Angels Without Wings
BMCC Sunday Sermon · 30 August 2026 · Speaker: Dr. Sonia Wong
Every time she walks into Blessed Ministry Community Church, Dr. Sonia Wong says, she feels a rare kind of ease — an ease she seldom finds in other churches. No need to project the image of a professor. No need to maintain a scholar’s composure. “I can just be myself. You can take off your shoes, put your feet up, and greet familiar faces without formality.” That lightness reminded her of coming home. It was with this warmth that she stepped forward and asked everyone present a question that seemed simple at first: “Have you encountered an angel this year?”
Dr. Sonia Wong’s sermon for the day was titled “Angels Without Wings,” drawn from Hebrews 13:1–3: “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.” These few verses, she said, overturn everything we think we know about angels.
From childhood, the angels we see on Christmas cards have halos and wings — the image of radiant spiritual beings. But Dr. Sonia Wong pointed out that in the original biblical languages, the word “angel” — in Hebrew malak (מַלְאָךְ), in Greek angelos (ἄγγελος) — simply means “messenger” or “one who is sent.” In the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi’s very name means “my messenger.” When Jacob sent someone ahead to meet his brother Esau, that person is also described as a malak. In other words, angels need not be winged beings — anyone dispatched by God to carry His message at the right moment can be an angel.
Dr. Sonia Wong illustrated this theological insight through her own life stories. She shared that when her family immigrated to Canada during her younger years, they went through a period of severe financial hardship — she had only twenty-odd Canadian dollars left in her account. One Friday evening, she returned to her university dormitory to find a large pot of braised beef sitting on the table. Her roommate told her it had been left by a classmate named Peter. Peter was not a close friend, and she was puzzled enough to call him. Peter said simply, “I know you’ve been struggling. I bought this for you.” She could not even say “thank you” — she was too moved for words. What touched her was not just the food, but Peter’s perceptiveness: she had never told anyone about her financial situation, yet he had seen it. “God used him to be my angel at exactly the right moment.”
This grace of being seen also reached her through a book. After reading Philip Yancey’s When Life Hurts, she was so moved that she bought multiple copies and gave them away to friends who were suffering. One day at school, she encountered a church minister whose eyes were red, his brow furrowed with grief. He told her quietly he was facing something very difficult. She gave him her last copy. He took her hands and said, “You truly are my angel.” Dr. Sonia Wong reflected that she had not planned it — she simply felt his pain and responded. “God used me to be someone’s timely comfort.”
Another encounter felt more like a miracle. On a cold winter night during her university years, the last bus home stopped partway through its route. She trudged through knee-deep snow for over ten minutes to another bus stop. There, she met a woman who had recently immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong. They exchanged contact details, and Dr. Sonia Wong helped her find a nearby church and settle into her new life. Looking back, she reflected: “That bus breaking down unexpectedly may have been exactly what God arranged for us to meet.” A stranger appearing in an unexpected moment can become an angel for another.
Dr. Sonia Wong explained the historical backdrop of the passage: early Christians were enduring hardship — many displaced, many without a home. The text calls believers to show hospitality to strangers, to remember those who are bound (whether in body or spirit), and to stand with those who suffer and find themselves in deep distress. But the most profound theological turn is this: the roles of server and served are not fixed. When Abraham welcomed three visitors, those strangers turned out to be God’s messengers — the ones being served became the servants’ angels. “Have you ever considered that a stranger you have never met could carry God’s blessing to you?”
As the sermon drew to a close, Dr. Sonia Wong shared a recent story about a colleague. Her theological institution operates under a tenure system — a scholar either earns tenure or is required to leave. She and another colleague both received tenure this year, but a former collaborator did not. She invited this colleague to the celebration dinner, and to her surprise, they accepted. To choose to rejoice with someone else in their moment of gain, while you yourself are in loss — “That is harder than giving in hardship. Imagine you’ve just suffered a loss, yet you show up at someone’s wedding. Imagine you’ve just had a miscarriage, yet you attend someone’s baby shower.” That grace and generosity, Dr. Sonia Wong said, revealed to her the image of God. “I truly felt she was my angel.”
Dr. Sonia Wong closed with a challenge: angels can look like ordinary people, strangers, those who are bound, those who suffer — the very people we least expect to carry the image of God. Can we begin to look at those around us — those we serve, and those who serve us — and recognise in them a messenger sent by God?
Blessed Ministry Community Church is a home that welcomes all. A place where you can take off the masks you wear, and simply be yourself. Whatever struggle you carry today — whether you feel bound, in pain, or are finding your footing alone in an unfamiliar world — there are people here willing to walk toward you, and to walk alongside you. You are seen. And perhaps, you are someone else’s angel.
