For People with Bishop Rob Wright
For People with Bishop Rob Wright
Angels
A life can pivot on a single whispered word. In Matthew 1, Joseph is at a real-world crossroads, balancing righteousness, reputation, and love, until an angelic message reframes his next step. That shift from fear to faithful action changed everything.
In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about the angels we encounter in the real world. God speaks at difficult intersections, often through ordinary messengers like therapists, pastors, songs, and trusted friends, and those messages give courage to walk a hard path. Listen in for the full conversation.
Read For Faith, the companion devotional.
Relationships break, you know, every day. And yet there are also relationships where somehow a whisper comes through an angel therapist or an angel pastor or an angel song or an angel sermon or a wise word from a friend. So I I like to say, you know, angels are really, you know, all around. And uh, you know, their message is often always about supporting us at difficult intersections.
Melissa:Welcome to For People with Bishop Rob Wright. I'm Melissa Rau, and this is a conversation inspired by For Faith, a weekly devotion sent out every Friday. You can find a link to this week's For Faith and a link to subscribe in the episode's description. This week's devotion, Bishop has called Angels, based off of Matthew chapter one, verses 18 through 25. Bishop.
Bishop Wright:So I'm thinking about the first chapter of Matthew, actually beginning at the eighteenth verse. Now the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, took place in this way, when his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. So I'm thinking about angels, is what I'm thinking about. Angels at important intersections in life.
Melissa:Okay, so you highlight the fact that uh angel is just a fancy way to say messenger.
Bishop Wright:That's right. That's right.
Melissa:And and there are so many messages that we we get from angels, I guess. And so what do you think about angels? Are they real? Are they like, I don't know. Like, I I think a lot of people get caught up in the idea of the literal versus the figurative. And what do you think?
Bishop Wright:Well, you know, I don't spend a lot of time actually thinking about that. I do realize that America, uh if I'm if the data that I've heard is right, uh is uh is sort of great uh in military might and in the number of people that actually believe in angels. So, you know, I don't know what that really means, but there we are. Uh somehow we believe in angels in America. Um I I think that um I don't really care if they are magical creatures with wings uh who may dwell in one reality and visit us in our reality, or if they're unwinged, embodied sinners just like me, uh, who um uh whether conscious or unconsciously uh give voice uh to God's messages um here and among us. Uh so I don't spend a lot of time thinking about that. I I think what I want to notice is that we have a God who is loquacious. We have a God who speaks to God's people, uh, we have a God who sends word uh that God can be trusted, uh, and especially at critical intersections. That's what we're seeing in the Christmas story. And sometimes that can get glossed over. I mean, Mary is worthy, uh, that's why Mary gets her own Sunday in the season of Advent, because we need to really think about the Magnificat and think about this teenage little brown-skinned girl from Palestine who decided against all odds to believe in God's promise as uh communicated to her from an angel. Um, and we don't spend a whole lot of time on Joseph, but that was a pretty significant deal there. Joseph was a righteous man, he didn't want any trouble, he certainly didn't want to shame the girl, he just wanted to move on. And the difference making there was the angel. The angel comes on behalf of God at a really difficult intersection in the real world, uh, and to a righteous man, righteous meaning somehow that this fella um believed God, lived for God, lived in God's order, um, you know, served God, righteous man. Uh, he wanted to do things that were right. And what was difference making was the angel came and said, No, God is in this, and you can trust this.
Melissa:Yeah, you know, the word intervention keeps bubbling up in me.
Bishop Wright:No doubt about it. Yeah, in intervention. I mean, I think this is uh an infinitely, you know, you know, people uh divorce every day. Um, relationships break, you know, every day. Um, and yet there are also relationships where somehow a whisper comes through an angel therapist or an angel pastor or an angel song or an angel sermon or you know, whatever it is, or a wise word from an elder or a wise word from a friend that we've known for many years and we trust who knows us and loves us and helps us see our blind spots. So I like to say, you know, angels are really, you know, all around. Um, and uh, you know, their message uh is often always about supporting us at difficult intersections. And that's what's happening in this story. God shows up with a word uh in uh difficult intersection. Now, what's critical here is that the intersection is not made easier necessarily. I mean, the relationship between Joseph and Mary uh is probably they're probably going to have a lot of conversations going forward, right? But but the angel comes to provide a way through, and the way through comes with encouragement, and so Joseph is no longer alone at this difficult conversation at this difficult intersection. He has now uh you know uh been supported uh demonstrably um by God through this intersection. So God shows up with a message from the angel and a way through this.
Melissa:Yeah, you know, it also strikes me that it's not just so much about the message, but the ability for the receiver to listen and to heed and to move in a new way.
Bishop Wright:That's right. That's right. You know, I like to say that sometimes these messages uh come to us uh in a in a dream state, yeah, in sleep, because um that's the only time God can get a word in edgewise, right? It is because you know, we're over talking God. We're we're you know, we've got our anxiety is taking us over. Um, and the only time we can get quiet uh is when we're asleep. And the only time we can be uh less defended uh you know is in that is in that dream state. And so um, you know, maybe there's an invitation there uh to bring more quiet into our our waking hours. Um, you know, I always say, you know, uh, you know, maybe uh your car drive should have no music or no phone. Um and maybe you just fill that with, here I am, God, I'm listening. Um, you know, my mother used to say a funny thing when I was growing up, and I get it now. She used to say, I can't hear myself think sometimes. You know, then there'd be such clamor and noise. I can't hear myself think. And I I totally get that. I don't know if that's because I'm old now or I don't know what it is, but like I totally get that. And sometimes I need to catch up with myself. Um, it's about processing things, it's about listening deeply to things, it's about hearing. And I'm my hearing um of myself uh is is deeper and better when I add quiet to my day. Um when I'm in my garage um tinkering, uh, I can hear myself think. Uh when I'm out on a walk, I can hear myself think. So sometimes I guess what I'm trying to say is we may have actually a backlog of messages uh that are in our inbox from the divine uh that we just haven't processed them. Here we are saying, God is not speaking, and I have no direction here. And God is saying, no, no, man, check, check your inbox. So it it may be there's a backlog of word to us. And so, yeah, I believe that there's messages and messengers all around. And I believe we actually have been equipped with the tools to process these things.
Melissa:I love your last sentence. Let us receive with joyful obedience the angel message our faithful God has for us. And so, Bishop, how might we be better positioned to receive said messages?
Bishop Wright:Well, you know, and and you know, that would be really kind of a plenary address, right? But uh I think I I think that um I think one of the things that advent this season uh leading up to Cryps might, if we talk about prepare the way, um, and maybe we might want to interrogate and investigate if we have a posture of obedience when it comes to God. Um, you know, maybe that's the preparation that is required. God is doing God's part, and and and let's assume for a second that I'm right that messages abound. Um and so what's amazing about Joseph is he received it with obedience. Uh he didn't wake up and you know and start arguing again with the angel. You know, he he proceeds uh to embody you know the message that he that he heard from God. And so I I think that um maybe we need to interrogate uh if we have a posture of obedience uh when it comes to the word of God. Um, you know, we have 66 books on messages from God. Um and so you know, I I think one of the things that would immediately improve uh our life with God is to take a deep dive in God's word and uh and then say, really, honestly, how have I fended this off uh you know in my life thus far? And what new obedience might I give to God uh as worship going forward? Look, Jesus comes in the crush, right? Great symbol. Uh, and it's really Jesus coming into the heart of that structure. And so Jesus wants to come into the heart of our heart structures, and so Jesus has to be invited, right? And so, and you know, we can we can sort of perform faith for an hour and a half on Sundays uh or wherever, or we can really start that journey. And that journey is that um faith actually is obedience in the real world. Uh, and so how do we do that? Because I think that's how we meet uh the Christ child anew, uh, and that's how we receive the message. I mean, look, the best uh validation of hearing the message is to live the message, right? So, and this is what Joseph does. I've heard and then I do. It's one thing to hear. I I think I read somewhere in the Bible, be ye doers of the word and not just hearers. Yeah. So yeah, right.
Melissa:And that's kind of like the nuance between listening and hearing, right? And and hark literally means listen.
Bishop Wright:Yeah, right. So, so there you go. So, I mean, maybe when we hear that again, it's just not this sort of a beautiful Christmas song that makes us dance. Maybe it's instruct, maybe it's an instruction manual.
Melissa:I love it. Well, I also like the fact that you kind of talked about being in line, you know. So, how might we become bearers of God's message as our angels are? Do we become angels? How?
Bishop Wright:Well, yeah, again, I think, yes, I think we we do. Uh, but I think there's an alignment piece there. Because, you know, I mean, there's lots of messages in the world, and they all ain't from God, right? You know, there there's messages that we we are only what we purchase, we are only what we've accomplished. There are lots of messages there. Um, we there are messages that I ought to be ashamed of myself. Um, there are messages that uh some of us are not made in the image of God, and so on and so on. So there's lots of images in the world. And so I think it behooves us uh to figure out what are God's messages and then align uh how we speak to one another in that way. I think that way we continue the message from God. Um, you know, just imagine this. Now Joseph falls out of scripture, and we don't know really where he goes uh not long after this story, uh, after Jesus is uh you know, Jesus is about 12 years old, we don't know where Joseph is anymore. Um but one wonders um how Joseph lives. And having had this experience of uh of God's message to him through an angel, uh, what was he able to say to other people that he encountered about being met at difficult intersections by God's message? Um and how might Joseph you know continue to encourage people to be open to and obedient to the messages of God? Uh this is a question that Scripture doesn't answer, but it certainly, you know, scripture begs this question. And I think there it is. I think those of us who have had some sort of experience of really sort of an enigmatic encouragement and support and strengthening uh in a word or song or phrase uh or consolation or therapy or whatever it is, uh, I think it's we're duty bound to say that to other people, um, that that hope exists.
Melissa:Excellent. Bishop, thank you so much. And listeners, we are grateful that you hearken For People. You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Bishop Rob Wright or by visiting www.forpeople.digital. Please subscribe, leave a review, and we'll be back with you next week.