Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
This Friday the church will celebrate St. Michael and All Angels. Angels were messengers of God. They appear frequently throughout our scriptures, but often it is unclear if the appearances were God or God’s emissaries. Only four are given names in our canon of scripture: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, all of whom stood besides God’s throne in heaven and are referred to as archangels. Bishop Moody had an image of the city of Lexington being surrounded by four churches named after them. Today, three remain. As the story goes, no one wanted to be named after Uriel, perhaps because of how easily it could have been mispronounced, so the chapel at our seminary received that distinction. While the name Michael (mai’kuhl) appears thirteen times in the Hebrew scriptures, only three of these occurrences seem to be other than common names. These three are in the book of Daniel where he is referred to as “one of the chief princes” and was considered the patron angel of the Jewish nation. In the New Testament we see Michael twice. The first in Jude where we hear that he fought with the devil over the disposition of the body of Moses and then again in Revelation when war broke out where Michael and his angels defeated the great dragon “who is called the Devil and Satan” and was thrown down to the earth along with his angels. Hence, almost any image representing St. Michael will show him wielding a sword. We all like a champion and an image to focus on, but the day is not just centered on Michael, but All Angels, all the messengers of God. Time and again, God’s will is revealed by His messengers. As the writer of the letter to the Hebrews cautions us, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” It took centuries for most people to finally accept that we, on earth were not the center of the universe. Many today can only think in terms of our human form, that we are the center of creation. What we learn from scripture is that we are not alone, that the wideness of God’s creation far exceeds our imaginations. That God has, does, and will again, be present with us through others, be they “things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers.”
A collect for St. Michael and All Angels: 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
Peace,
Bryant+
