* Hebrews
Dear Friends in Christ,
A question: When is the last time you attended a church service devoted to commemorating “St. Michael and All Angels?” My guess is that for many of you it was some time ago – if ever at all. I confess to falling into the “ever at all” category myself.
But if you read the information in the inside of your service folder you know that certain portions of the Christian Church have been doing this for a long time. Centuries ago the church even set aside one particular day – September 29 – to reflect upon and thank God for the ministry of angels. And since today is September 29 (albeit centuries later), we’re going to do the same…
If you think about it, this ancient festival has a very contemporary ring to it. The whole subject of angels is a very hot topic today – and has been for the last couple of decades. If you want to know just how hot, punch in the word “angels” on your computer’s search engine or go visit a library or book store. You’ll find all kinds of information.
But a lot of it is not good. In fact, most of it is bad and spiritually harmful. Much of the literature on angels today can be found in the “spirituality” or “self-help” or “new age” sections of the bookstore. There you’ll find books with titles like “How to Talk With Your Angels” complete with nine easy steps on how to establish contact with your own personal angels so they can they can serve as your spirit-guides through life.
What these books don’t take into account, however, is that there are evil angels as well. The sad result is that those who ask for angels often end up dealing with demons…
Consequently, because there is so much misinformation out there; and because today is the historic day set aside for a treatment of this subject matter; and because angels are mentioned in over 275 separate passages in Scripture, let us spend our time this morning reflecting upon and thanking God for
THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS
By simultaneously
1. Reviewing and
2. Rejoicing in what the
Bible has to say about angels
So, what does the Bible tell us about angels? Quite a bit. Time will not allow us to exhaust the subject, but we do want to hit the high points. With that in mind, we’ll organize our thoughts around five facts…
Fact #1: Angels are invisible and personal beings
that God created within the six days of creation. In Exodus
Related to this, even though they are invisible, angels may,
at God’s bidding, take on human form.
In the Old Testament book of Genesis, for example, God sent angels in
human form to rescue
In the New Testament, we think of how angels met the women at the tomb on Easter Sunday morning and proclaimed to them the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Two of the Gospel accounts speak of them as taking on the obviously identifiable form of “men.”
A final point to be made before moving on to the next angel fact is this: it must be emphasized that angels are a separate class of beings (just as we humans are a separate class of beings) and that we don’t turn into angels when we die…
We mention this because it has almost become a cultural lore. All of us can remember seeing movies or cartoons about someone who is involved in an accident and the next scene has him or her floating up to heaven with wings and a harp. But the fact of the matter is that we are what and who we are, and we will carry our personal identity with us into heaven.
Scripture does tell us that on the Last Day we will be outfitted with our glorified bodies for all eternity. In the great resurrection chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul says we who are “mortal will put on immortality.” So in that sense our bodies will change; but we don’t become angels.
Fact #2: There are lots of angels. How many?
In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John is given a glimpse of
heaven. This is what he reports (
We also remember the splendor of Christmas Eve and how the
birth of Jesus was announced to the shepherds by an angel. And as he was talking we are told “suddenly
a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and
saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his
favor rests.’”
We finally remember that on the night of His betrayal Jesus told the sword-yielding Peter that He didn’t need His defense because if He wished He could have petitioned His Father for “more than twelve legions of angels” (Mt 26:53).
Fact #3: There are different kinds of angels and they have names and ranks. There may be more, but the two different kinds of angels the Bible speaks about are “seraphs” (plural “seraphim”) and “cherubs” (plural “cherubim”). Seraphim are mentioned in only one chapter of the Bible; cherubim are mentioned more frequently. Again, for sake of distinguishing fact from myth we should know that depicting cherubim as “baby angels” with chubby, rosy faces is the work of artists and does not represent what Scripture says about this class of angels.
The Bible also identifies two particular angels by name. One is Gabriel, the other is Michael.
In addition, the Festival we are observing today identifies
Michael with the rank of
Fact #4: Although created by God as good, some angels sinned against God and were banished from heaven. The leader of the rebellious angels is called Satan, whom we now know as the devil. Satan and his evil angels (called demons) have been judged and consigned to hell, although until the Final Day of Judgment God allows them a certain amount of freedom.
Satan’s goal now is to drag as many people into hell with
him as he can. The Apostle Peter refers
to him as a “roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter
5:8). And he employs his henchmen to
help him carry out his work. Satan is
crafty and cunning. Paul tells us that
at times Satan will even “masquerade as an angel of light” (2
Corinthians
Our Scripture reading from the Book of Revelation also testifies to his fury and his single-minded desire to destroy souls. He is a formidable adversary, indeed.
But he has been defeated and deflated by Jesus Christ. Through His perfect life, substitutionary death on the cross, and glorious resurrection Jesus has disarmed the power of Satan and taken the air out of his threats. Satan can accuse us and he can annoy us. But he cannot damn us and he cannot claim us. Because we are God’s. Bought with the blood of our Savior. Signed, sealed and delivered through the work of the Holy Spirit. And as such, heaven is our home. Which leads us to…
Fact #5: The angels that did not sin are holy and are employed by God for His set purposes. What are some of those set purposes? Let us consider just a sampling of the ministry of angels…
One thing they do (and ought never be considered an incidental part of their work) is offer praise and worship to God in heaven – and in so doing remind us of what is in store for us. Think again of our service reading from the Book of Revelation. One of the great tasks of the angels is to simply glorify God. And someday we’ll join them.
We get a hint of this in the communion liturgy when, after
thanking God for who He is and what He has done, we hear and then respond to
these words: “Therefore with all the saints on
earth and hosts of heaven, we praise your holy name and join their glorious
song: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of
heavenly hosts…” Angels remind
us that, as C.S. Lewis put it, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”
What else do angels do? They watch over us and protect us. Psalm 91 speaks to how God uses angels for the benefit of His Children. They are familiar words:
9 If you make the Most High your
dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge—
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his
angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in
their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
This is a promise. Accordingly, if God does allow difficulty or tragedy to enter our lives, that also is for His set purpose for us. It is not because the angels have fallen down on the job. Because to guard us and protect us is their charge from God.
And they are ever vigilant. Our Scripture readings speak of Michael and the angels doing battle in the heavenly realms on our behalf. They are our guardians. While we sleep, play, work – they are on duty. In the title of a book he wrote, Billy Graham referred to angels as “God’s secret agents.” Good description. While we are (for the most part) totally unaware of their presence, they are employed by God in our behalf; busy preventing tragedy, holding back the forces of evil, surrounding us like a wall.
Until they carry out their last blessed task, which is to lead us home. There is a striking statement in the parable Jesus tells of the rich man and poor Lazarus. You remember the story. The passage I am thinking of describes the death of Lazarus in these terms: “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.” Is this symbolic? Maybe. Or maybe it speaks literally of the last and blessed service of the angels. Which is a very comforting thought, isn’t it?
Let’s bring our thoughts to a close. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad September 29 fell on a Sunday this year. It’s given us the opportunity to reflect upon some very comforting truths. Our gracious God has created us and redeemed us. And until we join Him in heaven, He uses angels to protect us and preserve us.
Returning to the original question of our text, the writer to the Hebrews asks: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” And the blessed answer is yes. Yes they are. St. Michael and all angels are ministering spirits used by God for us. What a blessing. What a comfort. Praise God. Amen.