I’m back. It’s wonderful to be back after a tremendous sabbatical of four months. While we were away from you many thousands of miles you were never far from us, for we held you in our prayers and knew that you were holding us in yours.
I was able to have a very restful time because I knew I had left you in good hands. I wish to thank Jody Maxwell, our Senior Warden, Fr. Marsden, Fr. Wilson, and Fr. Bumsted for their excellent administrative and pastoral care while I was gone, and our excellent staff.
The four months I was away was a turbulent time for the world. The terrible conflict with Isis arose during that time and reminded us that the war against terror is far from over. In fact, it has been taken to a new level.
While we were in Russia, things were heating up over there over the issue with the Ukraine. The Ebola virus was taking the lives of many in Africa, including Americans, and just over this past weekend it arrived in the United States in one person.
There’s a lot to be concerned about in the world today, and today, my first Sunday back, we chose to celebrate the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels. A superficial glance might suggest that we are avoiding the real issues that people face in our day and concentrating on keeping our heads in the clouds.
In trying to answer that charge, let me tell you a little bit about my sabbatical. Linda and I started out with parishioners John Parks and Desi Dreffin on a riverboat cruise in Russia, beginning in St. Petersburg and ending in Moscow. Much of our tour included visits to many Orthodox churches.
Orthodox churches customarily are covered on the inside with icons. Every bit of wall space has an icon on it (You know I like icons, but be not afraid—I’m not going to do that here!) The most important icons are on the iconostasis, which separates the nave from the sanctuary. The sanctuary is where the altar is located, as is the case with our churches.
The most important part of the iconostasis are the holy doors, called the Beautiful Gate, which lead into the sanctuary. As I understand it, the Beautiful Gate most often contains images of the four evangelists, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. The ones I saw also included an image of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and bear the Son of the Most High. A little farther, on each side of the iconostasis, there are two deacons’ doors. Most often the icons on those doors are of the Archangels Gabriel and Michael, one on each side. Thus, those who have provided the Church with the accounts dealing with the earthly life of our Lord are most prominent. The Beautiful Gate with the Blessed Virgin Mary recalls her pivotal role in saying yes to be the God Bearer, and those with St. Michael, the guardian of the Church, and St. Gabriel, the messenger of God, recall the participation of all of the hosts of Heaven in the redemption of the world.
After we left Russia, Linda and I went to Italy, where we stayed for about six weeks. Again, we visited countless churches! Always, we found depictions of the four evangelists, and always of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Almost as frequently, we found depictions of St. Michael the Archangel.
I’m telling you about all of this not to give a lecture on religious art, but because the art in these ancient churches reveal what the Church held to be most important in our Christian tradition. What was a revelation to me was the prominence of St. Michael, in sharp contrast to his relative obscurity today in our Episcopal tradition.
You might be interested to know, also, that we at Redeemer mention St. Michael every Sunday in our prayers before mass in the sacristy. We say a prayer of confession that begins like this: “I confess to God Almighty, to Blessed Mary Ever Virgin, to Blessed Michael the Archangel, to Blessed John the Baptist, to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed,” and so on. And, of course, St. Michael is especially venerated by our young people who attend St. Michael’s Conference every year at the end of the summer.
The basis for the veneration of St. Michael in our tradition begins with the Scriptures. He is mentioned in Daniel a few times, and in the New Testament in the Book of Revelation, one mention of which we heard in today’s Epistle where Michael defeats the devil.
The faith into which you and I were baptized, the faith which we celebrate every time we come together for the Holy Eucharist, the faith which we seek to live out in our daily lives, is a supernatural reality. Grounded in Holy Scripture, nourished by the Body and Blood of our risen Lord, surrounded by the witness of saints throughout the ages, and supported by the hosts of Heaven, we are called to see life from a different perspective. It is important to celebrate St. Michael and All Angels on a Sunday because it calls attention, in a dramatic way, to a reality that is much bigger than what you can see, hear, taste, smell, or touch. There are created beings, that are not human beings, that are part of that reality and the purpose of some of them is to glorify God by helping us. Our faith proclaims that whatever is going on in the world, be it good or bad, is part of a much larger picture than the world recognizes. As members of the Body of Christ, we are part of that supernatural reality. The purpose of the Christian life is to grow ever more fully into that reality.
Sermon preached by the Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
17th Sunday after Pentecost
5 October 2014