Community Church Sermons

The Fourth Sunday in Advent – December 22, 2002

“How Can You Recognize An Angel?”

Luke 1: 26-38

 

We all know about George. The unsung, beloved hero of Bedford Falls. As a child, George was selfless, once even risking his own life to save his brother from drowning. Losing his hearing in one ear as a result of that selfless act. As a grown-up, George gave up his dream of going to college and traveling the world to stay home and manage the family business after his father’s death. Good old George. Faithful. Steadfast. Dependable George. Throughout his life, George lived by a creed that always placed others before himself.

 

But then the dark side of life snuck up on George and hit him with a sucker punch. Through the sinful actions of a man named Potter, along with an unfortunate chain of events beyond his control, George faced mounting personal and financial troubles. The people who trusted him were let down. Those he most loved became victims of his growing problems. The pressures mounted on George, and he was filled with such despair that he ended up one night standing on a bridge wondering how his life could go on.

 

And that’s when Clarence came.

 

You know, when you think of angels, Clarence isn’t usually what comes to mind. Why, just a few weeks ago, we saw the angel Gabriel right here in our sanctuary. During the choir’s beautiful Christmas musical, Gabriel showed up looking an awful lot like our own Bob Tapp. Big. Strong. Good-looking. White robe. Feathered wings. Tinsel on his head.

 

I mean, when you looked at Bob Tapp that night, you knew you were looking at an angel!

 

But frumpy, bumbling Clarence! Not what you usually picture as one of the heavenly host!

 

But that’s what Clarence was. He was George’s guardian angel.

 

And you know how the story goes. Under the weight of his problems, George feels that it would have been better if he’d never been born. So Clarence helps George see the reality of that thought. Clarence takes George on a journey back through his life, and George sees what the world would have been like without him. Why there is his beautiful wife Mary - a sad and lonely spinster. And there is George’s brother, Harry – but he is dead, not having survived the drowning. Uncle Billy is in an insane asylum. And the evil Mr. Potter, who brought about George’s downfall in the first place, owns the entire town, imposing fear and sadness upon everyone.

 

And that’s when George realizes what a wonderful life he’s had, and what a wonderful life it can be, if he will take hold of it again, and live it for all it’s worth!

 

Good ol’ Clarence helps George discover the beauty of his life, and its power to do good for others.

 

Now, I’m going to bet that there are some folks here today who really need a Clarence in their lives, too. Life has piled up on you. You’ve lost your sense of direction. It’s hard to know what’s right or wrong. You may have disappointed others and let them down. You may have made a terrible mistake, and now you’re trapped in its consequences. You may have lost the person or thing that meant the most to you. And now it seems like life just doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter  how you live, or what you do with your life.

 

Oh, I suspect there are lots of people here today who could use a Clarence right now!

 

And do you know what? I think there are angels here this morning! Right here among us! You know, in the Book of Revelation, Jesus tells John to write letters to seven churches in Asia Minor, and Jesus tells John to do something fascinating. Jesus tells John to address those letters to the angels of each of those churches. Jesus seems to be saying that there is an angel given charge over every church!

 

So I want to acknowledge our angel here today! Welcome!

 

Not only that, but over in Matthew 18:10, Jesus tells the disciples that the little ones among them have angels who watch over their lives. Isn’t that a beautiful thought about our children? And then you’ll remember how, when Paul was miraculous released from prison and came knocking at the door where the Christians were hiding, they thought it must be Paul’s angel! So I guess we adults have angels, too.

 

And then, of course, there’s Christmas.

 

An angel came to Mary. An angel came to Joseph. And in that region, there were shepherds in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them…and suddenly, there was with the angel a MULTITUDE of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all!”

 

Christmas tells us about a world invaded by angels sent from God to help people like us find our way in the darkness.

 

But how would you recognize an angel if one came to you?

 

Well, sometimes in the Bible, angels are seen, and sometimes they’re not. I personally have never seen an angel. Have you? And sometimes they come in a dream. Again, I can’t say that I’ve experienced angels in my dreams, but then again, dreams are sometimes rife with images and messages, and maybe an angel or two has come to me that way. But the most common way angels appear to people is not so much by their appearance, as it is by the words they whisper to your heart!

 

Did you notice the kinds of things the Christmas angels said?

 

First of all, they said, “Fear not! Don’t be afraid!” The angels of the Bible almost always say that!

 

Now, as I mentioned last week, this fear not, is not the same as Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” song. Fear is an important God-given mechanism in our psyche that alerts us to danger, and releases hormones to prepare our body for defending ourselves or others. So  fear not does not mean that we should not be afraid as we face dangerous situations.

 

No, this fear not is almost always connected with the assurance God is with you! It means that God has made your situation His situation, and God is going to help you through!

 

It’s sort of like when Dennis Astrella and I were kids and fooling around out in the backyard one day hitting Whiffle Balls with a wooden bat. We knocked them all over the fence into Danny LaMarche’s yard, and being too lazy to go around the house and through the gate to retrieve them, we just started looking for something else to hit. That’s when I spotted the basketball. “Throw me a fastball!” I hollered at Dennis. And he did.

 

Now, I had not yet taken any courses in Physics, and I did not know laws like the one that says “for every action, there is an equal and opposite REaction.” I was much too young to know anything in those days about the resiliency of rubber and it’s ability to recoil after being displaced. All I knew was that when my bat hit that basketball, that basketball sent that bat back in the opposite direction and whapped me square on the nose. There was a terrible crack, and the force of the blow knocked me to the ground, and almost immediately, blood started spurting out both nostrils. Dennis came over, knelt down and said, “Holy mackerel, I think you’re bleedin’ to death!” Some comfort, huh?

 

Well, Dennis did the right thing, and went and got my mother. She started applying first aid, and organized some transportation to the hospital, and wrapped up in her arms, I was whisked away to where the help was. I was in terrible pain, the blood was still spurting, and I was still pretty scared about it all. But there was a comforting sense of assurance. Because, you see, my mother had taken my problem and made it her own.

 

That’s what the angel told Mary, you know. That’s what the angel told Joseph. “Fear not, for the Lord is with you.” God has taken your problem and made it his own.

 

I hope you can hear the voice of that angel today. Especially those of you who are coming into the holiday season with the sorrow of loss. And those of you who have a mountain of personal problems waiting for you when you leave the sanctuary today. I hope that husbands and wives who are going through rough times will hear that voice. And parents trying to raise your kids in the world today.

 

Fear not. God has embraced your problem as His own, and is with you.

 

That’s what angels say.

 

Now a second message that angels carry is that you are a special person, beloved of God. Remember what the angel said to Mary as she faced the insurmountable problem of what appeared to be an illegitimate pregnancy, a fiancé who wanted nothing more to do with her, and a society that not only shunned her but demanded she be stoned to death?

 

In the face of all that, the angel said, “Blessed are you among women!”

 

You and I, you see, have been created in the very image of God! The Bible says that when humankind was created, God blessed them! God’s own image, and God’s own blessing have been given to you!

 

But over the course of time, life comes along and slaps us around. Little by little, the people and circumstances we encounter chip away at our belief that we are indeed beautiful creatures – even when we’re at our worst!

 

So one of the jobs of angels is to whisper into our hearts, “You are special!”

 

Serene Jones teaches theology up at Yale and attends a church in New Haven that has a unique Christmas pageant. Every year, they not only include the children and adults of the congregation, but they try to incorporate into the pageant some of the people who live on the streets in the vicinity of the church.

 

Serene tells of one memorable Christmas when they had a homeless man named Reggie play the part of the Innkeeper. He had one line, “There is no room in the inn!” And another one of the parts – that of an angel – was given to a little homeless retarded woman who was very reluctant to climb up into the balcony to sing with the other angels in the night sky.

 

Well, the pageant went along beautifully until a weary Joseph and Mary showed up at the door of Bethlehem’s Inn. They knocked at the door. Reggie the homeless guy, wearing Innkeeper’s garb,  opened the door and shone his lantern on the two travelers. Joseph weakly said, “My wife and seek lodging.” And Reggie the homeless man said, “Well come on in!!!”

 

Well that threw everything off. So Joseph, thinking that Reggie had simply forgotten his line, repeated the request, “I SAID, MY WIFE AND I SEEK LODGING!”

 

And Reggie answered, “I know! I know! Come on in!”

 

There was just no way a homeless person could understand the Gospel as turning anyone away from a place to stay. And in that awkward moment in the Christmas pageant, the angels in the balcony began to sing. But louder than their song came the crystal clear voice of the little retarded woman who said, “I NEVER KNEW I COULD BE AN ANGEL!”

 

Mary, blessed are you among women.

 

Blessed are YOU….and YOU…and YOU…and YOU…

 

I have a friend named Don who lost his wife to breast cancer. After wards, he wrote a book about it. He came and showed it to me. It was probably the worst book I’ve ever read! But I didn’t tell him that. Instead, I asked Don what it was that made him feel that he wanted to undertake such a large endeavor. Don said, “I don’t want to sound egotistical or anything, but I’ve always had this feeling in my heart that I’m unique and have something special to offer others. That’s why I wrote the book.”

 

Oh, I think Don was hearing the voice of an angel!

 

And how about you? Even though life has beaten you down over the years, and the world has stripped away a lot of your dignity as a person, don’t you still feel it in your heart? A little whisper that says you’re special and have a lot to contribute to life?

 

That’s the voice of your angel!

 

And one final thing for today. Angels come to remind us that what we do and say with our lives is important to God and to others. Gabriel told Mary and Joseph that what they did with their life together would impact every family who ever lived – every person – every nation - in the world!

 

Do you have any idea of how far the impact of your life ripples out into the world? That’s what George didn’t understand. And that’s what Clarence needed to show him.

 

Your family without you would be a much emptier family. This church without you would be less of a church. This world without you would not be nearly as beautiful.

 

Your life counts for something! So go and live it to the glory of God!

 

That’s you recognize the presence of angels in your life.

 

When you hear the whisper…

 

…fear not, God is with you…

 

…you are unique and special and have so much to offer…

 

…your life counts for something, and the world needs you to live for God!

 

I wonder today, has an angel come to you this Christmas?