Letter to the Angel of the Church

May 6, 2018 Revelation 1:12-20,2:1 A Letter to the Angel of the Church Acsension Sunday Non-lectionary Children’s Sermon: What do angels do? Some are spiritiual, some are real, all are messengers of God. Revelation 1:12-20 Common English Bible (CEB) 12 I turned to see who was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven oil lamps burning on top of seven gold stands. 13 In the middle of the lampstands I saw someone who looked like the Human One.[a] He wore a robe that stretched down to his feet, and he had a gold sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white as white wool—like snow—and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine brass that has been purified in a furnace, and his voice sounded like rushing water. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His appearance was like the sun shining with all its power. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. But he put his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I was dead, but look! Now I’m alive forever and always. I have the keys of Death and the Grave. 19 So write down what you have seen, both the scene now before you and the things that are about to unfold after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands, here is what they mean: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Footnotes: a. Revelation 1:13 Or Son of Man Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible The apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation while on the Greek Island of Patmos. He had a dream that he saw heaven, and while there Jesus gave him a vision. Jesus told him to give the vision to the new churches in Asia. It was a message of hope in times of a big struggle. Chapters 1-3 in Revelation are a series of messages that John gives to the 7 churches in Asia. He has a letter for each church. But what is interesting, John does not address the letter to the people of the church – he addresses it to the angel of the church. HMM what does that mean? Who is the angel of the church. Many people don’t like the book of Revelation, because it is written in symbolism. And a lot of that symbolism has very undefined meanings. Some believe that the angel is considered the pastor of the church, but early churches were not run by pastors, but by church councils. So some say that John is talking about the general leadership of the church. But John uses the word angel or messenger 60 times in the book of revelation, and he is always talking about a heavenly being. So the common understanding is that every congregation has a guardian angel, whose job is to watch over the congregation and the work it does for the Lord. Jesus told John to write a level to all seven angels, each angel being a separate being, with a separate personality, and each church dealing with different issues. The book of Daniel in the old testament actually speaks of this concept of every area having an angel that overseas the work of God. A pastor gave a sermon speaking about the angel of the church, and he asked the congregation if they believed that they had an angel. Someone shouted out no, we don’t have an angel, but we do have a lot of demons in the church. Actually as a United Methodist Elder, who takes a vow to ititerate, and to spread the gospel in different communities, we learn that is not true. Every church has an angel that watches over it, that protects it , that guides it , and that maintains the personality of the church. Being the new person in town, you get to know the angel of the church pretty quickly. Most of the time by accident, when you suggest something new to the congregation and you get a response. If you make a suggestion and people resist a little and say – we have never done it that way before –then you know that is just a deeply ingrained habit. If you do something different and someone bites your head off and tells you not to ever do that again, you know that you have stepped on the angels toes. I have had my head bitten off quite a few times in the last 10 months. The angel of Wilmington is alive and well, and doing her job. Angels are mentioned all throughout the bible. the greek word means messenger. Wherever there is holy work to be done, an angel always oversees that work. In the bible, God sends angels to take care of God’s children in times of trouble, to oversee the work that the church is doing, to provide when resources are lacking, to protect from danger, to reveal God’s intentions. It is interesting that when John writes to the angels of the seven churches, first he chastises the angel and tells them what they must do differently, then he gives a message of encouragement. The biblical writers learned a long time ago, that it does no good to speak directly to people and to tell them what to do, the people are not listening. Rather than giving direct orders, Jesus told parables. Stories, in hopes that as people listened to the story- they would see themselves in the story, and realize the truth for themselves. What you might hear in a story is not the same as what I hear, because we have different experiences, we are asking God different questions, and God has different intentions for us. So when God speaks, the story has to be big enough for the whole congregation to reflect and think about. That is why the book of revelation is intentionally written in symbols, and you have to spend time thinking about what those symbols mean to us. John was writing for a specific crises, but his words are timeless to apply to any situation 2000 years later. So that we could all hear the message, and to look for the angel. And to know that when we are doing God’s work, angels are with us. "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14 As told by Pastor Glenn Gunderson of First Baptist Church of Pomona, California: A missionary who was serving in a remote area of Africa made a monthly journey to a city two days bike ride away to pick up supplies and medicine. On one of his many journeys he came across two men who were fighting, one of whom was severely injured. The missionary stopped to help the injured man. After treating him, he continued on his way. Sometime later in the village a man came to him and said, "You probably don't remember me but I was one of the men who was fighting when you stopped to help." The missionary said he remembered the incident and the man told him. "We were going to rob you on one of your trips. We knew you always carried cash and medicine and were unarmed. When we came to rob you, I had three friends with me. We saw where you camped and put your bike down, but you had 26 armed guard all around you so we weren't able to rob you." The missionary said, "That's impossible. I always travel alone and have no armed guards of any kind." The man said, "Oh yes, my friends and I each counted 26 men, heavily armed standing around you while you slept." When the missionary visited his home church back in Michigan, he related this story to the church family. A man in the congregation stood up and asked, "What time and what day did this happen?" The missionary told him the date and that it was a Saturday night. The man said, "It was night there but it was Saturday morning here. I was loading my golf clubs in my car. I was on my way to the golf course and the Holy Spirit impressed on me so heavily that I needed to pray for you that I took my clubs out of my car and called men from church and we came together and earnestly prayed for you. He then said, "I would like to ask each one of these men who prayed with me that Saturday morning to stand up. As they stood, each one in the church counted 26 men standing! Dick Innes To the angel of Wilmington, God is at work , God is leading us forward and God has plans for us – it says so in scripture. Let us pray….