'The Lord is in this place': wilderness times and the ministry of the holy angels
Genesis 28:16
“Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place …’” [1].
Jacob was leaving home in painful, difficult circumstances. He had robbed his brother Esau of his inheritance; this relationship was utterly broken and violence seemed likely; Jacob had also offended their father Isaac; then he was sent away by his parents to relatives in a far-off city. In the words of his mother, “until your brother’s anger against you turns away”.
He was travelling by himself, through the wilderness of Canaan - alone in a harsh land, surrounded by alien peoples.
Now, as the sun sets, he is weary and tired. There is, for Jacob, no bed in a nearby settlement: as a lonely traveller, it would be unwise for him to rely on the kindness of strangers.
The writer of Genesis tells us, “taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place”. In the coldness of the night, his head rested on that hard stone.
Before sleep came, he no doubt reflected on his circumstances: an exile from his land and family, unsure if he can ever return home, alone in the wilderness, surrounded by dangers, cold, tired, his future utterly uncertain.
His sleep, therefore, was restless. Strange dreams came.
Jacob dreamed of angels: “And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”
In that harsh place, in those painful circumstances, Jacob encountered angels in his restless sleep.
Mention of angels occurs throughout the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. They are, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews says, “ministering spirits, sent forth” by God to minister to us [2].
And so we often encounter angels in the pages of Scripture ministering to those experiencing uncertainty, fear, and loss. Like Hagar, the maidservant of Abraham and Sarah, abandoned in the wilderness with her infant son, distraught and fearful - the angel of the Lord assuring her of God’s purposes for her and her child. Or the prophet Elijah, facing persecution, fleeing into the wilderness, alone and afraid - note how again it is in the wilderness. There an angel ministers to Elijah, assuring him of God’s call and presence.
In the New Testament, we behold angels in a different type of wilderness. As the women come to the tomb of Jesus, mourning, defeated, all their hopes seemingly dashed, in the dark, harsh cold of the tomb, there they encounter angels, ministering to them, bringing to them the assurance and hope of the Resurrection.
Beyond the barest of details, the Scriptures do not speculate about the nature of angels. There is, then, no need for us to do so. They are “ministering spirits”, bearing to us the assurance of God’s faithful, loving presence and purposes. Indeed, the term ‘angels of God’ can very easily be translated as ‘messengers of God’ [3]. This is what the angels are: messengers of God, to assure us, comfort us, encourage us. As the collect for this feast of Saint Michael and all Angels puts it, the angels of God “help and defend us on earth” [4].
And so we return to Jacob in the cold darkness of the wilderness.
Jacob did not see angels. They appeared in his dream. He had a sense, then, of their presence, in that harsh place, those painful circumstances. And that sense of their presence, of the presence of those “ministering spirits”, brought Jacob to behold the assurance of God’s faithful, loving presence.
“Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place …’”
‘In this place’: this wilderness, this place of exile, this harsh place, where he was alone, radically unsure of the future, separated from kith and kin.
His sense of the presence of angels brought to him assurance: even in the cold, dark, harshness of the wilderness - the wilderness around him, the wilderness within - even there the faithful God of Abraham was present; even there God’s faithful, loving purposes remained.
“Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place …’”
In the difficult, painful times, when it is as if we are in the harsh wilderness, we, like Jacob, are to be assured that angels are near, as near as the angels depicted in the stained glass windows of our parish church, ministering to us, confirming that God’s loving presence and faithful promises abide even in the wilderness, even in the dark seasons of our lives.
It is appropriate, then, that on this feast of Saint Michael and all Angels, we in this parish have our quarterly Holy Communion with Wholeness and Healing: when we pray for those in this parish family and those known to us who are experiencing illness of body or mind; when we hold before God those in wilderness times; when we give thanks for God’s care and loving purposes for us and for all people; when through the ministry of the laying on of hands and anointing, those with particular needs receive prayer for wholeness in body, mind, and spirit.
We do so today as we celebrate the ministry of angels, those “ministering spirits” who bear to us the assurance of God’s faithful, loving purposes in Christ, not least in our own times in the wilderness; our experiences of illness, weakness, failure, grief, darkness.
As we see from many such accounts in Scripture of encounters with angels - and it was the case with Jacob as he slept that night in the wilderness of Canaan - there is nothing visibly dramatic or spectacular about such experiences.
There are no fantastical descriptions of the angels, no probing speculations about the angels … just an awareness that they are close, that they bear to us the assurance of God’s faithful, loving presence and purposes in Christ.
The ministry of angels is not about ‘shock and awe’: it is much quieter and more ordinary; more loving, gracious, and hope-filled. It is to minister to us, not overpower us. To sustain us on our earthly pilgrimage, not distract us with frankly silly speculations. To assure us that we are held - always held - by God’s faithful, gracious love: "Know that I am with you and will keep you".
Particularly in those dark, fearful times, that are an inevitable part of this mortal life. The angels are then especially close, to “help and defend us”, to assure us as they did Jacob: “Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place …’”
Through the quiet, invisible ministry of angels, may we - and those whom we love and for whom we pray - know the comfort and assurance of God’s faithful, loving presence and purposes in Christ, sustaining and encouraging us in our wilderness times.
Great post as always, thank you.
ReplyDeleteA bit of side tangent, but as a non-Anglican I’m curious about the “laying on of hands”. I think of this as a “charismatic” practice, which is not generally the practice espoused in this blog, does it have a wider use or have I misunderstood something?
Many thanks for your comment.
DeleteNo, it is not understood in a charismatic way. In most contemporary Anglican liturgies for ministry to those who are sick, the laying on of hands accompanies anointing. The prayer in the CofI BCP 2004 has the petition "May Christ bring you wholeness of body, mind, and spirit, deliver you from every evil, and give you his peace".