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“In the Company of ” Grace Church Columbiana, Ohio The Rev. Dr. Robert C. Joy August 22, 2021 Pat Young was one of the winners of our church picture treasure hunt and she investigated extensively and identified almost all of the pictures. So, she got to name a subject for a sermon. I asked her and she had a ready subject: angels. I thought, now there’s a subject I can fly with. Really, angels are all through the Bible, in nearly every book and numerous times in many books. There is, culturally, kind of a cult of angels. Go in any flower shop, or Christian book store and you’ll see what I mean: statues, paintings, books, calendars all filled with angels. There are also lots of people who claim, or at least suspect, they have had an encounter with an . Some might be here today. I don’t doubt their experience. But what do know about angels? What does the Bible tell us? First, a stern word of caution. There are those who wish to worship angels, that is, they pray to them, wish to somehow engage their unique power and energy here on earth. They believe by worshipping the angel and asking for special power from them, it will be granted. Time to get off your cloud and come down to earth. True angels of never want worshipped. They understand they are created beings and are unworthy of worship and they would sternly point us to worshipping God alone. Yet, some folks love to look up the names of the seven from the Apocrypha, the books of the Bible in the Catholic Bible, Protestants don’t recognize as authoritative. The , supposedly named from ancient Jewish literature are: , , , , , , and . Remember the sermon I did a few Sundays ago called “Angel in the Sun” based on Revelation 19:17? Tradition has it that angel’s name was Uriel, an angel of fire, light, and judgement. But that is tradition. It is not confirmed fact and does not have much to back it up. So, don’t be like the New Agers who set up little shrines to certain angels and pray to them. That is clearly idolatry. Any angel worth his wings will be extremely irritated by that practice. “Worship God alone!” they would all say to us in heavenly chorus. While it is plainly idolatry to pray to an angel, it is appropriate to pray to God to send angels to help or protect. Nothing wrong with that. What we’re asking is, “God, we need help! Send the cavalry, now!” We know angels are a type of being created by God. Demons are fallen angels who went with Lucifer when he was cast out of heaven. Angels have fellowship with God and worship and praise God in heaven, and they are there with all of God’s people who have passed and now reside in God’s presence. That can be a comforting image to remember.

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What do angels look like? Most of the time we think of angels as fat babies with wings. Smiling little cherubim without diapers like Cupid. Hallmark cards often depict them that way. Many other pictures have angels portrayed as children or as women. We don’t know, of course, the full diversity of the types of the angelic creation, but we do know how scripture depicts angels. Scripture is consistent and universally depicts angels as handsome young men serving as God’s messengers, or as mighty warriors, ready to do battle at God’s bidding. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah encounters strange and awesome creatures in heaven that spring from God’s imagination: angels with six wings who sing and worship God constantly. Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel chapter one has another strange, mystical heavenly creature who is also quite fantastic. In the Revelation mighty angels blow trumpets, signaling how God is moving through history and moving history. In Revelation chapter 18, verse 21, an angel picks up a great millstone, like a giant discus and hurls it into the sea. In holiness angels stand before God’s , representing the Seven Churches in Asia Minor. That makes me wonder, “Does Grace Church have its own angel representing us before God’s throne?” Maybe. I don’t know. I want to hear what the Son of Man says to the angel of the church of Columbiana. But we won’t likely hear that on this side of eternity. What else do angels do? They protect us. They are always ready to receive God’s orders and act to help us. There is a short account in Matthew 26 that tells us much about angels. When the enemies of Jesus came to arrest him and eventually put him on the cross, when Judas kissed him, when Peter drew his sword, Jesus said, “Put back your sword. Don’t you think I could, if I wanted, call to my Father, and he would immediately send more than twelve legions of angels?” In other words, I could end this any time I want. How many are 12 legions? A legion is 6000 soldiers, so 12 legions would be 72,000 warrior angels, each one far better than Seal Team Six. But Jesus said, “That’s not my purpose. God’s will must be followed.” Peter did not question Jesus’ ability to call down a to his rescue. Like any Jewish kid, Peter knew the story of Elisha. Elisha had been searched for by the King of Aram’s soldiers, raiders into Israel. Elisha’s disciple is troubled as he wakes up in the morning and finds the town they were in was surrounded by an army looking for Elisha. “What are we going to do?” “Fear not!” said Elisha, “for those that are with us are more than those that are with them.” Then to calm the young man’s fears, Elisha prayed that his eyes would be opened to see the reality that Elisha knew was there. And what did he see? A wondrous and awesome sight. The mountain that surrounded the town that was surrounded by a human army was filled with angel cavalry, and chariots of fire. The hosts of heaven, chomping at the bit for the word to be given to defend Elisha.

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“Those that are with us are more than those that are with them.” The forces of God, the allies of the Church Universal, of this specific church, far outnumber the enemies of the church, the forces of the enemy even though we might not see this through our very limited human vision. How weak it might seem sometimes, how few we really are and how great the challenges that face us, in our homes, our church, our community, our nation! We’re a mere handful it might seem compared to the masses of indifference and unbelief. But our vision is so limited to such a small space and area. Even compared to many animals we see only a small spectrum of color and light, effectively making many things invisible to us. The angels fill the vast heavens, although the Hubble telescope won’t see them. The forces of God are overwhelmingly strong, the balance of power in creation is all on God’s side. Those that are for us, my friends, are more, many, many times more, than they that are against us. Jesus in Matthew, does not call for angels to help him. His purpose is to serve as a perfect sacrifice, once and for all for humanity, and only a God-man could make this atoning sacrifice. Not that the angels weren’t chomping at the bit to help. Finally we see the angels again at the garden tomb. The women saw them first. Or I should say the armed guards at the tomb saw them first and quaked and became as dead men. It must have been an awesome sight. The women saw angels in the tomb, one where his feet had been and one where his head had been. The sacrifice of Jesus opens the heavens to us: to God’s mercy and grace and to the ministry of his mighty angels. Those brave spirits have been loving God ever since they were created, with all their being, all their strength, and mind, and heart. But even they are in awe of his sacrifice for our salvation. So, my friends, the air is thick with wings. Whenever we worship and remember and celebrate his sacrifice, his grace and love that changes the whole world, his death and resurrection that overcame all death and every power that can hurt or divide, whenever we come here, the Spirit of the Lord is present and we are in the company of angels. The company of heaven, angels, archangels, are all praising and singing his holy name and crying, “Holy, holy, holy!” Their mighty voices support our meager praises. Their praise and worship of God support us as we pray to our savior. It happened for John one day. Imprisoned on an island he could not leave, but leave he did, for the Spirit caught him up on the Lord’s day, today, and he had a vision. He was in the presence of God. In chapter 4 he sees a throne with an amazing shining vision of Christ like jewels. There were 24 elders in thrones around the throne, and around the great throne were four , full of eyes in front and behind, one like a lion, one like an ox, one like a human, and the fourth like an eagle (a living depiction perhaps of the four gospels). And each had

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6 wings (like Isaiah’s vision) and they sang day and night, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” John saw the sacrifice that redeemed all humanity. He saw the Lamb of God, a Lamb standing as though slaughtered; a Lamb alone worthy to open for humanity the blessed promises of God. John saw the Lamb. He saw the angels. “I saw,” he says, “and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands all saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive the power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Certainly when we gather here, those that are with us and far more than those who stand against us. When we lift our hearts to the Lord, we join the hosts of heaven. We are in the company of angels. Amen.