Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
– Genesis 28:10-14
You may have seen the trucks barreling down the highway with the company’s initials in bold capital letters. G.O.D. Guaranteed Overnight Delivery. The first time I encountered one of these trucks I was offended. I’m not usually sensitive about these things, but somehow the clash between crass commercialism and faith was just a bit much. But as time wore on I found my attitude changing. And it was all because of angels.
Now, I didn’t have a dream. There was no ascending and descending from heaven. And certainly no wrestling and no dislocated hips. But there was a beautiful collision between the idea of the Guarantee of God/G.O.D. and the certainty that God’s messengers, the angels, really do show up on time. I can’t really say if G.O.D.’s messengers have a good track record, but they can’t match the all-time eternal delivery service.
Today everything is fair game. We’ve had a cigar-smoking God played by George Burns and an beer-swilling angel played by John Travolta. We won’t even go near “Life of Brianâ€! All of this irreverence comes to a halt, however, a two times of the year. God’s delivery service gives the two messages on which our faith pivots. You will bear a child. He is not here, he is risen.
What messages does God have for us today? Where do we find angels in today’s world?
Prayer: Father, you send us your Son, you send us the Spirit, you send us angels. Make our ears keen and our eyes sharp! Help us to always attend to the messengers in our midst, those bearing God-ness to us, in message and in deed. Awaken us to your call. Amen.