So then, this afternoon we are reflecting on Robbie Williams' song Angels. We will be looking at the ideas within it and seeing similarities and differences with the Biblical view of angels.

Robbie Williams wrote ‘Angels’ with Ray Hefferman and Guy Chambers in 1997. It is massively popular and has sold over 2 million copies around the world.  It is very popular at funerals and seems to tap into contemporary interest in angels. The song helped his solo career and he ends most of his concerts with it.

Robbie Williams says the song was written in 25 minutes – wouldn’t that be great to be able to do that! He says it is about his aunt and uncle.  The writers were sitting outside a cafe watching a water fountain whilst writing and this is what inspired them for the chorus.

Ray Heffernan says he wrote the song about his baby son who had died.

The song has a view that we are watched over by angels and has struck a chord in
contemporary British society. This chord is about a need for something "spiritual" in our lives and a search for a deeper meaning and purpose to life which people do not always find within traditional religious institutions. 

Its melancholy feel together with the references to angels who watch over us make it such a popular choice for funerals, where people are searching for a sense of comfort and often some assurance that life in some way goes on. The contemporary interest in angels could be a way into a deeper spiritual understanding of both angels and God who created them.

The Bible has a somewhat different idea of angels than we find in the song:

 Angels are God's messengers and servants.

They minister to Jesus.

They proclaim resurrection.

They lead the praise of God in heaven.

We can read of the Archangel Michael leading the heavenly troops against Satan – the fallen angel.  Like us, angels have free will.

There is an idea of guardian angels too within Christian tradition.

 In some parts of popular culture we are understood to be surrounded by angels and so we discover some common ground with Scripture and also with hymns. 

It is hinted at in the song that the dead become angels.  This is at odds with the Bible and Christian tradition.

The mission of angels is always to lead us towards God. Too much attention on them leads us away from God, too little ignores one of the ways in which God works.
Our scripture reading today was taken from several different passages of the Bible and offers us a variety of examples of the activity of angels. 

In the passage from Genesis and again in the verses from the letter to the Hebrews we are reminded that we too could be entertaining angels who are amongst us doing God's work.

In Matthew’s Gospel we heard that Satan recognises that the angels would come, if asked, and protect Jesus.  In verse 11 they come and minister to Jesus after the temptation.

In the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel we know that the angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth to announce to Mary that she was to be the mother of Jesus.  In chapter 2 we are reminded of the visit of an angel to the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem.  The angel brought the most wonderful news!  ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people.  For to you is born this day in the town of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord!’

In John’s Gospel we find ‘two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot’.  They asked Mary Magdalene, ‘"Woman, why are you crying?"  "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there’.

In our verse from Revelation we find the angels lead the worship of God in Heaven.

In the Robbie Williams song ‘Angels’ we find the words ‘I look above and I know I’ll always be blessed with love’ and then a little later, ‘I know that life won’t break me’.  As believers in Jesus we can relate to those words.  Although the inspiration for the song is different to the inspiration we find in the Biblical texts we have glanced at, we can see how the song can bring comfort to so many people.