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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion January 4, 2006 GUARDIANS |
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Frontline Devotion for Wednesday, January 4, 2006 by Penny Risen
Mosquitoes big as M&Ms, icky food, mean girls in the next cabin, maybe bears in the woods! I was convinced this wooded prison --- disguised as a scout sleepover camp --- would be the end of my short 10-year-old life.
But every evening as we gathered around the campfire, I was calmed and persuaded to give this summer adventure another chance. We sang the now familiar hymn/lullaby in our chirpy kids’ voices:
“All
night, all day: Angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day: Angels watching over me.
Sun is a-setting in the West;
Angels watching over me, my Lord.
Sleep my child, take your rest;
Angels watching over me.”
This simple melody reinforced my belief that a guardian angel was there on duty in a Michigan forest: Preventing me from sinking in a canoe, or getting lost on a hike, or being beaned by the pitcher in a softball game. I took comfort in God’s messenger, invisible to me but present. Yes, I’d make it home alive and see my 11th birthday in August.
In Matthew, angels empowered by God watch over another special child: From the point when He is announced by Gabriel to Mary until His birth in a lowly stable. This heavenly child Jesus is heralded to Earth by joyful angel choirs to lucky shepherds, the Bible’s Christmas narrative says. But soon an angel warns His father, Joseph, that a vengeful king threatens the infant’s life.
“Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills.”
Matthew 2: 16, The Message Bible
The family’s guided by angels into refuge in Egypt. They are given the all clear after Herod’s death to return home --- again by angels in a dream to Joseph. We know little about Jesus’ boyhood, but it’s easy to imagine angels as guardians during His daily life in this sometimes dark, dangerous place called Earth. Angels attend the young man Jesus in the desert when He’s tempted by Satan, again in Gethsemane in His prayerful agony on the eve of His mission, and finally at His crucifixion. An angel proclaims the risen Jesus to visitors at the empty tomb on Easter.
Angels’ presence in the Gospel narrative is reassuring, saying to believers that even God’s Son made man is watched over each moment. Do we think we feel or see angels today? Do we sometimes sense these guardians in human form around us, working unnoticed? Do they accomplish their tasks assigned by God, leaving behind feelings of joy, health, peace, security, renewal or strength in us?
“There are those today who derive enormous comfort from a simple certainty in the existence of angels. In this sense, angels stand as eternally vigilant guardians, helpers, and guides of humanity in times of darkest and most terrible need,” writes Matthew Bunson in his book “Angels A to Z” (Three Rivers Press, 1996). Angel lore is present in the spiritual tradition of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and even New Agers who follow no particular religion or belief system. Angels are everywhere in art, in popular culture, even in advertising. Google the word “angel”? Hits top 76 million.
To many, angels embody God’s concern for His creations. Mentioned hundreds of times in both the Old and New Testaments, these guardians communicate directly with divine messages of joy, of events to take place, or of approaching danger. Their presence signals that God cares and He is concerned for human life.
It must have been a comfort for Mary and Joseph as they raised their son Jesus, equipped with these angel guardians. A loving God empowers us too as believers with faith that night and day, we are kept in His care. And sensing that caring angels ably fill in sometimes … well, it’s gotten me through worse times than a week at camp.
Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, help me to be like Your angels in words, action and in loving kindness toward others. Please watch over my family and those I care for --- in the worst and the best of times. Thank you for all the lessons of the Christmas story, both joyful and cautionary. Amen.
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