Sermon for St.
Michael and All Angels, September 29, 2024
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who
is to come. Amen.
Revelation 12:7-12 7There was also a war in
heaven. Michael and his angels fought
with the dragon. The dragon fought back
along with his angels, 8but he was not strong enough. There was no longer a place for them in
heaven. 9The great dragon was
thrown down—the ancient serpent,
the one called the Devil and Satan, the one who leads the whole inhabited earth
astray—he was thrown down to
the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10I heard
a loud voice in heaven, saying: Now have come the salvation and the power and
the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of
our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day
and night. 11They
conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their
testimony. They did not love their lives
in the face of death. 12For
this reason, rejoice, you heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, for the Devil
has gone down to you. He is full of
rage, because he knows that his time is short. (EHV)
Victory is yours by the blood of the Lamb.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
For at
least the last decade, bullying among adolescents has seemed to be a growing
problem around the country. That really
shouldn’t surprise us, though, because the human race has been tormented by a
bully almost from the very beginning of time.
With his lies and insinuations, that bully is the cause of every death
in this world just as Jesus testified against His adversary, “He was a
murderer from the beginning and did not remain standing in the truth, because
there is no truth in him.” (John 8:44)
In this text from Revelation chapter 12, Jesus gives us a picture of His
fight with that bully, Satan, and this picture shows that Victory is yours by the blood of the Lamb.
The apostle, John, watched a series of visions
concerning the work of salvation. As you
well know, the record of those visions comes to us in the book of
Revelation. It is an apocalypse, a
revealing of truth in a series of extraordinary pictures. Here, John reports: “There was also a war in
heaven. Michael and his angels fought
with the dragon. The dragon fought back
along with his angels, but he was not strong enough. There was no longer a place for them in
heaven. The great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, the one called the Devil and Satan,
the one who leads the whole inhabited earth astray—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown
down with him.” Opinions of whom this Michael is have varied,
even among orthodox theologians. Some
claim that this is Christ, the Son of God, the one called “The Angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament. Others claim that Michael is the archangel,
or chief angel, among God’s heavenly helpers.
For our purposes, either explanation is fine, but I tend to believe that
this is a picture of Christ, our Savior, for He alone could defeat the bully of
the ages.
Perhaps it strikes you as odd that I label the
Devil a bully, but he has been tormenting mankind since he asked Adam and Eve, "Has God really said…?” (Genesis 3:1) Throughout history, Satan has lied to
everyone he meets; he has tricked the weak and tempted every human to rebel
against our Creator; he is our avowed enemy, and every time he managed to tempt
someone to sin, he would run to God to accuse the perpetrator of that sin. So, now you know the meanings of his names:
liar, slanderer, accuser, enemy, and adversary.
From the time Adam
and Eve fell into sin, you and I and all the rest of humanity were the
weaklings in the battle. On our own, we
could do little to stand up against this spiritual bully, but you are loved by
your Creator, and He would not leave you defenseless. God gave His word of promise to use in
defense against the bully, and at the perfect time, He sent His Son to defeat
that cowardly tormenter once and for all.
John’s vision shows us that Victory is yours by the blood of the
Lamb.
The name, Michael,
comes from the Hebrew question, “Who is like God?” The answer is the Son of God incarnate. The second person of the Trinity took on
human flesh to fight for you and me.
Now, Satan hoped to win control of creation without this fight. He seems to have thought that if he
controlled man, God would be destroyed. However,
God would not give in without a fight.
Jesus entered this war with Satan in the arena Satan had ruled. Satan was used to winning by deception, lies,
and accusations. Jesus entered the field
and fought with truth, humility, and holy obedience.
Rather than deny
God’s authority, Jesus lived under it in perfect obedience. That had to enrage the devil. No matter how he tempted Jesus, Satan
couldn’t move Christ from the path of righteousness. Eventually, Jesus humbled Himself to the very
end as He took our rightful suffering and death on the cross. Oh, Satan tried to wreck that plan, too. The devil had Peter try to persuade Jesus not
to undergo that torture, but Jesus replied to His disciple, “Get behind me,
Satan! You do not have your mind set on
the things of God, but the things of men. (Mark 8:33)
As Jesus took our
punishment, the devil obviously did his best to get the Man, Jesus, to
crumble. The blows of Jesus’ enemies
were as wicked and punishing as any Roman soldier could dish out. The mocking was cruel, the accusations
totally false, the physical torture nonsurvivable. Yet, because He is both true God as well as
true Man, victory was certain for our Lord Jesus.
Late that long ago
Friday afternoon, when a Roman spear pierced Jesus’ side, the devil may have
celebrated his assumed triumph for God’s Son was dead. Jesus’ body was taken off the cross and
carried to a tomb to be buried in humility, not even properly anointed. There was no time for a funeral or any of the
normal grieving rituals. Those mourning
Jesus’ sacrifice were hiding in fear. However,
none of that really mattered to the Lord, for He had no intention of staying
dead. And oh how the devil was shamed as
Jesus rose from the grave and marched triumphantly into Satan’s prison to
announce His victory over sin, death, and the devil. This Good News for you and me means that Victory is ours by the
blood of the Lamb.
Today, we celebrate St. Michael and all the
holy angels. You maybe wonder why. First, understand that we do not worship the
created angels. However, we do give
thanks and praise to God for all that He accomplishes for us through them. Second, during His earthly life, Jesus was
tormented by the same deceiving taunts that trap you and me. However, in His thirty-some years of
continual battle against our ancient enemy, Jesus too was strengthened and
encouraged by those holy messengers from His Father. Only Jesus could fight our war with the
deceiver, but His Father made sure that Jesus was not alone until that very
last day when on the cross, He suffered our rightful separation from His
Father.
Those angels who uplifted Jesus’ spirits have likewise
served to help us in so many ways. First
of all, they often delivered God’s messages to the prophets and main characters
of God’s salvation plan and protected them against the forces of evil. Still today, the angels defend God’s children
on a daily, even minute by minute, basis.
Do we always know they are there?
Likely, we rarely if ever observe them, yet the Lord promises, “If you make the Most High your shelter,
evil will not overtake you. Disaster
will not come near your tent. Because he
will give a command to his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.”
(Psalm 91:9-11)
In St. John’s vision,
“The
great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him.” Though the serpent had been cursed already in
the Garden of Eden, he retained the ability to accuse us of all kinds of
wickedness. In fact, that may have been
his only pleasure. First, Satan tempts people
into sin in any number of ways, and then he reverses course and accuses them of
sin against God. Sometimes, as in the
case of Job, Satan would even falsely accuse a victim and challenge God to keep
His faithful people. All of that ended
when Jesus rose victorious from the grave, for Jesus’ victory is complete.
Never again can Satan accuse anyone before the
Lord. Jesus took away all the guilt of
every sin and paid the full penalty for the sins of the world. Never again can the devil enter God’s courts
to accuse. The apostle, John, “heard
a loud voice in heaven, saying: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and
the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of
our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day
and night.’” God’s holy
angels, and all those saints who have already gained the victory, sing praises
to the Savior and celebrate His eternal triumph over that conniving bully devil
who causes so much grief.
Those heavenly voices praise the victory given
to you and me through faith in Jesus, saying: "They conquered him
because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their
testimony. They did not love their lives
in the face of death. For this reason,
rejoice, you heavens and those who dwell in them!” The angels and saints in heaven rejoice over
every sinner who repents. They rejoice
for all of us who are granted the victory through faith. They celebrate that the blood of the Lamb has
covered your sins, washed you clean, and made you presentable to the Father in
heaven. The testimony of the apostles,
who told the world of Jesus and His total victory over the devil, made you and
me believers. Because of Jesus’ life and
death, Victory is ours by the blood of
the Lamb.
Still, the story hasn’t ended. This world continues on until all who will
believe have been brought safely home in the kingdom of heaven; meanwhile,
danger lurks in every corner of earth.
The heavenly choir cried out, “Woe to the earth and the sea, for the Devil
has gone down to you. He is full of
rage, because he knows that his time is short." Christ’s victory is accomplished, but as long
as this world is allowed to continue, Satan will spin his web of lies,
slanders, accusations, and temptations.
Understand that this deceitful angel wanted to rule over God and all
things. Satan arrogantly decided to
challenge the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, but in that revolt against
God, the devil was totally defeated, sentenced to eternal torment, cast out of
any position of power or glory, and embarrassed in his own home court.
A wounded animal, or a conquered foe, is often
a very dangerous beast. Therefore, we must be continually on guard,
because “Your adversary, the
Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) The devil is hungry
for souls. He can’t defeat God and His
Son; that battle is over and won. So,
Satan is on the prowl night and day, with his fraternity of evil following his
lead, looking for souls to steal away from God’s care, doing everything he can
to keep those who have been forgiven from enjoying God’s grace in heaven. “Woe
to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea!” Terrible trouble and sorrow is the fate of
those who walk apart from the Savior. The heavenly choir warned that Satan will
spend the few days he has left trying to steal away anyone and everyone from
the Savior who loves you all with an everlasting love.
Do you still wonder why we celebrate God’s
helpers and messengers? Because God is
still using them to keep us safe in His protective care. How many times we receive heavenly
intervention, here on earth, only God and the angels truly know. You should take confidence in this, though;
Elisha told his terrified servant, "Don’t
be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (2 Kings 6:16) With their city surrounded by thousands upon
thousands of enemy soldiers, Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes would be
opened, and he saw that the surrounding hills were covered with vast hosts of
angels protecting them.
For sure, the devil
has a lot of helpers: both, his fallen angels and those lost souls who follow
him here on earth. However, God has many
more angels, and much greater power, so we are not defenseless against Satan’s
assaults—God Himself is on our side, sending His holy angels to guard and keep
us, and appointing His earthly messengers with the power of the Gospel to build
up your faith by Word and Sacrament, keeping you ever on guard and defended
against the wicked bully and his tools.
Dear friends, as we
celebrate, today, don’t let anyone confuse you.
We thank God for His helpers, but we don’t worship or pray to any
created angels. The holy ones themselves
would not allow that. However, we do
worship the Son of God and Man who won the victory on our behalf. We worship and praise Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit for all they have done to rescue us from our sorrowful condition of
sin. In our worship and praise, we
remember again the victory of Easter morning.
We remember again how Jesus won us to salvation at our Baptisms, whereby
He washed away our every sin and marked us as God’s own dear children. There, we were united with Jesus’ death, and
His resurrection, so that the eternal victory is ours. We thank and praise our heavenly Father for
His love, for His abiding care, and for the service of those messengers He
sends to help and protect us. Rejoice,
dear friends, your place in God’s kingdom is assured—because the Victory is yours by the
blood of the Lamb. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to
the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
forevermore. Amen.
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