John, the choirmaster of the heavenly host, had been asked to prepare a special song. God was sending His own Son into the world to save it. God's Son would be born as a baby and the song would be sung after the birth was announced to the world.

John felt honored that the Lord would trust him with such an important task. He worked with the heavenly host to make sure everyone was in tune. He worked on their diction so all of the words were clearly understood.

The big night came. The child was born. The best speaker of angels stepped forward and said, "Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you; you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." Then John took his cue and led the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors." John was thrilled. Everything went as planned. Suddenly John looked down and noticed that only a small group of shepherds heard the announcement. "Where are the kings? Where are the priests and all of the other people?" All of the work and God's great gift did not make any difference.

John was perplexed and puzzled. He retreated and contemplated what went wrong. He tried his best to make sure everything was heard clearly but so few people had paid attention. After a while (about thirty years in Heaven), John looked down on the world again and was horrified. God's son was being put to death. This so devastated John that he retreated for a very long time. The other angels tried to cheer him up but nothing worked.

Finally after about 2000 years, God himself came to John and said, "Take a walk with me." John could not refuse God's direct request so he had no choice but to come out of his self imposed solitude. God and John went for a walk and looked out over the world. God asked John, "What do you see?" John looked down and was filled with more sorrow. "I see people who are hungry, people who have no place to live. I see a world still torn apart by war and hatred. Why did it not make a difference?" God smiled, and said, "I understand why you see the hunger, the homeless, the war and the hatred, but there is so much more. Look closer. Let's look at a group of people that make up a group called St Stephen United Methodist Church." John stepped closer and looked where God was pointing. God said," There are people on a regular basis that take food to the homeless shelter. The people also open the church doors to people on a regular basis who have no place to stay. The guests are welcomed, given a warm bed and several good meals. Gifts of food and other items are collected and given to others in need. Money is sent to other parts of the world to help others. The children and youth are taught about my Son and me. They are encouraged to give of their abundance and to give their time to help others. This is all done in the name of my Son. The most remarkable thing is that there are so many more groups of people like this in the world. John, I know you see hopelessness when you look down on the world but I see hope."

John thought about what the Lord had said and observed the group of people further. He finally saw what the Lord sees. All of a sudden he saw a small group of children acting out a play. He realized they were recreating what happened that night long ago. He saw the children singing and praising God with the very words he had sung so long ago. "Glory be to God." Even though few had heard that first time, he realized many had heard the message through the years. It had made a difference.