Angels in Our Midst
Luke 2:8-20
Natalie Hullander tells the story of her three-year-old son, Zac who was diagnosed with leukemia. Questions for God abounded: “Will God keep Zac safe? Will he be okay?” Zac checked into Hemby Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. One night he had a seizure and all her fears came to the surface. When it subsided and she finally fell asleep in the hospital room, she dreamed there were many children surrounding her. One little boy had chicken pox. Some kids were giggling. “Do you have any candy?” one little girl asked. The children told her they had died in this hospital, but they all seemed happy and pain-free as they played peacefully together. She woke startled but soon felt a calm envelop her, knowing those children wanted her to know that whether Zac stayed here on Earth with our family or went to join another one in heaven, he’d be okay. The next morning Natalie called her sister to tell her of the dream. “You saw the angels of Hemby Hospital. There are stories in the news about them.” Many people had seen angels at this hospital and these gave her the assurance that no matter what happened, Zac would not only be safe but he would be OK. It took three years, but Zac made it through his leukemia battle. And Natalie says, “I have no doubt there were angels by his side–and mine–all the time.”
Angels are everywhere at Christmas time too: in store windows, on television and even atop Christmas trees. When you go back to the first Christmas, almost every major character in the Christmas story has an encounter with an angel. The archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce to her that she would give birth to the Messiah. An angel also visited Joseph in a dream and told him the baby Mary carried was truly the Son of God. After Jesus was born, the angel appeared to Joseph to warn him to flee with his family to Egypt to keep the baby safe from King Herod and then again to tell Joseph it was safe to return to Nazareth. And on the night Jesus was born, an angel appeared to the shepherds tending their flocks in the field to announce the birth of the Messiah. And in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it was an angel and not a star which led the three wise men to Bethlehem.
Angels have three primary roles in God’s scheme. First, angels reflect the light of God’s presence. “the glory of the Lord shone around them” signifying the very presence of God in their midst. Second, angels sing God’s praise. After the announcement to the shepherds, an entire choir of angels appears and begins singing, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” This is only the second time in the Bible that a group of angels rather than one angel had appeared to people, proving that something earthshattering was happening. God’s plan of salvation is now coming to fruition. Once and for all, sin will be defeated and every person who calls upon the name of this child, Jesus, will be saved. That is why the angels sing God’s praise on this the most holy of nights. Third, they are messengers. In fact, the word angel actually means messenger. In our Scripture tonight, the angel tell the shepherds: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
The very presence and appearance of the angels to the shepherds is a message of just how far God would go to save us. On that night, angels travelled across the heavens to appear to the shepherds. If we simply dwell on the spec of real estate we occupy in a universe measured by millions of light years, you begin to get a sense of the distance these angels travelled. The God who made the universe traversed the vastness of time and space and came all the way to the shepherds in a field outside of Bethlehem tending their sheep. There’s the story of a missionary in West Africa who was explaining to her class the American custom of giving gifts at Christmas. She summed it up by saying that Christmas gifts were an expression of joy to God and love for our friends because of the coming of Jesus into this world. A few days later on Christmas morning a native boy in her class brought the missionary a beautiful shell as a present. Not living near the sea, the teacher in amazement asked him where he got the lovely shell. He replied, “At the seashore.” “But that is 30 miles away!” The boy replied, “Long journey part of gift.” And that is the angel’s message for us tonight, “Long journey part of gift of the Christ child.”
The length of this journey cannot just be measured by the size of the universe, but the distance from the divinity to humanity, especially the appearance to the lowest of the low. While the OT notion of a shepherd was noble, by the 1st century shepherds became scorned, despised, and shepherding was viewed as being an “unclean” profession. To the Pharisees, shepherds were “sinners” because they roamed on people’s land without permission and the grass and water consumed by the sheep could never be repaid. Thus, they were unforgiven sinners and were considered outsiders, untouchables, untrustworthy and despicable. The sign the angels give is that the baby will be born in a manger, the humblest of circumstances but one the shepherds knew all too well. That communicated to the shepherds that not only was this Savior like them, but he came FOR them as well. This is the true wonder of the Christmas story: just how far God would go to make himself known to us and to save us, even to people like you and me, for “unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord!” And it is a message of just how much God loves us.
Lee Hill Kavanaugh tells the story of Perry Bice and his family which had seen more than its share of sorrow. In just a few short years, Perry’s car engine went out, and a fire destroyed the house he shared with his wife, Kathrine, and their children. And then Perry lost his job. But even deeper troubles were beginning. When Kathrine’s mother died suddenly, tests revealed a rare condition and helped unlock a family medical mystery. Doctors finally were able to diagnose what was wrong with the Bices’ youngest daughter, Rishonn. She had a related genetic disorder, mitochondrial disease, a condition that can lie dormant for years and end a life in weeks. Before long, the Bices learned their oldest daughter, Chambris, also had the disease. And then another daughter Mishayla tested positive. Kathrine, it turned out, was the carrier. For months, the couple lived in a daze of grief, denial and sleepless nights as the illness racked their children’s lives. Three-year-old Rishonn died soon after her diagnosis in 1999.
At times, Perry, a deeply religious man, railed at God. But neither he nor Kathrine was ever bitter. "We’ve found a God that cares for us tenderly," she explains. They were grateful when, two weeks before Christmas, a man identifying himself only as the chief elf called them at their Gardner, Kansas apartment to ask if his group could bring their children some gifts. Perry and Kathrine agreed, knowing their kids would love the surprise. What the Bices didn’t know was that as soon as the sun set on Christmas Eve, an elf crew was dispatched to the little house the couple recently had struggled to buy. Although they’d closed on the property two days earlier, they weren’t given a key (the Realtor was in cahoots with the elves). Old carpet was pulled up and hauled off. New rugs and floors were installed. Twenty-six volunteers rolled on a coat of paint. Hours later, 26 more painters put on a second coat. Eight finishing carpenters nailed in moldings and baseboards. A building crew constructed a wheelchair ramp. Gifts were wrapped, and the trampoline was set up. A Christmas tree was decorated with twinkling lights and ornaments. An elf who is also a car dealer donated a van. Another elf donated several months of mortgage payments. Others followed suit, bringing the total to more than $17,000. Each month’s payment was tied on a note that dangled from the tree’s branches. One last loving touch was nestled inside the tree – a tiny card, printed in script, courtesy of an elf who had kept his print shop open late.
By 6:30 a.m., as the etchings of Christmas morning streaked pink across the sky, the gifts were finally ready. A rookie elf, a girl about 11 years old, presented the key to the Bices later that morning. "What’s this?" Perry asked. "A key? To what?" Like a little phantom, the elf smiled, softly wished them a Merry Christmas, then ran off. It dawned on Perry that perhaps the elves had left the gifts at their new home. He and Kathrine bundled up the kids and headed over. When the family opened the door, they couldn’t believe the sun-splashed walls of fresh paint, new Berber carpets and tiled floors. The lights of the Christmas tree drew them closer. Then they saw the mortgage payments and were overwhelmed. After their tears were wiped away, Perry stood back and looked at the tree once more. That’s when he noticed the tiny envelope that was perched on a branch. Inside was the last gift, a gift of three precious words: “God loves you.” Perry smiled, then nodded and placed it at the very top of the tree next to the angel.” Message received. Amen
