A Vision of Violence & Victory

 Jesu Juva

Revelation 12:7-12                                                      

 September 28, 2022

Eve of St. Michael & All Angels   

Dear saints of our Savior~

          Berlin is a beautiful, modern city.  This once-divided city has been reunited, renovated and rebuilt into what many now call the new capital of Europe.  And yet, you can’t walk for even one block in Berlin without being reminded:  Something violent—something terrible—has happened here.

          Everywhere you look in Berlin there are reminders of violence and terror.  As you look down at the cobblestone sidewalks in front of certain buildings, you will see little memorial stones, giving the names of Jewish families who once lived at that address, but who were arrested and who died at places like Auschwitz and Dachau.  And as you inspect the grand old buildings of Berlin like the Reichstag, you can still see bullet holes made by Russian machine guns in April 1945.  Or, just walking across a simple, nondescript parking lot, a little sign informs you that, right beneath your feet was the bunker of Adolph Hitler, from which demonic and horrific evil was once carried out.  These memorials are a sobering reminder that something violent—something terrible—has happened.

          Tomorrow is the feast of St. Michael and All Angels.  It’s a day which serves as a memorial—a reminder—of something violent and terrible.  Tonight’s reading from Revelation tells us.  It presents a vision of heavenly violence—of terrible trauma—of a war . . . in heaven!  It’s almost unthinkable.  Heaven is a place of peace and joy.  That war should erupt there is unimaginable!  But St. John tells us plainly:  Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon who is called the devil and Satan—the deceiver of the whole world.  We learn that the devil and his angels have been cast down from heaven to earth:  Woe to you, o earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short.  And that devilish dragon is now making war on the church—on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ.

          From this complex passage from Revelation with all of its apocalyptic imagery, two truths emerge.  You can be certain of two things:  First, there is a war—a war against God’s people, including you.  And second, you know that God enables His people to participate in the victory of Jesus—that you are more than conquerors in Jesus.  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

          Even Michael—the great warrior archangel—even Michael participates in the victory of Christ.  Think about how strange this account is.  There’s a war in heaven, and Michael is fighting, and the devil is cast out of heaven.  The devil gets his butt kicked.  Fair enough.  But if we were directing this account, it wouldn’t be Michael who demotes the devil.  It would be Jesus!  That would fit better—if it were Christ who did this.

          But it is Michael . . . because Michael participates in the victory of Christ.  How do we know?  Because when Michael casts Satan out, the heavens break out into song; only they don’t sing about Michael, but about the Christ—about His rule, His authority, His salvation, His power, His blood that conquers Satan.  Because Christ in His resurrection has defeated the power of death and sin and Satan over all creation.  Michael shows it.  Michael demonstrates it.  God enables all His creatures—angels, archangels, and you—to participate in His victory.

          This vision of violence and victory helps to put things in perspective for us today.  For even our own struggles are not against flesh and blood . . . but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).  How often we forget that.  And when we forget about that spiritual warfare, we become small-minded and thin-skinned.  We get all offended when somebody disrespects us, when our toes get stepped on, when we get gossiped about.  Tonight’s account of heavenly battle reminds us just how casual and careless we are about our faith—how petty our concerns are—how cranky we get if church runs too long, or if the music doesn’t suit our taste.  Or how practically anything at all can be a great excuse just to skip the divine service all together—work, play, sports, hobbies, stress, you name it. 

          Jesus knows.  Christ Jesus knows your situation—knows where you are right now.  And today—in grace and mercy—He gives you a little memorial—a vision of violence and victory—to remind you of what is happening—so that you lift up your eyes and lift up your hearts to realize that Satan is doing what Satan does—attacking God’s people—and that you are in his crosshairs. 

          And what Satan does best is accuse.  Satan is hell’s prosecuting attorney.  And we, sadly, give him a ton of evidence to use against us.  His charges against us all ring true:  adulterer, idolater, gossip, murderer, thief, drunkard, liar.  But when you hear Satan’s accusations against you, know this:  Christ has conquered him.  Jesus Christ has defeated him.  These accusations do not sound in heaven.  For these sins—your sins—the blood of the Lamb atones.  These sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus.  And in the death of Jesus you are forever declared “not guilty.”  You are not collateral damage in this war.  You have not been abandoned to stagger and stumble through a never ending battlefield.  No!  You are not forgotten.  God has chosen you in the waters of holy Baptism to participate in His victory over Satan.  And in your weakness and weariness, there remains His strength, His peace, His victory.

          St. Michael fought against Satan by the strength of our Savior—and so do you.  I don’t know exactly what you’re battling against.  I don’t know exactly what kinds of weaponized words and accusations and temptations Satan is hurling at you tonight.  But I do know that you and I, we’re on our way home from earth to heaven; and every step is taken in the strength of our Savior.  And once in a while on this long homeward journey, the Lord sets before our eyes a little memorial marker—a vision of violence and victory—that stiffens our spine and strengthens our faith as we look to Jesus and His victory.

          If you want to know what that heavenly victory will sound like, Johann Sebastian Bach is about to take us there.  The chorus we are about to hear presents all the sound and fury of that heavenly warfare when St. Michael and his angels fought against that dragon called “Satan.”  They say that Bach often demanded the impossible from his choir—expected their voices to move in the same way he could move his fingers on the organ keyboard.

          The first two minutes of the chorus depicts serpents and dragons slithering upward to engage St. Michael and his host in heavenly battle.  But at the words “Aber Michael bezwingt/but Michael conquers,” right there Bach inverts the music downward, depicting Satan and his minions thrown back down to earth—defeated by the power of Jesus.  It is a musical vision of violence and victory—a monumental musical memorial.  May it strengthen you for your battles against the devil, and give you joy as you ponder one day taking your place around the throne of the Lamb—with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven.

          In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.