Luke 2:9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

This is an aspect of the Christmas story that isn’t touched on very much, but it’s still significant. The popular image of angels is all light and pastels, quite effeminate. That’s how most painters have portrayed them, if they weren’t painting fat babies with wings and calling them “cherubs.” That’s about as big a joke as there ever was, because every Biblical description of cherubim (that’s the proper plural form of cherub) is fearsome indeed. They are the “body­guards” on either side of the throne of God! (As if God needed to be guarded from anything.) Every time the Bible mentions that an angel appears to someone, the angel has to say, “Don’t be afraid.” That’s to say, the natural reaction is fear! In today’s passage, the shepherds were scared witless. If angels, which are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation,” (Hebrews 1:14) are so fearsome, how much more so the God who created them? We have forgotten the fear of God. The revival of faith and morality in North America that has been called The Great Awakening was triggered by Johnathan Edwards preaching on “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” God is indeed love, (1 John 4:8) but He is also perfect holiness and righteousness. We cannot understand His love if we fail to grasp His holiness and righteousness. The thing that is most fearsome about angels is that they are agents of a holy God. We forget that to our peril.

I have never seen an angel, but my wife, Cathy, has been given that privilege a few times, and her description certainly matches the Biblical one. She says they are really BIG, and come across as warriors. I’m sure they can appear how they choose, or rather how God chooses, particularly since Hebrews tells us that “some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) The point is, our conception of God is too small. Even angels, when seen as they are, are far beyond what most of us think of God. The Bible goes to some lengths to say that angels are not to be worshiped, because that is the natural reaction. Angels don’t begin to display all of God! As a pastor, doing the work of an evangelist, I need to seek to help people understand the holiness of God so that their repent­ance may be real and their salvation sure. Coming to God expecting Him to pat us on the head and excuse our sin is a very sad mistake! I need to communicate the love of God in the framework of His power, majesty, and holiness.

Father, I too have failed to fear You properly. Forgive me. Help me fear You properly so that I may love You fully, not holding anything back but repenting of everything that is unpleasing to You, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!