St. Michael and All Angels
Matthew 18:1-10; Revelation 12:7-12
✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠
We don’t usually give the angels a lot of attention. And they’re actually OK with that. Angels are generally given by God to work unseen, in the background; they want us focused on Him, just as they are. But we do refer to them every week when we gather for church. The most obvious place is right before communion when we join together with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven to praise our Redeemer God. But we also refer to them in another less obvious place in the liturgy. You speak of the angels in the creed when you confess that God is the Maker of all things, visible and invisible. Human beings are the top of the visibles; the angels are the top of the invisibles–two distinct types of creatures; never one becoming the other. Humans are physical beings with a spirit who look for the resurrection of the body; angels are purely spiritual beings without a body.
On this St. Michael and All Angels day, we take time to pay special attention to the angels and to rejoice in these warrior hosts of the Lord who do His bidding. The word “angel” means “messenger”; and that is their primary task. They preached the good news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds in Bethlehem; they announced Jesus’ resurrection from the dead to the women on Easter morning. Angels are also the protectors of God’s people, as it is written, “He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” We see this even in the life of Jesus–after his temptation and in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is written that the angels came and ministered to Him and strengthened Him in His bodily weakness.
Now, believing in the existence of angels may seem a little bit childlike. But Jesus reminds us today that when it comes to heavenly things, that is good. He says, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” A little child is entirely dependent on his parents and receives everything with trust. We adults, on the other hand, are always questioning everything and asserting our rights and our independence. And so we need to turn, to repent and humble ourselves like a little child and trust in our heavenly Father, that He is good and merciful through Christ His Son, and that what He says is true. That is what faith is about: to believe His Word and hold onto it simply because He is the One who said it, and He is trustworthy. That is what defines greatness in the kingdom of heaven. It is only with the humility and wonder of a child that we can rejoice in the angels or any of the gifts of God.
To doubt the angels is to doubt the Lord of the angels. To fail to take seriously their existence is to fail to take seriously that there is a real spiritual battle going on in this world. For remember, there are some angels who turned their faces away from the Lord, who wanted to do their own thing and serve themselves and make themselves the greatest–fallen angels, namely the devil and his demons. In the reading from Revelation today we are given a picture of what happened when Michael and his angels waged war against them. “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” That’s good news–for no longer can the devil accuse us before God in heaven. But it is bad news for the earth. The devil and his demons are loose, and they know that their time is short.
The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, the Scriptures say, looking for someone to devour. He wants to consume you with his lie that you don’t have to be like a little child. You can make yourself big, be like God, grab what He has not given you. The work of the devil is to take your eyes from the Lord, where the angels are turned, and to turn your eyes to yourselves, to your own wisdom and thinking and spirituality–to get you to believe that all the answers and the truth comes from within. But there is only One who is the Truth, the One who was lifted up for you on the tree to bring you mercy and life, the One who is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).
Consider again that great scene you heard in the Epistle, that great battle that occurs between Michael and his angels fighting against Satan and his angels. You might picture it at first like something out of a Superhero Avengers movie. But angels are not like God’s security forces who have the best technology, so that in supernatural warfare they are a step ahead of the demons. In fact, angels have no weapons, no elaborate tactics, no power at all except their mouths speaking God’s words. That’s what their swords on your bulletin cover represent, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. For again, angels are mouthpieces, beings who repeat what the Lord says–both back to Him in praise, and against the devil for the defense and protection of the children of God. What does Revelation 12 say? “They overcame them by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony.”
You see, what we’re in the middle of in this fallen world is a war of words. Satan and his demons speak deceptions and lies. And the angels of God speak the Truth. And not just any true statement, but the Truth who is also the Way and the Life. By this Word, they overcome the false, misleading, sabotaging words of the devil. By this Word of Truth, the father of lies is undone. By this Word which is Truth in the flesh, who offered up His own sacrificial blood, the ancient accuser is overcome.
Words are what are flying back and forth in the war between good and evil, between demonic and angelic forces, between Satan and Michael. Lies and deceptions versus the Truth. Words that give birth to doubt versus the Word of God that engenders confidence and faith. Statements designed to obfuscate and divide and create chaos versus the Word that unites and clarifies and creates communion. Sayings that bring death and hell versus the proclamation of Jesus’ sayings, which are the words of eternal life.
Perhaps this election season helps us to get a sense of this. While physical fighting and violence do sometimes occur, politics is primarily about convincing you with words–sometimes accurate words, often deceptive and lying words. It’s a battle of voices and speech for hearts and minds and votes.
And in a much greater way, that’s what’s going on in the spiritual realm with regard not to votes but to souls. Ephesians 6 reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Sadly, many are drawn away from the faith not by an outright rejection of Christ, but by the sabotaging, undermining deceptions of the evil one that attack the faith of those who are not watchful and wary of the devil’s schemes.
Words are the weapons in the battle between heaven and hell, seeking to win your mind and heart. Words are what either create or destroy your life. The words “I am the Lord your God; I am with you always; I am gracious and compassionate; I forgive you; I am the Alpha and the Omega; I am coming quickly to give you bodily redemption and resurrection”–those words are Life, Christ filling you with Himself by His Holy Spirit. And on the other hand, the words of the evil one, “Did God really say. . . ?” “If you are the Son of God. . .” “What is truth?”–those words not only deflate hope and introduce doubt. They seek to bring death to you in place of the Life that our Lord gives.
I hope you are beginning to see now that what the angels do in a heavenly way, the church is also doing in an earthly way. It’s the very same battle. Preachers in particular are given to be messengers of the Word. Revelation 1 in fact refers to the pastors of the individual churches as the angels of the churches. Out there, the fallen angels and those who follow them sling their lies at you from every direction and through every screen. And then in here and in your Bible reading and devotions, the spoken testimony of God’s Word counters and casts the devil out. The same thing that defeated the devil and threw him out of heaven is what defeats him here on earth and drives him away from you.
This is why we need divine service. This is why Luther once said, “If you could see how many knives, darts, and arrows are every moment aimed at you, you would be glad to come to the Sacrament as often as possible.”
Satan is cast out of heaven and defeated by the preaching of the holy cross of Jesus. For the power of Satan is sin and death. But Jesus overcame those enemies of yours by dying in your place. All the power of sin to condemn you, all the judgment you deserve as a result of your sin, Jesus took in His own body and suffered it to death, shedding His blood on your behalf. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, your sin included. Sin and Satan and Death are defeated for you. You are released from their grip and forgiven. Believing in Christ, you are more than conquerors through Him who loves you.
Satan had been accusing mankind before God night and day. But now he’s evicted. God’s not listening to the devil’s accusations. And that means neither should you. Think about it. The only reason the devil attacks and accuses you of being a sinner is because you’re the only audience he has left. The devil is just a sad sack complainer and blamer, who’s always trying to corner you and let you have it. But God stopped listening to Satan’s accusations when Christ shed his blood and took your sins away. And because of that blood, you have the right to do likewise. Don’t give the devil an audience. His accusations against you don’t stand. What stands is the life-giving blood of Christ and His cleansing Word.
So cling, then, to Christ and His Word. Don’t become complacent or lazy in your faith. For the devil won’t stop trying to attack and accuse. The victory is won by Christ, but there are a few final skirmishes yet to be fought until the end comes when the devil and the demons and all who reject Christ are cast into the lake of fire. Satan will try again and again to make you stumble and fall with him. So be sober and watchful. Love not your lives in this world even unto death, sharing in Jesus’ cross, that you may also share forever in His resurrection in the world to come.
For God is with you now, and so are His holy angels. You are never alone. Even when you feel abandoned, unprotected, vulnerable, what the Psalm says is true, “The Lord of hosts is with us.” He is wherever His little ones of every age who believe in Him go. And with Him are His hosts of angels. Those hosts of angels are here right now–Michael, Gabriel, and all the rest. For they dwell in the presence of Christ, and Christ is here in His words and in the Sacrament; angels and archangels and all the company of heaven are among us. Whether there are 20 people here or 200, the truth is that there are 10,000 times 10,000 with us for every divine service, if we would but have eyes to see it.
So let us rejoice today in God’s gift of the angels–His warrior messengers who rejoiced on the day of your Baptism, who rejoice over every sinner who repents and becomes as a little child before the Lord, who delight in pointing you to the body and blood of the Lamb on the altar. The angels watch over you at the Lord’s command. They will gather you to Abraham’s bosom on your last day. They will keep you safe until the Day of our Lord Jesus, the Day when He comes with His angels to raise you bodily from the dead and give you eternal life in His name. And then together with the angels, you too will behold the face of your Father in heaven.
✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠
(With thanks to William Cwirla and John Fenton)
(AI Image of archangel Michael from Pixabay.com, free for use and download)