Angels - Messengers Of Doom?
Sermon
I'm told that during the war the one thing everybody dreaded was the arrival of a telegram. The telegram boy on his bike at the door always heralded bad news, for it meant that a loved one had been killed or injured or captured or was lost in action.
Yet as a youngster I looked forward to telegrams, for in my experience they always brought good news. These were congratulatory telegrams, which everyone received on great occasions like twenty-first birthdays and weddings. Now, of course, there are no telegrams at all, for other means of communication have overtaken the humble telegram.
Another dreaded person at the door was the policeman, and perhaps that's still so today. I can still remember the terrible fear I felt as a child, when on one occasion the police arrived in the middle of the night. It was to tell my parents that my grandmother had fallen and broken her hip and was in hospital. And in those days of no car and difficult transport, it was a calamity in our family.
Unexpected messengers are not always welcome, for they so often seem to bring bad news rather than good news.
In the Bible since the beginning of time, angels have been the messengers of God, but they haven't always been welcome. Very often angels brought bad news, news of dire punishments in store for God's people because of the wickedness of their ways.
Sometimes in hindsight perhaps we tend to look back and assume that the news brought by the angels was always good news, because we know the end of the story. But at the time, the news may have been very disturbing indeed. So perhaps it's not surprising that most angels were met with great fear on the part of human beings.
Another reason for their fear is that it wasn't always clear whether the visitor was an angel or was God himself. In the early stories of Genesis, God and his messengers seem to have been interchangeable. And since anyone looking upon the face of God was sure to die, no wonder the chosen human beings were terrified.
In Genesis 18 three strangers visit Abraham and Sarah, but Abraham addresses them in the singular as "Lord". Sometimes all three speak and are referred to in the text as "they", but at other times we're told the Lord spoke. The strangers tell Sarah she will have a child, but when she laughs at such an inane suggestion, it's the Lord who rebukes her. And Sarah is so terrified at this meeting with God that she denies having laughed.
In the New Testament in St Luke's gospel, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, to announce that his barren wife Elizabeth would bear a son. You might have expected Zechariah to be thrilled and delighted at this answer to prayer, but he was terrified.
Perhaps his mind flew swiftly to the responsibilities involved in bringing up a child, especially when you're getting on in years. And more especially when an angel tells you that there are certain stringent conditions your son must observe throughout his life, like never touching wine or strong drink.
Within a matter of months the Angel Gabriel appeared again, this time to young Mary to tell her that not only would she bear a child, but that that child would be the Messiah, the Saviour of the whole world.
Mary too was terrified, and like Zechariah objected to the angel's words. As well she might, for it isn't so very long ago in this country that to bear a child out of wedlock was considered the most appalling disgrace that could fall upon a family.
Joseph, the man who had been chosen by her parents as a suitable husband for Mary, was so shocked by the news that she was carrying a child who wasn't his, that he wanted to end the marriage contract there and then.
He could have been much more vicious, and demanded that a girl apparently carrying the evidence of adultery in her body should be executed by stoning, as the Law allowed. It's a measure of Joseph's own stature and humanity that he simply wanted to quietly ditch the arranged marriage.
But what of Mary, this young girl probably still in her teens, whose dreams of a happy marriage and a stable home must surely have been shattered by the angel's terrifying news? Not only was she to be disgraced before the whole community, but she was told she had the responsibility of raising God himself, God in a human being.
It tempting to think that once she said yes to the angel, everything was all right. But that's not actually the case. There are hints in the Gospels that Jesus was regarded by many as illegitimate (eg. Mark 3:31-35, Luke 11:27-28, Luke 12:51-53 and see "The Gospel According to Jesus" by Stephen Mitchell), and there was a well-known rumour circulating for many years after his death, that his real father was a Roman officer.
At that early stage of the angel's visit, it was predictable that life would never be easy for Mary. Yet after a very brief and half-hearted protest, she not only acceded to the angel's wishes, but burst into a song of praise for God.
God chose well when he selected parents to raise the Messiah, the Christ. He chose two people who could hear God's voice and who were prepared to act upon it, no matter how bizarre God's suggestions must have seemed. And he chose two people who stood together supporting each other through difficulty and innuendo, and who were open and loving and forgiving in their relationship with each other. In economic termshey were poor, but when you have those sorts of gifts, money and wealth seem pretty paltry in comparison and not worth any consideration whatsoever.
God's ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts. God sometimes makes demands or suggestions which feel impossible to humans. When something impossible pops into my mind, my immediate reaction is to instantly reject it because of its clear impossibility.
But things which are impossible for humans are not impossible for God, so it's important to learn to consider and think about and pray about seemingly ridiculous and impossible thoughts or suggestions, because they may be God speaking.
Taking on board God's impossible suggestions doesn't lead to an easy ride, far from it. On the contrary, those who share and act upon God's suggestions often find that like Mary, their life plunges into troubles and difficulties and turmoil.
But like Mary, there's another side to all of that. The other side is a heart full of love and praise and joy and delight, which underlies all the difficulties and troubles in the world. St. Paul calls it "the peace of God which passes all understanding."
It isn't easy to reach a point of praising God when bad news has just been delivered, but if I ever reach that point then I know that along with Mary, my spirit really will "rejoice in God my Saviour."
Yet as a youngster I looked forward to telegrams, for in my experience they always brought good news. These were congratulatory telegrams, which everyone received on great occasions like twenty-first birthdays and weddings. Now, of course, there are no telegrams at all, for other means of communication have overtaken the humble telegram.
Another dreaded person at the door was the policeman, and perhaps that's still so today. I can still remember the terrible fear I felt as a child, when on one occasion the police arrived in the middle of the night. It was to tell my parents that my grandmother had fallen and broken her hip and was in hospital. And in those days of no car and difficult transport, it was a calamity in our family.
Unexpected messengers are not always welcome, for they so often seem to bring bad news rather than good news.
In the Bible since the beginning of time, angels have been the messengers of God, but they haven't always been welcome. Very often angels brought bad news, news of dire punishments in store for God's people because of the wickedness of their ways.
Sometimes in hindsight perhaps we tend to look back and assume that the news brought by the angels was always good news, because we know the end of the story. But at the time, the news may have been very disturbing indeed. So perhaps it's not surprising that most angels were met with great fear on the part of human beings.
Another reason for their fear is that it wasn't always clear whether the visitor was an angel or was God himself. In the early stories of Genesis, God and his messengers seem to have been interchangeable. And since anyone looking upon the face of God was sure to die, no wonder the chosen human beings were terrified.
In Genesis 18 three strangers visit Abraham and Sarah, but Abraham addresses them in the singular as "Lord". Sometimes all three speak and are referred to in the text as "they", but at other times we're told the Lord spoke. The strangers tell Sarah she will have a child, but when she laughs at such an inane suggestion, it's the Lord who rebukes her. And Sarah is so terrified at this meeting with God that she denies having laughed.
In the New Testament in St Luke's gospel, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, to announce that his barren wife Elizabeth would bear a son. You might have expected Zechariah to be thrilled and delighted at this answer to prayer, but he was terrified.
Perhaps his mind flew swiftly to the responsibilities involved in bringing up a child, especially when you're getting on in years. And more especially when an angel tells you that there are certain stringent conditions your son must observe throughout his life, like never touching wine or strong drink.
Within a matter of months the Angel Gabriel appeared again, this time to young Mary to tell her that not only would she bear a child, but that that child would be the Messiah, the Saviour of the whole world.
Mary too was terrified, and like Zechariah objected to the angel's words. As well she might, for it isn't so very long ago in this country that to bear a child out of wedlock was considered the most appalling disgrace that could fall upon a family.
Joseph, the man who had been chosen by her parents as a suitable husband for Mary, was so shocked by the news that she was carrying a child who wasn't his, that he wanted to end the marriage contract there and then.
He could have been much more vicious, and demanded that a girl apparently carrying the evidence of adultery in her body should be executed by stoning, as the Law allowed. It's a measure of Joseph's own stature and humanity that he simply wanted to quietly ditch the arranged marriage.
But what of Mary, this young girl probably still in her teens, whose dreams of a happy marriage and a stable home must surely have been shattered by the angel's terrifying news? Not only was she to be disgraced before the whole community, but she was told she had the responsibility of raising God himself, God in a human being.
It tempting to think that once she said yes to the angel, everything was all right. But that's not actually the case. There are hints in the Gospels that Jesus was regarded by many as illegitimate (eg. Mark 3:31-35, Luke 11:27-28, Luke 12:51-53 and see "The Gospel According to Jesus" by Stephen Mitchell), and there was a well-known rumour circulating for many years after his death, that his real father was a Roman officer.
At that early stage of the angel's visit, it was predictable that life would never be easy for Mary. Yet after a very brief and half-hearted protest, she not only acceded to the angel's wishes, but burst into a song of praise for God.
God chose well when he selected parents to raise the Messiah, the Christ. He chose two people who could hear God's voice and who were prepared to act upon it, no matter how bizarre God's suggestions must have seemed. And he chose two people who stood together supporting each other through difficulty and innuendo, and who were open and loving and forgiving in their relationship with each other. In economic termshey were poor, but when you have those sorts of gifts, money and wealth seem pretty paltry in comparison and not worth any consideration whatsoever.
God's ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts. God sometimes makes demands or suggestions which feel impossible to humans. When something impossible pops into my mind, my immediate reaction is to instantly reject it because of its clear impossibility.
But things which are impossible for humans are not impossible for God, so it's important to learn to consider and think about and pray about seemingly ridiculous and impossible thoughts or suggestions, because they may be God speaking.
Taking on board God's impossible suggestions doesn't lead to an easy ride, far from it. On the contrary, those who share and act upon God's suggestions often find that like Mary, their life plunges into troubles and difficulties and turmoil.
But like Mary, there's another side to all of that. The other side is a heart full of love and praise and joy and delight, which underlies all the difficulties and troubles in the world. St. Paul calls it "the peace of God which passes all understanding."
It isn't easy to reach a point of praising God when bad news has just been delivered, but if I ever reach that point then I know that along with Mary, my spirit really will "rejoice in God my Saviour."
