St. Michael and All Angels 2019
Revelation 12:7-12; Matthew 18:10
September 29, 2019
Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID
In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 18, we hear how Christ commemorates the angels, for the sake of which, we remember and celebrate the feast of St. Michael and All Angels today. We do this for the purpose of a right understanding of angels. It’s important, it’s beneficial, it’s comforting for us to know these things concerning their office, their work, their essence and how we ought to consider them. If we lose this, if people don’t know the purpose for which they were created by God, then things become easily confused.
True knowledge about angels should remain among Christians. Knowing the duty and the activity of the good angels leads us to thank and praise God for the reasons that God created them. Likewise, knowing of evil angels, of demons, of Satan and those who followed him in rebellion against God, leads us to trust in Christ and His victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil.
In our day, it seems as though angels are largely treated as something just for children; children’s stories, children’s prayers, cartoon caricatures. That’s many how misunderstand today’s Gospel reading. Angels are for children, if not real children than those who are child-like in intellect, vulnerability, or spiritual development. Angels are for those who childishly believe that some greater force exists, some higher being that lovingly designs our destinies, or keeps them from going too badly awry.
Or to another extreme, some people become practically obsessed with them, seeing angels at every corner, influencing the world in a way that only the most spiritually attuned are able to see. Seeing angels in such a way even misunderstands what the word “angel” means. Angel means “messenger.” Angels aren’t heavenly ninjas sneaking around. In Scripture, the vast majority of the time, God gives His angels no weapons. Angels have no powers or sophisticated tactics. They are messengers, mouthpieces, spiritual beings who repeat what the Lord says back to Him in prayer, praise, and thanks. They also speak against the Devil, which means “accuser,” defying that fallen and irredeemable liar, to defend and protect of the children of God with the truth of God’s Word. That’s what angels do. They speak the Word of God. The Word is their weapon.
Consider our reading this morning from the book of Revelation. War breaks out in heaven. Michael and his angels fight with Satan, and against other angels who followed this dragon. And what are the weapons of this war in the heavens? They are words. Satan and his demons fight by using words of deception, lies, and untruths. Michael fights by speaking the Truth.
But Michael doesn’t just happen to speak what is true, He also speaks the Truth who is the very Word, the Lamb of God shed His blood upon the cross and raised from the dead. “And they [Michael and his angels] conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). That’s where the picture by Raphael on our bulletin cover gets it wrong. He doesn’t jab Satan with a spear, but with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Remember, angels serve God by being His messengers. Angels speak God’s words. That’s what we see in Revelation as words fly back and forth in that war between good and evil, between demonic and angelic forces, between Satan and the angel Michael. Words are their weapons of war. By this Word, St. Michael and the angels overcome the lies and the and misleading words of the Devil. This Truth that Michael speaks is united to the One who is the Truth, Jesus Christ. And it’s that Truth--joined to the One who is the Truth--that undoes the lies of the father of lies, the Devil. By this Word, who is Truth in the flesh, the accuser is overcome.
The Word and the blood of the Lamb are your weapons of war. When you eat and drink the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s Table, Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil is delivered to you. When you hear the Word of Christ, read the Bible, sing the hymns, pray God’s Word, you engage the enemies of Christ not just any words, but the Word of Christ, the Word of the Gospel. Hidden in this Word is the power of God. It is not the sounds that you make, the Word of God empowered by His Spirit, spoken in faith. It is this Word that created the heavens and the earth and all that dwell in them, including the angels. It is this Word that declares you righteous and holy and justified in God’s sight, and an heir of God’s eternal kingdom. It is this Word that drives back the devil, as we sing in the great battle hymn of the Reformation, A Mighty Fortress,
That is the Word of Christ. But every time you resist temptation, say your prayers, serve your neighbor, read your Bible, come to Church, you hear and you speak the angelic message, which is nothing but the Word of God, the devil and his demons are beaten back. Last week, we saw 4 people baptized, and then heard 20 new members of our congregation together stand up here and renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways, not by their own strength, but with the Word of God, with His grace and His help.
And the Lord of the heavenly hosts sends His holy angels to fight at your side. They are to care for you and to watch. They are not merely messengers and protectors and warriors. They are also watchers. They rejoice over one sinner who repents, over one child who is made clean. They also watch the face of the Father for they are Holy. They belong to Him. He loves them and they love Him. That is why they watch you. The Holy Angels love to watch the people of God being loved by God.
The devil cannot stand this. The Devil’s lies and deceptions war against the Word of Truth. His twisted words attempt to give birth to doubt fighting the Word of Christ that gives birth to faith. Where the angels always see the face of the Father who is in heaven, the devil no longer does. He is cast out. The accuser has nothing on you, for your sins are forgiven. They are gone. By His Word, He has already declared you righteous and holy washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. And it is that Word, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit connecting words to the Word, who gives and keeps you in eternal life; that strengthens and delivers you from every evil. So today, let us remember St. Michael and the holy angels, doing so giving thanks to God for His messengers, and most importantly by hearing in faith the angelic message, the Word of Truth, who is Jesus the Christ, who has come to save you. Amen.