Angels Among Us

Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10 - NRSVUE

Biblical “stories” contain occurrences of prophecy, angelic visits, dreams, and the voice of God.  Our world is far removed from such experiences, possibly making contemporary readers baulk at these passages with a “get real” attitude.

So, let’s get real.

We live in an age of instant gratification, where the internet will help us find, learn and discover most anything with just a few clicks.  And, of course there is an app for most everything.  I’ve not yet found God’s app, or an “Angel On-Call” service the delivers true divine assistance, but maybe that is just not “real” enough for our higher power!

Does real for our God look different than you or I could ever imagine?

Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy written for early, persecuted Christians, by “John”. It is a dream-like, visionary, description, that some think to reveal the end of times. But for its audience of early Christians, hiding to worship in catacombs, could it have been a message to show that God will ultimately triumph over their current circumstances. Whomever the actual writer, and if it is or is not a prophecy of the end of times, the writing is powerful.

“Get real!” can be heard echoing in the minds of many Revelation’ readers. (Or true fear of what may come! If you are afraid, please, please read on.)

As a reader of any text, I not only look at the work as a whole, but at the components that stand out as important.  “I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters,” is just one of these that resonates. It is here that we can “get real” with not only angels, but with our God. Here in Revelation at the end of our Bible, after many other examples of God’s people, being humble, the least chosen, the unlikely heroes, ever servants to God, that this Angel reveals in their great magnificence that they too are only a servant of the highest.

What?? Are we in this way on a level plain with angels!!

What if that is where we find angels?

When I’ve had a doozy of a day, an angel’s voice is there as I call my best friend. The hospice nurse’s angel hands as she cares for a soul as it passes from this world to the next. Or are angel acts, smaller every day overlooked actions of love, but just as powerful. Is it there when I smile at you and you smile back.

Is this how God has been “real” for you and me all along? That we are servants not only to our God, but to each other.

It is because, God has placed “angels among us” that we desperately need to build community in a contemporary over privileged, instant world. Might we slow down, be still (enough!) to know and again hear our God. If we listen, even the fear created by reading Revelation is diminished, because in the end we know that as servants, with the angels, as angels among us, there is a God of Love.  Love (capital L because I mean God) instills His love in us to be truly angelic.

1.      Are you practicing true quiet to:

"Be Still and know that I am God?" Psalms 46:10 NRSVUE

2.      How do you feel about being angelic?

3.      Are you a gracious servant and/or receiver of such grace?