On November 18th, our ILS Lower School teacher, Yonas Mekonen, and our Immanuel Lutheran Church Kantor, Stephanie Lange, were united in marriage at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Pastor Christopher Esget performed the ceremony. Please join us in extending best wishes to Mr. & Mrs. Mekonen!

Pastor Christopher Esget
November 18, 2018

Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Alexandria, Virginia

I imagine that from the time she was a young girl, people were saying that Stephanie sings like an angel. She looks like an angel, too – the kind you might find at the top of the Christmas tree, or in the sky singing to shepherds at Bethlehem. 

But those of us who know Stephanie know that she’s no angel. If she was, she couldn’t be part of the seraphim—they’re the angels of fire. Fires have a way of getting out of control around Stephanie. (It’s a good thing Yonas is a good cook.)

Besides, does an angel make her sisters sing backup while she cranks out love songs from Titanic?

But the truth is, Stephanie’s spectacular. Once she’s in your life (or your balcony!), you don’t ever want her gone. Yet here’s why Stephanie is no angel: because angels in the Bible are completely different from today’s sentimental images. Angels are not sweet but scary. Angels are not feminine but masculine. Their voices don’t soar to the top of the church but rumble low, shaking pillars. God’s angels are big and strong. Angels look more like Yonas than Stephanie.

You know I’ve joked about putting stickers on the church with your picture on them, Yonas – you know, the body-building picture where you’re flexing your muscles. They’d be perfect at the door, like a security sticker that says “Protected by Yonas.”