The Angels' Angle

We got sent to some shepherds, dirty filthy shepherds who’d trodden in sheep muck so many times their feet were green. Greasy hair, soft hands - soft from the lanolin in the wool. They weren’t a bad bunch, quite caring in their way.
We’d seen them go out in the dead of night to look for one measley sheep who’d struggled his way through the railings and got himself stuck in some bramble bush.
Thinking about it, I suppose it was just like God to tell them about Jesus.
They had a soft spot for anything new born, and the determination to nurse it through to health if it was at all possible.
It was God’s plan for all mankind. to give them new birth. God’s plan too, that they would grow and mature.
But people are so like sheep. They want their own way, want to go where they choose even though the consequences could be devastating.
Why don’t people grow up? What is it with human nature that thinks it knows better than God?
The shepherds went to see the baby. Little did they know he was the Good Shepherd, the one who could restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness. The one who, even in the valley of the shadow of death could give them the assurance that they did not need to fear evil.
Death’s evil all right, and it’s a dark, deep valley. But for anyone who has trusted the leading of the Good shepherd, there’s no fear.
We told those shepherds to “fear not”- we meant “don’t be scared of us”, but God meant more than that.
God meant you to hear the message that the Saviour was born for you, and if you make your mind up to go and find him and worship Him, you wont ever need to be afraid of anything again. Not even death.

Blower will lift

Yesterday I had my car washed. I don't like car washes. I feel very afraid in a car wash. I once drove my brother's Mazda into a car wash and the aerial got caught in the overhead brush. The aerial was welded to the roof of the car but after six minutes of the car wash lifting the car in the air and waving it about, it finally ripped loose. I screamed for help and blasted the horn but nobody came. It has left me scarred.
It hasn't quite left me scarred enough to hand wash my car in the middle of winter, so I paid my £1.99 and in a moment of unguarded generosity gave the man a £2 coin and told him to keep the change. I sat rigid apart from repeatedly checking   that the ignition was off and the keys were in and I had engaged neutral and closed the windows. The brushes knocked the nearside wing mirror askew which convinced me they were going to crash through the passenger window. Having survived the bright blue monstrous brushes, I encountered the blower, emblazoned with its plea for faith.
"Please do not brake. Blower will lift." This particular blower has been programmed to tease the occupants of every newly clean car. It lifts at the very last second, ascends imperceptibly slowly and then drops - just a fraction, but enough to make you wince in your seat, and bob your head down. It does this twice during your journey of faith. You then almost arrive at the "Drive off when your windscreen is level with this sign" notice. Your windscreen is always six centimetres shy of the notice when the drive belt stops, but if you don't drive off when your windscreen is not quite level with this sign you will be there a very long time. Strangely enough, my expedition in the car wash made me think of my dear friend who has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. I want a sign that says, "Please do not break, tumour will disappear." Up to now, I haven't got one. So what happens to a person of faith when the answer they hoped for doesn't come?  I remain a person of faith. If there is no God, my friend still has a brain tumour and she and her family and friends have to face that reality without hope. If there is a God and, as I believe, he has sent his Son to give us eternal life; whatever the outcome for my friend, the barrier has lifted and a bright and eternal life awaits her. If God chooses to take the tumour away this side of heaven I will be thrilled, if he doesn't I will be very sad but my faith in a God who built a universe around us to bring us joy, and who sent his Son to make sure we can live joyfully eternally, will keep us strong. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."  Trusting in God doesn't mean we wont see evil, it means we wont fear evil. God is with my friend who is walking through a shadowy valley. The monster wont get us. God has lifted the barrier and we will come out clean,bright and with him forever.