An advent reflection on “all”.
An angel announced the birth.
The angel Gabriel had previously spoken with Zechariah and then with Mary and also with Joseph, and each time received the same reaction; terror. Gabriel’s first words at every appearance were, “Do not be afraid”, or “Do not fear”.
It would be something if every time you showed up somewhere the first thing that you found it necessary to say was “It’s okay. Don’t be afraid.”
The Gospel of Luke does not tell us the identity of “the angel of the Lord” who gave the birth announcement to the shepherds, but it’s not a stretch to think that it was another assignment for Gabriel. The text says that at the angel’s appearance, God’s glory itself shone around the shepherds and they were “sore afraid”. At that, Gabriel (or the unnamed angel) follows the script, “Fear not.” And then comes a message of assurance that is definitely for the shepherds, but also apparently for all people;
“Fear not. For behold. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
The theology of the evangelical church has an interesting relationship with the word “all”. Sometimes all means all and sometimes it means not even most.
For example; when I was growing up in the church it was clear that the “all” in Romans 3:23 meant all. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
However, the “all” a little later in the same book, in chapter 5 did not mean all. In fact, verse 18 of that chapter both include “all”. The first “all” is taken to mean all in much evangelical theology, but the second is not taken to mean all.
Here is the verse;
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
Peter Rollins is an Irish writer, philosopher, theologian. Much of his work exists to help us break down our less than helpful ideas of God. Rollins (as outlined in a recent episode of The Liturgists podcast) argues that Christianity has always been universalist. He then describes the different kinds of universalism within the range of Christian thought.
Conservative Christian Universalism says that the message is for all, but that, in the end, most people are not “saved”. What is universal is the power and effect of sin.
This kind of universalism is the foundation for the missionary movement in evangelical faith.
Liberal Christian Universalism agrees, to some extent, that the message is for everybody, but the “all” of liberal universalism is an all of affect. In other words, the goodness of God’s good news is not dependent on the actions of those for whom it is intended. What is universal is the power and effect of God.
The universalism that Rollins says he is interested in is a radical universalism that recognizes that we are ALL outsiders. It strikes me that it is from this posture that we can hear the assurance of the angel. There is good news of great joy for all people. What is hopeful is that in this case, all means ALL.
It is, after all, difficult for people who consider themselves insiders, to hear any new good news.