They always see the face of the Father

Sermon for the Festival of St. Michael and All Angels

Revelation 12:7-12 + Matthew 18:1-11

The Roman Catholic Church has a common prayer to St. Michael. It goes like this: “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”

On the one hand, you should never say this prayer to Michael, because, just like the saints, Michael the archangel is not omnipresent, or omniscient—unless the Biblical references to “Michael” are actually giving us another name for the Lord Jesus, as some have suggested. But, assuming that Michael is a created angel, as the Scriptures seem to depict him, he may be very powerful, very faithful, he may be a prince among the angels, especially the angels who are sent to defend God’s people throughout the world, but we have no reason to believe, from Scripture, that Michael can hear our prayers, since he can only be in one place at one time, wherever that is. Nor are we directed by God to worship him, to seek him out, or to pray to him. All our worship and all our prayers are to be directed to God alone. We have direct access to the ear of God Himself, the Creator and Commander of the heavenly armies, the Lord of hosts. Why would we waste our time pleading with His subordinates?

On the other hand, the content of the prayer to Michael is actually better than all the prayers to Mary, because, while Scripture never, ever makes Mary into a defender or protector or helper or patron of anyone, Scripture does refer to angels this way, as having these very duties. And so we take a moment this evening to hear again what the Scriptures teach us about the holy angels, and to give thanks to God for their faithful service.

There’s a single verse in our reading from Matthew 18 that mentions the angels: Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

First, notice that Jesus, in speaking of these “little ones who believe in Me,” refers to “their angels in heaven.” “Their angels” means that little children who believe in Jesus have heavenly angels assigned to them for their protection. And we have every reason to believe that this applies not only to little believing children, but to all believers, who, as Jesus Himself said at the beginning of the lesson, must all become like little children if they are to enter the kingdom of heaven. All true believers humble themselves before God, like little children, and, like little children, believe simply and steadfastly in the Lord Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer. Therefore, all believers have “their angels” watching over them.

Meanwhile, Scripture also makes clear that the devil and his evil angels are, in one way or another, targeting us for ruin and destruction. As Peter writes, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. Or, as John depicts it in Revelation 12, the devil was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him, and, therefore, he says, Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. And then, after that, he depicts the devil persecuting the Church. That’s why it’s so important that Christians also have “their angels” with them.

Jesus says that their angels “always see the face of My Father in heaven.” If the devil and his angels are coming after you, take heart! Because your angels are never cut off from the presence of God, which means they’re never unable to rescue you from the devil’s power. Meanwhile, if you despise, look down on, or mistreat a Christian, no matter how little he or she may be, no matter how small, no matter how insignificant in the world, you’re a fool. Christians are under God’s own watchful eye, and He takes it personally if you look down on any of them—and even worse, if you dare to cause one of them to stumble. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has assigned some of His valiant spirit warriors to attend to these little ones, and those angels are continually “seeing the face” of God, taking orders from God directly about how to watch over His little ones, and how to deal with those who would cause them harm.

There are two Psalms that express the same thing beautifully: Psalm 91, Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. And Psalm 34 says, The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.

There’s certainly a warning here for anyone who would mistreat a Christian, or make himself the enemy of a Christian. But for the Christian, what great comfort this is! There are so many dangers surrounding us at all times, from nature, from the wicked, and also from those unholy forces of evil in the heavenly realms, the demons who would love nothing more than to harm us, tempt us, or lead us astray into sin, or, just as bad, into false beliefs, which surround us like a plague. But our Father, in His great mercy, has given His angels charge over all His children, giving us these mighty spiritual warriors to minister to us in our hour of need. They always see the face of Jesus’ Father. They are always ready to carry out His commands to minister to those who will inherit salvation.

So don’t pray to Michael. But do pray to your Father in heaven to send Michael and his angel armies to defend you in battle, to be your protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. Ask your Father to rebuke Satan for coming after you, and, finally, ask Him to cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Your Father, who already gave His only-begotten Son into death for your sins, will also give you all the angelic help you need to make it safely through this enemy territory into the inheritance He has prepared for you and all the saints. Give thanks, today and every day, for that angelic help! Amen.