Entertaining Angels Many of you have probably been watching the World Cup soccer the past two weeks I certainly have For many years, since playing soccer myself as a child I have following the fortunes – or really, the misfortunes – of England’s national team It was heart breaking four years ago when the young star David Beckham was sent off in the quarter final against Argentina When a perfectly good goal form Sol Campbell was disallowed And England went out in the cruellest of ways on penalties It’s too mild to say that David Beckham was severely chastise for his small indiscretion He was personally held accountable by much of the press And there was great anger and abuse against him in England Football is so much more than a game in England… Well – four years later, things have changed Argentine are out of the competition ………………………….. David Beckham has gone from villain to hero in the popular imagination This report appeared in the Daily Telegraph the day after England’s famous victory over Argentina Few of us ever see our lives distilled into one chance at redemption, like that one straight low drive into the corner of the Argentinian goal… few of us would have survived the vitriol poured on a 19 year old David Beckham four years ago… this was the triumph of grace. On the night before the match an elderly Japanese man materialised out of a crowd, tapped me on the shoulder and said softly “England will win, Beckham will score,” and then disappeared back into the crowd. It was as if an angel had spoken. I don’t know if the elderly Japanese man was an angel But I do think it is true that angels can turn up in the most unexpected of places And in the most unexpected of ways So that we might sometimes find ourselves entertaining angels unawares As does Abraham in the Old Testament story from Genesis chapter 18 this morning I came across this story in a publication put out by a Christian missionary society A young lady was on her way to bring much needed food and medical supplies to a remote area And to teach the children in the settlement about God when the van she was travelling alone broke down The road was long and straight and dusty And she had been warned many times to not stop for anyone or anything but to drive straight through to her destination There was nothing in sight beyond the shimmering horizon and night was closing in She knelt beside the over heating vehicle and began to pray softly for help Some time passed when out of the distance came the hum of an engine And then a black dot appeared on the horizon As it came closer she made out the figure of a man riding a motor cycle He stopped as he neared her He was a large man, with a flowing black beard, his arms covered in tattoo’s The man took one look at her disabled van and went to work on the engine Eventually he slammed the bonnet and instructed her to give it a try The vehicle started instantly and before she could voice her thanks the man had mounted his motor bicycle and roared off into the distance in a cloud of red dust The last thing she saw was the insignia emblazoned on the back of his denim jacket Around the words “Hells Angels” I’m not sure if it is a true story Or one of those many fantastic takes that always seem to happen in remote places and to people who cannot possibly be traced Or whether perhaps it is actually from an episode of that television program “Touched by an Angel” … Either way, the point of that little story is a good one Angels can turn up in the most unexpected of places Outback Australia And might not look anything like the way we probably expect them to In the Old Testament reading this morning came from Genesis And it describes the appearance to Abraham of three men One of these three is addressed by Abraham as The Lord And speaks in the name of the Lord It is left unclear just who the three visitors are But certainly these are heavenly angelic beings This is a supernatural visitation And an other worldly encounter To the men and women of the Old Testament God appears to them And communicates with them in all manner of ways As the angelic visitor As an apparently normal looking human being – such as the man whom Jacob wrestled at Peniel God speaks in dreams, visions ,and in other ways – to Elijah God was the still small voice calling in the wind To Moses God appeared in the burning bush And God comes to Abraham and Sarah as three visitors Abraham responds to his guests by doing what is expected of him In all of the ancient cultures of the middle east the reception of a guest and the act of providing hospitality is of great importance To be inhospitable is to commit the gravest and most serious offence to the social and cultural etiquette So Abraham goes out of his way to make his guests welcome and to show them hospitality And in doing so he finds himself entertaining angels He finds himself in the midst of an encounter with God He would not have had that experience if he turned the visitors away Or refused to provide food and shelter for them Or not bothered to have gone out of his for them; The writer to the Hebrews gives this advise to Christians in the thirteenth chapter of that epistle “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for in doing so some have entertained angels unawares” I have never seen an angel But something tells me that if I have encountered an angel I would not know about it anyway In both the Hebrew and the Greek language the word translated as angel is the same word for messenger An angel is simply a messenger form God One who carries out God’s purposes on earth One who brings God into a situation Perhaps with a word, an action, perhaps by their very presence Perhaps by whispering encouragement in a crowd Or fixing an overheating radiator for a broken down traveller Perhaps there is a strange ring of truth to greeting one who comes to help in the hour of need as “my little angel” or similar words Perhaps the work and ministry of angels among us is far more common they we dare to suppose And yet, having said this there is still, something more to be said about angels Something mysterious and supernatural and quite unexplained Those times when heaven, when God, seems especially close In an unexplained and undefined way Or when the unexpected help of a stranger meets a moment of need Or one just feels an overpowering sense of awe or divine presence That can’t really be described And so I won’t try to paint the picture for you any further but hope you know what I mean Perhaps these moments too are evidence of the presence of angels among us; Ever entertained an angel unawares? Perhaps If you are willing to show hospitality as Abraham did To welcome the guest and show compassion to the stranger Ever been touched by an angel? If your spiritual eyes and ears open All the time… In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
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