Message for St. Michael and All Angels Feast Day September 29.24 rewrite from 2013
Based on Genesis 28. 10-17; Revelation 12: 7-12
Today, September 29th, in our Christian Church calendar, is considered a holy day in celebration of St. Michael, and all Angels. This date falls on a Sunday only once in every 5 or so years, so I thought it a grand day to talk about, well St. Michael, but also angels. Let’s begin with an introduction to angels from an Anglican resource called ‘For All the Saints’, a book that lists the saints that Anglicans officially recognize.
Today we celebrate those mysterious beings which Scripture calls “angels”. ... (They) can be visible or invisible, and may take human or non-human forms. Christians have always felt themselves to be attended by healthful spirits — swift, powerful, and enlightening. These spirits are often depicted in Christian art in human form, with wings to show that time and space do not constrain them, with swords to signify their power, and with dazzling raiment to represent their ability to enlighten faithful humans. Of the many angels mentioned in the Bible, only four are called by name and known as archangels or chief angels: Michael, Gabriel, U’riel, and Ra’pha-el.[1]
In the Book of Revelation, the Archangel Michael is presented as the powerful agent of God who wards off evil from God’s people and delivers peace to them at the end of this life’s mortal struggle. The name Michael means “who is like God” [2].
In the Revelation reading he is called the “chief of the angelic princes”, the one who battles Satan, who is the dragon.
Michael first appears in scripture in the Old Testament book of Daniel and is described as “the great prince, the protector of the people of Israel” (12.1). Michael’s appearance is described in detail; he was “wearing linen clothes and a belt of fine gold. His body shone like a jewel. His face was as bright as a flash of lightening and his eyes blazed like fire. His arms and legs shone like polished bronze, and his voice sounded like the roar of a great crowd.” (10.5-9 GNT) Ok this is one scary looking dude, a far cry from the cutesy harp-playing cherubic angels, or the gossamer winged long haired beauties we see in paintings and popular culture! Daniel collapses to the ground in fear, only to have Michael help him up and tell him not to be afraid, that he has been sent to him by God. Daniel learns that Michael has come to help him understand his visions and that Michael is also one of the chief princes of the war also going on in the heavenly realm—the war against Satan.[3]
Gabriel is the angel we hear most about in church, and also first appears in the book of Daniel. After Daniel has a vision that’s particularly difficult to interpret, someone “having the appearance of a man” comes to help him, a being named Gabriel (Dan 8. 15-16). And we know Gabriel, from the first chapter of Luke’s gospel. (vss 19 &26). He makes two appearances, Gabriel comes to Zachariah, when he’s on chapel duty, and tells him that his wife Elizabeth will conceive in her old age and bear a son, who becomes known as John the Baptist. And Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her she was to be the mother of the son of God. Gabriel represents the angel of ministration to humanity[4]. His name means “man of God” or “God is my hero”[5]. The early church came to call Gabriel and Michael archangels, chief angels[6] or princes of angels.[7] And Michael, as prince of the angels of the heavenly realm is also bestowed the title ‘Saint”.
I was not as familiar with Raphael and Uriel, so did a quick google search. Raphael and Uriel are in books from the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are books that have not been accepted by Protestants as part of either the Old Testament or the New Testament, yet are stories of faith, and so have value for learning. The books that make up the Apocrypha are sometimes printed in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments in study bibles, or as a separate edition.
Raphael is a main character in the Book of Tobit. Raphael is sent to help Tobit and his son, Tobias. Tobit is a righteous Israelite who was blinded (and Raphel heals him of his blindness.) Raphael also appears in the Book of Enoch, another apocryphal book.[8]
Uriel, known as the angel of wisdom, is often sought for guidance in decision-making, learning, and resolving conflicts... Uriel is prominently featured in the Book of Enoch and 2 Esdras, where he acts as a guide and revealer of divine truths.[9]
Ok. So When you think of angels, what’s the image that comes to your mind? I know people who have seen angels, or have been visited by angels, and they tell me they are amazing experiences, sometimes frightening at first, other times very reassuring! But I’m told, they didn’t look like anything we associate with the classic pictures in stained glass, or Christmas cards or garden statuary. While I have been blessed with some wonderful and amazing experiences of the Divine, the closest I’ve come to an angelic experience was being an angel in a school Christmas play—remember back in the day when we did the nativity story for the Christmas concert? I remember my mother taking a white flannelette sheet and making me a long flowing dress and dad making me Bristol board wings with silver tinsel on them and a silver tinsel halo for my head! I loved being an angel, and if I remember correctly, it became my Halloween costume the next year and then my favourite nightgown.
The whole idea and concept of angels is so interesting. We find depictions of them everywhere—pins, cards, garden statues, fountains, cemeteries and they pop up in media culture. Start talking about angels and everyone has a story. Even people who don’t believe in God will profess to believe in angels; which is very interesting because—well -- do you know what the word angel means? It comes to English from the Greek word ‘angelos’, which means messenger. In ancient Hebrew the word is ‘malakh’, and means one who is sent. And who do you suppose is doing the sending, or giving the messages to these celestial messengers to give to humanity? Ah yes, the Lord God! So, angels are God’s messengers!
Our bible is full of references to angels. According to one source, 175 times in the New Testament[10] and 108 times in the Old Testament, giving us various examples of how these messengers of God are revealed and experienced. They’re “represented as an innumerable multitude of beings intermediate between God and (humanity)”[11]. Our story today of Jacob’s ladder is one such story and a familiar to many.
Jacob, after a nasty argument with his brother Esau, leaves on a journey to find a wife, and goes to the place of his mother’s people. I’m thinking he’s had to leave in a hurry because he’s camping out in the open and has to use a stone for a pillow. As he sleeps, he dreams of angels—God’s messengers going up and down a ladder that reaches right up to heaven. Actually, my research tells me a better translation for ladder would be a stairway -- a steep and long ramp-like stairway up a pyramidal shaped tower[12] --called ziggurats. The Tower of Babel was a ziggurat.[13] “… in that culture … it was thought that divine beings (or priests) traversed with communications from God to earth.”[14]
What a neat way for God to get Jacob’s attention, angels, God’s messengers going up and down from the earthly realm to the heavenly realm. It’s like the angels are telling him: “Listen up, God is trying to get your attention!” And then the Lord God Almighty speaks to him directly, promising him that God is with him and will keep him safe wherever he goes. Jacob is awe-struck at his divine experience—not surprisingly -- first he sees angels and then has a one on one with the Lord God! So Jacob builds an altar naming the place Bethel—which means House of God. It would have felt like the very gate of heaven!
In the bible there are references to different types of heavenly beings and a mystical theologian around the year 500 developed a ‘Celestial Hierarchy’ that arranges angels into “three hierarchies of three choirs each, in the order of Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones; Dominations, Virtues and Powers; and Principalities, Archangels and Angels.” [15] Like in the hymn we sang Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones. “(Apparently) Only the last two choirs have a mission to (humanity)”[16] which would include what we call “guardian” angels. The concept of everyone having a ‘guardian angel’—a being who represented you in heaven, is an ancient one, right back to the days of the Old Testament. And indeed in Matthew’s gospel chapter 18 verse 10, Jesus tells his disciples “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.” little ones—meaning both children and those who are vulnerable[17].
So, do you believe in angels? Many people do, others are skeptical. Another quote from “For All the Saints”
. ... Many good and faithful Christians find it difficult to accept the existence of angels; for them, angels have no more reality in fact than unicorns... It may be true that the existence of angels is not one of the things in which Christians must believe if they want to be saved. Yet whenever Christians say the Nicene Creed, they confess that God has created “all that is, seen and unseen.” Entertaining the possibility of angels may be one way of acknowledging the sheer diversity of life, visible and invisible, that God has ordained in creation.[18]
Tucked away in my files is an article about angels from the Anglican Journal written back in 2013 by the now Right Reverend Bill Cliff. Some of you may remember Bill when he was in our Diocese. So, let me end with Bishop Bill’s view:
Real angels live and still deliver messages from God. The message is the same: "Don't be afraid and God is doing a new thing." Sometimes they wear flesh and look like your neighbour and other times they make an entrance, as the prayer book says, as angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. Either way, true angels always point in one direction and have a similar message. They make an entrance—and remind us that there is nothing to fear and that God is doing a new thing. Trust in that message makes all the difference because it comes from the God who loves us and has revealed that love in Jesus. God wants to be known by us and sends us the message all the time, using whatever angel happens to be at hand.[19] Amen!
[1] Steven Reynolds: For All the Saints: Prayers and Readings for Saints’ Days According to the Calendar of the Book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church of Canada. p 294 ABC Publishing, Toronto
[2] http://www.behindthename.com/name/michael
[3] ibid
[4] Smith’s Bible Dictionary, p 404
[5] Oxford Annotated Bible, commentary Daniel 8.16, page 1270
[6] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archangel accessed September 23.19
[7] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm accessed September 23.19
[8] https://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/angels/what-role-does-raphael-play-in-the-bible.aspx Accessed Sept 19.24
[9] https://www.learnreligions.com/meet-archangel-uriel-angel-of-wisdom-124717 Accessed Sept 19.24
[10] The Elements of New Testament Greek, p 302
[11] The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church: ‘angel’
[12] Pyramidal, stepped temple tower characteristic of the major cities of Mesopotamia between 2200 and 500 BC. It was built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick. It had no internal chambers and was usually square or rectangular. Some 25 ziggurats are known, located in Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria. The best-preserved ziggurat is at Ur, and the largest is at Elam. The legendary Tower of Babel has been associated with the ziggurat of the great temple of Marduk in Babylon. Merriam-webster on line dictionary
[13] See note 2.
[14] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/jacobs-dream-2/commentary-on-genesis-271-4-15-23-2810-17 accessed Sept 16.24
[15] According to Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite as per The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
[16] According to Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite as per The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
[17] Oxford Annotated Bible, commentary for Matthew 18. 10
[18] Steven Reynolds: For All the Saints: p 294
[19] The Anglican Journal. September 2013