Christmas 2 / Year B
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
If you came to me for pastoral counseling
and told me an angel spoke to you in a dream, the first question I might ask
you is if you’ve had any recent changes in medications. Given such skepticism, I am forced to make
sense of the stories in and around the birth of Jesus. Angels pop up everywhere to make significant
announcements. Gabriel encounters Mary
in a garden. Zechariah meets an angel as
he does his priestly work in the Holy of Hollies. A choir of angels appears in the night sky
near Bethlehem. And then there is Joseph
and his manifold dreams. Did you know
there is over 300 references to angels in the bible – no small number! In Holy Scripture, the existence of angels is
always assumed but the nature of angels is little discussed because the
emphasis is never on them. The focus is
always on the message they convey.
A 1993 Gallop poll discovered at the time 73%
of Americans believed in the existence of angels. Since the mid-90’s there has been an
explosion of ‘angelmania’, manifesting itself in books and magazine articles,
consumer products, and popular entertainment – TV shows like Highway to Heaven and Touched by an Angel. A guest appearing on a talk show who told a
story about a personal experience involving an angel received over 8,500
letters from folks describing their own experiences.
Protestants and Roman Catholics, along with
the Latter Day Saints, subscribe to a doctrine of angels who are spiritual
beings created by God to serve God.
These varied traditions even embrace the notion every person is in the
watchful care of a guardian angel. Sue
Bohn holds there are three types of angels: good angels (those who do God’s bidding),
bad angels (who have rejected God and now are evil), and ugly angels (bad
angels who disguise themselves as good angels in an attempt to lead people
astray).
I posted on Facebook last week, asking
people to relate their own personal experience with angels - messaging me if
they wanted the story to remain private.
I was honored to be brought in on many powerful and moving events in
people’s lives. Most related an experience
of a loved one appearing to them in a dream - typically a spouse or parent. Most often the message they conveyed was they
are at peace. A few of the dreams
contained specific directions. One
person reported the presence of a loved one in the passenger seat of the car
imploring him, the driver, three times to slow down. Finally heeding the advice, the driver
immediately went around a blind curve and came upon an accident. Had he not slowed down he would not have had
time to react.
These personal stories raise an intriguing
possibility with the stories we read this morning. Is it possible Joseph ‘knows’ or ‘recognizes’
the angel who comes to him in his dreams?
He dreams an angel tells him to remain betrothed to Mary even after she
tells him she is with child. He dreams
he must take his family and flee to Egypt.
An angel dream tells him when it is safe to return, but still another
dream cautions against resettling in Bethlehem.
It certainly would be easier to hear these directions if they come from
someone you know, love, and trust. But
this is mere speculation.
I don’t know if I have a guardian angel or
not. I never had the experience of being
protected in some fantastic and unexplainable fashion. As we engage the Daily Offices, I am struck
by how our morning prayers ask for protection and our evening prayers give
thanks for coming safely through the day’s events and activities. I certainly believe God protects me, but I
have never thought much about exactly how this happens. Perhaps each of us is in the charge of being
sent by God to keep an eye on us.
Several of you told me this is exactly what you experience in your life.
My experience is God leads me and directs
me. Most often God is at work in and
through my own intuition, through the sage advice of a trusted guide, and in
countless other practical and pragmatic ways.
In addition, I often have the experience of clarity coming during a time
of prayer or the reading of Scripture. I
suspect a fair number of you are thinking, “Me too!” Yes, God is engaged in our lives, even though
we do not sense it involves angels.
Still, this morning we recognize God’s special protection for the Holy
Family coming in the form of dreams and an angel. And we give thanks for God’s protection and
guidance in our own life; no matter the form in which it manifests itself.
