Michael and All Angels

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

A young person asked me the other night why we never really talk about the bible book of Revelation much in church. Ouch…good question. I think part of the reason is that it uses symbols and images and metaphors that often need to be unpacked before they make much sense to modern readers. [Just like a comic book…] But in today’s text from Revelation, there is an image that most people understand. A battle. [maybe that’s why Martin Luther used it for A Mighty Fortress…]

For this battle in Revelation, the stage has been set between the (real!) forces of good and evil. This is the real showdown between goodness in the world, and those things that make you say “life isn’t fair.” This is vindication time for those questions that you’ve been asking since you were 6 years old…why do bad things happen to good people? This is health versus sickness. This is love versus hate; honesty vs. cheating. Finally, God is taking evil to task for all this stuff.

And when this battle is fought, it’s good to be on God’s side, because God has a team of angels. Of course most of us think of angels as sweet holy things with wings…possibly playing a harp. Some angels… do not play the harp. In the Bible, the word angel simply means ‘messenger.’ And there are are all kinds of messengers.

In Revelation, God’s got a message for Satan, the leader of all that is evil, and that message is a beat down. God’s sent his warrior angels to deliver this beat down to Satan. And the general among these warriors is the great messenger Michael, for whom this day is named, who leads these angel/messengers against the forces of the Devil.

And the announcer takes the microphone in heaven and proclaims the entrance of our commander and chief God whose forces have prevailed in battle, and who has succeeded in throwing down this enemy that stood against us:

“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his chosen One,
for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.

We’ve won. Evil has lost. And the announcer introduces on center stage the secret weapon X that won the day. The answer to our prayers. The hero:

An innocent and bloody lamb.

The announcer reveals that the battle was won not with the strength of arms, but with the sacrifice of a trusting little lamb. The warriors prevailed not with better weapons of destruction, but simply the words of testimony. The story of Jesus Christ.

This story of a boy born basically homeless to an unmarried couple. This young man who was called by some ‘savior’…but who not only didn’t help his people rise up against their oppressors, but who didn’t even save himself from the Roman crucifixion.

This is our hero?

Do you remember what happened when Jesus sent out the seventy disciples into the nearby towns and villages?

In the 10th chapter of Luke, Jesus sends out 70 messengers in his name. They are to go out, in pairs, and they are to announce that God’s Kingdom is near, that goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate. And they are to do this without money, without even sandals, without bags, without home field advantage. And just in case you thought Jesus was sugar coating this ridiculous appointment, he told them, “I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.” God’s unlikely angels.

These little lambs are sent out in the midst of wolves and they’re not even carrying pepper spray. This battle seems to be lost before it even begins — the disciples have some real enemies. In their efforts to share the Good News, the disciples that Jesus sends out encounter many demons. Even though most folks don’t really believe there are demons running around — it’s hard to deny the chaos and pain that gets stirred up in life. Everyone knows there’s some nasty stuff out there. If we’re honest, we know there is some nasty stuff in here, too.

But, here’s the report from Luke, Chapter 10:

“The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” [Jesus] said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”” (Luke 10.17–20 NRSV)

No weapons. No armor. No real training. No liability insurance. But even so, the disciples were successful. Sick people were healed. Tired people found hope. Lonely people found each other. All because of one little word. The disciples told Jesus excitedly, “in your name,” the demons submit to us. All it took was a passing of the peace. The peace of Christ be with you.

Every time that I sing the great hymn “A Mighty Fortress,” roughly the same pattern happens. The organ begins booming and I think, this is kind of a heavy handed tune. And the first stanza begins with ‘a mighty fortress’ and swords and shields and why does it have to be so violent? Why is it always war? But then, as the song goes on, I get wrapped up in its confident language. We sing that God wins and that God even fights right by our side. And just as I feel pretty good about this hymn, I get to the final verse, and I have to confess that about 50% of the time, I cannot finish. I get choked up. Do you know what it says? Speaking about God’s foes, it says:

Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child, or spouse

Surely you’ve had some goods, some thing taken from you. Probably you know someone who has lost a spouse. Maybe you have. Perhaps you know someone who has lost a child. When that hymn forces me to think about losing the most important people in my life, I cannot deny that the power of death is real in this world. If you’ve ever lost sleep worrying about someone you love, then you know it, too.

No weapon can stop it… no strength of ours can match its might. What weapon can you use against old age? What armor can you wear when your trust has been abused by someone else?

But the one little word. Just a word of peace from that one little lamb. Jesus, who fights with forgiveness. Who repays evil with love. Jesus has chosen you because you are exactly the kind of disciple that he likes: flawed, unprepared, and a little banged up. And Jesus sends you out, not because you have the greatest weapons, but because you have him. You have the one little word. And it has you. With the peace of Christ you’ll subdue the demons you encounter in your life and the world around you.

Though life be wrenched away,
They cannot win the day.
The Kingdom’s ours forever!