Zephaniah 3:14-20
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! God has taken away the judgments against you, and has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, God, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; God will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in love and will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.
God says “I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes.”
Luke
1:26-38
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s
pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a
young woman pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.
The woman’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who
are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words
and wondered what kind of greeting this might be; but the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and
give birth to a son, and will call him Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. God will give him the throne of his ancestor
David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will
never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the
angel, “since I have never been with a man?” The angel answered, “The Holy
Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. So the holy one to be born will be
called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in
her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth
month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.
“May your word to me be fulfilled.”
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Some people think that a call to
ordination is like Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus. Sudden insight, a clear voice, a directive. It isn’t
in the main. Mine was a very quiet event – a gradual closing of all other doors
till there was only one option left. And it was one ‘angel’, one single person,
who countered my grousing with “why don’t you just go do it?” The most unlikely
person in the most unlikely place, and yet he was right on the mark.
In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for ‘angel’
means ‘messenger’. One of the most important things angels do is communicate
messages to humans. And somehow a whole lot of mythology has grown up around
angels, till we have incredible beings dressed in gilded expensive robes, with
huge wings, shining with incredible overpowering light. I don’t think that’s
what angels are at all. Do I believe in angels? Yes. Just not the ones with
wings and operatic voices.
One of the best shows on television, in
my opinion, was ‘Touched By an Angel’. It wasn't, and isn’t, entirely my
theology – but for its time, it was strongly progressive theology, promoting a
message of God’s love for all people. It addressed issues of being gay, and
dying of HIV; it addressed issues of
what we call disabilities – several shows featured children and young people
with Down Syndrome. It addressed suicide, and the aftermath within families and
communities. It addressed the notion that God caused adversity to happen, or
good things to happen – and instead focused on the actions of people, how their
own actions affected their lives, and that God wanted only the best for each
person. And people of all faiths were addressed. God didn’t divide up faiths
and choose one over the other. And the angels in the story brought one
consistent message. God is love. Much of the theology was the product of the
star of that show, Della Reese, herself an ordained minister. For its time, the
show was a ground breaker, and there were messages in every single show.
Another one of my favourite programs is
the Christmas movie ‘Polar Express’. Take a good look at Santa in that movie.
He’s not a round jolly old man, but a mature individual, and he glows. And he
says clearly that he’s a messenger. In this story, Santa is an angel. And in
the story, the children become angels – messengers.
Are there angels in Narnia? Considering
that there are mythical creatures and talking animals in this story, and the
themes are so strongly Christian, one might wonder why there are no angels. I
mean, angels of the kind we see on Christmas cards and imagine in our heads –
beings which exude light, and sing with exceptional voices and have huge
feathered wings.
But aren’t there messengers in Narnia?
Aren’t there angels? Maybe it means letting go of preconceived notions and
looking again.
The lamp post – which used to be a real
metal post with a real gas lantern. Something which was used as a weapon of war,
but taken by Aslan and made into something living – which needed nothing. Think
about that – a living lamp, living light, illuminating a path.
A bird – a robin, though Lewis describes
the robin as having the reddest breast any robin could – so it clearly was outstanding.
A messenger, with wings, who serves Aslan – even though they yet don’t know
Aslan’s name. And out of all the
speaking animals and birds in Narnia, this one doesn't speak. It simply arrives, on a bush, and looks
like it wants them to follow. That’s all. They had no idea why, no idea if they
were even right, just following. They know of the destructive power of the White
Witch, yet they still continue. They don’t even stop to think about dinner, or
home, or anything – they just follow. Like Mary, they say yes - without
knowing.
Of course there’s Edmund who keeps
asking ‘What if this is wrong? What if the Queen is right.” And although we
know why Edmund is doing what he does in the story, the question is valid. How
do we know? How many beautiful robins might cross our path – especially leading
into the Christmas season with the consumer bonanza? And what if we’re trying
to choose between two good things? Well there are choices and there are choices,
aren’t there? Making a choice between a concert or shopping is not quite the
same as making a choice between good and evil – and especially difficult when
it’s hard to tell one from the other. Or making a choice when the outcome is
unknown.
The Beavers are angels. They don't have
the whole message, but they have a piece of the message – a prophecy. And they
have food and sustenance for tired bodies and tired souls. Gabriel certainly
doesn’t give Mary the whole picture, but a piece of a prophecy – and offers her
a vision, and comfort. Mary could have said no – that’s for me the outstanding
piece here. The children could have said “No, lets go back” – but they knew a
friend was in danger because of them. So they choose to say yes. Mary could
have said no, but even with trepidation and uncertainty, says “Yes”.
How do we know? How do we ever know? How do we recognise
messengers, angels in our lives? It’s called intuition, insight, faith. The
world is full of angels, and messengers. If we care to listen – with our hearts
open.
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