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| Marc Chagall, Jacob’s Dream, 1966, Nice, Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall |
A sermon preached at the
Choral Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 29th September 2022 at 12.45pm.
The Feast of Michael and All Angels.
Sermon in a nutshell
The idea of angels – with wings and halos can be a bit of a turn off for some.
Others recount personal experience of coming face to face with angelic beings. Wherever
we stand, angels – heralds or ‘instruments’ of God – are a fact of life; rooted
in our scripture and tradition and our belief in ‘all that is, seen and unseen’.
Our conception of angels has changed over time. It is at times of transition when
we seem most willing to entertain the concept of universal forces affecting our
lives. In the sacrament of the Eucharist we come as close as we can in this
life to the ultimate transition - the boundary between heaven and earth. In the
Eucharistic prayer we repeat the very words of the heavenly host – Holy, holy
holy, Lord God of hosts. Perhaps at this moment we are most receptive to these
instruments of God, as we join in their heavenly song of praise?
Sermon
Today is Michaelmas - the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, not only commemorating
the Archangel Michael; that victorious dragon-slayer from the Book of
Revelation - but all angels, who are ‘instruments’ of God.
Michaelmas
was the only angelic feast retained in the church calendar following the
Reformation. Perhaps one reason for this is its timing, which coincides with secular
feasts that took place at the end of the harvest season in the northern
hemisphere. In the days when the economy was driven by agriculture, this marked
the end of the working year for many. Students were free to attend school or
university and so the academic year began. Harvest trade meant money was more
readily available, so debts were called in - Michaelmas became one of the legal
“quarter days” when rents fell due.
Michaelmas
was a time of transition, felt by people at all levels of society.
While
we are no longer an agricultural economy, we still experience this time of
change today. The Feast coincides with the autumn equinox, the start of a new
season. Many people are affected physically and emotionally. Our minds bodies
have to adjust to the changing light conditions and temperatures. It’s that “changeable
time of year”.
The
change in seasons coincides with angelic revelations in other denominations and
religions. In late September 1833, an angel called Moroni is said to have
appeared to Joseph Smith in New York, directing him to the golden plates from
which the Book of Mormon was printed. Adjusting for the differences in the
calendar, some believe that the prophet Mohammed received his first revelation
- from the Angel Gabriel no less - in December 610AD, close to another ‘quarter
day’.
At
times of change or transition, we seem more likely to articulate and willingly
accept (even if we cannot fully comprehend) the notion of universal forces and
their effect upon us. At such times, perhaps we find it easier to believe
in “all that is seen and unseen” ?
A
friend of mine who held an important position in the Corporation of London,
once told me of his encounter with a divine presence. The eldest of his
siblings, he was due to give the eulogy at his mother’s funeral. But when the
time came to address the congregation, he felt unable to move - his feet were
rooted to the floor. Then, this professional suited and booted city Gent
explained that he sensed a hand - or perhaps wings - wrapping around him and
guiding him to the lectern, giving him the power to speak and supporting him
until he returned to his seat.
Some
years later I met another friend, not known for having a particular interest in
things spiritual (either religious or alcoholic), just after he had had a
similar experience on the Central Line. A man came and sat in the empty seat to
his left. After a few stops he turned and touched the signet ring on my
friend’s hand - a ring given to him by a close family member who had recently
died. The stranger told my friend that it was OK to let them go; that they were
at peace. As soon as he had finished speaking, the train stopped. The man got,
up left the tube carriage and vanished when he got to the platform. My friend
was visibly shaken by the experience when I met him afterwards, but was so
certain of it that he was confident enough to share it with me.
Angel
- angelos in Greek - comes from a Hebrew word meaning messenger. The earliest
biblical accounts from the Old Testament portray angels as instruments -
heralds - of God; appearing at times of change or transition. Three angels
visited Abraham to convey the news that his wife, Sarah, would give birth to
Isaac.
The
New Testament continues this theme - the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation
perhaps the most well-known example.
We
also find angels acting as protectors or guardians at times of trial;
liberating Peter from prison, attending Jesus in the wilderness and Gethsemane.
The Gospel of John describes angels as “ascending and descending upon the Son
of Man” - a bit like holy postmen; the letter to the Hebrews describes angels
as “spirits in the divine service” but, as we have just heard, makes clear that
angels themselves are not divine - but part of God’s creation.
If
you feel squeamish about the idea of even thinking about beings with wings and
halo’s, fear not - it was not always thus! The earliest accounts, from the
Book of Judges, portray angels - if at all - in human form.
The
winged creatures in the later vision of Ezekiel have a human likeness but with
attributes of animals, appearing as if alight or aflame; imagery perhaps
influenced by the statues of Zoroastrian spirits the Israelites will have seen
while in captivity in Babylon.
In
the sixth century a Syrian monk, drew all this together, with angelic accounts
in the New Testament, to develop a hierarchy, with nine different orders -
including cherubim and seraphim, angels and archangels - arranged in three
“spheres”. Perhaps
surprisingly the archangels occupy not the highest but the lowest sphere; that
closest to earth.
This
concept of angelic order remained in vogue until the Reformation when it was
set aside – see as getting in the way of our individual relationship with God.
But the reformers retained the idea of the guardian angel, focussed on personal
deliverance (which may be another reason why the Feast of St Michael, the
protector, was retained). The Collect in the Book of Common Prayer for today
illustrates this change in emphasis:
“Mercifully
grant that, as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven, so by thy
appointment they may succour and defend us on earth.”
No
hierarchy of angels - or priests - in the way.
Our
unease talking about angels - despite their foundation in our faith - means it
can seem today as though they have been pushed to the new-age fringe. But angels
have not by-passed religion completely.
The
Anglican theologian Richard Hooker (a master at finding the middle way between
disparate concepts) equated angels with the transmission of wisdom, describing
them as “intellectual creatures” mediating the boundary between heaven and
earth.
A
boundary that we encounter in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Perhaps the
ultimate point of transition - at least in this life. Here, each week during
the Eucharistic prayer we repeat the words that angels themselves spoke in the
vision of Isaiah:
Holy,
Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts,
heaven
and earth are full of thy glory;
(which today we hear in the Latin – Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus)
So, whether you have had a
personal encounter with a angel, or find the concept of wings and halos a bit
of a turn-off, assisted by our own angelic choir, may we all sense the presence
of the angels - these “instruments” of God - as they help to draw us closer to
him. A plea echoed by the Puritan Divine Richard Baxter in the first verse of
today’s hymn;
Ye holy angels bright,
who wait at God's right hand,
or through the realms of light
fly at your Lord's command,
assist our song,
for else the theme
too high doth seem
for mortal tongue.
May the angels, archangels
and all the heavenly host ever intercede for us.
Amen.
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