Today we celebrate the festival of St. Michael and all Angels. God has a heavenly court of angels who attend and worship him. Angels are innumerable being ‘thousands upon thousands’.Throughout the Bible, angels are shown to bring us messages from God. Our readings today all speak of the links between earth and heaven.
In Genesis Jacob dreamt of a ladder going between earth and heaven bringing peace, stillness and protection. Jacob also encountered a man at night and they wrestled till daybreak when the man blessed him and Jacob recognised that he had wrestled with God.
In our Gospel Jesus tells Nathaniel that he will see heaven open and angels ascending and descending on the son of man. Angels announced Jesus birth, ministered to him in the wilderness, in the garden of Gethsemane and at his death. They are a link between earth and heaven and between God and us. Jesus came to reconcile all things to himself on earth and in heaven and is the gateway to heaven. To live in the kingdom of God is to see heaven and earth existing in parallel. A world of visions, dreams, art, poetry, things both seen and unseen. A world in which God’s justice, mercy and love are seen on earth as in heaven.
Our reading from Revelation tells of a war between good and evil in heaven when warrior prince Archangel Michael and his angels fought against the evil dragon and his angels and they were cast out of heaven. Satan was a fallen angel who turned against God, wanting power for himself. In the book of Job, God consults the heavenly court, and satan is sent to earth to test Job’s faithfulness.We too may get caught up in spiritual battles against principalities, powers and dominions.
Angels may come to earth in human form such as when three strangers visited Abraham and foretold the birth of his son Isaac. These seemingly ordinary men are later in the account referred to as ‘angels’ and also ‘the Lord’. We are told to offer hospitality to strangers for by doing so some have entertained angels unawares. In the poem ‘The Wasteland’ TS Eliot speaks of ‘another’ unseen walking beside us.
I have heard many accounts from folk who have encountered angels. A young man got lost abroad and an angel came to guide him. A bereft lady on a London train to visit her dying husband in hospital described a ‘strange unworldly’ traveller who brought great peace. A mother seeking supported living for her adult daughter with learning difficulties overheard ‘she needs to go to Thornage Hall’ when out walking. She had never heard of Thornage Hall but her daughter is now very happy there.
A few years ago I was booked to take a funeral in Norwich and arrived at the bus stop to find there was a bus strike. A young man joined me and immediately found a taxi. I turned to thank him but he was gone. Angels come and go, ascending and descending! Angels come to us in various forms as a soothing, calm presence, seen and unseen. When Angel Gabriel visited Mary to ask her to become the mother of God his first words were ‘Do not be afraid’. Not all angels come to us in human likeness. When angels appeared at Jesus’ tomb their appearance was like lightning with dazzling clothes.
In the vastness of the universe, we are very tiny. The angels allow us to glimpse that God’s creation and purposes are far beyond what we can ever know or grasp. Angels, like us are created beings, a little higher than us. They care for, protect and guide us and reveal God’s purposes to us. Angels as part of the heavenly host are ever present, singing and praising God. Let us rejoice with them to close the divide between earth and heaven.