St. Michael and All Angels: God's Presence Is In This Place

Genesis 28:10-17 (NRSV)

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place-- and I did not know it!" And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints tells us so much about this commemoration of St. Michael and All Angels.

The scriptural word "angel" (Greek: angelos) means, literally, a messenger.  Messengers from God can be visible or invisible, and may assume human or non-human forms.  Christians have always felt themselves to be attended by healthful spirits--swift, powerful, and enlightening.  Those beneficent spirits are often depicted in Christian art in human form, with wings to signify their swiftness and spacelessness, with swords to signify their power, and with dazzling raiment to signify their ability to enlighten.  Unfortunately, this type of pictorial representation has led many to dismiss the angels as "just another mythical beast, like the unicorn, the griffin, or the sphinx."

Of the many angels spoken of in the Bible, only four are called by name: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.  The Archangel Michael is 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. "Michaelmas," as his feast is called in England, has long been one of the popular celebrations of the Christian Year in many parts of the world.

Michael is the patron saint of countless churches, including Mont Saint-Michel, a monastery off the coast of Normandy that figured so prominently in medieval English history, and Conventry Cathedra, England's most famous church building, rising from the ashes of the most devastating war of our time." (Page 612).

Once I left a message on Rev. Canon Susan Russell's Facebook page in a post she left about Rev. Lou Engle of "The Call".  I said: "Of all the conservative fundamentalists Engle reminds me most of Adolf Hitler when he talks and rallies crowds.  I so get the feeling of chills when I hear him talk."  Rev. Susan responded: "Pay attention to your feelings, they are messengers."  

Sometimes the things we feel in our hearts, through our emotions they are messengers letting us know God is here with us.  They could be there because of angels trying to tell us that there are things of evil around us.  Many of us felt feelings of anger and disgust over the abusive language that was aimed at Muslim people at the end of this past summer.  Those were messengers telling us something was very wrong.  Many of us have been feeling a sense of real sadness and anger over the number of LGBTQ teen suicides that have been on the rise.   Those feelings are messengers calling us to continue our missionary work of advocacy for sexual and gender diversity.  When our feelings call us to contemplate the evils of this world and what we can do about them, there are angels at work in our world around us.  They are helping us to know and understand that in God's world there is room and opportunity for everyone. 

In addition to the encounter between Jacob and the angels in Genesis is the account in Revelation.

Revelation 12:7-12 (NRSV)

War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world-- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,

"Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Messiah,

for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God.

But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.

Rejoice then, you heavens

and those who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

for the devil has come down to you

with great wrath,

because he knows that his time is short!"

 John 1:47-51 (NRSV)

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Angels very often attended to Jesus.  Angels came and waited on Jesus at the end of his forty days of temptation in Matthew 4: 1-11.  In Luke 22: 43 an angel came and gave Jesus strength to face his death and resurrection.  We know about the activity of the Archangel Gabriel in the Annunciation in Luke 1: 26 to 38 as well as in the conversation with Zechariah earlier in Luke 1 about John the Baptist.  The host of angels that appeared to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus in Luke 2: 13 and so on.  If Jesus who was God's Son needed the help of angels and spirits from God, how much more help do we need?  

Angels are at work in our world and our lives.  They may very well be using us to give someone who is grieving comfort or food to someone who is hungry.  When someone takes on the opportunity to save someone's life in a fire, accident or donate furniture to a family that lost every thing in a fire, angels are at work in our lives and the lives of those we touch with God's love.  When church communities offer supper nights or free lunches for the homeless and those who are struggling to get up off ground one, angels are at work in those places.  When organizations and individuals work for the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning, and queer (LGBTQ) people, the angels of God are at work.

Last night Jason and I enjoyed a magnificent multi-faith prayer service for the respect of all religions.  We prayed together with Christians, Muslims, Jewish people, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha'i, American Indians and so many others.  We acknowledged together that each of our religions have traditions and practices that are different from each other.  Yet, despite our differences we together stated that: "We value the importance of governments and peoples allowing the free exercise and expression of all religious traditions and opinions in their communities.  We advocate for mutual respect across differences and urge all to refrain from physical violence, negative stereotyping, and spreading of false information.  We believe in mutual respect, greater self-understanding, and cooperative service for the common good."  The angels of God were active last night as each tradition led us in prayer in their own unique way, as we prayed for and with each other.  It was a marvelous experience.

As we commemorate the Angels today, I also pray that we will take time to see God working in and through us.  I hope all of us will take the opportunity to know God's presence in the very place where we are.

Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer for Michael and All Angels, Book of Common Prayer, page 244)