A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! I recently shared a meme on Facebook. Its heading read: “When people say, ‘you and what army?’” The picture showed an artist’s rendering of a host of angels looking down on earth from heaven. It’s a good reminder of the invisible dimension of God’s creation that we humans, so caught up in the day-to-day circumstances of life in the visible dimension of creation, can easily forget or underappreciate. Today is the Festival of St. Michael and All Angels. St. Michael, whose name means “Who is like God” is the archangel mentioned in the Book of Daniel (12:1), as well as in Ju...

Click here to listen to this sermon. mp3 files are available upon request. The text for today is Revelation 12:7-12. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Today is the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, a day in which we commemorate the work of St. Michael and all the holy angels in service to God and man.   And what a variety of service that is!   In our Gospel, Jesus refers to what we sometimes call “guardian angels,” those who watch over the little ones and see the face of the Father.   Our Psalm speaks of angels who “guard you” and “bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”   In our Old Testament lesson, Michael, the archangel, comes to Daniel as a messenger sent by God, to help the prophet “understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days.”   But perhaps most startling, is St. John’s vision of Michael and his angels engaged in a war in heaven against Satan and his army.   That...