Scripture: Genesis 46: 1-4 and Matthew 1: 18-25
Sermon: Angels — Messengers of Protection
Topics: Angels, Voices, Advent
Preached: December 11, 2016 am
Rev. Mike Abma
Genesis 46: 1-4 When Israel (Jacob) set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 3Then he said, ‘I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.’
Matthew 1: 18 – 25 18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’22All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ 24When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
INTRODUCTION
Jacob and Joseph.
In many ways, these two stories of Jacob and Joseph are so different:
Jacob is old,
Joseph is young;
Jacob has a huge family – lots of kids and grandkids,
Joseph is not even married yet;
Jacob is near the end of his life,
Joseph is just starting his adult life.
In many ways Jacob and Joseph are so different.
But in these two passages, Jacob and Joseph are so very similar:
They are both facing a difficult decision;
They are both restless and not sleeping well;
They are both afraid they are making the wrong choice.
By the time we get to Genesis 46, Jacob has lived a full life.
He had spent many years in the land of Laban, his uncle,
far from the land promised to Isaac and Abraham.
But ever since he had returned,
he felt he was Home.
He felt he was where he belonged.
He felt safe, secure, settled
in the land God had promised to his forefathers
and to his descendants —
he had fathered lots and lots of descendants.
But now everything was threatened.
The rulers of Egypt had sent wagons, lots of wagons,
to take Jacob,
and every person in his family,
and every animal in his flocks and herds
and everything he owned
down to Egypt.
How could he do that?
How could he abandon the land promised to his family?
How could he jeopardize the future of God’s people?
Wouldn’t they just be swallowed by Egypt?
There in Beersheba, on the border of the desert,
he could go back, and face starvation from the famine,
or he could go forward, and face extinction as a family.
And so he tossed and turned
hardly able to sleep
not sure what to do:
He could hardly turn back
He could hardly go forward.
What was he to do?
Centuries later,
a descendant of Jacob by the name of Joseph,
was also tossing and turning at night.
Joseph thought he had life pretty well figured out.
He had a job, or at least the skills of a carpenter.
His family had helped him pick out a lovely girl,
and he was ready to spend the rest of his life with her.
He was living every Jewish boy’s dream.
And then the NEWS — his fiancee was pregnant!
And the child was NOT his.
Joseph does not get one line in the New Testament.
Not even one word.
He is totally silent.
Though quiet on the outside,
we can imagine all the thoughts and feelings on the inside:
the anger, the worry, the fear.
He started with fear for himself —
What would people say once they found out?
Could he face such humiliation?
Could he live having all his hopes, plans, and dreams dashed to pieces?
Eventually the fears turned to his fiancee.
What would happen to her once people found out?
Sure, it would be bad for him,
but it would be very, very bad for her.
And so he tossed and turned, unsure what to do.
The only thing he could think of was
to disown her — what else could he do?
It would be least damaging to him if he could distance himself from her.
But he would disown her quietly —
that would be least damaging to her.
That is the only thing he could come up with
as he wrestled with his thoughts and feelings
in the darkness of the night.
VOICES IN THE NIGHT — THEN
Both stories are about men wrestling in the night —
wrestling with their thoughts and feelings
and unsure of what they should do.
Both men hear voices in the night.
Jacob hears a voice whispering:
“Jacob, Jacob.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid to take this action,
This action of going down to Egypt with everything
You are, everything you have, and everything you will be.
Do not be afraid,
For I will be with you.
And Joseph also hears a voice in the night whispering,
“Joseph, son of David,
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid to take this action,
This action of taking Mary as your wife,
For the child she is carrying is no ordinary child.
He is Immanuel — God with you
And you shall name him Jesus.
VOICES IN THE NIGHT – NOW
The novelist and psychologist Charles Fernyhough
recently wrote a book called The Voices Within.
He writes that when we sleep,
our brains are actually very active,
trying to make sense of the complicated world we live in.
He writes that there is
No brain scan
No neurological marker
No way of knowing
whether the voices we hear in the night
are coming from inside of us
or from outside of us.
What we do know
Is that these voices often help us,
they guard us,
they guide us,
So that when we wake up in the morning,
We are suddenly ready to take action:
Ready to take that road to Egypt;
Ready to marry that girl we thought we might dismiss;
Ready to take that road we were afraid to take.
WHAT IS THAT VOICE IN THE NIGHT?
There are those who think that this voice in the night
can only come to us from inside of us.
But for us religious folk,
we are willing to accept that this voice in the night
might come from outside of us.
Many will say that the voice comes from our guardian angel.
Jacob must have had a guardian angel,
Who appeared to him
And whispered to him
Both as a young man and as an old man.
And many will say that Joseph must have had a guardian angel too,
Who whispered that he should take Mary as his wife,
Who later warned him to flee from Herod to Egypt,
And who later yet, warned him that it was safe to return.
There is a long and deep tradition regarding personal guardian angels.
I have heard people talk of seeing angels
in hospital rooms
or at accident scenes.
Certain movies have tapped into this tradition.
Just think of that Christmas Classic, It’s a Wonderful Life.
Remember that 1946 film?
A loveable George Bailey is facing bankruptcy.
He is ready to end it all.
And who comes to his rescue in the dark of night?
His own personal guardian angel named Clarence.
A bit of an odd fellow, this angel Clarence,
but he is given the job of saving George Bailey,
and once he gets poor George
back on track
and back to his family,
why, Clarence even gets an angelic promotion – he gets his wings.
It is all super-heartwarming.
But it has also given rise to a whole library of questionable
Guardian Angel books like:
Finding Your Guardian Angel
Or Embraced by Angels: How to get in touch with your Guardian Angel.
Or Ask Your Angel: A Practical Guide to Working with Your Guardian Angel to Empower and Enrich Your Life.
All the advice in these popular books is basically what one theologian calls “twaddle” (Foolish nonsense).
Why?
In our day and age,
people may find it easier to believe in Guardian Angels,
because they find it harder to believe in God.
But the Biblical view is never about getting in touch with your Guardian Angel.
The Biblical view is always about getting in touch with God.
Angels are merely God’s messengers.
They never work on their own.
They always are doing only God’s work.
So in the Bible,
Whenever we find an angel speaking – God is speaking;
Whenever we find an angel acting – God is acting;
Whenever we find an angel protecting, or guarding, or guiding,
God is in fact doing all those things.
It is God who, according to Psalm 91,
shelters us under his wings.
And it is God who commands his angels
to guard us and to protect us and to guide us on our way.
As Andy Bandstra,
The old New Testament professor at Calvin Seminary used to say:
“Believe in guardian angels if you want,
but do not let that distract you from the reality
that God is the one watching over us.”
CONCLUSION — AT A CROSSROADS
Earlier this fall I was speaking to my brother about his cancer treatments.
He was faced with a choice:
Either to take part in a new trial drug,
Or to take chemotherapy.
He asked me, “How does one even make such a decision?
Is there even a right choice?”
These are the things that fill the night time of our fears.
Choices that have no clear answers;
Forks in the road that have no clear direction.
You’ve been dating a while. Things are going well, but there have been some bumps in the road. You are not sure. Will these bumps grow into mountains or will they disappear over time?
And you toss and turn, unsure whether to keep going forward with the relationship or whether to break things off.
You are about to graduate. You are not sure what to do: more school or look for a job? There is no easy answer.
You are settled, secure, life has a healthy rhythm to it.
Then suddenly an opportunity comes your way.
It is something that sounds almost too good to be true.
But it will involve uprooting the whole family and moving and starting all over in a new place. What should I do?
Or you have lost someone – someone very dear to you. Someone you have journeyed with through life. Someone you have depended on. And now you are alone. How does one go forward?
These are the things we wrestle with at night.
We want clear answers.
We want our faith to be sight.
We want our doubts to become certainties.
And we wouldn’t mind knowing there is a guardian angel
Skilled in the ninja arts
That, no matter what,
will be there, protecting us every step of the way.
But instead,
Instead
we receive a whisper,
In the night
Saying
Do not be afraid
I will be with you.
Do not be afraid
Just follow, follow me.”
And that,
Followers of Jesus,
is enough.
More than enough.
Amen
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