In the spring of 1982 Kenneth Nordvall was the speaker at a Morning Prayer group that meets in a town near Springfield Illinois. Before he spoke, a neighboring pastor shared about a recent mission trip to Mexico. While his group was returning, their van developed mechanical problems. After jacking up the van, the pastor crawled underneath to check out the problem. You can know it wasn’t your pastor. I know nothing of the underneath side of a vehicle. Any way, back to the story, the jack collapsed, and he suddenly felt the crushing weight of the van on his chest. His companions quickly grabbed the bumper to lift the van in an effort to free the pastor. They weren’t able to budge the vehicle. He cried out, “Jesus! Jesus!” Within a few seconds a youthful-looking Mexican came by. As he reached the van, he grabbed it, and lifted it. The others, joined in and it lifted like a feather. As he was freed, the pastor quickly crawled from under the van. The visitor then lowered the van, waved to them, and ran in the direction from which he had come, then at the horizon, disappeared. No one in that party knew the mysterious visitor, where he had come from, or where he had gone.
Who was that young man? Obviously, if those who were there can’t answer the question neither can we. Was he an angel, a heavenly being? That might be the case, or it might be that he was an angel, but not a heavenly being. He might have been the kind of angel we are talking about when we say things like “You are an angel” or “She has the voice of an angel” or any other clichés that seem to follow that line of thinking.
If we were to follow the question, “was the young man an angel?” to its next question then we would have to ask, “What is an angel?” or “What does an angel look like?”
Hollywood has given us its opinion of how an angel might look. There is the one look in the movie from a few years ago titled Michael. The old CBS show Touched by an Angel gives us another look.
The Bible has still other ideas. In Judges 13 we can read a passage that indicates that there could be difficulty in knowing when we see an angel. This passage is the story of the birth of Samson. In the story an angel appears to Samson’s mother and tells her that she is to have a child and gives her some specific instructions. Then, in verse six, as she is recounting the story to her husband she calls the angel “A man of God.”
In Hebrews 13 we see a similar angle, as it is equally unclear. The writer instructs us to take care of strangers for in doing so, “Some have entertained angels unaware.
While there are these two passages and others that seem to make angels look like normal everyday human beings like you and me, there are also other passages that refer to angels as large creatures dressed in white with misty halos. In Revelation we can read passages where the beings can best be described as heavenly warriors.
That makes me want to ask the question, “How did Mary know that this being she was facing was an angel?” When I think about how could people know, “I can’t help but be amused by Touched by an Angel. Don’t get me wrong, it was a wonderful show that I always enjoyed watching. But I found it amusing because almost all of the show would pass and then Tess and Monica and all their heavenly companions would look just like any ordinary everyday human, like any of us. Then, at the most dramatic moment they would reveal themselves as heavenly messengers and would become clothed in bright white light. Was that what Mary saw? While I would doubt it, it is possible. Scripture does say that God did do something like that on the Mountain of Transfiguration. The truth is, we don’t know how, but Mary knew that she had encountered an angel.
Because she knew, now Mary knew that she had a problem. The angel told her that she was pregnant with God’s baby. Who would believe such a crazy story? If she went and told her parents would they believe her? If she told Joseph would he believe her? It was a real concern. If you were Joseph or Mary’s parents, would you believe her?
Mary probably knew that no one would believe her. In fact, it been that Mary was starting to question herself by this point.
Still, one might ask, why would this be such a problem? Mary’s life was in very real danger. If she were labeled an adulteress she could be stoned. She knew that. It is safe to assume that this young girl was confused and scared. She didn’t know what to do or where to turn. Yet she submitted to the will of God.
Shirley Bachelor tells the story of Ben the milkman who delivered milk to her home. One morning as Ben delivered the milk Shirley noticed that he wasn’t his usual sunny self. He seemed in no mood for talking.
It was late November 1962, and as a newcomer to Lawndale California, Shirley was delighted that milkmen still brought bottles of milk to the doorstep. She had come to enjoy Ben’s delightful personality.
But today, Ben was the picture of gloom as he dropped off the milk from his wire carrier. It took slow, careful question to get the story. With some embarrassment, he told Shirley that two customers had left town without paying their bills, and he would have to cover the losses. One of the debtors owed only $10, but the other was for $79 and had left no forwarding address. Ben was upset for allowing the bill to grow so large.
“She was a pretty woman,” he said, “with six kids and another on the way. She was always saying, “I’m going to pay you soon, when my husband gets a second job.” I believed her. What a fool I was! I thought I was doing a good thing but I’ve learned my lesson. “I’ve been had.”
All Shirley could say was, “I’m sorry.”
It seems to me that in many ways Ben was a bit of an angel. And, for his effort he got bit. Ben had a problem. Will someone help? We will get back to that in a minute.
Mary had a problem. It was bigger than Ben’s. What does she do, she goes to someone who might help her, her cousin Elizabeth.
What would Elizabeth’s reaction be? Not that long ago, when a girl had this type of problem she would go and visit an aunt for a while. This might seem to be something close.
You know, Elizabeth had every reason in the world, she had very legitimate excuses. Mary may have been pregnant, but Elizabeth was too, and she was sixty-years-old. She had a husband who had lost his ability to speak and the baby she was carrying was doing aerobics inside her. No one could have blamed Elizabeth if she would have turned Mary away.
In spite of the excuses that were available to her, Elizabeth doesn’t turn Mary away. Instead, she becomes an angel herself, though not a heavenly creature.
Now, back to the story of Shirley and Ben. The next time Shirley saw Ben his anger seemed worse. He bristled as he talked about the messy kids who drank all his milk. The charming family had turned into a brat pack.
Shirley repeated her condolences and let the matter rest. But when Ben left, she found herself caught up in his problem and longed to help. Worried that this incident would sour a warm person, she mulled over what to do. Then, remembering that Christmas was coming, she thought of what he grandmother used to say: “When someone has taken form you give it to them, that way you can never be robbed.”
The next time Ben was by, Shirley told him that she had a way to make him feel better about the $79.
“Nothing will do that,” he said, “But tell me anyway.”
“Give the woman the milk. Make it a Christmas present to the kids who needed it.”
“Are you kidding?” he replied. “I don’t even get my wife a Christmas gift that is that expensive.”
You know the Bible says, “I was a stranger and you took me in.” You just took her in with all her children.”
“Don’t you mean that she took me in? The trouble with you is, it wasn’t your $79.”
Shirley let the subject drop, but she still believed in her suggestion. She and Ben would joke about it when he’d come by. “Have you given her the milk yet?” Shirley would ask. “No,” he’d snap back, “But I am thinking of giving my wife a $79 present, unless another pretty woman starts playing my sympathies.” Every time Shirley asked the question it seemed Ben would lighten up a bit more.
As Elizabeth was an angel for Mary, offering a solution to her problem, love, so too was Shirley. Shirley was trying to be an angel for Ben. Often when others face times of crisis, we too can be earthly angels.
As we think on these two stories the real question becomes, “what is our response?” People like Mary and Ben come to us in need. They need something and God placed us there, with love and perhaps guidance. Maybe they have done things wrong in their lives, there is no question that the woman who took Ben’s mike had done wrong. But, it is also equally true that we all have done wrong at some point in our lives. And, in spite of all that we may have done, God loves us and forgives us and God will forgive them too.
God’s love and forgiveness is the reason for the season as they say. It is the reason that we are all here this morning. God’s love is poured out on a sinful world. We have to respond to God’s love. Will we be an angel?
Six days before Christmas it happened. Ben arrived with a tremendous smile and a glint in his eyes. “I did it!” he said. “I gve her the milk as a Christmas present. It wasn’t easy, but what did I have to love? It was already gone, wasn’t it?”
Yes, it was,” Shirley, rejoiced with Ben. “But you’ve got to really mean it in your heart.”
I know and I do. You know what? I really feel better. That’s why I have this good feeling about Christmas. Those kids had lost of milk on their cereal because of me.”
The holidays came and went. Then on a sunny January morning Ben almost ran up the walk. “Wait until you hear this,” Ben said to Shirley.
He explained that he had been on a different route, covering for another milkman. He heard his name being called. He looked over his shoulder and saw a woman running down the street, waving money. He recognized her immediately – the woman with all the kid, the one who didn’t pay her bill. She was carrying an infant in a blanket.
Ben, wait a minute!” she shouted. “I’ve got money for you.” Ben stopped the truck and got out. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I really have been meaning to pay you.” She explained that her husband had come home one night and announced that he’d found a cheaper apartment. He’d also gotten a night job. With all that had happened, she’d forgotten to leave a forwarding address. “Bit I’ve been saving,” she said. “Here is $20 toward the bill.
That’s all right,” Ben replied. “It’s been paid.”
“Paid!” she exclaimed. “What do you mean? Who paid it?”
“I did.”
She looked at him as if he were the Angel Gabriel and started to cry.
“Well,” Shirley asked, “What did you do?”
“I didn’t know what to do, so I put an arm around her. Before I knew what was happening, I started to cry, and I didn’t have the foggiest idea what I was crying about. Then I thought of all those kids have milk on their cereal, and you know what? I was really glad you talked me into this.”
You didn’t take the $20?”
“Heck no,” Ben replied indignantly. “I gave her the milk as a Christmas present, didn’t I?”
YES! Ben was an angel. Yes! Elizabeth was an angel. The question for us today is, will we be angels too? That is our question today, this Christmas season, and every day of our lives.
