Angels We Have Heard On High...

Angels: "Fear Not"
Shepherds: "Aaaaaaaahhh!"
Angels: "I said fear not"
Shepherds: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaahh!"
Angels: "What part of fear not do you not understand?"

Any avid fan of Jungle Jam and Friends is probably familiar with the quote above, I must admit it is one of my favorite Christmas quotes. As I was thinking about it last night it makes sense to me why the shepherds would have been scared, I mean come on, if you were a guy out there watching the sheep and an angel appeared in the sky I think you would be a little freaked out too! But what about the angels that aren't all bright and shiny, or that don't have wings, do we even recognize them, much less fear them?

A lot of people get out there and do their "good deeds" during the holidays to relieve their guilt. They go work the local soup kitchen, or ring a bell for the salvation army, or some such thing, which isn't bad, but what is the motivation behind it? To make ourselves feel better? To look good compared to others? Hebrews 13:2 says "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained strangers without knowing it." There are several stories my parents tell us of hosting strangers that were stranded on the side of the road etc. that needed help. One that jumps out the most in my mind are when we picked up a lady at the gas station who was broken down and brought her home from church with us. Sammi had been sick and miserable for days on end, but she climbed in this girl's lap and instantly fell asleep. Both mom and dad swear she must have been an angel, and after that day we never saw her again. The other story that is very vivid in my memory is when mom and dad were teaching us the concept of hospitality. We would host single men from our church for dinner every Tuesday night as well as having other young adults for holidays and weekends when their families weren't close by. On one of those occasions my mom told us to go feel Matt's back and see if he had wings. When he asked us what we were doing we told him we were looking for his wings to see if he was an angel :)

As you celebrate your Christmas this year remember that angels come in many forms, and you never know who you may be blessing with your hospitality.

Matthew 25:35-36, 40 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Merry Christmas!