St. Michael & All Angels
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Readings: Revelation 12: 7-12 and John 1: 47-end
“I believe in angels – something good in everything I see” we’ve just heard from ABBA. Do you believe in angels? What is the meaning behind the song? Mr Google says that the song conveys a theme of hope, aspiration and the power of dreams.
Today we keep the feast of Michaelmas – St. Michael and all Angels. The Roman Catholic Church and some ‘High Church’ branches of the Anglican Church, divide the feast of Michaelmas into two commemorative days. On 29th September Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are celebrated – three archangels with some biblical authority. Michael was regarded in the early Church as the helper of Christian armies against the heathen, and as a protector of individual Christians against the devil, especially at the hour of death. Gabriel is seen in the bible as the messenger of divine comfort, and Raphael the healer – he is said to have ‘healed’ the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels.
Then on 2nd October, some churches celebrate the ‘Guardian Angels’ of which Jesus speaks in the gospels.
So, on this 29th September, those churches that make the distinction read the same account of ‘war in heaven’ that we heard – a fragment of the battle between good and evil. On 2nd October they read the gospel passages where Jesus tells the disciples not to disregard little children, because “they continually have their angels in heaven.”
There are obviously strands linking the two themes, but also some considerable differences. A very large number of people do believe in angels, with, no doubt, some very different interpretations. Not so many people would want to dwell on Michael and his angels fighting the dragon. So I think the division of this feast into two separate ideas about angels is quite helpful.
People have very different psychological make-ups. Some people have an intensely spiritual awareness, which enables them to sense other beings, other worlds. Some are closely aware of family members who have gone before, or of a particular ‘presence’ in a room, or who can wax quite eloquently about angels. I am not, I freely confess, one of those, though I certainly don’t discount their experiences. When it comes to angels, I find it hard to translate the biblical emphasis on the ministry of angels into modern-day life. But let us be quite sure that angels feature very prominently in the pages of the bible – both Old and New Testaments. They are God’s messengers: they are sent by God for protection. We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, “Are not all angels spirits in the divine service; sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” Jesus certainly valued the ministry of angels: we read that they came and waited on him at the time of his temptation in the wilderness, and that one appeared to strengthen him during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. And in today’s gospel, he assures Nathanael “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” This recalls the vision Jacob had in the book of Genesis, of seeing a ladder set up on the earth with its top reaching heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
I suspect that most of us, at some stage, have reason to be thankful for a special message from God, or some unexpected protection from him, that probably came just at the right time. If we have any sure trust in the goodness of God to intervene in human affairs, then we must surely believe in angels, in whatever way you want to think of them – even if it is in the form of a friend or neighbour who calls unexpectedly just at the time we need them.
The battle between good and evil – Michael and his angels fighting the dragon – is perhaps more difficult to link to our everyday experience. As we said earlier, in the bible Michael is regarded as the protector of individual Christians against the devil, especially at the hour of death. That his ministry is necessary is a reminder that although Jesus overcame death and conquered evil, we do not yet see the final conquest of sin and death. There are malevolent powers still at large: of that I am convinced. Happily, few of us come into direct contact with them. But never underestimate the breadth of the spiritual world. Michael symbolizes all that is good in the ultimate battle that will defeat those powers, in God’s good time. We live in an interim age, and at times we may need protection.
The bible is very clear about the struggle going on between goodness and evil. In that struggle we are promised a victory for good, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, but we do not see the full fruits of that victory yet – a truth we recognise every time we watch the t.v. news or read the newspapers. But we are promised that good – that God – will eventually prevail.
I was always puzzled by a strange story in the Second Book of Kings, chapter 6, where the prophet Elisha finds himself in great danger, in the city of Dothan, surrounded by the chariots and horsemen of the king of Aram. When his servants report to Elisha what they have seen – this great army encircling the city, Elisha replies, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” When the servant opens his eyes from prayer, he sees another army, of horses and chariots, surrounding Elisha for protection. That one sentence, “There are more with us than there are with them” often comes into my mind. There is so much about the spiritual world we don’t know and don’t understand. But we do know that many day-to-day happenings are not explained logically, but only by reference to non-material forces which can’t be measured or described.
And so I commend this celebration of the angels of God, both the ‘big guns’ – Michael and the archangels, but also the guardian angels who are with us in many of life’s difficult circumstances. And may we take to heart the promise that “there are more with us than there are with them.”