When was the last time an “angel of the Lord” visited you? Were you afraid? Perhaps a bit skeptical?  

Like Zechariah before Gabriel, or George Bailey before the jovial Clarence Odbody AS2 (Angel Second Class) in the Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life, we tend to be caught unawares by these heavenly messengers. They usually arrive when we are feeling utterly fruitless. Zechariah and Elizabeth, despite their righteousness, were childless and felt the shame that accompanied infertility. George, despite his selflessness, was out $8,000 and felt like a failure, wishing that he had never been born. Both pray while they are “on the edge”— Zechariah in the temple sanctuary as he offers incense at the evening sacrifice, George on the bridge as he looks down into the dark, rushing waters below.  

In these moments of desperate faith, the angel comes and announces good news of salvation. In our own Advent waiting, we are invited to examine the wounds that may prevent us from embracing the angel’s tidings of gladness and joy. Do you find yourself wordless before the word of the Lord because it has been long years of emptiness and distance since you last felt the consoling touch of our God? Chastened by all your frustrated aspirations, are you hesitant to rejoice because the message of “God with us” seems just too good to be true?  

Listen. The angel says to you, “Do not be afraid, because your prayer has been heard.”