Behind Day 14 of my Advent Calendar is:
A SNOW ANGEL
How much do you know about angels? Not much? Me neither! But then I suspect that neither of us have ever had the pleasure of meeting one ourselves. Or maybe we have – since the Bible tells us that ‘some, by showing hospitality to strangers, have entertained angels unawares’. [Hebrews 13:2]
Be that as it may, somebody who says he does know a thing or two about angels is Robbie Williams. Because, it seems, he has been told that ‘salvation lets their wings unfold’. Now don’t get me wrong, ‘Angels’ is a jolly fine song, one that I have, on more than one occasion, sung along to vociferously whilst driving my car up the M5 on the way to my former place of work. But beautiful though his words may be, I’m not quite sure what Robbie means by them.
But leaving that aside for a moment, one thing that I am sure about angels is that they are big on offering reassurance. Just take a look at what they say on each of the four occasions that they appear to people in the Christmas story. If you do you’ll see that the first words that come out of their mouths are always an assurance to those that they are visiting that they need not be afraid.
Now you might think that angels must be truly terrifying creatures if their every conversation has to start with either a ‘Fear not’, or a ‘Do not be afraid’ – and well they may be. I for sure would be taken aback if a celestial being appeared unbidden in my kitchen and started to engage me in earnest conversation whilst I was trying to do washing up. But however accepting they might be of an alarming pile of dirty crockery, I think there is more going on here than simply angels calming the immediate fears of those with whom they are having a particularly close encounter.
Take, for example, the angel of the Lord who appeared to those shepherds who were watching their flocks by night. He doesn’t say to them, ‘Fear not – I’m not going to hurt you’ but instead he says, and I’m paraphrasing here, ‘Fear not – God isn’t going to hurt you’.
Because here’s the thing – for you or I to come into the presence of a holy God, when we ourselves are sinful people, is a terrifying prospect. God is a righteous judge, something, incidentally, that we all want him to be, unless, that is, we are content to watch the many injustices within our world to go unchecked. And because God is a righteous judge, it means he must punish sin. And that includes ours.
That’s why the Bible describes God as ‘a consuming fire’ [Hebrews 12:29] and tells us that ‘it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’ [Hebrews 10:31].
Which is, as I’m sure you’ll agree, something of a problem.
But imagine for a moment that you are out one night and you find yourself all alone on an expanse of open moorland whilst all around you is raging the most violent thunderstorm that you have ever encountered. To be in such a situation would be genuinely terrifying.
But suppose you were then able to find a cleft in a nearby rock and from that place of safety continue to watch the lightning as it lit up the sky. What a difference that would make. Instead of being terrifying, the storm would now be a genuinely awesome spectacle, one that you couldn’t help but delight to watch.
God, like such a storm, is genuinely awesome, only more so. But also like the storm, he is not safe. And so we should be terrified of him. And we should be equally terrified if one of his representatives was ever to appear before us. At least, that is, until we have been reassured by them that God has prepared a safe place from which to marvel at him.
And that’s exactly what the angel of the Lord did to the shepherds out in the fields on that first Christmas night. Let me remind you of what he said.
‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.’ [Luke 2:10-11]
Because you see, this news of a saviour is news of one who would die in our place, one who would pay the penalty for our sin and thereby satisfy God’s need for justice. Thereafter, safe as it were in Jesus, we can now enjoy God for the awesome one that he truly is – thrilled by the beauty of his holiness rather than forever fearful of his judgment.
That is the gospel, the good news of great joy that is for all people. That is the promise of salvation for which, like the angels, we should give glory to God.
Finally, here’s one more thing that I know for sure about angels – ‘there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ [Luke 15:10].
Who knows, perhaps that’s what Robbie meant in his song.
*****
Given that the former Take That singer’s vocal range is a little greater than mine, it is perhaps fortuitous that there is no footage of my in-car performance of this epic ballad. So you’ll just have to settle for Robbie Williams himself. With words includes – so there’s no reason for you not to join in too!
‘When I’m feeling weak
And my pain walks down a one way street
I look above
And I know I’ll always be blessed with love.’
Previously from ‘A Christmas Countdown’:
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 13’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 12’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 11’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 10’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 9’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 8’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 7’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 6’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 5’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 4’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 3’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 2’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 1’, click here
To read ‘An Advent Calendar – Complete’, click here
Some musings 