Angels, Part 2

Are you a believer? Do you follow Christ? If so, are you learning about Him and His message of good news, and then sharing with others? Are you open to His guidance about when and where to share, even if it seems a bit strange or takes you out of your comfort zone? Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and even Cornelius (see scripture in part 1) found it is a bit unnerving to find themselves in the presence of God’s angels and hear a message that God was directed right at them. Taking in that sight and that sound must have taken them quite past the boundaries of their comfort zones. Even so, we read that those people found a way to pay attention and then trust the angels’ words to the point that they would heed and share the angels’ messages.

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen or heard an angel, to my knowledge, but I know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit has dealt with me in much that same manner. There have been a few times in my life when I have received a message so out of the ordinary that I spent time arguing with God about it. “Really God? You want me to what?” When I think about those times, I can envision Mary saying “I’m going to do what? …Have a baby? But I’m a virgin.” Crazy talk, right? Or, maybe not so crazy when you remember that God is powerful enough to go beyond the bounds of human understanding.

For several months, God has been dealing with me about something so very odd to me. When I first started hearing what he wanted me to do, I thought that surely I heard wrong. However He kept the subject right in front of me, giving me assurance that I was hearing correctly. Every time I began to question whether He wanted me to continue with that task, He would assure me through a wide array of unlikely messengers. So I continue to pray and to act upon what He has called me to do.

Take time this Christmas to listen to God’s message of good news and allow Him to guide you into being an active and faithful part of the body of Christ. Be aware of the messages that he sends, through Scripture, through circumstances, through feeling His presence and hearing His voice deep within your soul, and through his handpicked messengers, whether they are angelic or human. Be ready to act and share the love of God with a world in such need of hope, peace, joy, and love.

Merry Christmas.

Angels, Part 1

Angels. We see them everywhere during Christmas. We see the cute little cherubs and the lovely angels with long flowing blond hair and billowing robes and beating wings, but in truth we have let these images box in the true identity of God’s angels. Angel means “messenger” and God created them to bring His messages to us. In Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-20, you will read the Christmas story and how God sent His angels to deliver a message of great joy. Can you imagine being suddenly confronted by an unworldly being who gives your eyes and ears a direct message from God that is so overwhelming that it must be preceded by “Don’t be afraid”?

Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds received such a message, a message that was so powerful that they couldn’t help but act upon it. In Acts 10 there is a story about Peter and Cornelius, both of whom were given messages by God, one while praying and the other by an angel. God got their attention with His message and both men acted upon it. These are only a few examples of how God chooses to use His heavenly messengers and deliver His good news. But just because these stories are written in an ancient text, doesn’t mean that God is finished delivering His good news. God still speaks. He still sends messages of hope. He still finds new and surprising ways to tell people about His great love for them. He still sends Christ’s followers out to spread the good news, and He still reaches out to those who have yet to hear and receive that good news.

Look around you. Listen. God is here. Christ is present with us, and His Holy Spirit continues to whisper in our ears and to shout with joy the good of great joy this season. Will you receive His words of hope and peace? Will you share them?

(tomorrow, “Angels Part 2)

Tis the season to be…grumbly…NOT!

Being out in the community these days is a joy, but also fodder for grumbling. What? Grumbling? Unless you’ve been in a cave since Thanksgiving, you’ve most likely been out shopping for Christmas. The tree, the decorations, the presents, and … the crowds, and where there are crowds, there is someone grumbling. I’ve heard them, you’ve heard them, and well, I confess, I’ve been one of them. When my daughter was a young girl, we would head out to ___, one of those huge stores with everything. I’d complain under my breath all the way in there. “I hate going to ___. I can’t wait to get outta here.” And the litany would continue with my daughter saying, “You always say that, but we still come back here”, which I would give the usual response, “I know. (long pause) … I still hate going to ____.” There was certainly plenty to grumble about: long lines, not enough employees to answer my questions, and the exact thing I went to go buy was either hard to find or sold out.

One day I found myself in a long line, and instead of wondering why the checker couldn’t go a little faster, I noticed the people in the lines around me. There was the hurried mother with two kids in the basket and one hanging on her leg. Her face was full of concern as she checked her watch constantly and tried to watch the checker and the two girls in the basket, find her wallet, and console the now crying leg hugger. I began to look at the faces of those around me and saw a myriad of emotions and stances that made one wonder about their stories. All around me were people; people who were precious to God; people who had their own dire struggles; people who had their own deadlines. And then it struck me that I entered the store, a busy shopper who looked past and through the other busy people around me.

Being stuck in the line then became a blessing and a time that I was forced to stop and look around. There was a new joy for me. Instead of wishing the lady with 3 children would hurry, it was an opportunity to see her face and pray for her as I stood there. It put a new slant on things to stand there, praying for her to have peace and the calmness necessary to help her care for her children.

I hope that you are able to see people from a different perspective this Christmas and will reach out to them with a smile, a kind word or act, and even a prayer.

E-comm

Facebook. MySpace. Message boards, email, and yes… blogging. These are all modes of communication that have countless numbers of people communicating across our nation and even our world. Words and phrases are thrown around at the speed of light (okay, you science peeps…don’t correct me speed of light and how fast info moves- it’s just an expression) by single units of humans sitting in darkened rooms, communicating with other single units of humans sitting in other darkened rooms. (Well, maybe the rooms aren’t that dark, but you get the picture.)

Don’t get me wrong- I do like technology, but lately I’ve been pondering upon the way we cordon ourselves off away from others, so that we can communicate with others- who are far away. I love using email as a quick way to get info out to others. I can think about something that I need to tell someone, let’s say at midnight, email them and forget about it till the next day. Very simple. No fuss, no muss. However, the human touch is set aside if that’s all one uses. In Facebook, etc, one can make a statement, no matter how nice or how rotten, and back away, ready to ignore or answer the responses that come up.

My ponderment settles around the question of relying ONLY on e-communication (or e-comm) and how that affects the way we interact with others, in the old-school low-tech way. I’m afraid that regarding e-comm as THE way of communicating cheats us out of being a community that has eye to eye and hand to hand contact.

Acts 2:42-47 says: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Sounds like a real live community of faith to me. I just can’t envision how it would have worked in the electronic age. Perhaps the apostles, each sitting in their individual homes, would send out their blog, to which the faithful would respond on their Facebook page and purchase Facebook gifts to give each other. Perhaps they would all gather, on the “I Love Jesus” message board and have “worship” by talking about how great God is and how we should serve Him. Maybe they could buy stuff for the poor through ebay, pay for it with paypal, and send it fedex. Alright, maybe I’ve gone off the deep end a bit, and remember… I do like technology, but I wonder if we sometime allow e-comm to take the place of being the living and breathing community of faith that gathers together to worship together, pray together, serve together, etc. The challenge offered here (myself included) is to make that extra effort to connect or to re-connect to actual human beings, and just sit, face to face, and enjoy some old-fashioned slow-paced visiting.

If you need me, I’ll be out on the porch… rocking…and ready to visit.