Sermon - Michaelmass 2018 - Matthew 18:1-11

Merry Michaelmas! Today is one my favorite celebrations in the church year: St. Michael and All Angels, otherwise known as Michaelmas! It’s like Christmas in that the focus is on Jesus, but instead of focusing on a little baby in a manger, we get to focus on the defeat of Satan by the archangel Michael! So our focus for today is that our Lord defends us by means of His angels who are both messengers and warriors.

Angels are a thoroughly fascinating topic and have been the interest of many people who aren’t even Christian. Generally, angels are depicted as fat little naked cherub babies. Or we imagine them as just regular people, thinking that anyone we see could be an angel and we don’t even know it. 

These images of angels we have in our minds don’t typically come from scripture, but they come from popular TV shows like Touched By An Angel or books about angels or art about angels or people’s “visions” of angels they claim to have had. But those sources aren’t accurate; so cast away any popular notion of angels you might have and instead listen to how scripture describes angels.

Firstly, angels are created beings. They’re not divine. They’re not gods. Sometime during the week of Creation angels were created by God. Just to be clear, angels are created as angels. They’re their own race. Just like monkeys and fish don’t evolve into people, neither do people evolve into angels. When you go to heaven, you don’t become an angel, and this is a good thing because angels were created to serve God and man.

Angels serve God in two particular ways: as messengers and as warriors. First off, the word “angel” literally means “messenger.” Often when you meet angels in the Bible they are delivering a message. Think of the Gospel of Luke, an angel appears of Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist who would be the forerunner of Christ. An angel appears to Joseph, to Mary, in order to announce the birth of the Christ. On the night when Jesus was born, an angel appeared to shepherds in the fields to announce the birth of Jesus. When Jesus rose from the dead, two angels sat in the tomb to announce the resurrection of the Christ. After Jesus ascended to heaven, two angels proclaimed that Jesus would return from heaven. Angels are messengers sent by God to proclaim the Word of the Lord which pertains to the Lord.

This is important. Angels don’t just appear and start speaking gibberish or about unimportant banal things. Angels open their mouths and proclaim the Word of the Lord. This is the primary thing that angels do: they declare the message! 

In fact the speaking of angels is so significant in the life of the church, that their words influence our worship as well. During the historic liturgy of the Divine Service, the church has joined in the worship of the angels. The Gloria In Excelsis and the Sanctus are both hymns the angels first sang which we have now made part of our worship as well. When you sing on Sunday mornings the historic liturgy, you’re not just singing some words invented by some earthly poet, but you’re singing the same words the angels sing in heaven! 

Just as angels are messengers of the Lord, so do they utilize this message as warriors of the Lord. That’s right, angels are warriors! Those cute chubby naked cherub babies and the long-haired soft-spoken hippy effeminate angels you picture aren’t in the Bible! Angels are frightening things, whenever people see them they’re terrified and have to be told “do not fear.” Angels bring with them the wrath and vengeance of the almighty God! Instead of “Touched By An Angel” it should be called “Torched By An Angel.” These things are fearsome warriors!

Although they may be fear-inducing warriors of God, they’re on our side and fight for us. When in the Old Testament Israel fought many battles and won, it was because legions of angels fought on their side. These legions of angels still fight on our side today.

So we come to St. Michael, the archangel. Who, sometime before Adam and Eve fell into sin, defeated Satan and cast him out of heaven. “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And 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.”

The devil and his angels have been defeated and thrown down to the earth. They are here with us. Be aware, there are angels who are not good. If you think an angel has appeared to you and given you a message, and that message isn’t about Jesus of the Bible who was crucified for you, then that angel may belong to Satan and be no more than a demon trying to deceive you. Because that’s how Satan fights. This spiritual war that is being waged around us is not fought with guns and knives, but with lies and accusations.

Satan is “the deceiver of the whole world” “who accuses them day and night before our God.” If you think the biggest evil around us is fought with guns, bombs, and violence, you’re greatly deceived. The war today and everyday is being fought with ideologies and theologies. It’s being fought in the hearts and minds of our children, our parents, our siblings, and ours.

Satan is a deceiver, he lies and twists words into fanciful destructive weapons. He tempts you to sin. He deceives you that right is wrong and wrong is right. He sets up himself and your words and imaginations in the place of God’s Word. He doesn’t need you to be a full-on Satanist, he’s just as fine if you’re apathetic about your faith. If you’re not one prone to apathy, he twists God’s word until you feel threatened, accused, and despairing of God’s goodness. The devil is the accuser, the deceiver, and the tempter. “Woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!” 

But although that ancient dragon may be here on this earth, he’s already been defeated! The deceiver is powerless to destroy. St. Michael has conquered the enemy! But how? 

It’s not because Michael is all-powerful or a type of demi-god. Instead, his name says it all. Michael’s name is really a question in Hebrew. Mee-kha-el. Meaning, “who is like God?” Good question, who is like God? Who is like God in power and might and majesty? No one. Yet, Michael, who acts with the authority of God and speaks the Word of God, is used by God to throw down our ancient enemy and give us the victory!

But how does Michael do this? With a flaming sword? With fire and brimstone? No. “They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” “When the archangel Michael, contending with the devil,... he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”” Michael is a warrior who fought not with sword nor poison, but as a messenger who fought with the Word of God. As Luther’s hymn goes, the devil is defeated with “one little word.” That little word is Jesus.

“By the blood of the Lamb” St. Michael took down the devil. The blood which Christ spilled on the cross crushed that ancient serpent’s head. When He shed His blood, the deceiver’s accusations began to hold no power. When Satan shouts in your ears: “Sinner! You are guilty and deserve hell! Mortal! God is no God, He’s already forsaken you!” When those lies creep into your ears, you can stand up behind the cross, point to your crucified Jesus, and declare to Satan: “Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ! Drop your ugly accusation, I am not so soon enticed. Now that to the font I’ve traveled, all your might has come unraveled, and, against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me!”

And when the battle continues raging throughout your life, with the devil’s army’s neverending onslaught, remember what Jesus says, your “angels always see the face of the Father who is in heaven.” Your angels are in the presence of the almighty God and they fight with His power and endurance. The Lord sends His angels to watch over you and guard you amidst the temptations and trials of the evil one. “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”

The angels shall guard you all the days of your life. But while on earth below, with the devil prowling about like a lion, we’re not powerless against his seething attacks. Instead, like the angels, we’ve been equipped with a weapon sharper than any two edged sword: our lips are filled with the Word of God, within which one word has more power than all the might of the devil and his legions of demons. 

So let us, like the angels of heaven, fill our mouths with the praises of the Lord! So that on the last day, when Christ returns in all of His glory, and He sends out His angels with a loud trumpet call to gather His church, our ears will be primed with His Word and our tongues will be filled with His praise, to awaken! We whose names are written in the book of life, and who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake to everlasting life! “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Merry Michaelmas!