Richard Davenport
September 29, 2024 – St. Michael and All Angels
Revelation 12:7-12
Of all the books of the Bible that might be considered contentious, the book of Revelation ranks right up at the top. As Lutherans, we don’t spend nearly as much time on it as some other church bodies that get overly concerned with charting out the precise course of events that will supposedly take place on and before the Last Day. That isn’t to say the book has no value, just that we don’t stress over it as much as others do.
Most of the book is written in wild dream language, strange creatures, strange people, strange things going on. We’re explicitly told they are visions and not real things or events that John, the Apostle, is seeing. That means taking all of these strange events and picking them apart to understand the meaning that God is trying to convey.
There are supernatural stories and movies about some sort of “war in heaven” have been around for a long time. Going back to Milton’s classic, “Paradise Lost,” we hear stories about how Satan is working to rise up and revolt against the injustice he feels has been leveled against him. He is working to retake his rightful place. He wants to unseat a callous God who sentenced him without remorse.
It’s either that or it’s Satan marshalling his forces striking back at God because the two are more or less evenly matched. The balance shifts back and forth throughout history and perhaps at some point there will be a decisive victory that will end the war for good, but until then, the battle rages on.
The idea isn’t confined to Christianity. Going back to the early days of the church, you had numerous interminglings of religions that described a creator god who was pitted against some evil counterpart. Other false religions that are even older and have nothing to do with Christianity have similar ideas.
In our fiction stories, we often have good pitted against some great evil. Usually the good guys are underdogs, looking for some kind of edge to overcome the evil, or who must tap into their plucky determination to keep at it until the problem is solved. It doesn’t have to be some great, world ending evil, but a criminal mastermind. We cheer on people like Sherlock Holmes as he picks through the clues that finally lead him to Professor Moriarty.
If the hero defeats the enemy within the first few pages, then it isn’t much of a story. It doesn’t grab our attention. If there’s no struggle, then there’s no sense of accomplishment. Sherlock walks into the room where the crime took place. He sees the vase knocked over. He says a chair has been moved and a scuff on the floor and he puts the pieces together, walks over to the closet and finds the villain hiding there. The end. It feels rather unsatisfactory. It may have been an important piece of work. It may be helpful to the police or whoever we’re talking about, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is likely to take an interest. It’ll just be a little footnote in the local news, only interesting to those who have some kind of connection to the story and ignored by everyone else.
That’s why, when we talk about spiritual warfare, angels, demons, and all the rest, it tends to go the same way. The stories of demons still grab our attention. Horror stories of ghosts and evil spirits continue to be popular. The slasher movies of the 70s and 80s, like the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, all followed the same pattern. While those big name series have largely faded, new movies in the genre continue to be made. Ghost stories, demon possession, supernatural evils from beyond this world, and all things dark and sinister continue bubbling up in the stories we tell and they scare us.
If we knew, beyond any doubt, that all of these things were entirely fictitious, then they wouldn’t do much to scare us anymore. We aren’t like those nonbelievers, who reject the spiritual world and say it doesn’t exist. We know it does and that those who dwell there have power.
Satan is the great evil. He is the implacable enemy. He is sinister. He is conniving. He spreads discord and hatred. He brings misery wherever he goes. We are powerless before him. He even convinced Adam and Eve through his lies and deception. How are we to do any better?
Satan and his minions lurk around every corner. They lie in wait. He is ready to pounce. Like a lion, he won’t let go of his prey once he has you in his teeth. He is always hunting, always chasing, relentlessly seeking you, no matter where you go and you are powerless before him.
There’s a reason we warn people away from Ouija boards and dabbling in witchcraft or pagan rituals, even just for fun. We know these things have power. They may not actually get you anything you want. They may not give you control over spirits or affect the world around you, but they can let Satan and his lies gain entry, to work their way into your mind and influence you, to play at your fears and stoke your pride. Once he is in the driver’s seat, there’s no telling how much destruction he’ll cause to you and to everyone else in your life.
I say all of that knowing you probably don’t walk around on tiptoe watching to see if Satan is going to jump out at you. For better or for worse, we Lutherans don’t focus on angels and demons quite as much as some other church bodies. We tend to focus our attention on the evils of sin and death.
Death is not something that has some sort of awareness, but it’s an enemy and an evil nonetheless. If, or rather when, it catches you, it will destroy you. There is no escaping it. It too, lurks around every corner and will jump out when you least expect it. There is no avoiding it. There is no reasoning with it.
We spend a lot more time talking about death because it’s something we can all see. Its effects are before us every day. Satan has deniability. Many will argue he doesn’t exist at all. Even for those who know he exists, how do you prove he is at work? You never truly know if he’s there or not until he’s got his hooks in you, and then it’s already too late. Death can’t be denied. We might believe we can stave off its effects, but there’s no guarantee our efforts will amount to something, and death will always come for us eventually.
Death is also this great, implacable evil. It even gets personified as the Grim Reaper, a dark, merciless figure that comes at the appointed time to take you out of this world. There is no fighting it.
The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels is a bit of an odd day in the church calendar. It’s one of the few that doesn’t deal with God directly. Most holy days reflect parts of Christ’s life. He announced arrival, his birth, the coming of the magi to greet him, his final arrival in Jerusalem, his death, resurrection, et cetera. Holy Days like All Saints Day, Reformation Day, and St. Michael and All Angels are not so much about God as they are about the servants of God. It’s all part of the same story. It’s the story of redemption and salvation.
But, it’s very important we understand who all of the characters in the story truly are. We have ourselves in the story, sinners in need of grace, sinners destined for condemnation. We have the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, at work to save us from our sins. We have Satan, and his minions, we have death and all of the evils of the world arrayed against God and against us. All of God’s enemies are undoubtedly evil. They unabashedly attack him and try to destroy everything he has made.
They are also all limited. They are not God. They are not equivalent to him in any sense of the word. They are not the creator of all that exists. They cannot make life. The only power they have is the power he allows them to have. There will be no great battle between heaven and hell, with angels matched up against demons fighting for the future of the world and humanity. Not at all. God speaks, and the demons are cast down. They are confined to the place prepared for all of God’s enemies. There is no fight because they have nothing to use against him and he has all of the power that ever will be. Death too, is powerless. Jesus allows himself to be taken by it and while still dead, he rises again. He breaks the chains of death that tried to confine him to the tomb. There is no enemy that can stand against him. No matter how dark, no matter how terrifying, no matter how evil, it is all as nothing before God.
St. Michael and All Angels is the part of the story where we hear about God’s servants, the messengers he sends to work on his behalf in power and in grace. He sends them out to defend his people, defend them against treacherous assaults by the evil one and the hidden danger of death.
We need not fear that Satan or death have any power over us, because God has already conquered them. They lie defeated before him. Jesus dies to take all of the evil serpent’s venom, but instead of going away, the serpent finds himself defanged. Jesus has taken Satan’s power away from him. Satan tempts and lies, but the sins he dangles in front of you can no longer condemn you. Christ has brought forgiveness to you, full and free forgiveness. No matter how many times Satan entices you, Christ forgives you and brings you back. Nothing can separate you from Christ anymore, no matter how scary it may look.
We remember Satan. We remember that he is an enemy and that he is out there seeking to do us harm. We acknowledge his presence, but we also acknowledge his limits. He can tempt us. He will, at times, succeed. But he can’t condemn us anymore. He can’t bind us and send us away. He already stands condemned. His place in the outer darkness is waiting for him and someday soon, that’s all he’ll have ever again. So remember Satan, but remember his limits. Remember too that God is here and he brings his legions of angels to defend his flock.