Sermon: St Michael & All Angels, Year C
Readings: Daniel 10:10-14,12:1-3; Revelation 12:7-12 & Luke 10:17-20
You may have noticed in last Sunday’s service the section of the Baptismal Rite in which the pastor says: “Depart from [name] any unclean spirit and make way for God’s Holy Spirit.” This sometimes surprises and bewilders people in the church. But it should not.
This world, like the heavenly realm described in today’s reading from Revelation, is a Spiritual battleground. The unseen reality of the spiritual forces – both evil and good – is indeed all around us and impacting on us all the time. As well as God’s forces, there are those of the devil, seeking to deceive and lead humanity away from God. In these times of super-materialism, in which we focus on the visible and tangible, even we Christians sometimes forget this reality.
One does not have to imagine invisible demonic spirits or monsters here. Just look around at what is happening in our own community – the abuse of children, addiction of all kinds, youth suicide, violence, oppression and slavery, the rise of sectarian cults and the occult – and many other evil forces give us enough of a picture of the devil’s deceiving and life-denying work in our world.
It could be easy in view of all this to become alarmed and even paranoid (as some do) about these evil forces. In earlier times, when Christians were more spiritually attuned to the Spiritual realm (and less blunted by the constant assault on the senses we have today) they often became alarmed by the presence of evil. In his day, Luther often asked God to send his angels to defend him from the evil one, whose influence he felt close at hand.
This is why the church celebrates this Festival of St Michael and All Angels. It is the function of this great feast of the church (which has been celebrated as a major feast for many centuries by most Christians, though often ignored by our Lutheran tradition) to show and remind us that the triune God and his angelic forces have once and for all conquered the forces of Satan, hell and death, for us and have opened the way to a fear-free and confident life in the Spirit of God. This is a festival of joyful victory – a “war cry” of the hosts of God.
I said earlier that our universe (including the places in which we live) is a spiritual battle ground, and it is. However, it is a Spiritual battleground where the battle is over. The war has already been fought and won, by God, through Jesus Christ, His Son.
In today’s readings for St Michael and All Angels we find that the main recurring image is that Michael and his angelic army fight and win the battle against the devil and his hordes, enforcing and bringing to finality the victory of Christ himself. This ushers in the day of judgement, salvation, resurrection and eternal life of those who belong to God in Christ – those whose names are “written in the book of life” (mentioned in the readings from Daniel and Luke).
St Michael the archangel is called the “great protector of God’s people” (Daniel 12:1), through whom his saints are kept safe from all Spiritual attack. This great warrior of God is mentioned in various places in Scripture, as well as early Christian literature, and spirituality reminds us also of the many biblical examples of God sending his angels to minister to people, to protect, to uplift and encourage them.
These angelic heavenly beings are those who “stand sentinel” in the battle field in which Christ’s victory has taken place – in our own communities, homes and workplaces – and defend and protect us from the last rebellious kicks of the devil. He kicks hard sometimes, because he knows “his time is short” (Rev.12:12), though all his kicking only makes him sink the faster because his power is gone.
The disciples of Jesus, in today’s Gospel reading, also learn that victory over evil spirits and over all enemies has come through Jesus and his kingdom. Interestingly – and this is a good point for us ponder – Jesus does not encourage them to foolishly fight any battles that they are unqualified to take on. He encourages them rather to rejoice that through him, the victory is already won and that their “names are written in heaven”.
We too rejoice in this same wonderful message and assurance! Though we may feel pressed in by the evil we see let loose around us today, we can claim the words of victory that are spoken by God himself in today’s second reading: now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God and the authority of his Messiah! (Rev.12:10)
As we live and work as Christians, we do not need to be intimidated and cowered by the powers we see at work, menacing as they may seem. We are rather free to walk this battle-field in safety, knowing we have God’s angelic protection and support.
We should not be afraid to speak the truth, or to live the truth. We need not be afraid to speak the name of Jesus to others, or let his influence be seen in our choices and priorities. We need not be afraid to oppose what we see around us that is unjust, wrong and immoral. We need not be afraid of any enemy that appears, for like the disciples, we live in the victory of Christ over all powers.
We are surrounded by the heavenly host – as we remind ourselves also in the Holy Communion Liturgy. Christ has died, risen and comes again. Michael has slain the dragon. The battle is over, and our names are written in heaven.
We are truly more than conquerors. Alleluia!