Today we celebrate all angels, of
whom Michael is the chief. We call him saint because he is made holy by Jesus
and we believe that all angels were created by God in the beginning. They have
been used to announce important events such as the birth of John the Baptist,
the birth of Jesus, the Resurrection of Jesus, the Ascension and the Second
Coming of Jesus.
In this way, they are primarily
messengers, which is what the word "angel" means. They bring God’s message to whomever God wishes to preach. However,
we know that some angels sinned and rebelled, as St. Peter tells us (2 Pet.
2:4). We call them demons or devils, though they still look like regular angels
in order to deceive us.
The evil angels are many and
powerful. Jesus Himself encounters the angel named Legion, which means “we are
many”, in Mark 5 (v.9). These angels hate God and seek to destroy everything
that is good, especially your faith in Christ as they did to Adam and Eve and
attempted to do to Jesus, in His own temptation.
Yet today we celebrate those
angels that still praise God, do His bidding, and obey His Word (Ps.
103:20-21). We celebrate that all these angels are also many and powerful and
serve those who will inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). In order to truly obey
God’s Word, they must bow down to and serve God in the flesh; Jesus.
So when we put all this together
along with our Epistle reading from Revelation this morning, we find that the
holy weapons God gives to those whom He makes into saints are the blood of the
Lamb and the Word of His testimony; His martyrdom; His death on the cross.
So we should very much take the
word “Angel” to mean messenger straight into our hearts. This is because the
usual way we picture angels is the Hallmark way, but the Bible presents them as
more than just doing nice things. In fact, every encounter with an angel in
Holy Scripture produces some sort of distress in the people they appear to.
This is because they are not there
to be nice, they are there to do God’s will. They are there to bring a message,
but even more than that, they are here to bring the Word. And it is in the Word
which we hear God’s Law and God’s Gospel. If a real angel visits you, you know
it, because you feel God’s holiness pressing down upon your sinfulness.
So we hear them, at every
encounter, saying, “Fear not” in an attempt to comfort and assure the people
that they are not there for punishment, but revelation. This we see in Moses
and the burning Bush (Ex. 3) and in Judges 6 and 13 where an angel appears to
people, but then turns into the Lord with no explanation, as if their sole
purpose is to make the way for God and then let Him do all the work.
“Fear not” also happens to be one
of Jesus’ favorite phrases, which tells us one thing: that even the angels
represent and point to Jesus coming in the flesh. This makes sense because not
only were all the angels male, but they also did things only the Lord could do.
What does this mean for us? This means
that Jesus was not an angel neither did He come to earth as an angel. Another
thing: you are not, nor ever will you be, an angel. And thank God, because
Jesus did not come to seek and save angels, but sinners. As God said, “For
to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten
you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? (Heb
1)
Neither did God send an angel to
us, as if we were worth no more than a servant’s errand! No, in these last days
He sent His Son to preach; to give His own message Himself. Jesus is our angel,
our messenger that brings the Gospel; the free forgiveness of sins. St.
Michael, his angels, and the brethren defeat Satan with the preaching of that
message, because it is the message of the Word made flesh.
We fit in this picture by being
given the message, not just to hear and believe, but to preach ourselves. Now,
beneath the cross of condemnation and forgiveness, we become God’s angels,
delivering that same message that Christ suffered and died for, by maintaining
and opening churches that preach the Gospel in its purity and administer the
Sacraments according to it.
Therein lies the other half of
angelic duty: to administer the blood of the Lamb and ensure victory over the
dragon and his angels. Then, to commune in that same administration.
In light of all this, the war
between St. Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels is not in some
far-off location or some far-off time in the future. It is engaged every Divine
Service. The war for your mind and for your faith is the war “against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).
A celebration of angels is a
celebration of Jesus, for it is Jesus Who chooses angels, messengers, pastors
to bring His message to your hears that you might hear and receive faith. A
celebration of St. Micheal is a celebration of He Who is God and man and
defeats sin, death, and the devil with His own sacrificial death. A celebration
of Michaelmass is a celebration of angels and archangels and all the company of
heaven, which includes our loved ones gone before us in the faith.
Let us not forget the other
monumental event that God uses His angels to announce. That is the repentance
of one sinner (Lk. 15:7). Greater than any dirty old war, greater than any
flimsy armor is the faith given to us. Not even the angels receive this gift.
The fact that we all come together
with the whole church on earth, to confess our sins every Sunday makes this the
most joyous event in the history of the world. What naturally flows out of our
mouths then is, “Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabbaoth”! The angels are not
just there for us in our darkest hour, but in our brightest hour as well, when
we forget God and His Divine Service, the Message is still there, on earth, for
us.
No comments:
Post a Comment