02/18/2024
As we go about our lives we run into various people we don’t know, they are strangers if you will. Some of these are needy, some are unruly, others are irritating and obnoxious, but most are just everyday souls we pass along the way as we live out our Christian lives. The question I would like us to consider today is inspired by a Bible verse from Hebrews 13, and the question is this: have we ever crossed paths with an angel, and if so did we realize it when we did, and what were the circumstances? Was the experience we had challenging, spiritually rewarding, or, simply nondescript until after it was over?
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
Hebrews 13:1-2 ESV
Sometimes we meet a person who presents us a challenge. Jacob met such a “man” one night as he prepared to ford the Jordan River. In this biblical account he wrestled with an unknown “man”, but the words used in scripture to identify this “man” referred to him using three different Hebrew words… one meaning man, another meaning angel, and the third referring to him as God Himself. So the identity of this individual is has been up for debate. But it is generally thought that he was a divine creature. Listen to the story…
“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
Genesis 32: 24-30 ESV
So it is possible that we too can experience such a confrontational individual. One day years ago I was shopping with my newlywed wife when we were approached by a beggar who I told to go away, twice, before finally telling him on his third attempt to solicit a few coins that I would thrash him if he came back again. I turned back to our shopping, but I suddenly felt convicted because he looked hungry and only wanted money for a bite to eat, so I turned back around to help him… and he was gone. My heart hurt, as the Spirit moved over me. Had I just encountered an angel, or perhaps Jesus himself, and had I failed to handle the situation as I should have? Have you ever had a confrontation such as this and then felt that restless feeling in your soul as you wondered about it afterwards?
Scripture also speaks of encounters that are spiritually rewarding. One of the greatest such moments occurred between the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, when he came to tell her that God had chosen her to bear the Messiah…
“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luke 1:26-30 ESV
We probably won’t have an encounter on such a grand scale as this, but we might be surprised when an angel shows up in our lives and something wonderful happens, or when we look back over the past years and realize that all of those little things we thought were happenstance were actually orchestrated by God, and His angels. Maybe we were saved from drowning by an act of God, or you simply saw a hungry man at McDonalds and bought him a breakfast… a simple act that we will remember for the rest of our lives. A breakfast that has become a lesson in mercy to us. Angels move through our lives all day, every day, but we need to look for them.
One evening I met a stranger in a crowded airport in Washington DC. The long and short of it is that I didn’t know he was a pastor, but as we sat next to each other on the plane and I prayed for him and anointed him with oil, we discussed our faith, and our callings. Later in the Nashville baggage claim area he told me that when we first met that he didn’t know me, and I didn’t know him, but that our souls knew one another. Although we exchanged emails, we never saw each other again after that night, but he was a messenger, and his comment regarding our souls recognizing one another was the message that was meant for me. Our encounter was divinely orchestrated, and I will never forget him. Nor will I forget the message he delivered to me. Is this how we come to know that strangers are angels; is it that our souls recognize them?
Finally there are many strangers we encounter who look like everyday people, and move into and out of our lives without so much as causing a ripple. Individually they give us tiny bits of help or encouragement that we don’t find noteworthy, but later, when we see these encounters in total we realize that together they have helped us accomplish some portion of our spiritual calling, God’s plan for us, or helped us to do something impactful in the name of Jesus, or God’s will. We see the larger picture. And in that moment we have an epiphany, and wonder to ourselves “Was that God moving in my life, and were all those occurrences I thought were trivial and small, actually performed by angels in disguise?
So when angels come into our lives and impact us in some heavenly manner, do we then fall to our knees and thank God for sending them… even when we have learned a lesson from our failure in the experience?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for moving as you do in my life, and thank you for all the messages, and messengers, you use to lead me, and teach me, as I strive to serve you and to become a more righteous man. Thank you Abba for loving me enough to send your Son Jesus Christ the Messiah, who is the greatest messenger of all, to transform me and the world about me, and to lead me to you. Thank you for His life, death, and resurrection that has redeemed me from my sin and death, and for all of the other messages that you have whispered into my ear that are no larger than a single grain of sand, or a tiny mustard seed, and yet move me mightily in my faith. Open my heart, soul, and eyes, so that I can recognize those you have sent, and so that I can come to know the angels about me even as they deliver seemingly inconsequential Words. The smallest of their Words are meant to join together as one to make me more than I could have ever imagined. All of these occurrences piece together like cobblestones to form the road that leads me to you, just as the Via Dolorosa, or the way of suffering, that Jesus walked through Jerusalem to Golgotha, was constructed one cobblestone at a time, and yet became much more than any one of them alone could have. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who walks with me and talks with me, and who sends your angels to strengthen me and look over me in my faith. Merciful are you who sends a single guardian angel to look over a child, a single angel to strengthen Jesus as He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, and who now sends an army of angels to swirl about us, and show us the way to you. Praised be your name Father for all you do in our lives, and for your grace that flows from Jesus to deliver us. All glory is yours Lord and although it is made up of whispers, stones, sand, mustard seeds, and individual souls, it is greater than we can imagine, eternal in nature, and endless as it flows forth. Hear us as we shout and sing Hallelujah from every mountaintop, and praise you in every valley. Let the sound of our voices thunder forth and echo your praise as we worship you… one whisper, one word, and one sweet note, joining together with all the others into a grand symphony and choir, a joyful noise made unto you.
“Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.”
Genesis 28:10-12 ESV
Amen
Rich Forbes