Reflections on “Grab Bag: Angels, Please Come to Order” Acts 12: 5-19; Hebrews 1: 1-14

Somewhere in the midst of all my words was a sermon!  I took out Move 3 (in italics) between Chapel and Sanctuary service, which made the sermon better.  I continue to find that these grab bag topics lead me to more material than I can use, so paring down the sermon becomes a challenge.

Weak conclusion at Sanctuary.  Worse at Chapel, although I don't remember what I did there.  

I think the analysis of how our angel conversations grow out of our imagination, culture, and biblical text hit the mark.  I also really liked the section about what angels reveal about God.  Admittedly, I didn't have a lot to say about concrete angel illustrations.  I suppose I'm not really an angel person, which may have inhibited my ability to illustrate better.

I found the John Calvin stuff really interesting.  I didn't reference it much directly in the sermon, but the notes are at the end of the text here.  Amazing how his thoughts from so long ago seemed so appropriate today.

I would like to pursue the topic of angels who are named in the Bible.  There are also lots of other stories about angels in the Bible.  I could spend several weeks preaching on different episodes involving angels.

From the Acts story, I would also like to preach on Rhoda not letting Peter in immediately; Peter thinking he was dreaming when the angel was rescuing him; or the gathered community of faith praying for Peter while he was imprisoned, including their not believing that in answer to their prayers Peter has been rescued is at their door step.  

I thought the Hebrew passage worked very well with the sermon.

 "Grab Bag:  Angels, Please Come to Order” 6/16/13; FPC, Troy; Acts 12: 5-19; Hebrews 1: 1-14

Introduction:  Rev. Alex Coyle served this congregation for 27 years  from  1943 – 1970. Some of you actually knew him!  He was a poet, and many of us have read some of his poems. 

Rev. Coyle also wrote a play entitled, “Angels, Come to Order” that I believe was first presented at a gathering of the Presbyterian Women’s Association.  Some of you may recall that a few years ago we updated that play, added a scene or two, and presented it as our Advent play.

As its title suggests, the play revolves around the work of angels.  In the original play, they gathered around a meeting table and discussed what God should do humans and how the angels could be involved in that.  In the updated version, the angels gathered at Jehovah’s Java joint to discuss what God was doing in the world and how the angels would help.

The play depicts angels in a humorous way, including the presence of a bumbling angel or two, a power hungry angel, and so on.  The title of the play comes from this sense of humor and chaos that is shared about the angelic gatherings in heaven.  These angels perhaps reveal more about humans than they do about angels, but they also point to the God who has acted and continues to act in history.

The play also reveals what I think has been an ongoing human fascination with angels.  No surprise to me that one of the grab bag sermon suggestions was to preach about angels.  And no surprise that I have spent my preparation time scrambling to come to sense of how to understand angels from a biblical text and from our Reformed tradition.

Move 1:  Angel conversations, if you will, involve a blend of our own imaginations that are fed by our own needs; what our culture (heavily influenced by movies, I might add, thinks about angels, and the biblical text. 

I want to try and sort through those different aspects this morning.

a. Let’s begin with what you think about angels.

1.      I suspect you think about angels in several different ways.

2., one ways in which I hear people refer to angels is when describing how they feel like a loved one who has died is looking out for them. 

4.      3.  Reflects our desire to be connected with out loved ones and know that they love us, even after they have died. 

5.      Or I hear people talk about how an angel saved them by intervening to prevent an accident or to give them some extra ability to get them through a crisis.

6.       Sort of like the Holy Spirit conversations I sometimes have, except the angels are more concrete than the mysterious Holy Spirit.

7.      Reflects our fascination with trying to figure out how God is at work in the world and our recognition that we need God’s help.

8.      Heavenly images – very few stories of heaven leave out the presence of angelic beings.

9.  Christmas pageants –  Hard to comprehend God at work.  I am reminded of the Marj Carpenter tells the story of two little angels waiting in the wings to go on stage for the Nativity play who were looking at their drab white robes and wings.  One said to the other:  “I know one thing about angels – their mothers pick out their clothes.”

b.       movies

1.                              The movies: A Bishop’s Wife, Cary Grant; Dudley; Remake  The Preacher’s Wife – Denzel Washington as Dudley – preacher prays for help; angel, who looks human, appears and teaches the preacher a lesson.

2.                             Heaven Can Wait, bumbling angel who brings a man to heaven before he dies. Warren Beatty movie;

3.       Christmas classic  "It's a Wonderful Life" gives us Clarence, the good-natured angel trying to earn his wings by helping George through a difficult time.

In particular, Clarence gives the impression that angels are humans who get to heaven, and that there is a hierarchical category of heavenly beings with angels needing to perform acts on earth to earn their wings.

            4. I suspect these movies and other cultural influences shape our understanding of angels.

c.      Look for a moment at the biblical depiction of angels.

1.      Angels are creations of God.  A separate created being.  Not some variation of humans or some super human that we become after death.

2.                     Angels bring messages from God.  Angel means messenger; “a spiritual being created by God, who serves at God’s command and pleasure to deliver God’s messages (Harper’s Bible Dictionary).

Story of Jesus’ birth, angels bring messages to the principal players, namely Mary and Joseph and then

I am reminded of a kid reading the Christmas story to another kid:  “Because they didn't have email then.  That's why god sent an angel to proclaim the baby's birth.

3.                     "Angel of the Lord" is a fairly common phrase in the Old Testament.

5. Story of Moses at the burning bush when he speaks to God.  Often use it as an example of God talking to us – if we read the story, we are reminded that “;angel of the Lord appeared to Moses” (Exodus 3:2).

4.      WE note that Angels have names at times in the biblical story.

5.                     Announce from the skies what God has done.

6.         help God’s people and punish God’s enemies;”  they often appear in the a story of the patriarchs:  Jacob wrestled with an angel; angels visited Sarah and Abraham; often confusing since God also talks directly to humans in OT

d.       Acts story

1.         Peter imprisoned.

2.         Night – angel of the Lord taps him on the shoulder and help him escape.  Peter does not even realize he is in the presence of angel.  He thinks he is dreaming.

3.         Angel departs after helping him escape from jail, and Peter goes to a house where church members are praying for him. 

4.         He knocks on the door and Rhoda answers.  She hears his voice and immediately rushes to tell others that Peter is there (it has nothing to do with angels, but I find it fascinating that she races off to tell the others while she leaves Peter waiting at the door).

5. Then  we have this funny little moment in the story. The others know it cannot be Peter because he is, after all, in prison. One says, “Maybe it’s his angel.”

6. This reveals with biblical scholars believe was an ancient myth that held that people had guardian angels, who could in a pinch act as their double here on earth.

7.  Apparently, the early followers of Christ were not sure what to do with angels either (Textual notes, the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, 1979.

Move 2: What angels reveal about God.

a.  God who engages us

1.   John Calvin:  God makes use of angels, not for God's sake, but for our sake (14.11)  

5.      Jacob wrestling with an angel as he tries to figure out where God is leading him and what God desires of him.

6.      Angels coming to visit Sarai and Abram.

7.      Angels announcing the birth of Christ.

2. God acts to save us

1. Go read the Exodus story.

2. an angel goes before the Israelites to lead them in the wilderness

3. Angels announcing Jesus are announcing God’s act of salvation.

3. Christ supersedes angels.

1. Letter to Hebrews reveals the confusion the early church had in understanding Christ in relation to angels.

2. Was Christ some kind of super angel?

3. Resounding no.

4. Christ is the Son of God.

5. God saves us through Christ, not angels.

2.   Hebrews wants to be sure we know that Jesus is God; that we do not need an intermediary like an angel to be in relationship with God.

Move 3:  Laying claim to the non-biblical image of angels.

a.      Loved ones

b.      People who God sends into our lives to help.

1.      God continues to engage us and work to save us.

c.       Trail angels -- trail angels – leave a soft drink or some food;

Conclusion:   John Calvin wrote on the subject of angels.  It is found in the section on God the Creator, and more specifically on distinguishing true gods from false gods (Calvin's Institutes, Book 1, Chapter 14, Sections 3-12).

Calvin reminds us that our focus on angels should not divert us from directing our gaze to the Lord alone (14.12)