September 29th 2019 (Pastor James Proeber) Daniel 10:10-14
“I Have Come in Response to Your Prayer”
To remove your fears
To offer you hope
This Sunday is celebrated as “The Festival of St. Michael & All Angels.
Michael is one of two angels that the Bible names for us. The other is the great messenger of God’s good news, Gabriel. Gabriel’s job was to announce the remarkable works of God’s rescue through Jesus to a waiting world (see Luke 1-2), Michael’s job, on the other hand, is very different.
Michael is called the archangel, that is, the leader of the angels. The Bible says that he is in charge of the great army of angels that God uses to protect and care for us. This is the day we remember God’s great love in giving us these amazing protectors, the angels.
For 1500 years the Christian Church has celebrated this festival near the autumnal equinox, the day of 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness. (This year it was September 23.) As Christians watched the autumn nights grow longer and the days grow shorter, they were reminded of the struggle between good and evil — between the forces of light and the forces of darkness — between the angel armies of God and the demonic forces of Satan. And so, every year as autumn darkened into winter, the Church celebrated the Feast of the Archangel and remembered that Michael and all the angels fight on their side.
The angels are one of God’s answers to our fears. God wants to give us the proper perspective as we go through this life. No matter what disasters we hear, or dilemmas we face, or tragedies we endure, God’s message for us is this: Don’t be afraid, because we are not alone.