8-24-15<\/p>\n
Angel-mania seems to have cooled off in our culture. A few years ago there was a spike in television shows and movies about angels. Angels who adorned jewelry and ornaments were common. In these manifestations, among the unchurched as well as with Christians, there was an acceptance of angels that transcended their biblical roles.<\/p>\n
No: \u201ctranscended\u201d is the wrong word. Angels in our commercial culture generally are separate from the angelic beings of scripture. As such, caricatures. Or counterfeits. <\/p>\n
Many Christians ascribe to angels powers that don\u2019t exist. Sometimes people who attend church faithfully will pray to angels, which is error. I wonder whether in America there is more superstition than spiritual clarity associated with angels. The fads in jewelry, fiction, and the World According to Hallmark have abated somewhat, but almost are a permanent part of our culture.<\/p>\n
Some people are determined to be dogmatic about things that are not even Dogma.<\/p>\n
I am not disputing the existence of angels. No, I believe in the Bible, and therefore \u2013 as Jesus did \u2013 I believe in the existence of angels and demons, Heaven and hell, in the account of Creation, where angels are described; and in End Times, where angels likewise are depicted.<\/p>\n
But I invite a thought about angels that is different than those who perch on our shoulders with cute devils in cartoons, or the angel Clarence who tends to George Bailey in It\u2019s a Wonderful Life.<\/span> Angels are real; created before mankind, which means we are \u201ca little lower than the angels\u201d (Psalm 8:6); and of course Satan and his minions were rebellious angels. St Michael the Archangel is, roughly speaking, the counterpart of Satan in heavenly disputation. The devil is not, therefore, the opposite of God, nor Christ, which should remind us of how little power we should grant him. There are multitudes of descriptions of angels in scripture, and we inherit portraits of their glorious beings, their specific roles and assignments\u2026 and the Bible\u2019s metaphorical references to them. <\/p>\n We shall linger in the metaphorical. That there are varying allusions to angels in the Bible reflects God\u2019s multi-faceted glory, but also, a little bit, the occasional paucity of the English language. \u201cAngel,\u201d the word, derives from the Greek \u201caggelos,\u201d and the related Latin \u201cangelus.\u201d The most employed Hebrew word we translate as \u201cangel\u201d means \u201cmessenger.\u201d <\/p>\n This helps us understand the job description of angels! We know that they praise God before the Throne; always have, always will. But we know from the Bible that they indeed have been messengers, sometimes imparting specific news or warnings in earlier dispensations. And sometimes they are (in another translation) \u201cministering spirits,\u201d a sweet picture.<\/p>\n Angels cannot be in several places at once; they have no more wisdom and no more knowledge of God\u2019s ways than we do \u2013 otherwise they would be as God. <\/p>\n We should never be envious or jealous of these heavenly figures. They are created spirits whose roles are ordained, and without sin\u2026 but as such, unlike us \u201clowly\u201d humans, they cannot know the joy of salvation, the loosened shackles come by repentance, the unspeakable gift of God\u2019s forgiveness, or be recipients of Christ\u2019s atoning sacrifice. No angel can ever sing \u2013 and feel the power of \u2013 \u201cAmazing grace, how sweet the sound\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n But I promised to address angels in the way the Bible occasionally does: metaphorically. The same words translated from Ministering Spirit and Messenger are also used to describe things like the Pillar of Cloud the Israelites followed in the desert, and plagues. St Augustine took the larger, metaphorical, point and wrote angelus est nomen officii<\/span> \u2013 that is, \u201cangel is the name of the office.\u201d In other words, God wants to speak and minister to us in supernatural ways, and sometimes He administers through spirits called angels.<\/p>\n Sometimes, by other means.<\/p>\n I have a friend who has a five-year-old daughter, the same age as my granddaughter. The little girl has been away for the summer, although in daily phone contact with her mom. She was reared a Christian but was going through\u2026 well, some typical behavioral things all five-year-olds go through. On a recent phone call, the upset girl confessed to wanting to be closer to Jesus, feel Him nearby, talk to Him. <\/p>\n It was time for an innocent little girl who knew the Truth to act on it. Five is not too young! She understood, and her mom asked if she wanted to give her heart to Jesus, which she did. Right over the phone. \u201cJesus on the main line.\u201d<\/p>\n I tell the story because \u2013 back to metaphor \u2013 my friend, a Christian mom, surely had been a ministering angel to her daughter. The power of this moment of dedication, and many more to follow, reveal that little Sophie will, perhaps many times, likewise serve the role of angel to her mom Jen. Christian mothers never forget such moments, and there will be reminders to come.<\/p>\n We may be angels to each other. Think of the times someone has made a difference in your day, in your decisions, in your life. Metaphor? If we are \u201cto be Jesus\u201d to others, as the Bible directs, it cannot be wrong to consider that humans can sometimes do the work of angels, too.<\/p>\n Angels are not only pieces of jewelry and cartoons. Nor are they only cherubim, seraphim, and archangels, \u201call the company of Heaven.\u201d Metaphorically, they can be kids. Neighbors. Strangers.<\/p>\n Yourself.<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n