Sermon for St.
Michael and All Angels
St. Philip’s
In The Hills Parish, Tucson, AZ
The Rev. Vicki
K. Hesse,
Healing Service, Tuesday September 30, 2014
Lectionary
readings for the day, click here.
Open our lips,
O Lord,
that our
mouths might proclaim your praise. Amen.
Today
we commemorate Michaelmas:
the
Feast Day of St. Michael and All Angels.
The
word “angel” means, literally, a messenger.
Messengers
can be visible or invisible, human or non-human.
We
gather today to seek healing –
for ourselves and our family
and for many people who seek God’s
love,
We
gather today to recognize those
healthful spirits that are
depicted in Christian art
·
with
wings to represent their capacity to freely through space,
·
with
swords to represent their strength,
·
with
bright vestments or halos to represent their dazzle.
Angels
serve in two main ways:
1st
as messengers who serve and praise God and
2nd
as signs of God’s power and will.
See,
angels reveal God’s grace
in unexpected times and places.
And
Michael is the penultimate messenger who “wards off evil and delivers peace at
the end of this life’s mortal struggle.”[1]
So
I wonder, who are the angels in your life
Who may have “warded off evil” or simply
Delivered peace to you in your mortal
struggle?
Who
are the angels who have, in your past,
who have evoked in you Jacob’s
response,
“Surely
God is in this place!”
*wait
and discuss*
------------------------------------------
Today’s
gospel is from the “call” story of
Philip,
Andrew, Peter and Nathanael –
A
story in which Jesus invokes angels that
draw
us into the mystery
at
the heart of Christianity –
that of the simultaneous humanity
and divinity of Jesus.
When
Jesus sees Nathanael across the way,
under
his breath, Jesus says,
“here
is truly an Israelite
in whom there is no deceit.”
Or,
in many translations, no “guile” –
no
cunning, no craftiness, no slyness.
Jesus
sees only the good in Nathanael.
And,
Jesus sees only the good in us.
But,
Nathanael wears his
mistrust, doubt and wariness,
like a protective vest;
“Where did you get to know me?”
(sounds
like a human response to me!)
Jesus
replies,
“I
saw you under the fig tree.”
Jesus
“saw” him even before Philip called him.
Jesus
really “saw” him.
And
Jesus sees us, loves us and calls us,
even
before we arrived here in this sanctuary.
That’s
pretty surprising. Have you ever had
someone introduce themselves to you by saying, “I heard about you from…” or
“Aren’t
you the one who lives next door to…”?
Well,
Jesus’ remark
surprises
even Nathanael,
which is why he responds with
that
wild profusion of messianic titles,
“You
are the Son of God!
You
are the King of Israel!”
echoing
Jacob’s comment,
“Surely God is in this place!”
Jesus
says something surprising to us, too:
That
the mystery and sureness of God’s love
Sometimes arrives on the wings of
angels.
I
think that sometimes it is easier
to
imagine certain people in my life as angels.
As
messengers. As gifts of love.
Who
are those people in your life now?
*wait
and discuss*
------------------------------------------
Jesus
invites Nathanael – and us, to go deeper –
to
go beyond a “belief”
and to see greater things than these…
to imagine the heavens opening
and the angels of God
ascending and descending…
We
can’t help but make a connection
between
this image of angels
ascending and descending
and
Jacob’s vision of
the ladder of angels at Bethel
Jesus
reveals himself as the ultimate ladder
stretching between heaven and earth,
with angels ascending and descending.
Jesus
connects the finite and infinite, time and eternity.
The
angels are messengers of God’s love,
Invoked
at every Eucharistic feast:
“Therefore we praise you,
joining our voices with
Angels and Archangels
and with all the company of heaven,
who forever sing this hymn
to proclaim the glory of your Name”
With
all the angels who are present
in the Holy Communion, every time,
we are all
utterly transformed by
the encounter.
So
today, how is Michael and all the angels –
past, present, and yet to come,
inviting
you to find healing and wholeness?
Today’s
good news is that
in every single moment,
God and God’s angels are present…
Today,
the angels reveal God’s grace
in unexpected times and places.
Today,
God invites us to recognize
all the many angels
who accompany us
on our life journey towards Love.
Amen
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