Rooster

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead….” - 1 Peter 1:3

Our neighborhood has a rooster. We are not supposed to have one, but there is one. And for the past few months now, the rooster has been making his rounds early in the morning. And making…that…noise. He goes from yard to yard announcing…the advent of a new day I guess.

Actually, I went to the website called “The Happy Chicken Coop” and it explained that roosters “have a mean internal circadian rhythm clock of 23.8 hours and would start to crow at the appointed time. This helps to explain why roosters start to crow slightly before sunrise.”  The author went on to write, “Roosters are loud and proud and like to let everyone know they are in the neighborhood!”  Yep.

The other morning I was leaving to come to the church, and the rooster was in the front yard (see the picture), doing its thing. As a started to pull up the driveway, it ran directly in front of my car.  And stopped and looked at me. I tapped on my horn. The rooster didn’t move and then proceeded to bark out its “cock-a-doodle-do” at me.  Then, and only then, did it move on down the road to yell at a neighbor.

Cock-a-doodle-do is apparently roosterese for, “It’s a new morning, get moving!”

OK, I was. Get out of my way!

I contemplated the passage above on the day after Easter. And, in a way, it is like the ultimate rooster demand. God has given his people the definitive wake-up call.  When we consider what we have in and through the resurrection of Jesus, it is as if “he has given us new birth into a living hope….”

Easter, and every morning that follows, is God’s “cock-a-doodle-do.”  Friends, a new day has dawned, full of possibilities, promise, and purpose because of “his great mercy.”  What you do with it, seems to be up to you. But the new morning is here. Because he is risen, we have this living hope that anything is possible, and perhaps even probable through Jesus. We can leave the past behind, and start anew each morning!

We have a living hope…we have new birth…we have great mercy. Because of Easter.  How you and I live into that remains to be seen. 

But we’ve heard the rooster crow. And it’s a new morning, get moving.

Angel

They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.  “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.” Acts 5:19-20 (NIV)

Angel – Greek, ἄγγελος, ‘messenger’

Two weeks ago, about an hour before being released from the hospital, a woman came into Susie’s room and, after asking permission, prayed over Susie from head to toe.  Literally. The lady had a hospital I.D. badge on, I assume she was a chaplain volunteer.  We asked where she was from, but she brushed off the question save to say she was simply serving Jesus.

Three days later in a gathering of pastors not far from that hospital, I receive a pen from a friend. You can see the picture here; it has an angel on it.

I’m not surprised.

In God’s ordering of creation, he has created angels, designed to be benevolent celestial beings bringing messages of grace, love and truth to the Father’s beloved creation, humanity. One cannot help but see that in passages like Luke 1:19,20 where an angel announces to Zechariah “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news…..”

But at its most basic, the word ‘angel,’ in the language of the New Testament, means ‘messenger.’ Not all angels are celestial beings; many, I’m convinced, are ordinary people like you and I that are being used by unordinary God greatly to deliver messages of grace, love and truth to people and places that God has sent them  to or given to them.

In the passage quoted above, and “angel of the Lord” comes and releases a group of apostles that had been jailed in a wave of persecution. Releases them, and gives them a message to “tell the people.”  Now, I don’t know if this ‘angel’ was a benevolent celestial being, or just a person like you or me that God had placed action and a message on his or her heart.   Either way, they were being his messenger, and doing his work.

That being said, I believe with my whole being that Susie and I were visited by an angel of the Lord that evening in the hospital. There is literally no other explanation for the remarkable lack of pain and healing that Susie has experienced.  The surgeon released her from care on Tuesday, and while she has restrictions, they are not nearly as onerous as I was expecting.

A trip we were planning to take to the west coast after Easter, which for a couple of weeks seemed an impossibility, is now full steam ahead. We will get into the car…and drive…and drive.

I believe in angels. Celestial or otherwise.  We met one in the hospital. I know people that ARE angels. They are out there, doing God’s work, and doing it with boundless energy and amazing results.  Below I’ll provide a link to an angel I know; I’m rather proud to have said I went to high school with her. I don’t mean to embarrass Cheryl or build her up more than anyone should.  But, she is an angel, and the ministry God has given her has been a blessing to so many people. Perhaps at times, in ways that totally surprise her. But does not surprise our God. 

Anyone, I’m convinced, can be an angel.  To be used by God to bring the grace, love and truth of Jesus to people he places in your lives. To this, there is no greater privilege.

Angel – Greek, ἄγγελος, ‘messenger’

Be one.

Link to Cheryl's story.