Michaelmas 2014

Michaelmas 2014 ( John 1:47-51) “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened

And the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Worship is the key to eternal love.

Without worship love slowly and inexorably devolves into sentimentality, demand, separation and despair. The war in heaven as described by the beloved apostle John in the Book of Revelation is a war instigated and fought over worship.

God created a vast array of angels before He created the universe of matter, energy, time and space. He ordered the angelic beings in nine distinct categories according to form and function. They are Seraphim, Cherubim, Powers, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Virtues, Archangels and Angels. Within those categories each individual angelic being is unique in personal identity and ministry according to the form and function of that category.

God created the angelic beings by love, through love and for love. God the Father created the angels by power of the Holy Spirit to live and move and have their being in the love of the Son through the worship of the Son.

In the hierarchy of form and function the Seraph class angels lead the worship of heaven. The preeminent Seraph was Lucifer. Seraph means “burning bright” with holiness in love. Lucifer means “light bearer”. You could also understand his name as chalice of light. Lucifer led the countless numbers of angels in worship according to each class of being and each individual’s unique gifts.

The Mystery of Lucifer’s rebellion against God is the mystery of Love. Love requires a choice to be real. Love evolves and changes and transforms according to the principle of the choice and according to the pattern of the Son. That pattern is service through worship, kindness and compassion.

The details of Lucifer’s fall are not revealed to human beings. The general pattern is revealed. Lucifer began to compare the other angels to himself. He began to take his eyes off God. He decided that all of the other angelic beings were lesser than he. He chose to use his position as worship leader of heaven to alter the meaning and purpose of worship.

In this process we see that the mystery of evil is that it is a distortion of love. The highest form of love is worship. And so, the greatest distortion of love comes when a created being attempts to redefine, distort and eventually subvert worship. Eventually, Lucifer came to believe that only he knew the proper form of worship. He came to the place where he first invited then demanded of the angelic host to offer their imperfect worship to him so he could purify it within his superior intellect and sanctity then offer it to God.

Lucifer distorted his purpose to issue the call to worship and instead spoke the words: I am like God. It was a half -truth that led to a deceit- a fatal lie.  One third of the angels embraced this distortion. In following Lucifer they separated from God and lost their union with eternal love which is eternal life.

The smallest and comparatively weakest of the lowest class of angels heard the half- truth, perceived the deceit and rejected the lie. As so many of the angels chanted to Lucifer: you are like God, this least of all the angels shouted out the truth that Lucifer and so many other chose to distort. That shout was and is” Who is like God?” In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament that question is “Mi ca El”? Michael.

At that point war arose in heaven as all of the angels made the one real choice all beings created for love must make. We know the result. We know that Michael declared the truth of worship. We know that two thirds of the angels remained in that truth. We know that Lucifer attempted to subvert divine will by imposing his will on Michael and the loyal angels. We know that Michael defeated Lucifer by the power of God.

The war Lucifer started in heaven continues here on earth. It is a spiritual war fought over the issue of worship, love and life. Lucifer has so corrupted his own being that he now seeks to distort and subvert the highest form of love to build what he vainly imagines to be his kingdom.

So why does this matter to us?

Pride is the great distortion of our unique identity in divine love. Pride distorts the original grace of creation to re-form angelic spirits and human souls through the assertion of the will to power. The face of evil is not the grotesque images of supernatural monsters or violent dictators. The face of evil is an angel of light who tells us what we want to hear and whispers to us that we deserve what we desire and have a right to claim what we want whenever we want it. It is the voice of seduction that appeals to our reason, will and emotion to redefine God, creation and ourselves.

Lucifer forfeited his role as worship leader. He no longer issues the call for spirits and souls to immerse themselves in the infinite and eternal love of the Triune God. Michael now has that position. And the call to worship Michael proclaims throughout the universe is “Who is like God”?

The preeminent role of the angels in relation to mortals is to call us to worship the Father by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit according to the pattern of the Son. The highest priority your guardian angel has for you is to encourage you to make worship your highest priority. The Plan of Salvation in Jesus Christ is the reunification of lost souls to a personal relationship with infinite and eternal love.  Jesus has assigned Michael the great and joyful responsibility to bear the name that proclaims the call to eternal life in the call to worship. “Who is like God?”