Angels

Angels play a very important part in the whole Christmas story. It was the angel Gabriel who visited Mary to let her know she would be the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). It was also an "angel of the Lord" that appeared to Joseph that explained that God was behind his fiance's pregnancy (Matt. 1:20-21). 

The concept of angels has always been very interesting to me. The writer of Hebrews says, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" (Heb. 1:14) Frankly, this has never been much help to me in understanding who angels are and what their purpose is. I have though, over the years, come up with my own kind of interpretation and understanding of angels and their purpose. I don't know how theologically sound it is, but it helps me.

I truly believe that god still sends angels into our world as "ministering spirits". I think sometimes they may appear in a dream (like the angel did with Joseph) and sometimes they may appear to be a person just like us. I also think think that God uses as "as angels" to others in need. That may sound a little strange, so let me try to illustrate with a brief story.

Several years ago, when I was working downtown in the city of Atlanta, there was a homeless man in a wheelchair that I would see multiple times a day. He was always "parked" between my train station and my office building so I would see him at the start and the end of my day. Sometimes I would see him at lunchtime, as well. Over the course of a little over a year we would chat, albeit briefly, about this or that. Most of our chats involved Jesus and our shared faith. 

I never really learned much about him or his story, but I learned a lot about myself during that span of time. God used him to teach me volumes about compassion, among other things. Here I was, hustling to and from my "important" job every day, and here was this man, confined to a wheel chair and surviving off of people's handouts. His faith was admirable, to say the least.

I remember the one Christmas I knew him, giving him a card with some cash inside. In the card I also thanked him for the brief conversations we would have and let him know that I was grateful that God placed him in my path, literally and figuratively. I'm glad I did, because it wasn't long after, that he was no longer there. I took several days walking all around the area trying to find him and asking others if they had seen him. No luck. I'm still not sure what happened to him, although I know his health was not very good.

Sorry if I rambled a bit there, but the point is this... Who is the "angel" in this story? Sure, I'd like to think I helped him out a bit, but I feel I benefited more from knowing him, than him knowing me. I was changed during that period of time. It makes me wonder... Was that man in a wheelchair an angel, sent as a "ministering spirit", just for me? And if so, was it a "real" angel, or just someone God used as one? It really doesn't matter, does it?

So as you go throughout your day, today and every day, and especially this time of year, I would ask that you remember these words from Hebrews:


"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."


Location: Milton, GA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Divine Appointments

Image
Last week, Barbara and I spent our 25th anniversary celebrating with a little much needed R&R and “just us” time in Charleston, SC. There were several times in the weeks leading up to our trip, however, where it seemed we might not make the trip. Looking back, I’m sure it was the enemy trying to keep us from some very important divine appointments. While not everything went the way we planned, we made some new friends and came home with some wonderful “God stories”. This is just one of them… One of our main objectives for our stay was to visit the Charleston City Market. When we had been to Charleston years ago, we only had a little bit of time there and so we were looking forward to taking our time while we perused all the booths and wares. We were specifically looking for gifts for several grandchildren’s birthdays, while also looking for a special anniversary gift to, and for, each other. About an hour into our shopping, I noticed Barbara striking up a conversation with th
Read more

Proving What is Good, Part 2

Image
We've been looking at the  Peace Prayer of St. Francis the last couple of days (click here to see the entire text of the prayer). It seems that to really live this out, you have to live almost counter-culturally. Today I'd like to dive into the next couple of lines to see what that might look like. where there is doubt, (sow) faith; where there is despair, hope; These two lines just speak to me of encouragement and the importance of being an encourager to those around you. Faith and hope are also often inextricably linked as we read through scripture. The author if Hebrews even uses one as part of the definition of the other, "Now, faith is confidence in what we hope for..." ( Hebrews 11:1 NIV ). When we lose our hope, we've lost our faith and vice versa.  How often do you get discouraged and start to question things? How often do those doubts start to creep in? " I'm never going to be able to do this " or " This situation is never goi
Read more

Wisdom Times Three

Image
  Recently, I’ve found myself studying and reading a lot about wisdom. It hasn’t been an intentional thing, it just dawned on me this morning that much of what I’ve been consuming in terms of books and podcasts have had this underlying theme. I don’t believe this is a coincidence. (You can definitely place me in the camp of “ all things happen for a reason ”, so I generally don’t put a lot of stock in the “ it’s just a coincidence ” explanation.)           What struck me earlier today was something new. I will typically journal (for those unfamiliar, yes, that word can be used as a verb) about what I read during my early morning “quiet time.” Often, it will turn into a prayer of sorts, for myself or others. When I did so this morning, I gained a new understanding of the depth and importance of wisdom, as a concept. This is my attempt to put in into words and share with you what I learned.   Wisdom is a three-fold process of discernment, courage and obedience. If you’re nodding yo
Read more