ANGELS

January 1, 2006  

 

Psalm 8; Exodus 34: 1-8; Romans 1: 1-7; Luke 2: 15-21 

Take our minds and think through them.  Take our lips and speak through them.  Take our hearts and set them on fire.

             We are in the middle of the Season of Christmastide, that special time when Christians honor the birth of the Christ child. 

Before Christianity there were people known as the Celts, who roamed throughout Europe but are best known for inhabiting the British Isles.  These ancient peoples spoke of thin places, special places where a person could more easily encounter God.  This time of year, Christmastide, is a thin place throughout the Christian world.

So we can almost hear or perhaps you can hear the beat of the wings of the angels who continue to surround us and all of creation today.  These are the same celestial beings who surrounded the shepherds that night so long ago to tell them of the birth of the Christ child and where to find him.  These are some of the same multitude of angels who praised God in the highest heaven and prayed for peace for those on earth who are favored by God.  And once the shepherds heard the news from these angels and once they saw the Christ child, they too glorified and praised God with their entire being.

            Angels have been part of God?s heavenly plan from the beginning.  There have been visible traces of angels in art and pictographs, according to Sophy Burnham, author of The Book of Angels, since the first recorded history.  In the city of Ur in the Euphrates Valley, settled around 4000 BC, archeologists have found a stele that depicts a winged figure descending from one of the seven heavens of Sumerian belief to pour the water of life from an overflowing jar into the cup of the king.  There were giant winged griffins in Mesopotamia and in one Egyptian tomb there is a painting that shows a winged Isis enfolding her devotees in the sleep of her wings.  In Greece, Iris and Hermes who wore wings on his cap and feet, served angelic functions.  Both carried messages and gave humans aid.  Angels appeared all over Asia Minor and into Italy.  The concept of angels, according to Burnham, runs through all ancient myth, down through the centuries of time, through Persian thought to Judaic to Christian to Islamic.

            In our Judeo-Christian culture the word angel means messenger.  But other words signify their essence.  They are called gods, the sons of god, ministers, servants, watchers, the holy ones.  We?re told there is a court in heaven.  They are called spirits, the heavenly army, hosts, cherubim, seraphim, and living creatures.  In the Book of Job they are called morning stars and in Psalms they are called the chariots of God. (p 84)

            There were angels in the Garden of Eden and after Adam and Eve are driven from Eden, the cherubims, one of the three orders closest to God, stood guard at the east gate.        

            Burnham says that the first angels in the Bible looked like men.  They had no wings, or halos around their heads, and no shining garments.  They just looked like ordinary men, sitting under the oaks while Abraham washed their feet and served them veal and bread and cheese.  They disclosed to Abraham that his wife would bear a son whose descendants would forge a great nation. (p86)    

            Jacob, the son of Isaac, saw a dream ladder of angels, and some of the angels were climbing and some descending as they hurried about their work between the realms of man and God.  But like the angels that visited Abraham, they did not fly.  Again and again angels appear throughout the Old Testament.  (p90)

            In later generations, the Sadducces thought angels did not exist except as human fancies.  But the Pharisees believed in angels. (p91)

            In Judaic lore however, there are four angels at the throne of God.  They are Uriel, who brings the light of the Knowledge of God to people.  His name means Light of God. 

Gabriel is the chief ambassador, the angel of revelation.  In Christianity he is kneeling before Mary, hands folded on his breast or carrying a scroll, scepter, or lily.  Gabriel brings good news.  It is he who brought a revelation to Muhammad in a clear Arabic tongue on the ?Night of Power and Glory?.  In Christianity, Gabriel became the Angel of Mercy.

            Michael is the prince of the heavenly hosts.  Michael is commander in chief of the celestial army.  It is he, in folklore, who liberated Peter from prison and led him past the guards.  Michael also appeared with Gabriel to Muhammad. 

            Raphael is a seraph and chief of guardian angels, the Angel of Providence who watches over all humanity.  His name means divine healer.  He is especially concerned with those on pilgrimage toward God.

            These are the first four archangels. (p104)

            Angels, according to those who have studied angels, come in all sizes, shapes, and colors.  They can be visible or invisible to the physical eye.  They can be people, animals or presences.  They can appear as balls of energy.

            There are three marks of angels.  First, there is a calm and peaceful serenity that descends sweetly over you.  Secondly they bring no bad news.  They say, ?fear not? don?t worry.  Things are working out perfectly.  You?re going to like this.  Wait!  Third, you remember your encounter and you?re never quite the same again. (p36)

            I?m sure that there are some of you here today who have had encounters with angels.  People tend to not particularly share their experiences.  But it happens.  People who are most susceptible tend to be intuitive.  This runs in families.  It can be strengthened by experience and it can also be lost or forgotten from disuse.  It is marked by sudden insight, sudden knowledge, a connection made instantly and unexpectedly. 

            Do we believe in angels or do we not?  We are given sense to receive our information.  We are given experiences of our own.  We are given our own eyes to see with and we are given our own skin with which we feel.  We are given intelligence to understand.  Each person must puzzle out the celestial question for himself or herself.   But if you have had an encounter with an angel, in whatever form, your life is changed forever and there is no doubt.

            Throughout Christianity, the cherubim, the little baby angels, are said to accompany the Virgin Mary, who is herself queen of the angels, seated at the throne of God.  In all the visitations of the Virgin, angels abound. 

            And as we know, throughout the centuries the Virgin Mary has appeared to many.  She is described as a beautiful woman with black, curly hair, blue eyes, a crown of stars and shining visage.  She wears a gray gown or coat.  She floats on a gray cloud, not touching the ground.  She is surrounded by angels.  Her message to those who have seen and heard her is the same as the angels. 

            Don?t be afraid.  Don?t be anxious or worried.  God will show you the way.  Give everything you do and all that you own to God, so that God can take control of your life, as the King of all you possess.  Rejoice in the Creator who has created you so wonderfully and give thanks unceasingly, so that blessings may continue to flow down always from God upon your life.  And one thing more.  The Virgin Mary tells us that it is very important to pray for others, because when you pray for someone, an angel goes and sits on the shoulder of that person. (p45) 

            Have a Blessed and Happy New Year and may you encounter angels and archangels and all the company of heaven in the New Year, but most especially may you come to know Jesus the Christ more clearly.

AMEN.   

 

Burnham, Sophy, A Book of Angels, Random House, New York, 2004.