Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
~BCP pg. 244
The Psalm
103:19-22
The Readings
Genesis 28:10-17 + Revelation 12:7-12 + John 1:47-51
And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it . . . Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!"
~Gen. 28:12,16
Perhaps it is because the ubiquitous angels of Hallmark cards and popular imagination bear so little resemblance to the (also ubiquitous) angels of Scripture, but I suspect many of us in the church think rarely, at least with any seriousness, about angels. Yet angels abound in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. They feature both frequently and prominently. They bookend the Gospels, as well, from the Annunciation to the empty tomb. And though the word "angel" literally means "messenger," we see them also in a variety of additional roles--manifesting God's presence to humans, interpreting visions to God's prophets, defending God's people, commanding God's armies, perpetually offering worship in God's presence. These are the roles for which they have been created, as the day's collect reminds us. Incidentally, the church has never taught that humans become angels--rather, both humans and angels are creatures, deriving their life and purpose from and in God.
Though the presence and ministries of angels are a given throughout the Bible, it may be that we simply find it challenging today to think of angels as they are depicted there--to think beyond the rather vague and sentimental ideas in popular culture. But as Christians we profess Sunday by Sunday our trust in God who is the creator "of all that is, seen and unseen." In the Eucharist we join our voices "with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven" in their unending hymn of praise to God (see Isaiah 6:1-3 and Revelation 4:6-11). To trust in the God we come to know in Scripture, in the Creed, and in the liturgy, is to trust that life has depths unseen; depths no less real for our inability to behold them with the naked eye. To trust in the God we come to know supremely in Jesus, the One who himself bridges heaven and earth, is to trust that we will come to see and know greater things than we have yet imagined. Surely, we could not number the times already past, when the Lord was in this place--and we did not know it!
Closing Prayer
O Lord God of hosts, thank you for surrounding us in our journey with companions both seen and unseen. As you have appointed your angels to guard our bodies, grant us faith that our minds and spirits may also dwell secure. Amen.
An icon of St. Michael the Archangel, defender of the faithful.
(In celebration of the day, I couldn't resist also sharing one of my favorite hymns: Christ, the Fair Glory of the Holy Angels. It's hymn no. 282 in The Hymnal 1982. Sung here by the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys.)
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