St. Michael and All Angels

Genesis 28:10-17    Revelation 12:7-12    Gospel: John 1:47-51

He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. – Psalm 91

Good morning – on the day some denominations call Michaelmas, others call the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, but that we in the Congregational Church call – Sunday.  Nonetheless, fancy name or not, today we celebrate angels.  We live in a world of angels.  We sing about angels, we draw, paint and sculpt angels, we make films about angels – I’m sure many of us know the 1946 classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”, which is so often shown on TV around Christmas, where a guardian angel, Clarence, helps a despairing businessman appreciate the value his life has for others.

Many churches are decorated with carved and sculpted angels; in our hymns we sing of angel voices, and, again around Christmas, herald angels.  In many churches they dazzle us in myriad colours in stained glass. But who are these mysterious heavenly creatures, do they really have white robes and wings, and do they cast a hidden but benevolent gaze over human affairs?  The question today is, for all the imagery of angels in our culture, both secular and religious, does the Church really believe in angels, and what might it mean for us if the answer to that question is yes.Let’s start by taking a look at what it says in the Bible.  The word ‘angel’ comes to us from the Greek word ‘angelos’ which is a translation of the Hebrew “malak”.  Both terms can be translated ‘messenger’, which is useful in understanding some, though not all, of the functions angels perform in the Bible. There isn’t enough time to look at all the references to angels in Scripture, if we did, we’d be here all day, but I think we can broadly categorize the Biblical tradition about angels as falling into three areas: angels as manifestations of God’s Presence on earth, angels as God’s companions in heaven, and angels as distinct, occasionally named, beings with specific roles or functions to perform.So first, angels as God’s presence. In chapter 18 of Genesis, we read ‘The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre.’ Abraham, in fact, encounters three men, to whom he offers hospitality, and they predict the birth of Isaac to Sarah. The text slips easily between identifying the strangers as men, the Lord, or angels. Similarly in chapter 32, which we heard this morning, Jacob encounters a man by night, they wrestle till daybreak, the man blesses Jacob, and Jacob recognizes that he has wrestled with God. Similarly, in Exodus 3 as Moses is tending the flocks, a flame appears in a bush, identified as ‘the Angel of the Lord’.  Is the angel distinct from God, or God’s own being?  This same Angel of the Lord appears in the road in the book of Numbers to block the progress of Balaam’s donkey.  In Judges the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, but it is the Lord Himself who speaks with him.Second, we encounter angels as heavenly beings.  Just as a human king rules over a court, so God has a heavenly court of angels. ‘God has taken his place in the divine council’ begins Psalm 82.  In Isaiah chapter 6 the prophet sees a vision of God on His throne, attended by the six-winged seraphim. ‘Holy, holy, holy’ they cry, a call repeated by the heavenly hosts who worship God in chapter 4 of the book of Revelation.  In Daniel, the last of the books of the Hebrew Bible to be written, a court of heavenly beings accompany God as the books of judgment are opened.  And when the Lord’s angel descends with news of the Messiah’s birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, the heavenly host are again present, singing the great hymn ‘Gloria in Excelsis’.So, angels symbolize the presence and voice of God on earth.  Angels, named as the Heavenly Host, living creatures, or a divine court, attend and worship God in heaven.But what about the angels we know best of all, those with names?  In the book of Revelation, the archangel Michael Is the commander of the heavenly armies. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon… who is called the Devil and Satan—[and] he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.  Another named angel is Raphael, the healing angel who accompanies Tobias on his travels.  Most celebrated of all is Gabriel, the heavenly messenger who comes to Mary in Luke’s Gospel with news of Jesus’ conception.   And Gabriel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

Over the centuries, the miscellaneous data in the scriptural sources became systematized into a complex hierarchy of angels. There is a Christmas hymn which, sadly, does not appear in our hymnal, but which speaks of all angels.  This is how the lyrics go.  “Ye watchers and ye holy ones, bright seraphs, cherubim and thrones. Cry out, dominions, princedoms, powers, virtues, archangels, angels’ choirs.”  And there you have the summary of the angelic hierarchy.

If you take all the angels out of the Bible, you would be left with a book full of holes. If we depict angels in our churches and sing about them in our songs, it is time we talked about angels, what we might believe about them, and why.  And we might consider what role angles play in our lives.

The purpose of all of the angels is to serve God, praise God, worship God, and pray to God.  In the process of serving God, they also protect us, pray for us, inspire us, encourage us, and guide us during our journey on Earth. 

Angels do not belong to any one denomination.  In fact, as they have become a pervasive fixture of our popular culture—we more and more hear the stories from people who have at various important, turning point moments in their lives, encountered angels.  But for many people, angels still seem to be more a topic than a reality, and therefore we resist speaking to them directly, because we still do not seem to recognize them as real beings.

So – to answer the question posed earlier - yes – angels do exist.  “The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘angels’ is a truth.  From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession.  Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading them to life.” Not only do angels exist, says the Church, they dwell among us as constant companions.

When we stop and fully realize the truth about angels, it is wonderful to know that we each have a personal friend, an angel, who watches over us, silently carries God’s messages to us, you know, those times we call “intuition”, and waits patiently to hear from us, anything we might want to confide, ask, say to a closest and dearest friend. 

We exist on a tiny planet in a backwater of the Milky Way.  In the vastness of the Universe, we are very little indeed.  But tiny and insignificant as we seem in the universe, we are each immeasurably important to God, to Jesus, so important that we each have a heavenly companion by our side to guide us and support us all our days. 

And there you have it – spelled out - all three areas in which we find angels, with some special emphasis for us on those that are our personal Guardians.  Angels do exist.  Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad

And now, partially in the words of the hymn –

Ye holy angels bright, who wait at God's right hand, or through the realms of light fly at your Lord's command, assist our song, and guide our lives, for else the theme too high doth seem for mortal tongue.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.