Sermon Title: "On Angels and Bad Days"
Texts:
From the O.T. of the Feast Day: O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the
words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.
[Daniel 10.11a]
From the Epistle of the Feast Day: Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who
dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to
you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! [Revelation 12.12]
From the Holy Gospel of the Feast Day: Take heed that ye despise not one of
these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always
behold the face of My Father which is in heaven. [Matthew 18.10; KJV]
Each year, on or before the Festival of St. Michael and All Angels, September
29, we mark and this feast in our Sunday Divine Service. Historic Lutheran
liturgical agendas have given this feast a position of prominence among the
various occasions marked on the church calendar. Only Sundays which are all
regarded as celebrations of the resurrection of Christ and the major festivals
of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday are given greater
prominence. This place of prominence, this place of emphasis, is not due to idle
thoughts about angels. It is due to the fact that this feast day points us to
the Gospel. Angels, and particularly guardian angels play a role in our
salvation, even as angels play a role in bringing God's judgment upon evil
people, evil situations, and especially on the earth in God's great Day of
Judgment. Therefore, we annually turn our attention to angels, and today your
are invited to ponder "On Angels and Bad Days."
I.
Coming and going! you may think that this is the condition of modern life, and
indeed it seems that way. But even more so, Coming and going is the story of
angels. Their lives oscillate between adoration of God and of the Lamb, and
service to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. There are differences within the
angelic world. Scriptures mentions these different roles and identities of
various angels, and when you add them up, there are nine such differences, which
we call different ranks of angels. The final hymn for today lists these nine
ranks of angels with their Scriptural identities, Ye Watchers and Ye Holy
Ones, a title that speaks of all who will live with God in everlasting life,
beginning with the angels. Seraphs (other times mentioned by their Hebrew plural
name, Seraphim), Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Princedoms, Powers, Virtues,
Archangels, and Choirs. All of these are angels, with different identities and
different activities. And all of these are pictured around the throne of God,
and all of these are pictured active in the world, truly making for the
all-time, and all-the-time record of coming and going [Without a traffic jam, I
might add!]
II.
In today's Holy Gospel, Christ is teaching you the special place of children
in God's kingdom. Children are the focus of God's attention, so much so that, as
Jesus says, "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
And as part of God's care for, and elevation of, children, the special work of
Guardian Angels is given to this rank known in Hebrew as Cherubim, or in
English, Cherubs. They are pictured in Scripture as being closest to the
throne of God, giving praises to God and engulfed with what historic Christian
philosophers and theologians have called the awesome "Beatific Vision" of God.
Yet, these who are closest to the throne are the ones constantly dispatched to
function in our real, daily world as guardians not just of children, but
guardians of us all, but especially of children who are in God's kingdom.
Why guardian angels? Because of bad days, that's why! Guardians of all kinds in
our world have their responsibilities because bad things might happen. The
activity in this earthly life of angels of all ranks and responsibilities in
this earthly life happens because bad things happen. Even the glory of the choir
angels appearing to the shepherds at Christmas Eve, announcing good tidings of
great joy, happens because bad things happen, for which God's greatest remedy is
the gift of a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord. When the angel Gabriel speaks to
the Blessed Virgin Mary, promising to her the role of bearing the Savior of our
Lord, the need for that miraculous conception and miraculous birth is the sin of
mankind. Angels are constantly moving about, in the guardian role in your life
and in the lives of the children that you know and love. Truly, as our Savior
say, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that
in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven."
III.
The Old Testament for this Feast Day, read to you from the Prophet Daniel,
speaks of the angel Michael, and his role in defending God's people and
thwarting the devil's earthly activities. Michael is spoken of as one of the
Archangels, the leading angels in defeating evil, the angels who get into gear
in the face of bad things and lead the ranks of angels in battle. The one who
speaks to Daniel in this text is an angel under the command of Michael, who sent
this angel to say to Daniel, "Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words
that I speak to you and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you!" This
unidentified angel appears to be of that rank of angels called Princes or
Princedoms. Many English translations say, as you have it here, one
of the chief princes, but the Hebrew can be translated, one of the chiefs over
princes, which would be the position of one of the archangels, which is what He
is called in the New Testament book, Titus.
So here you see that the Archangels, of whom Scripture only identifies four,
command the ranks of princes and other angels to protect and deliver God's
people from earthly evil, especially evil which would impede God's plan of
salvation. What the prophet Daniel was fearful of, in our text, was the
destruction of God's chosen people, from whom the Savior would come to earth.
This angels comforts him with assurance that, in effect, whatever it takes will
be marshaled to protect Daniel and the Old Testament people of God.
The same assurance is given by God's Word to you, because you face the same
enemy and the same dangers and the same source of evil as did the prophet
Daniel. Thus, the Epistle of the day teaches you, Rejoice, O heavens and you who
dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to
you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! Bad days come
because of the fallen angel, the devil, Satan, and his fellow fallen angels, the
devils. Bad days come because he and his minions are here, in our earthly
existence, with great wrath, because their time is short.
But Satan is not here alone or unchallenged or unfettered. He is limited in
power because he has one hand tied behind his back, that is, he is chained as
Scripture puts it. And he is hindered because the angels of God defend God's
people and God's earthly cause. Do you want the protection of God's angels? Then
get close to God's people and God's earthly cause. The devil's temptation these
days is to urge you to be separate from God's people and God's earthly cause, at
least as other people might see you. But that is a prescription for disaster â?"
personal, physical, relation, and ultimately, eternal disaster.
This earth is a war-zone. There is no way around it. You cannot flee from it. It
is a war-zone of the devil's making and of the angel's activity to protect you.
So it is that Dr. Luther teaches you to pray, morning and evening, Let Thy holy
angels have charge of me that the wicked foe may have no power over me!
So it is that God draws you close to Him and to His Church, and because He knows
that it is sin and fear that keeps you from such closeness, He makes His church
the house and home of the remission of guilt in the forgiveness of sins. Nothing
stands between you and the grace and mercy of God, and your life is indeed
covered by the protective activity of the angels of God. You do not see these
agents from heaven, but that is the way it is with everything that God has for
you in His Church.
In Christ's church you must see with your ears, not with your eyes, for as St.
Paul writes, For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal
weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are
seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are
transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
So, in God's house, you must see with your ears. You see with your ears that
your sins are forgiven. You see with your ears that Baptism is a washing away of
sins and a renewal of and by the Holy Spirit. You see with your ears that in the
Holy Supper you receive and consume the very body and blood of Christ. You see
with your ears that we, to varied in many respects, are all one, brothers and
sisters of the family of God in Christ. And you see with your ears that
surrounding you and protecting you this day, are the angels of God. Stay close
to God's people and God's purpose, and they have you covered, guarding your
back, your front, above you and below you, that the wicked foe may have no power
over you.
Shepherd
of the Springs
