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In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Of all the things from the Bible that people like, I would say that the idea of angels, has to be at the top of the list. Nothing quite fascinates the imagination like the thought of these holy and mysterious creatures out there watching over us. And yet, this is also a very good example of why it’s important not just to believing in something from the Bible, but to actually believe the Bible. Because even though lots of people like the idea of angels, there’s a lot of misconceptions about them that really have no basis in the Word of God. And any time that we believe something that God’s Word doesn’t teach us, or add to it, subtract from it, or change, there is a danger of it harming our faith. It doesn’t matter if it seems small or insignificant to us at the time, as the Bible says elsewhere, a little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump. Meaning, just a little bit of false doctrine here or there can eventually contaminate the whole thing.

So, in this morning’s sermon, as we celebrate the feast of Saint Michael all Angles, we’re going to do so by considering a few basic facts about angels from the Bible, as well as respond to a couple of the most popular misconceptions.

First, what exactly even are the angels? Holy Scripture tells us that angels are spiritual beings created by God to do His will by serving and protecting humanity. As the book of Hebrews says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” Although angels can appear at times in the form of people, like they did when they visited Abraham and Lot in Genesis, they’re still spiritual in nature, and don’t naturally possess bodies of their own like we do. Just like a frog is a frog, and a duck is a duck. Angels are angels, and people are people.

Now perhaps, you’ve heard it said before that when someone dies, they become and angel. This is especially common when it comes to the death of young children as well as those who die in tragic accidents. For example, I bet you’ve seen if before where a car or a truck has a name on the back of it with a date and pair of wings. This is also a popular thing on Facebook. You might see someone post about the death of loved one and say something like, “heaven got another angel today.” Certainly, we don’t want to be cruel or insensitive here, but we also still need to follow the Word of God. And when we look in God’s word, and study the Scriptures, we don’t see that teaching there at all. In fact, the Bible makes it very clear that we don’t turn into angels when we die. Yes, Jesus does say in Matthew chapter 22 that we will be “like” the angels someday, but as He goes on to explain that is because we won’t marry and procreate in heaven, not because we will literally turn into angels.

Again, angels are non-corporeal beings. That means that they don’t have bodies. But humans do have bodies. And even more than that, God promises that after we die, He will one day raise our bodies back to new life again we’ll live in them forever. So, turning into an angel wouldn’t be an upgrade from what God promises, it would be a downgrade. As amazing as the angles are, as it says in Hebrews chapter 1, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” Even when it comes to Jesus, He didn’t become an angel after He died, nor did He assume the nature of an angel when He entered into God’s creation to save us. No! He became a man. He became like one of us. And when we die in the faith, we will become more like Him. God won’t change our nature and make us different creatures. He'll restore our nature, and make us perfect humans.

The next thing that the Bible tells us about angles is that God often uses them to bring messages to people. In fact, the word “angel” literally means “messenger.” We, of course, can recall how Gabriel visited Mary and told her about the Christ child as well as how the angels appeared to the women at tomb and proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection to them. But we need to be careful with these examples too, and not interpret them in the wrong way. Just because God has done something in the past, that doesn’t mean that He will do the exact same thing for us necessarily in the future. All over the place, the Bible warns us about being on your guard against so-called “special” messages from God, even if they come from an angel. As Saint Paul writes in Galatians chapter 1, “But even if an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” In Colossians chapter 2, Paul also specifically warns us about those who go on and on regarding visions they claim to have experienced and to avoid them. Instead, we should be satisfied with the content that God has already given us in the Bible, and evaluate every other supposed revelation through that. Even though God can communicate by using angels, we need to remember that the devil also disguises himself as an angel of light, and uses everything at his disposal to draw us away from the written word. So, we should hold fast to God’s Word and not put stock in extra messages, even from what might look like an angel. We certainly shouldn’t listen to that “angel” at all, if it says something that contradicts the Scriptures. 

Furthermore, we learn from the Bible that as supernatural beings, angels also are sent by God to watch over and protect us. Here we can recall how the angels closed the mouths of lions and when Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, and saved him from being eaten by them. Angles also ministered to Jesus after His temptation in the wilderness, and came and help Him when He sweat drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. In perhaps the most incredible account about angels of all, maybe we remember how Elisha prayed to God that He would open the eyes of his fearful servant at Dothan, when the Assyrian army had them surrounded, and when God did, Elisha’s servant saw that the hills around them we’re filled with angles. As Elisha famously said, “those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Even though we cannot always see God’s holy angels around us, or feel their protective care, God promises to use them daily to keep us safe from evil. As we pray in Luther’s morning and evening prayers, “let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.” 

And yet, because God’s Word does say that He uses His angles to take care of us, sometimes this has led to the opinion that each person must have their own personal guardian angel. Certainly, this belief isn’t as problematic as becoming angles when we die, but I still think that we need to be careful here. There’s only one verse from the Bible that mentions anything close to this idea, and still it’s not entirely clear. We heard it in our Gospel lesson from Matthew 18. Jesus says in reference to children, and why we shouldn’t lead them into sin, because “their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” But that doesn’t necessarily prove that we all have one personal guardian angel. It just proves once again that God assigns angels to us to take care of us in general.

So, again, this is about not going beyond what God has revealed to us in the Scriptures. It’s enough to know that He uses angles to help us. Whether or not He does that by using one angel per person, we don’t know, and it isn’t our concern. And we certainly don’t need to try and figure out who our angel is so that we can do something like pray to them or try and communicate with them. The Bible tells us that we should pray to God alone, and go directly to Jesus for help, not bypass Him for an angel. As Jesus says in Matthew 11, “come to Meall who are weary and heaven laden and I will give you rest.” And as Saint Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 2, “there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ.” 

And finally, God’s Word tells us that the angels worship God by constantly adorning Him and singing His praises. That’s what the prophet Isaiah saw when God gave Him a vision of heaven in Isaiah chapter 6. He saw the angels surrounding the throne of God singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts.” And remember what the shepherds saw the night that Jesus was born: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.” We don’t worship the angels. But we do learn from the angels how to worship God. The angels are a model to us of what faithful Christian worship should look like and how we do. That’s why in our Liturgy, and specially in Divine Service setting 3, the one that Martin Luther compiled, we sing both the Gloria and the Sanctus, “Glory be to God on High” and “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Those two songs from the angels in Isaiah 6 and Luke chapter 2.

Angels are indeed a wonderful gift from God. The more that we think about them in accordance with God’s Word, the more that it should cause us to we marvel at the love of God. That’s why God tells us about them! These creatures are amazing. They have the ability to do things that we could never dream of. And yet, what do they do with all that strength and power? They use it to serve us. They are glad to do God’s will and take care of others who are less powerful or less magnificent looking than they are.

You are I can learn from that. Don’t ever think that its beneath you to serve others and put their needs before your own. And don’t get bored with worshiping Jesus. And if you do, just look at the angels. Listen to what God’s Word says about them and don’t make up your own opinions. Then the doctrine of angels will do what it’s supposed to do. It will comfort you and build up your faith in Jesus. In Jesus’’ Name. Amen.