is pleased or satisfied, people who have God’s favor. Nor should we think of “peace” as merely a state of calm or the absence of conflict. The larger biblical concept is peace as shalom, a sense of wholeness that reflects the essential goodness of God’s creation before it was spoiled by sin. Peace as shalom is intrinsic to the good news of salvation, as can be seen in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!” (Isa 52:7)

The good news of peace on earth, therefore, is not just about saving individuals—whether one or millions—from the consequences of their sin. That’s part of it, of course, but the biblical picture is far more comprehensive. The salvation to be brought through Jesus is part of God’s larger purpose of restoring wholeness and shalom to all of a broken creation.

Obviously, we’re not there yet. The world is not at peace by any definition of the word. But those with whom God is pleased must have a vision of salvation that goes beyond their own personal ticket to heaven. We are to embody God’s peace as we imagine from moment to moment a world made whole.

That’s something worth singing about.