Michael and All Angels
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Both our catechism class and our Monday morning Bible study group are currently reading the beginning chapters of the Bible. Together, we read the creation story and marveled at our amazing God who ordered the universe and gave life to everything that exists. God brought into being a beautiful Garden of Eden, the perfect world, into which he placed the human being to take care of it all.
Reading about God calling creation “good” and “very good” brought up this question: If God created everything so good, then where did evil come from? Why isn’t our world this amazing, harmonious, flourishing place anymore?
Because we all know and feel and see that this isn’t the world God had in mind, where everyone could live well and without fear. When I asked the confirmands what signs they see that point to the fact that we live in a fallen world, this is the list they came up with in no time flat: War, pollution, high taxes, disease and illness, death, politics, animal testing, and crime. None of this was part of God’s vision. So what happened?
The our scriptures offer two stories to explain why there is evil in the world.
The better-known story is the one about Adam and Eve. God had created this first couple and placed them into the Garden of Eden and tasked them with caring for everything. They had free reign, except for one thing: They were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Along comes the serpent and tempts them to do just that, promising that they will be like God if they do. They fall for it and eat the forbidden fruit. Immediately, all kinds of damage is done to previously harmonious relationships: Adam and Eve fight; they both hide from God; women and serpents hate each other; the soil will make it hard for the man to earn a living; the couple is kicked out of the garden.
What the story wants to tell us is this: Humans had free will; God took that risk. In their free will, they think they can rebel against God; rebel against the limits that come with being the creature, not the creator. They want to be like God, have the power and knowledge and glory and independence of God, but it ends up in disaster. God’s harmonious creation is in disarray. We are living that to this day.
The other story about evil entering the world is the one we find in our scripture readings today.
According to this story, God created not just the earth and the universe, but also the ranks of heavenly beings, including angels and archangels. One of those archangels, Lucifer, wanted to be like God and ended up leading a rebellion in heaven against God’s divine authority.
Led by the archangel Michael, God’s faithful angels fought against Lucifer’s angels. These forces for good overcame Lucifer and his forces for evil. As a result, Lucifer was thrown out of heaven.
According to this story, it is again free will that leads to rebellion against limitations, the makes creatures want to act like the creator, and that ruins God’s harmonious world order and all kinds of relationships.
Some believe that Lucifer now resides in the underworld, ruling hell. Others believe he fell to earth and now plies his devilish trade here. And isn’t that exactly what it feels like? That Satan is now here and always tries to mess things up? As one commentator said: “Satan has been thrown out of heaven, and it feels like he crash-landed in my backyard.”
It is comforting to know that Michael fights against evil. Heaven is already freed from Satan’s presence and power, and the promise is that one day, earth will be, too.
Until that day arrives, we have to carry on our constant struggle, struggle against temptation in our own lives and against evil in the life of our community, nation, and world. Our baptism liturgy points to the fact that this struggle is real. Candidates for baptism or their guardians are asked these three questions: Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God? Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel again God? Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?
Yes, the pull of evil is real. Baptism does not liberate us from that struggle. But baptism gives us power to persevere.
Today we celebrate Michael, the archangel who fought against Satan’s army and won. Depictions of Michael are popular. In most of them, Michael looks somewhat like the image on the front of today’s bulletin. This statue stands in Bonn, Germany. Michael is strong, white, male, wearing armor, and holding a flaming sword.
The vast majority of us do not look like that, aren’t strong like that, and don’t carry weapons like that. And none of us have wings. So who are we to engage in the struggle against evil?
We are children of God. We are baptized followers of Jesus Christ. We are filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are, as Revelation puts it today, the ones who “have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” We are those to whom Jesus says in the gospel reading, “rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus died and rose for us so that we know how our struggle will ultimately end: In our salvation and resurrection to eternal life, thanks to the grace and mercy of God.
Jesus lived and taught to show us how we can resist evil until we get to heaven. While we are here on earth, we have been given the calling to bring to life the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We have been given the power to do something about evil.
Our gospel reading this morning begins with the disciples returning from the mission journey excited about what they have experienced: “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” They discovered that they had power to cast out demons and remove the powers of evil from the life of other people.
And they didn’t do it like Michael. They didn’t show up in armor, wielding a flaming sword and doing battle. They did the exact opposite. When Jesus sent them out to spread the gospel, he told them to take no extra clothes, no weapons, not even a staff, and no money. He didn’t arm them, he stripped them down and made them vulnerable and dependent on the hospitality of strangers.
In this condition, they were to heal the sick, share peace, and announce the kingdom of God. Plain people with a plain message doing plain things manage to drive the devil’s power from people’s lives.
Talking about driving out demons: In movies, such exorcisms are always dramatic, with lots of screaming and writhing. In real life, that’s not my experience. A couple of times in our ministry, we have been asked by member families to come to their house and do something about the ghosts that lived there and bothered the family. We grabbed our occasional services book and went to their homes for a ‘blessing of a dwelling’. With a lit candle, we went from room to room and read scripture and said prayers. We proclaimed the gospel and pronounced God’s blessing on the home. They never saw the ghosts again.
Small things can make a huge impact. This month is suicide awareness month. I was reminded of a training I took, teaching me how to minister to people with thoughts of suicide. The presenter told the story of a man who jumped of a high bridge to end his life, but survived. Later he said that as he took public transportation to get to the bridge, he told himself, “If one person smiles at me, I will not kill myself.” Something as small as a smile could have held the demon of suicidal thoughts at bay.
Our Climate Advocates group meets today between services. They are leading our congregation as we strive to live up to our calling to take good care of God’s creation. Some powerful leaders in the mold Michael will work on the big picture and change laws. But what will really heal the environment is millions of small things; countless people changing their daily habits, using less plastic, writing letters about the proposed Piedmont Access Powerline, buying local foods, etc.
Our world is lacking peace. A few mighty leaders will hopefully work towards an end of war in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, in Sudan, and so many other places. But what it will really take for peace to spread is millions of small things; countless people willing to recognize that the neighbor they disagree with politically, the coworker that gets on their nerves, the immigrant, and the former inmate are all created in the image of God and deserving of respect and kindness.
Michael is amazing; we are blessed to know that he is fighting the good fight; he is worthy of celebration.
But we all are not like Michael. We are more like his foot soldiers in the trenches of the struggle against evil. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do small things that make a big impact. In her blog, commentator Debie Thomas put this calling into powerful words; I am closing my sermon with them:
“Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly. Pray, listen, learn, and love. Break the bread, drink the wine, bear the burden, share the peace. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” Meaning: when we do what Jesus asks of us, when we travel the path of vulnerability, humility, and peace-making, evil trembles. Demons fall. The world changes. God’s kingdom comes.” Amen.