The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Two Christians were in the news in a big way last week. Yogi Berra died on the 22nd. His career with the New York Yankees and the Mets included being a catcher, coach, and manager for those teams. He is best known for his short, pithy sayings. Remember “The future ain’t what it used to be,” or what about, “Little League baseball is a good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.” And then there is, “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.” I especially love, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” Yogi has a lasting legacy in those sayings and many more.
Of course, the really big news is that Pope Francis is in the United States. He addressed Congress last week as well as the United Nations. In a short time, this Pope has captured not only the attention and hearts of Roman Catholics, but also of all Christians in general and of many persons who are outside of the circle of faith. When Pope Francis speaks, people listen.
In this culture, which is increasingly hostile to religion generally, and especially to Christianity, this is an amazing and heartening development. It took the Pope’s address for people all over America to realize that in the very chamber of the House of Representatives a marble relief of Moses is affixed to one of the walls as a contributor to the foundation of American law. We are not Roman Catholic, but Christians of all stripes should take heart that through Pope Francis the world is listening to a Christian leader and hearing Christian teaching.
Today we are celebrating the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. This feast falls on the 29th of September, but we have moved it to today so that all of our parishioners can experience the celebration of this great and important feast in Anglicanism. It is especially important to us at Redeemer because so many of our young people have been or are conferees at the annual St. Michael’s Conference in Hartford, Connecticut. At the conference every year, the high point of the week is the pageant on Friday night, and the high point of the pageant comes at the end, when St. Michael appears, signaling the ultimate triumph of faith over the forces of evil.
When our children were young, Linda and I would sing hymns and songs to them every night before they went to sleep. One of those songs was this, and join me if you know it, “All night, all day, angels watching over me, O Lord.” Angels appear regularly throughout the Bible, all the way from Genesis through Revelation. The Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would conceive and bear the Son of God. Angels announced his birth at Bethlehem to the shepherds. An angel urged Joseph to flee with Mary and the infant Jesus into Egypt, ministered to our Lord after his temptations in the wilderness and during his agony in the Garden, and rolled away the stone from Jesus’ tomb. In his calling of Nathaniel to be a disciple, Jesus tells him that he “will see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” While angels are not mentioned in the creeds, every time we celebrate the mass the Celebrant mentions that we are joining with angels and archangels in singing, “Holy, holy, holy,” recalling that angels surround the throne of God in heaven and chant his praises continually.
We know of the existence of angels because God has revealed that to us through Holy Scripture. Angels are not people who have died, gone to heaven, and “gotten their wings.” When we die, we remain people; we don’t become angels. Angels were created by God just as people were created by God, although angels are pure spirit.
There are good angels and bad angels. The good angels assist the Archangel Michael, and the evil angels Belial, in the final conflict described in Revelation.
One other interesting tidbit that we learn from Scripture is that the Pharisees believed not only in the resurrection of the dead, but also in angels, while the Sadducees believed in neither. Bishop Michael Marshall, whom you may remember has visited Redeemer, likes to say that that is why “they were so sad, you see.”
Angels assist God with the work of salvation in this world. The letter to the Hebrews puts it this way: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?” The existence and ministry of angels reminds us, along with the other things of our faith – worship, the Holy Scriptures, prayer – that this life is not just, or even primarily, about things that are seen, but about things that are unseen. As we go about our daily business, relating to our spouses, our children, our parents, our friends, those with whom we work, we are engaged in a much larger spiritual reality. Every thought, word, and deed is part of a larger picture in which we are engaged in becoming. As Christians, we are engaged in becoming the people that God created us to be.
This work of becoming is, thank God, not just up to us. In fact, it is all about God’s grace. We are part of the Church, the Body of Christ, we have the sacraments, prayer, the Holy Scriptures, we have the support and wise counsel of other Christians, we have the ministry of angels watching over us night and day. Our goal should be to live each moment in grateful response to this abundant grace, and as we do that we become more and more the people God created us to be. The greatest gift of grace, however, is that we have a loving God who forgives us again and again when we miss the mark. As Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” And that is grace.
Sermon preached by The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (tr.)
27 September 2015