Monday 09 October 2023

Psalm 135:1-7

Background

For members of the Early Church, angels were considered so important that the writer of the book of Hebrews (which was written before the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD), deemed it of the highest importance to get angels into the very first chapter. And furthermore, our author also felt compelled to state their heavenly hierarchy in relation to Jesus.

 In 21st century westernised Christianity, angels are not often spoken of except at Christmas, when they seem to have a place in nearly every Christmas carol or school nativity up and down the land. I am sure I saw an angel portrayed as a shrimp in the blockbuster film 'Love Actually', which has become an annual festive watch for my family. Angels, it would seem,  are subjects for Hollywood films and pop music, and not for modern academic Christian inquiry!

My wife believes in angels and she even calls upon them in her prayers, especially when she needs them to take care of our children and grandchildren. Her prayer goes something like this, "Lord, send your angels to look after ... one angel at the top of the bed and one angel at the bottom." Many people may consider her slightly odd these days, but she has good support for her prayer requests from scripture, art, architecture and from other religions.

When I listen to Jewish and Muslim prisoners discuss their faith and to my imam and rabbi prison chaplaincy colleagues, I hear angels mentioned quite often. My Hindu colleague tells me that Hinduism also has a special focus on devas (celestial beings) with the belief that every living thing is assigned a devas to guard them, although these are not strictly angels as in the Abrahamic traditions.

Perhaps part of the problem in westernised Christianity is that angels are pictured to be more like the medieval artistic portraits of the heavenly beings of seraphim and cherubim. These are often portrayed as being cute baby-like creatures with wings. The Old Testament scriptures, however, describe angels as having an adult human form and sometimes being hundreds of feet tall. In the New Testament angels have specific roles; for example, some are messenger angels as in the narrative about Jesus' birth and some are warrior angels fighting against Satan or guarding Satan’s escape from the Abyss as found in the book of Revelation. Angels also had a role in protecting the apostle Peter: see Acts 12:1-19a.

To Ponder:

• Why do you think angels have a low profile in the psyche of Christianised Western culture?
• How could an awareness of angels in your spiritual life transform your wellbeing and hopefulness?

Prayer
Lord God, open our minds and hearts to the possibilities of the beyond, that we may be comforted on our journey through life here on earth. Amen.

Prisons Week

8-14 October 2023 is Prisons Week, which the Methodist Church sponsors. All of this week’s contributions are written by Methodist prison chaplains.