“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.” Psalm 34:7
“We could use a heavenly host in here!”
The ‘talent show’ is a family staple. Our Christmas Eve tradition involves family participation in the worship service at church, and then a full evening of food and fun at Nana’s house. On this particular year, the older grandchildren had prepared a surprise dramatic interpretation of the Christmas story as written in Luke 2. Elise was the reader/narrator and each of the others was assigned a role to play. In Meredith’s case, she inherited SEVERAL character parts, which required some rather rapid costume changes. So the drama began. As the story was read, each ‘actor’ came from the other room to stand in the arched doorway.
The story moved rapidly till it came to that great line, “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying….” But there was no one on the stage. So our narrator repeated the line with a bit of a raised voice, “…and suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying….” A long and hilarious pause…no angel appeared.
Jacob was renewed in courage as he neared the moment of facing his once-murderous brother when the Lord graciously sent the host of heaven to meet him on the road home. Genesis 32
The servant of Elisha, petrified by the surging forces of the enemy, was quieted in heart and strengthened in faith when the Lord opened his eyes to see the presence of the heavenly host surrounded their dwelling place. 2 Kings 6
Jesus Himself found renewed strength as He faced His greatest foe in the Garden of Gethsemane, realizing that upon His summons He would be defended and delivered by a heavenly host. Matthew 26
Having already made a couple of appearances and undergone a few wardrobe changes, four-year-old Meredith somehow missed her cue. Finally Elise’s voice rose to a new volume and she yelled, “We could use a heavenly host in here!!!” You can only imagine the laughter when, finally hearing her cue, four-year-old Meredith stepped into the arched doorway, dressed appropriately in angelic wardrobe!
Sometimes in OUR circumstance we echo the cry, “We could use a heavenly host in here!” God’s gracious answer is seldom the commissioning of the heavenly army. But rather, His rescuing grace is the sending of the very Angel of the Lord, Theophany. So what? Christ in us!
See you Sunday, Church!
Pastor Tom
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