John Calvin called them “Administrators of divine beneficence,” saying that “they regard our safety, undertake our defense and direct our ways.”

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible depicts and even describes them almost 300 times, while recent movies, television programs and a whole host of books have made them more popular than ever before.

Most of us, especially around this time of year, expect to see them on our greeting cards, we sing about them in our carols, we carefully place ornamental miniatures of them atop our Christmas trees. And next week, in our Sunday morning pageant, we will be surrounded by a whole host of them here in the chancel, wearing wings and halos, all revved up and ready to glow!

As you have already guessed, I’m speaking about angels, described in the scriptures as Heavenly messengers of God. And in our text today from Psalm 91, verse 11, the Bible says that God will give His angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.

So our question, as we begin the Advent Season, is this: “Do you believe all of that is true? Do you believe that angels actually do exist?”

Back in December of 1993, Time Magazine ran a cover story on angels. It was written by Nancy Gibbs, a brilliant journalist who, by the way, spends her summers at Chautauqua Lake and is an elder in New York’s Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

The lead article Nancy Gibbs wrote several years ago begins with these words: “What idea is more beguiling than the notion of lightsome spirits, free of time and space and human weakness, hovering between us and all harm? To believe in angels is to allow the universe to be at once mysterious and benign. Even people who refuse to believe in them may long to be proved wrong.”

They conducted a national survey for the story which showed that 69% of the people across America do believe in angels and 46% of them indicated that they have their own guardian angel. Nancy Gibbs concluded this way: “For all those who say they have had some direct experience of angels, no proof is necessary; for those predisposed to doubt angels’ existence, no proof is possible. And for those in the mystified middle, there is often a growing desire to be persuaded. (Because) if heaven is willing to sing (or speak) to us, it is little to ask that we be ready to listen.” (From an article entitled “Angels Among Us” by Nancy Gibbs, Time Magazine, December 27, 1993)

Well are we? Are we ready, are we willing, are we able to look for and listen to the angels?

In the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, the 26th verse, we read:

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came to her and said: “Hail O favored one, the Lord is with you!” And sensing that she was afraid, the angel proclaimed, “Fear not Mary! For you have found favor with God. Behold you will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus.” (Luke 1:26-31)

Mary had every reason to be afraid. She was a young girl, just in her teens, betrothed but not yet officially married, and she was going to have a baby. What’s more, she had never seen or heard an angel before!

However, the Bible says that as the angel Gabriel reassured Mary with words of comfort and hope, saying Fear not! The Lord is with you, her apprehension began to turn toward faith and a sense of great expectation as Mary answered Behold, I am a handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38).

Oh, how we need to hear those words today! For we are afraid of so many things - afraid of living, afraid of dying, afraid of loneliness and rejection, afraid of failing and then trying to start all over again. Fear pervades this world of ours and it can drag us down into the valley of depression or paralyze us to the point of despair.

And if that is where you are today, then listen to the angel whose words still echo down through the ages, saying Fear not! The Lord is with you! For the message of Christmas is that God’s Son, our Savior Jesus, has come to dwell among us and to walk with us through life, every step of the way. Fear not! The Lord is with you!

Now there was another angel who appeared to Joseph during that first Advent Season, and the gospel of Matthew tells us what happened: When Mary was engaged to Joseph, she was found to be with child. And being a just man, unwilling to shame her, he resolved to divorce her quietly. But an angel appeared to him in a dream and said: “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”…So Joseph did as the angel commanded him. He took Mary as his wife, and knew her not until she had borne a Son, and he called His name Jesus (Matthew 1:18-20, 24-25).

Just when he was ready to give us, just when the situation seemed hopeless, just when he was at the breaking point, Joseph listened to the angel, who told him to “Hold on!” promising that God would work all things together for good. His engagement was falling apart and he was ready to bail out. But the angel said, “Hold on Joseph!” His confidence was shot and he was confused by the sudden turn of events. But the angel said, “Hold on Joseph!” He loved Mary and wanted to marry her, yet he wasn’t certain that he could ever trust her again. But the angel said, “Hold on Joseph!” And one of the miracles in this story, which we often overlook, is that Joseph did hold on and he never gave up.

Have you ever been there - up against a problem you couldn’t understand, struggling with a decision you didn’t know how to make, dealing with a dilemma that wouldn’t go away, overwhelmed by a crisis which you weren’t able to handle all by yourself?

If so, then you know what Joseph was feeling and facing as that first Advent dawned. And what you and I need to hear this morning are the same words that angel spoke long, long ago - “Hold on! Hold on!” For the Holy One born in Bethlehem has come to help us, to heal us and to show us how to go on instead of giving up.

There is a woman in this church family whom I call our “artist in residence.” She is uniquely talented, and God has given her a special skill to draw angels, some of which now hang on the wall in the pastor’s office. Every time I meet with a person, or a couple or a small group in that room, as we talk and pray together, I sense a presence that is beyond description, the presence of Guardian Angels watching over us as we seek God’s help and guidance.

And close by to those drawings on the wall are small white crocheted angels which I have put on some of the shelves, made by a man in prison who has become a close friend of mine. From time to time, I have given those angels to people in need. And I believe, somehow, someway, that they reflect the peace and power of the real heavenly messengers who minister to all of us.

Mary and Joseph believed it, and we can believe it too - that God sends His Guardian Angels to watch over me, to watch over you. And if, during this Advent Season, we are ready, willing and able to stop, look and listen - shhh - perhaps we can hear them say once more: Fear not! Hold on! Cheer up! For unto you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord!

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.