Entertaining angels

Genesis 28: 10-17. “Jacob’s ladder” is one of those memorable bits of the Bible where the role of Angels is as a precursor to an encounter with the Divine. In both Hebrew and Greek, messenger and Angel are the same word, so the difference between an angelic or human messenger is provide by the context

Hebrews 1: 5-14. The qualitative difference between Angels and Jesus is being expressed here. The redemptive and authoritative person of Jesus as Son of God is being compared to Angels which are “Spirits in the divine service” of mankind

John 1: 47-51. “Angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” recalls Jacob’s ladder in Genesis and means that these messengers from God will deliver God’s words directly to Jesus. Angels again seen as messengers or intermediaries from God.

Angels in the Judaeo-Christian tradition have always represented a direct link to God.

Jacob’s vision of angels precedes God standing right beside Jacob to assure him that his destiny is secure – that God will uphold his side of the agreement with him and this led Jacob to name the place where it happened Bethel – Beth- el – the house of God.

That leads us naturally to Jesus in the gospel story telling Nathaniel that he will see “Angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man”, meaning that instead of God being located in a place – Bethel – He is located in the heart of Jesus Himself who mostly referred to himself as the “Son of man” after the prophesy in the book of Daniel.

And in the book of Hebrews it importantly emphasises the surpassing importance of Jesus in the economy of salvation, who although he was in human form, (lower than the angels in Hebrew’s description) in his work and divinity He is higher than the angels.

It is after all Jesus who in his sacrificial death came to redeem and save the world and, in his resurrection, to assure the world of the hope of a bright and blessed future in a new creation.

Significantly, In both Hebrew and Greek, angel and messenger are the same word, so anyone who comes with a message of love or comfort or insight is an angel.

Later in the book of Hebrews it says this (13:2)

“Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers because in doing so you may be entertaining angels unawares”

Hebrews acknowledges that a human being can be an angel, a messenger from God” because God uses people to communicate his will, comfort and wisdom.

Instead of seeking out heavenly spiritual experiences that simply satisfies our own needs, we can choose to be a messenger of God ourselves.

We can dispense God’s love and grace in a word of love, encouragement, an act of charity or service. Kindness to people is an act of God.

In such cases we can pass over from being a messenger to actually embodying the message.

Every church building embodies a message from God. Their mere existence is a message that God matters, is worthy of respect and worship. Even those who never cross the threshold of a church understand that message.

We, the people of God are messengers of God when we dispense love, mercy and forgiveness, kindness, patience and self-control.

We can be the angel that people encounter unawares.

In the talk on Angels at the literary festival the claim was made that belief in Angels rivals belief in God nowadays. Even 7% of atheists apparently believe in Angels. One reason offered for that is that Angels come bearing nothing but grace and love and protection and make no demands.

Well, It is a fact that when one facet of the Christian faith is neglected it pops up somewhere else in a more pronounced form. When the word of God was neglected, for example, that spawned the reformation and later, the evangelical movement within mainstream denominations.

When the Holy Spirit was neglected, that spawned the Pentecostal churches and the charismatic movement.

You could say that when the churches concentrate too much on moral rules and judgement, the response is an increased belief in totally grace filled, protective angelic beings. One remembers Robbie Williams major hit “Angels”

One sermon I made near the start of my ministry here is that fully Christian ministry has to integrate all those parts of the faith that have become almost semi-detached from and within mainstream churches.

We need emphasis on the Bible. We need emphasis on the Spirit. We need emphasis on forgiveness and repentance and morality.   And we also need emphasis on the qualities embodied by the belief in angels. The Grace, unconditional love, and care of angels, but attribute that Grace love and protection to its proper place – God, who is Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.