Angels don’t play the harp.
After playing harp for thirteen years, I’ve heard every version of harp and angel puns: You know someone’s an angel when they are always up in the air harping about something. And I can understand why people think angels do—I go into ecstasy just playing an arpeggio on the beautiful instrument. It looks heavenly. It sounds heavenly. And only an angel could possibly get forty-two strings in tune!
I’ve always felt uncomfortable when someone says, “You must be an angel.” Being able to play the harp doesn’t actually have any correlation to good character. My mother can testify that on the drive home from playing for a three hour event, I am no angel.
But looking at the Christmas story I discovered that angels don’t play harp! They sing, they shout, they startle shepherds. But the gospels never mention angels using harps, golden or otherwise. According to the original words of Christmas, Angel doesn’t mean harp player with white robes and wings.
In Greek the word angel means messenger. An angel brings news. And that is exactly what the angels do in the Christmas story—they burst out of the sky saying “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy!”
The good news is that a savior has been born—Jesus. And spreading the good news about Jesus isn’t just the job descriptions for angels. After his resurrection, Jesus told all his disciples to go into the whole world sharing this news.
I may never wear a halo or a pair of wings. I may never play a harp of gold. But whether I’m playing my wooden harp or talking over a cup of Christmas cocoa, I hope that I can always be a messenger of the good news that God loved us so much he sent his son Jesus.
I guess that qualifies me as almost an angel. . . did I just hear a bell ring?