Angels from the Realms of Glory

 

1 Angels, from the realms of glory,

wing your flight o'er all the earth;

ye who sang creation's story,

now proclaim Messiah's birth:

come and worship, come and worship,

worship Christ, the newborn King.

 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[b] the Lord.  This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[c] praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,  

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!

This year's version of our Christmas tree is in place and adorned with ornaments, most of which were gifts from my late mother who travelled the world and brought them back from hither and yon. Near the top are a number of angels of unknown provenance, although the ultimate angel was a gift from a friend of my mother's from 50 years ago.

These are lovely momentoes of Christmases past, as are the memories of adorable and even unruly angels in Christmas pageants through the decades. These aren't angels though, at least not in the biblical sense. In my early years angels in those nativity plays were girls and shepherds were boys. So they seem to be on our Christmas tree. Yet in the gospel of Luke it is Gabriel who announces the unsettling Good News to first Elizabeth and then Mary about the unlikely births of cousins John and Jesus. Michael shows up as well, including in Revelation. While I would be happy with Gabriela and Michaela but those aren't the biblical names.

Son Isaac is doing an angel series during Advent this year and last week he reminded us that the word we translate as angel is "messenger" in both Hebrew and Greek. I have always wrestled with the notion of angels (nerdy Jacob dad joke) especially because of the absurd popularization of the angelic beings during the 1980s. I've never experienced a visitation myself but can I deny their existence when they're so important to the biblical narrative? 

                                                    The Annunciation -- Henry Ossawa Tanner 

Where have all those promised guardian angels gone in a time when we could use a heavenly host declaring genuine good news in our troubled world? I wouldn't mind if some of them were smitey, doing some divine clean-up work at the Kremlin and the White House, but that's not the way it works. 

I suppose that I'm content with the notion of divinely directed messengers, although they may be in human form. I think of the late, inspiring Jane Goodall who felt that in later life she was compelled to share a message of hope for the planet with a sense of purpose that came from beyond herself. Similarly, Canadian climate scientist and Christian Katharine Hayhoe points us to the often grim science yet is also steadfast in her hope for the Creator's wondrous world. Would they describe themselves as angelic? I doubt it, still  they are rays of light in the gloom. 

There is a heavenly and earthly host of messengers who call us to be the people God intends us to be, to be light and hope even in the midst of fear and uncertainty. Let's keep wrestling. 

'I am the light of the world!

You people come and follow me!'

If you follow and love you'll learn the mystery

of what you were meant to do and be.

1 When the song of the angels is stilled,

when the star in the sky is gone,

when the kings and the shepherds have found

their way home,

the work of Christmas is begun:  R

                                          Detail from Jacob Wrestling with the Angel -- Rembrandt