What is an angel?

As I’ve mused and mulled over this...(This is why it is so much fun to be a pastor. You actually get paid to do such things!)...I’ve come to the conclusion that angels are perhaps best described as being friends of God.

Throughout scripture and enmeshed in our religious tradition, there are constant references to angels bringing the message of God to humankind.

It is a message of love and grace.

Wherever I hear such a message, I encounter an angel.

This means angels are not limited to my own tradition, but can be found anywhere love and grace abound.

Inside a beautiful church?

Of course.

In, with and under the bread and the wine?

Absolutely.

But angels are there in the Indian slum where a Hindu woman is doing what she can to alleviate suffering.

In an Indonesian street where an old man weeps for freedom.

Even in our own home where a religiously reluctant spouse helps raise a family with compassion and concern.

They are all angels.

They are all friends of God.