Encountering Angels

The final words of Acts chapter 6 say of Stephen – and his face seemed to them like the face of an angel.  So what does an angel look like?  What indeed is an angel?  One of the interesting experiences of my early ministry was one particular day when I went in to an infant class in the primary school in Beith in North Ayrshire where I had my first ministry.  I was greeting with a bright smile from the teacher as she said, ‘Mr Whittle, we are so glad that you were due to come today.  We’ve got a question for you.  Can you tell us what an angel is?’  I must admit that I can’t remember what my answer was – but I have never forgotten being asked the question.

Angels, of course, appear in the Bible from time to time.  In Genesis 18 Abraham found himself visited by angels.  Isaiah saw a vision in the temple which included angels.  Mary and Joseph were both visited by angels, as were the shepherds in the fields with their sheep who had the wonderful experience of that fantastic angelic choir.  So how would you describe an angel?  I guess, in most cases, that wings and a harp would come into it.

But, of course, that is not how it is.  Angels are very special but, for the most part, they look so very ordinary.  Angels walk second miles.  They give away second coats.  They turn the other cheek.  They even love their enemies.  Angels do very special things, but most of them so easily go unrecognised.

The story of Stephen is one of those stories of the very early church that shows such great commitment.  Nothing was going to shake Stephen’s faith.  As the writer says a little earlier in Acts 6, he was full of grace and power. 

Stephen and his colleagues clearly lived in complicated and difficult times.  That gives us the hint that there might be something useful for us to learn from his story.  Our rampantly secular context certainly throws plenty of challenges at us.  Stephen has all sorts of people stirred up against him.  He is accused of a variety of things.  Some tell lies about him.  He is set upon and seized.  But he stands firm.  

So what do we do with the various things we find ourselves facing?  How do we respond? Remember what C S Lewis once said: “Good and evil both increase at compound interest.  That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.”  May the example of the Stephens of this world inspire us to be the people we are called to be.

Burdens

When I was a teenager, from time to time, I went with the Boys’ Brigade on what we called an ‘expedition’. We went walking across the hills carrying everything we needed for a couple of nights - tent, sleeping bag, food, cooking utensils, change of clothes etc. It was heavy – and, though I enjoyed those walks, that is usually my first thought when I hear someone talking about a burden. A burden is something that is heavy. It weighs you down. I wonder what things are weighing us down, both individually and corporately, at the moment? What are the things that feel so heavy, the things that make us wonder if we can cope?

Lent is a good time to think about struggling – but, of course, struggling isn’t great if you get stuck and can’t emerge from the struggle. As Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones reminds us in “Never Said a Mumbalin’ Word”, “The best way to stop carrying a burden is to put it down.” I do fear that sometimes our struggles are because we just refuse to put down the burden. We think we have to keep carrying it – and we don’t. Don’t get caught up with all that stuff you are carrying. Instead, look for what God is calling you to do now! As Bozzuti-Jones also comments: “The best way to do something is to begin it.”

Finding God in the Ordinary

I recently read Gerard Hughes' "Cry of Wonder", a fascinating exploration of God engaging with ordinary lives, and so a reminder that God looks to relate to us. As Hughes says: "God is to be found in the ordinary, in the earthiness and messiness, the chaos and strife of everyday living. We live today in an environment where such thinking is not fashionable.  Self-preservation has become our God: it masquerades as peace and imprisons us in spiralling violence. The violence has its source in our way of thinking. Every individual is being invited to contribute to peace for all. We are created for glory, not for annihilation."

We need need to learn not to just be looking out for self, but seeing how we can share the light and love of God. That way the glory of God can be found in the everyday world. 

Greatness

The question as to what constitutes greatness is an interesting and challenging one. Jesus' first disciples famously argued about this particular matter. Conventional wisdom is clearly very different from Jesus' approach of promoting the way of service. It is also worth thinking about what it is that drives us, what are the things that really matter to us and what are those that really bother us.

In his reflection for the first Sunday in Lent in "Never Said a Mumbalin' Word" Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones asks an interesting question and makes an interesting point:

- What gives you a feeling of greatness in your life as a Christian?

- Remember that Jesus began his ministry after facing his demons.

Hugging

There was a fashion a little while ago to offer free hugs. I guess it was a reaction against the sense of isolation that so many feel these days. I remember seeing someone with a sign offering 'free hugs' as I was walking through Birmingham city centre one day.

I was reminded of that recently when reading Padraig O'Tuama's inspiring and challenging book "In the Shelter". In the book O'Tuama gently reflects on some of the key ways in which we engage with life. He points out some of the many questions that we ought to be considering. Life is full of questions with which we should engage.

However, I think that possibly my favourite little section of this book is a paragraph about hugging. O'Tuama writes: The Ireland I grew up in was not an Ireland that knew much about hugging. Maybe it was particularly true for Irish boys; I don't know whether it was different for girls. One Irish way of saying 'hug' is duine a theannadh le do chroi - to squeeze somebody with your heart. It's lovely but I never knew it. That first time I was asked for a hug and I got one - even though I didn't know I had one to either give or take - I found myself thinking 'So this is what arms are for'.

Who might you squeeze with your heart?

Saints

Saints are often regarded as really special, and so they are - but most saints are also ordinary people. We are all called to be saints and, with God's help, we can manage just that. 

During Lent I am reading Graham James's "The Lent Factor" in which he shares the stories of forty people whom he has found to have something really helpful say through how they lived. He makes the point that we all have our part to play - whatever it is that God has called us to do. Saints are special, but they are not perfect. He comments: "I recall one definition of a saint as 'someone in Christian history whose life has been insufficiently researched.' That's a reminder that saints are also sinners like the rest of us. Those who inspire faith in others, or lead us to want to imitate their best qualities, are not without blemish. " 

In other words, you are a saint! We all are special and we can also do stuff for God.

And wouldn't it be interesting to make our own list of forty people, some known to us personally, others not so known, but all folk who have really inspired us?

Glimpsing God

In many ways God is hidden. In many other ways we can a glimpses of God and that is terrific. I have been reading Rex Chapman's "A Glimpse of God" (SCM, 1973). Although written over forty years ago, and so in some ways in the language of is time, it offers insights that remain highly relevant. The first chapter deals with the matter of doubt. We sometimes see doubt as the opposite of trust, but that is not so. Rather doubt is a crucial part of trust. Faith is far more resilient than being something that cannot cope with doubt. As Chapman says: "To limit God's grace to those of us who are so sure of our faith and so clear in our decisions would probably be to price most of us out of the market. Like the kingdom of God faith the size of a mustard seed has hidden potential."

He comments about the place of the "doubt that makes us wonder what what on earth God is going to get up to next." We need to allow doubt to contribute constructively to what we do and are. There are many places where we can catch glimpses of God. When that happens we will be inspired, even if we have been struggling to catch that glimpse.