Angels, There When God Knows You Need Them!

Angels are mentioned in the Bible. So they must be real, right? And if they are real then certainly they are not taking a vacation since releasing Peter from jail during his days of ministry, right? (Acts 12:6-12) So surely we must see angels in real life, right? Well, many I suppose may wonder if angels are real and if they are about doing God's business just like the times of old. Scripture reminds us that at times angels take the form of human beings. (Genesis 18 & Acts 12:15) )So there are two events in my life where I wonder if I were being ministered by angels.

The first occurred in Atlanta prior to my entering seminary. I was running late for a meeting on youth ministry in Atlanta. My running late was caused by someone else who had to meet with me about some misunderstanding and it just could not wait! So now I am rushing to the cathedral and was taking a shortcut through an affluent neighborhood (read predominately white in the early '80's)  trying to make up time. Of course this was thwarted by my car getting a flat tire. So I make sure I am on the side of the road of this residential section and get the jack and spare out. Now I have changed tires before. But today I could not get the lug nuts to turn. No matter how hard I tried they would not budge. Then out of the blue a dark red car pulls up behind me and out jumps a black man. He comes up behind me and says, "Let me get that!" He grabs the tire iron and begins to remove the lug nuts effortlessly, grabs the spare putting it on the wheel, tightens the nuts, lowers the jack and then runs back into his car & drives off. I try to talk to him offering him some money but he just waves and drives off. Wonder of wonders I get to the cathedral and sign in just as the opening prayer was beginning.

The second time occurred when I was vicar of a small parish in the mountains of North Georgia. There was another parish making noises of leaving the Diocese over some issues that now have consumed the national church. But this one parish was asking other parishes to join them in their exodus. To this end they were going behind the pastors' backs writing letters to the wardens of the parishes. For the most part my little parish did not go along with this but unfortunately the behind the back communications made communications within the parish on issues that really did not effect us too time consuming and very distracting. I was frustrated and discouraged. My Sunday School Superientendant had left some videos for me to review for the curriculum and so I went to the undercroft of the parish to watch the videos. While doing this I heard foot steps and through the basement door entered a middle aged couple. I introduced myself and they said they were vacationing and whenever they saw the Episcopal Church Welcomes You sign they would stop and see the church. Why they desired to come down to the basement I do not know! So we visited. I do not really remember where they were from. As we talked the conversation turned to my ministry and all the stuff going on. After about an hour I felt a burden had lifted from my shoulders. Now for some reason I assumed the gentleman was a priest so I asked where his parish was. he looked at me and said, "Oh, I'm not a priest, I'm a therapist!" No wonder I shared myself with this couple. We said our goodbye's and they left.

Now were these angelic encounters or just natural occurences in the physical world? Both can be explained by saying nothing was out of the ordinary. The first occurence was definitaley a good samaritan, a man of another race & color stopping to help a stranger in need. The second was just a couple who were vacationing stopping at every Episcopal Church they saw. In both instances I was served by their compassion. Either way, God get's all the glory as there are no accidents in the Kingdom of God. And we are reminded by Scripture to "not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Heb. 13:2) Now this does beg the question, how many strangers that have come into my life really have been angels?

Tabernacling: A Proposal for a New Anglican Holiday

I write this as our Jewish brothers and sisters begin their Feast of Booths or Sukkot. It is a period of time they remember how they wondered in the desert for forty years living in temporary and portable shelters. God was worshiped in a tabernacle that could be broken down and moved with the camp. Today in North America many Anglican congregations worship in temporary spaces that are less than ideal. But we should never forget today lest we become proud of our accomplishments tomorrow.

Today Christians in the Anglican tradition who maintain an orthodox worldview find themselves unable to live within the established Anglican provinces of North America. Some congregations voted to leave their national church only to be sued over their property draining resources for mission and making lawyers all the richer. Others voluntarily left their property turning in their keys to form a new congregation in a new space. And there are many congregations that are brand new church plants reaching the lost by putting mission first rather than building buildings. The truth is this is a great time as Anglicans have by necessity reclaimed the reason for our existence. As Archbishop William Temple once said, "The Church exists for those not in it!"

I know in the parish where I serve in the metro Atlanta area, we have gone from a dingy store front with stains on the carpet to a beautiful sanctuary rented from a Presbyterian church to our own property where a French colonial home was remodeled into a worship space. We have gone from paying rent but not free to use the time and space as we desired to a space we can call our own but now in debt to a mortgage. But it is our own to use without constraint. The goal of course is to expand the property and build a traditional Anglican church. My prayer though is we never forget the dingy store front and our journey to where we hope to arrive. The church dies when we forget our mission only to support the memorial of our faith, the church building.

This is a great time for Anglicans in North America. We are debating the essentials of the faith because we once took them for granted. We are looking at new ways to do mission and ministry. And above all we are looking to Scripture as our ultimate authority. The truth is our world is full of lost souls who need to hear the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ the Righteous. We are not taking anything for granted. And to that end, we should remember the days we tabernacled.

I am reminded of a story of man long ago in the ancient of days who was visited by God. He was overwhelmed by His glory. To remember the visit, he placed a stone on the very spot God appeared. As the man's friends passed the stone, they asked what it meant and he readily told them the story of God's appearing. That story was shared and as people heard it they came to see the spot where God appeared leaving a stone as well. A shelter was built out of the stones so that others could find the spot as well. And as years went by the story never lost it's power and people desired to stay and worship God at that very spot. Eventually a bigger building was built on top of the the original foundation to accommodate the people only to be replaced later by an even bigger building expanding the previous building used generations ago. Committees were formed to maintain the buildings. Money was raised to make them more beautiful. Soon the spot where there was a stone was dwarfed by a the largest building in the village and everyday the building was full of people. Then one day a small girl came to see why this building was the largest building in the village and why it was filled with people. And she climbed the steps and asked, "Why is this building here?" And all of the adults looked at her and at each other. And after some murmuring, one person said, "We really don't remember"

May the memories of our tabernacles of the present day keep us humble as we never lose sight of the cornerstone of our faith, Jesus Christ our Lord! (Eph. 2:19-21)

Do You Loathe Yourself?

Perhaps you should? Loathe yourself that is!

To loathe means to detest or abhor. Our culture is adverse to tell anyone they should loathe themselves. As one who has suffered from depression, I know there is a difference between unhealthy loathing & godly loathing. Yes, loathing can be godly.

Godly loathing is when we recognize a before & after picture of ourselves. We see ourselves in the light of Christ. And we can see what God hates. This is the loathing I am talking about. You see, when we are in Christ, we are to be a new creation. The old has passed away. We know this because we recognize it.

When I was younger, I attended church, believed in God, never questioned whether I would go to heaven or hell. God loves me after all, right? I heard it from the pulpit. So it must be true. But I never really was confronted with the holiness of God, that I belong to Him, or those classical doctrines one can find in the back of the Prayer Book, like original sin. I knew Jesus died for me so that made everything okay. But all along I was living in sin. No, I wasn't cohabiting with a woman. I was just sinning like any other sinner. If the opportunity for fornication availed itself, I fornicated. If I lusted after any attractive woman, I was a normal American male. In other words, I did not loathe myself.

When God sent Ezekiel to the exiles of Israel, he reminds them that God will return them home. "And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed." (Ez. 20:43) This message was directed to the remnant of the community of Israel. But it's import cannot be lost on the Christian today for we find our home in Christ as individuals. (Lk. 15:11-32) In Christ we shall loathe ourselves. Not a warm & fuzzy invitation for repentance. But that is what repentance is, to have a change of heart about ourselves & our relationship to God. Looking back, I see how my attitudes and behavior were offensive to the one who created me. I loathe was I did. There are still aspects of my life I loathe but I did not recognize them as I do now. There is stuff I see that I turn over to God in confession. (1 John 1:9)

There is no excuse for sin. I found this out when I heard the gospel preached in the context of the Law of God. My heart awakened to my need for a savior as God's wrath awaited me if I did not repent. Mere lip service will not do. Only a changed heart is acceptable. It is this change of heart that allows me to live in accordance with God's will. Like the Prodigal Son, I came to myself. I came home.

Living the life of repentance is walking by the Light of Christ. (1 John 1:5-7) While I loathe my sins, I rejoice that Jesus died for me so that I may have eternal fellowship with Him. After all, He loathes my sins as well. And being in agreement with God I would say is reconcilaition to The Almighty!

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)