St Michael and All Angels
Genesis 28.10-17; Revelation 12.7-12; John 1.47-51
Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted the
ministries of angels and mortals in a wonderful order: grant that
as your holy angels always serve you in heaven, so, at your
command, they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
ANGELS glide in and out of the biblical stories, and today are
centre-stage. Never at our beck and call, they are at God's
command, and are more often messengers and strengtheners for an
uncomfortable task than the feel-good comforters of popular
culture.
People in the Bible often failed to recognise an angel;
sometimes they are described as "men", indistinguishable from
anyone else. It is certainly not a mark of deep piety to see an
angel - even Balaam's ass did that.
I remember when a teenager hearing the missionary Helen
Roseveare describe watching Congolese rebels, advancing with intent
to rape or kill her and her companions, then suddenly retreat. She
discovered later that they feared the armed warriors that they saw
encircling her house, warriors whom she never saw. Then friends
wrote to ask why they had suddenly felt compelled to pray for her
at that very moment.
There is an army of the Lord composed of angels, with Michael in
charge. The picture language of Revelation describes a final
conflagration, where Michael and his angelic host throw Satan and
his angelic host into the lake of fire.
Inevitably, that reminds us of Coventry Cathedral, where St
Michael stands victorious over Satan. In the Gethsemane Chapel of
the same cathedral, a more disturbing image is seen through a crown
of thorns: an angel holds out the cup of suffering.
The Genesis and John readings focus not on angels, but two very
human, very different people. Jacob is one of the Bible's less
pleasant characters, despite his being a key player in the story of
God's salvation. He thrived on deceit, and it seems that he could
not tell the truth if he tried.
Contrast him with Nathanael, an Israelite in whom was no deceit.
Jacob was running away from his family, having deceived his father
and usurped his brother's birthright. In contrast, Nathanael was
coming towards Jesus. Jacob knew little about God; only after his
dream did he recognise: "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did
not know it."
In contrast, Nathanael realised that God was present in Jesus,
who knew something very significant about him; we are not told what
had happened under that fig tree. For both Jacob and Nathanael, the
encounter with God was life-changing.
Where do the angels come in? In both stories, angels were
travelling between earth and heaven. There was a ladder between
earth and heaven in Jacob's story, and Jesus, anticipating his
words, "I am the way . . .; no one comes to the Father but by me,"
claimed to be that bridge.
The common factor is that angels are involved in the opening of
heaven to earth. This can be experienced today in those "thin"
places and times where heaven seems very present. This fits with
other accounts of angelic activity. They were at the incarnation
when God came among us; at Jesus's arrest and crucifixion, bringing
Jesus strength to face the coming trials - opening heaven to
him.
At the resurrection, they rolled the stone away; God emptied the
tomb, and angels opened that emptying to human eyes. In the visions
of the end times, angels draw us into heavenly life and
worship.
We pray in the collect that the angels who always serve God in
heaven may help and defend us here on earth. Angels are a reminder
of our need of help, our dependence on God's grace. In praying as
we do, we are praying for God's strength, because God's angels work
at God's command.
It is far better to pray and to get on with life, believing that
God is strengthening us, than to fret about whether we see an
angel. The point is not so much the angels, but the God whom they
and we serve.
"You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of Man." Heaven is opened to us: what Jacob
saw in a dream is now a reality in Jesus Christ. For that, and all
God's provision for us through angels, we give thanks.
Angels, help us to adore him
Ye behold him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia,
Praise with us the God of grace.
H. F. Lyte (1793-1847)