Give thanks for Michael and all angels

Sermon for the Festival of St. Michael and All Angels

Revelation 12:7-12  +  Matthew 18:1-11

Even when we take a break from our series on Revelation, we’re not really taking a break, are we? For this festival of St. Michael and All Angels, we’re right back to the book of Revelation. Our first lesson this evening takes us back several chapters to that vision John saw of Michael and his angels fighting a great battle against the dragon, which represents Satan. But who is this Michael? And what does Scripture tell us about “his angels”?

Michael shows up, at least, by name, only four times in the Bible. The first time was back in the book of Daniel, chapter 10. An angel was speaking to Daniel in a vision, and he tells Daniel that he was delayed in coming by the “prince of the kingdom of Persia.” The word “prince” seems to refer to a high-ranking angelic authority, except this one was an evil one who opposed the angel sent by God. So we’d call him a high-ranking demon. (Yes, it seems that there are ranks among the angel armies, just as there are ranks in a human army.) But Michael came to help this angel. The angel calls him “one of the chief princes.” Another word for a “chief prince” would be an “archangel,” so this verse seems to indicate that there are a number of archangels, of whom Michael is one. Later in that same chapter, the angel refers to Michael as “your prince,” and in chapter 12, he’s called, “the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people.” So Michael is the archangel whom God placed in charge of protecting, either the Old Testament people of Israel in particular, or all the people of God in general. From the little we’re told by Daniel, it seems that there may be both angels and demons in charge of various regions of the world, with many angels at the command of each commander, and that there are battles going on in the spiritual realm that we can know nothing about.

What was the battle that John described in Revelation 12? Given the vision that comes right before, which seems to describe the devil’s failed attempt to defeat Jesus during His earthly ministry, it seems that this vision is meant to teach us about the spiritual victory that took place in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Whether or not there was an actual battle at that time in the spiritual realm between angels and demons isn’t clear. What is clear is that, because of Christ’s death on the cross, and because He now stands at the right hand of God making intercession for us, the devil, the great accuser of mankind, is no longer able to successfully accuse those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Now, some very respectable theologians have concluded that “Michael” is really the Lord Jesus Himself, based, in part, on what it says about Michael in Revelation 12, but I don’t find that to be consistent with what Daniel and Jude say about him. Some things that are said about Michael in Scripture could certainly be applied to Jesus, but other things just can’t. Jesus isn’t “one of the chief princes.” He is the commander-in-chief of all the angels, including the chief princes. And in the book of Jude, we’re told that Michael “did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment” against the devil. That just can’t apply to the Lord Himself. But everything the Bible says about Michael can apply to a created angel who has been given the charge to keep watch over the people of God, with legions of angels under his command.

Hence the warning from the Lord Jesus in the second lesson you heard tonight. See that you do not despise one of these little ones! For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. Jesus speaks of “their angels,” the angels of the little ones, that is, the angels assigned to keep watch over the little children of God. Or as we heard in the Psalm, The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Or as the writer to the Hebrews puts it, Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? This hidden army of angels is all around us, sometimes carrying out God’s punishment against the wicked, as they did in Sodom and Gomorrah, but always guarding the children of God against both physical and spiritual dangers. How they do it we don’t know, and we’re not supposed to know. Only on rare occasions is anyone enabled to look into the spirit realm and see the angel armies encamped around us, like the prophet Elisha, who saw them and assured his companion, “Do not be afraid! Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Imagine! Hosts of angels—sentient creatures, sinless creatures, with a mind and a will—spending much of their existence serving the Lord God by ministering to sinful human beings, specifically, to believers in the Lord Jesus! Maybe that’s one of the reasons Satan and his angels weren’t content to keep their place in heaven. The idea of ministering to men seemed beneath them. On the other hand, what a tremendous and humble service the good angels perform on our behalf! We can learn much from their attitude of dedicated, joyful, selfless service! This is the heavenly example we’re given in the Lord’s Prayer, when we ask, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

We can learn from the angels about worshiping God. The seraphim are pictured worshiping God in Isaiah’s vision in chapter 6. Isaiah sees them flying around the throne of God. The ones he sees have six wings. With two sets of wings they covered their faces and their feet in humility and submission, and with one set of wings they flew around the throne of God, calling out, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! In Revelation, the angels join their voices with all creatures, singing, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing! The writer to the Hebrews tells us that when God brought His firstborn into the world, He says: Let all the angels of God worship Him. And they did! Remember when a great multitude of the heavenly host appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem and sang, Glory to God in the highest! Peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Not only do the angels worship God, but they teach us to worship God together with them. There was a reason why God told Moses to place two cherubim on the mercy seat, the lid of the ark of the covenant, with their wings spread over the mercy seat, and with their faces staring down at it in reverence, just as there was a reason Solomon had two statues made to stand guard in the most holy place in the temple, and had carved figures of angels placed in the walls of the Temple. God was teaching Israel to worship Him as the angels do. God was teaching them to imitate the worship of the angels, and that, when we worship God, the angels are present there, too, which is why, whenever we sing the Sanctus before Communion, we pray, “Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious name!”

Now, if the angels worshiped God there at the mercy seat where He appeared, and in the temple, how much more shouldn’t we worship Him? The angels worship Him as their beloved Creator and Father. We worship Him, not only as our Creator and Father, but as our Redeemer and Savior. The sinless angels have never needed God’s mercy. We poor sinners need it at all times. God didn’t send His Son into angels’ flesh, but into ours. God didn’t give His Son into death for the angels, but for us men. God has not had to forgive the angels any sins, but He forgives ours constantly. God has not betrothed His Son to the angel hosts, but to the Holy Christian Church. So let our worship not just imitate but surpass that of the angels. We have far greater reasons to worship than they.

There’s one more task of the angels I’d like to highlight this evening. The word “angel” means “messenger,” and they literally served as messengers of God on various occasions since the fall of man. They brought the Word of God to people here and there, to Jacob, to Moses, to Joshua, to the judge Gideon, to the prophets Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. You all remember the angel Gabriel, who brought messages to Zacharias, to Mary, and to Joseph. Angels brought word to the shepherds that a Savior, Christ, the Lord had been born. They warned the wise men to stay away from Herod. They announced the resurrection of Christ to the believing women, and they announced to the disciples that the ascended Christ would return from heaven one day, just as they had seen Him go into heaven. It was an angel who told Peter to go see Cornelius, an angel who told Paul he would survive his shipwreck and arrive safely in Rome. And it was an angel who revealed the Revelation to St. John.

Messages delivered by angels were important, but they were rare. Prophets and apostles were God’s messengers much more often than angels were, and that continues to be true today. God has entrusted the ministry that brings reconciliation between God and men to men. Ministers of the Gospel are the “angels” or “messengers” whom the Lord Christ has commissioned to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. We’re captivated by the supernatural, and people have, at times, even gone astray in worshiping the holy angels. If only people realized that Christian ministers perform an even more vital task than the angels do, preaching the word of life that saves people from eternal death, tending to the souls of God’s children, then surely our churches would be full!

But you know this to be true, and so, here you are, receiving the message of a humble earthly angel, even as we come together to give thanks to God for the ministry of Michael and all the mighty heavenly angels. We know only two or three of their names for now, but I suspect that, after the resurrection, we’ll know many, many more, maybe even the ones who were assigned to be our own guardian angels during this life. Give thanks to God for their dependable protection. Join them in their worship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Learn from the messages they’ve delivered over the millennia. And take heart, because, although the world is filled with demons and their allies among the sons of men, Those who are with us are more than those who are with them, and with the help of God’s holy angels, our final victory is certain. Amen.