{"id":7075,"date":"2025-04-03T03:33:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T11:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/?p=7075"},"modified":"2025-04-04T08:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T16:37:32","slug":"gods-messengers-smoke-snipes-and-smell-like-beer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2025\/04\/gods-messengers-smoke-snipes-and-smell-like-beer\/","title":{"rendered":"When Angels Smoke Snipes and Smell Like Beer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Not all angels have wings. Sometimes God\u2019s messengers smoke snipes, smell like beer, and sleep on the streets. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"God\u2019s<\/a>
What a blessing, that God\u2019s Word can go places that we ourselves cannot go.<\/strong> | Image by mostafa meraji<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some time ago, I was on the way to visit someone who was a hospital patient but also a prisoner.<\/strong> A police officer sat by his door to make sure he didn\u2019t escape, and to ensure he had no unauthorized visitors. I had the patient\u2019s room number written down on a little piece of paper, but when I got inside the hospital, I realized I had left it in my car. So, I turned back around with my twelve-year-old daughter who was with me, and we made our way to the parking deck.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mark and Darren<\/h2>\n

When we reached the parking deck elevator, we met two men who appeared to be homeless.<\/strong> Dressed in dirty clothes and smelling like beer, they were collecting discarded cigarette butts so they could smoke them. They introduced themselves to me as Mark and Darren, insisting to me that they weren\u2019t gay (even though the thought hadn\u2019t entered my mind that they might be). They told me that they were both alcoholics but were pleased that they had reduced their consumption by half. I found it remarkable how open they were, sharing their lives with a total stranger.<\/p>\n

The Poor and Prisoners<\/h2>\n

They saw a Bible in my hand and asked if I would read to them because they didn\u2019t have a Bible of their own.<\/strong> I asked if there was a particular scripture that they wanted to hear. They very specifically requested Luke 4:18<\/a><\/span>. I\u2019m going to share a larger passage with you, so you can see it in context.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

16\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,\u00a017\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:<\/em><\/p>\n

18\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>\u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
\nbecause he has anointed me
\nto bring good news to the poor.
\nHe has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
\nand recovery of sight to the blind,
\nto set free those who are oppressed,
\n19\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>to proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

20\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.\u00a021\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Then he began to say to them, \u201cToday this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I gaped at this choice because these two poor men had no idea who I was about to visit\u2014a prisoner who needed healing.<\/strong> Yet, this was the very scripture they requested. I told them that they had given me the very words that my friend in the hospital needed to hear.<\/p>\n

Never Apart from God\u2019s Presence<\/h2>\n

\u201cWe shared our favorite scripture with you,\u201d Darren said. \u201cNow you share one with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, I turned to one of my go-to passages, a favorite Swiss army knife selection that works for all occasions.<\/p>\n

As I read Psalm 139<\/a><\/span> to them, tears formed in Mark\u2019s eyes. He said that these were the very words that he needed to hear\u2014that God made him special and had plans for him, that there was no place he could go where he was apart from God\u2019s presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Release to a Prisoner\u2019s Eyes<\/h2>\n

We shared many other words together, which quite frankly are none of your business. It\u2019s between me and them. I gave them some money, and what they did with it is none of my business. It\u2019s between them and God. God used them to minister to my friend in the hospital, even though they never got to see him. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I never got to see him either\u2014the police officer wouldn\u2019t let me in. But he did say that he\u2019d pass a paper along to him for me. I gave him a photocopy from my Bible, of the scripture these two homeless men had given me, along with a note telling the story of Darren and Mark.<\/p>\n

What a blessing, that God\u2019s Word can go places that we ourselves cannot go.<\/strong> Divine light has the power to bring release to a prisoner\u2019s eyes, to give the captive a spiritual freedom that his body does not enjoy, and to bring healing in a hospital\u2014the kind of healing that medicine can\u2019t perform!<\/p>\n

What a remarkable thing that God uses those that most of us consider the unlikeliest of people to share a word that brings life. God\u2019s ministers can be wingless angels, homeless caretakers of the broken-hearted. Because it\u2019s often those who have suffered the most that can empathize the best. And those who have most needed a word from God are in the best place to share it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

For related reading, check out my other article:<\/h3>\n