Christmas Eve
December 24 , 2009
Finding the EXTRA in the ORDINARY: The Angels
Luke 2:8-14
Luke 2:8-14
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared
with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
“Only drive as fast as your guardian angel can fly.” Who has seen that on a
bumper sticker or a license plate placard?
“In the arms of the angels, fly away, from this dark cold hotel room and the emptiness that you feel.” Who has heard that song by Sara Mclaughlin?
Can you think of other songs or sayings that you hear in the work-a-day world about angels?
What about movies? There are angels in movies too. Sometimes it is the angel of death, other times it is a guardian angel that disappears when they have offered the help needed, or an angel trying to gain its wings. Sometimes it is a messenger that says, you better change or else!
What ways do we use the word angel? Someone who helps us: “Oh, she is such an angel.” A child who behaves well: is “like a little angel.” Someone who sings beautifully has “the voice of an angel.”
Who has a picture of an angel somewhere in your home? Probably on a Christmas card, maybe in a work of art, a statue, a plaque, a journal or book. That angel is probably a beautiful woman in flowing gowns, blonde hair, and an angelic face. You know what I mean.
Our world has a fascination with angels and yet we don’t know a lot about them really. The dictionary defines them like this: “A spiritual being superior to man in power and intelligence; especially: one in the lowest rank in the celestial hierarchy; an attendant spirit or guardian.”
The Bible talks about angels in such a variety of ways that we can come away from the Scriptures wondering who in the world these creatures are. What their role is and what do they mean to us?
You can find many references to angels in the story of our Fathers of Faith, the Patriarchs. When Hagar was sent away from Abraham and Sarah’s camp because Sarah was jealous of her, an angel met her in the desert and showed her a well that she and her parched son could drink from. That is the kind of angel that we would like to meet when we are in trouble.
There were angels in the story of the destruction of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. They came to tell Lot to get his family out before it was too late. They were messengers of God bringing a message of protection. Lot almost didn’t act on it! Those are the angels that we would like to meet when something bad is about to happen.
God told His people that He was sending an angel ahead of them to prepare the land for them, to fight their enemies, to protect Him.
God spoke to women who were barren about the babies that they were finally going to have and hold in their arms.
Hebrews tells God uses angels to minister and serve us (Heb. 1:14)
Psalms tells us that angels surround us when we pray. Protection is something that God’s angels seem to offer us.
But what do they look like, how do they do all of this, how do we know they are the ones speaking to us in dreams and it isn’t just that we ate pizza too late last night? Do angels still speak to us today? Do we meet angels? We don’t know as much as we would like. Wouldn’t I like to see an angel? Wouldn’t I like to have a visit from one--to hear those words “Do not be afraid, I bring you good tidings of great joy!”
Wouldn’t I love that? But I have never seen a messenger of God like the angels. I have never had that kind of experience. Very few people have.
We may never completely understand, until we get to heaven, what heavenly angels are. But it is interesting that throughout the Bible there are different meanings to the words angel. The kind of angel we have been talking about is definitely a Biblical one, BUT THE PROPHETS OF GOD, REGULAR MEN AND WOMEN WHOM GOD GAVE HIS MESSAGE TO, WERE ALSO CALLED ANGELS IN THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES. THE REAL MEANING OF THE WORD ANGEL IS MESSENGER--YOU CAN SEE HOW PEOPLE COULD ALSO BE CALLED ANGELS.
That is something I can get my mind around. Maybe I haven’t met a messenger like Mary met or that Joseph saw in His dream, but I have met messengers of God.
• When my Sunday School teacher spoke to me of Jesus Christ and His great love for me--I met a messenger of God.
• When a friend comes and talks to me about something I am not doing correctly--I have met a loving messenger of God.
• When my wife speaks words of encouragement to me I have met a messenger of God.
We may not see angels like those who proclaimed the birth of Jesus, but we kid ourselves if we think we have not encountered countless messengers from God.
WE MUST ALSO BE AWARE OF THE TRUTH THAT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE MESSENGERS FROM GOD AS WE GROW TO KNOW HIM AND SERVE HIM MORE.
I pray that tonight, on Christmas Eve, we can be messengers from God to each other. That we can speak words of peace, joy, perseverance, and encouragement.
But I suspect that you, like me, also want to speak words of good news to others. You never know how God is going to use you to be an “angel a “messenger” to others. But when He does … he is speaking LIFE to them!
How appropriate would it be for you to be an “angel” to someone (s) this season and share with them the … “good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org