In the Name of the Living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Out of the blue, on the way to school on Tuesday morning, my nine year old son, Gus, asked me an interesting question: “Dad, who is your sponsor?” I didn’t really understand the question, so I said, “Do you mean ‘sponsor’ like a Nascar driver or an athlete has?” He said, “Yeah. I need to know because I’m thinking about choosing Nike to be mine.” Say what you will, but if the boy is anything, he’s ambitious!
I told him that I wished him well, but that I didn’t have a sponsor in that sense of the word. Then he said, “Well, Mema and Poppy and Nana give you money all the time, so are they your sponsors?” I said, “No, they are grandparents, giving me things for you! And they are far more generous than corporate sponsors.” Thanks be to God for generous grandparents!
Eventually, I turned the conversation into something theological, and I explained that I did have baptismal sponsors, and they made promises on my behalf at my baptism. I reminded him of his baptismal sponsors, too.
I also explained, as I had before, that I had a patron saint and I even had all the angels rooting for me, too – “joining our voices with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven,” as we will say in the Eucharistic prayer in just a few minutes.
And then, thanks to the formation that you all at Redeemer have given him (Sunday School, VBS, Logos and so on), Gus asked me which angel I liked the most.
Because I knew the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels was coming up today, I told him that St. Michael was my favourite angel. Interestingly, then Gus wanted to know what St. Michael looks like.
My favourite image of St. Michael is Sir Jacob Epstein’s enormous bronze statue of St. Michael’s victory over the Devil that hangs on the exterior south wall of Coventry Cathedral. Some of you know it well. It is absolutely magnificent: Michael is about twenty feet tall and the Devil is depicted as having been defeated and he’s curled up and trembling under Michael’s feet.
You can’t enter the cathedral without passing by it. The statue was erected in 1952, after the new Cathedral was built. As you know, the old, medieval cathedral was largely destroyed in WW2, so the statue is a striking symbol and reminder of the triumph of good over the powers of evil and destruction.
Anyway, I showed Gus a picture of Epstein’s masterpiece on my phone in the carpool line. We don’t need books for such things anymore – it’s knowledge on the go, if you will. He looked it over and said, “Wow! He’s so tall and muscular. You probably like him, Dad, because you want to be tall and muscular, too.” Yes, I want to be tall and muscular, too! He’s a tough, but good, kid.
Sponsorships and physiques aside, what I really needed to tell him before he had to get out of the car for school is what I’m going to tell you now.
“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated…And the great dragon, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down.”
Don’t miss it: a war was fought in heaven over your soul and mine. And our old enemy, the Deceiver himself, was defeated! Thanks be to God!
But, I have a footnote: I’m afraid that defeated, in this instance, doesn’t mean that he’s not still deceiving – defeated and cast out of heaven, yes, but also deceiving daily on earth. And I see his lies at work all around us every single day – in my life and yours.
The Deceiver wants us to believe the battle hasn’t been won. He tempts us to unbelief and all manner of shame and vice – and to be afraid, ashamed and discouraged. He tempts us to renounce the love and presence of God the same way he succeeded with Adam and Eve, telling us we don’t really need to rely on God, but on ourselves.
But, as we should know by now, it’s all a lie.
Jesus Himself said, “The devil was a murderer from the beginning, not holding the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (St. John 8:44).
He’s a liar! Do not believe him!
The battle has been won. Don’t disbelieve, but believe. Do not fear, but put on the armour of God. Receive the grace of the Holy Sacraments and the presence of the Holy Spirit!
I also need to tell Gus something else, which lies at the heart of this great feast of Michaelmas. Gus, don’t miss what is made clear in the 12th chapter of the Revelation to St. John.
While it is true that Satan may succeed in deceiving us from time to time, I want you to know the bigger, eternal picture. I want you to know, Son, that he can no longer – no more, nor ever again – accuse us before God. And he can’t accuse us, because, “we have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb.”
As frightening as it is to fathom, at one point Satan could in fact accuse us before God. Just look at what happened to Job – Satan made a case against him before God. And, before the Liar was thrown down from heaven, he was making a case against all of humanity – against you and against me.
But this is no longer – this is over forever, for the Blood of the Lamb, the Blood of Christ, has been shed – and Christians have been made conquers by being bathed therein.
Let me explain it by way of a question: if it is Christ Himself who conquers for us, who, then, can bring a charge against us!?! Tell me! I’ll tell you who can: absolutely no one! Who needs a sponsor when we have a Saviour!?!
Nobody can take away the fact that the Blood of the Lamb – Jesus’ holy and life-giving Blood – has given us perfect standing in the presence of God Almighty.
What I’ve tried to say this morning, albeit imperfectly, is that this day – this feast of St. Michael and All Angels – is about the love of God that is so determined, and so fierce, that it would rather fight a bloody war in a place like heaven than allow your soul or mine to slip away!
But, we wait don’t we? We wait for the final consummation of things – when we approach, with confidence, that eternal throne of grace peace – where there is “neither sighing, nor crying but light and life eternal” (paraphrase on BCP). In the coming days it is true that we will face trial and temptation – we’ll certainly have plenty more natural disasters – and we’ll all face our share of personal tragedies.
And, you know what, I’ve come to grips with all of that, because my hope – my anticipation – isn’t based on some future string of events turning out all right. My confidence is in the victory already won.
In the meantime, Lord, “send thine archangel Michael to our succor; peace maker blessed, may he banish from us striving and hatred so that for the peaceful all things may prosper.”
Sermon preached by the Rev. Charleston D. Wilson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
17th Sunday after Pentecost (St. Michael and All Angels, trans.)
1 October 2017