St Mary and St Michael - "Meekness and majesty"
Today is our Patronal Festival - the day when we think about the 2 saints to whom this Priory church is dedicated - St Mary and St Michael. What a contrasting couple of figures!
We look at Mary - and we see submission to God's will
- we see humility and self-effacement
- we see gentleness and compassion
- we see mother-love, given to Jesus from cradle to cross.
And then we look at Michael - and we see the warrior angel
- assertive, uncompromising
- standing against evil
- battling against Satan
What a contrast! Yet in these 2 saints of God we see, surely, a reflection of God Himself. God can be seen in the faces, in the lives, of His people. Supremely, of course, seen in Jesus. But to some extent in His people, His children.
Fathers and children do often have a likeness, don't they - in looks, in mannerisms. "I can see your father in you", people say. I have to confess that I struggle to see likenesses between babies and their parents. About the only time that I plucked up courage to say to someone "Isn't the baby like you!" - I discovered that the baby was adopted!
Actually I think they were quite pleased by my faux pas!
But as we look at Mary, as we look at Michael, we can say - "Don't they take after God? Isn't there a likeness?"
The name "Michael" means "Who is like God?" It's actually a question - "Who is like God?" Well - Mary and Michael are - a bit! And so we see, in them, something of the contrasting faces of God.
In tonight's service we shall think first, in song and reading and reflection, about Mary. And then about Michael.
And as we focus on them, in turn, let's see if we don't get a glimpse of God Himself.
Mary Luke 1: 26-38
I wonder why God chose Mary to be the mother of His Son? Why her? Of all the thousands of young women in Judaea what made Him pick her out? There must have been something very special about her.
And yet the Bible actually tells us very little. We know about the Annunciation, and the birth of Jesus. There is that glimpse when Jesus was 11 years old, and he went missing in the Temple, and Mary was worried sick, and then cross with relief when he was found. There is the wedding at Canaa, when Mary's concern for the guests led her to persuade Jesus into His first miracle. We are aware of Mary in the background during Jesus' ministry, sometimes puzzled by His behaviour. And then she was there at the cross, standing at a distance, agonising over this terrible end, as she thought, to her Son's life. But she is always in the background. Faithfully there, but not obtrusive.
Following the Ascension we don't hear of her again, apart from a brief reference in Acts 1: 14, which says that Mary the mother of Jesus was among the disciples who met together frequently to pray. After that - no mention.
Even John, to whom Jesus gave responsibility to look after Mary, doesn't mention her in his writings. Mary was a background person - retiring, modest, submissive. And yet what a crucial role she played in God's plan of salvation for the world.
That passage Rob read just now - they are words so familiar to us, from Christmas carol services, that it is easy to forget their explosive effect on Mary. She was "greatly troubled" by the angel's appearance and words. At first the news of a baby did not thrill her - it shattered her - it blew her life apart.
"I am a virgin!" she protested. "How can I possibly be pregnant?" The whole thing was a shock - a shock to her, to Joseph, to her family, to the community. "Mary! Young Mary! Pregnant!" people would say. But in the end the reaction is one of acceptance. "If this is from God then so be it. "I am the Lord's servant" she said. "May it be to me as you have said."
These words of submission of Mary remind us of very similar words spoken in a garden in Jerusalem 30 years later.
"Father, if You are willing take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours, be done." Submission to the will of God.
Mary made herself available to God, and then she could sing out her song of joy. "My soul magnifies the Lord!"
Her wishes, her plans for her life with Joseph, her reputation, her desires - all took second place to God's will.
There is a Greek word used in the Bible - "kenosis" It means "emptying". Mary emptied herself of pride and self-will.
She became available to God. It's a word used of Jesus in Philippians ch 2, where we are told that:
- "Jesus, though in the very nature of God, emptied Himself.
- "He made Himself as nothing.
- "He became a servant.
- "He humbled Himself, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross."
"Emptied", "humbled", "obedient", "as nothing" - all words of submission. Kenosis.
Mary's obedience, like Jesus', wasn't a pallid, floppy, ineffective passiveness. No, it was a determined obedience.
A positive submissiveness. Positive submissiveness to God needs great courage - sometimes He asks us to do hard things. Mary's submissiveness was not a sign of weakness. Rather, it was a sign of strength.
In Mary's case it carried her through a shock pregnancy, a labour and a birth in a cowshed. It carried her through the agony of a child gone missing for 3 days in the city. It carried her through the confusion of a Son Who spoke out, did amazing things, and often seemed to be something of a maverick. It carried her through the sheer hell of watching that Son die a terrible, criminal's death.
Determined submissiveness.
Courageous submissiveness.
And so too with Jesus. He "humbled Himself". God didn't humble Him - He humbled Himself. And as the sweat fell like drops of blood in Gethsemane, He steeled Himself to go through with it. "Father, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless not My will but Yours be done." And then - "My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?"
Submission at its most determined and courageous. So, like mother, like Son. In Mary we catch a glimpse of that face of God. The God Who loved the world so much that He gave away His only Son.
When you and I stand on our rights, when we assert our wishes, our will, when we put number 1 first, then we need to look at Mary, and through Mary to Jesus. Mary, who made herself nothing for Jesus' sake, Jesus Who made Himself nothing for your and my sake.
"Lord, I am Your servant. May it be to me according to Your word" "Not My will, but Yours, be done"
In the words of Edward Shillito:
"The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone."
The submissiveness of God.
Michael Revelation 12: 7-12
We know even less about Michael than we do about Mary. He gets just 4 mentions in the Bible - 3 in the book of Daniel, - 1 in Revelation 12:7 (our second reading tonight).
All these references are in the context of highly symbolic, prophetic, apocalyptic language. In Daniel Michael is described as "the great prince", the protector of God's people, who will deliver them in the last days. In Revelation he is the archangel, who leads his army of angels against Satan, and Satan's army. War rages, and finally Satan is thrown out of heaven, together with his angels. It is a picture of a spiritual battle, in which good finally triumphs over evil. It is a partial victory - the final victory, won by Christ on the cross - or, as Revelation puts it, won "by the blood of the Lamb" - will come into effect when Christ returns.
So, Michael, the warrior/archangel, symbolises for us the battle of good against evil. He reminds us that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are also engaged in a battle. There is spiritual warfare going on, and we disregard it at our peril.
Remember St Paul's words, in Ephesians 6: 11-13: "Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armour of God."
Let's not kid ourselves. As someone has said, the "armour of God" is not a Christian fashion accessory.
There are spiritual powers of evil at work in the world, just as there are spiritual powers for good. And we, as Christians, are involved in a spiritual battle. Satan is no fool. As Shakespeare said "The Prince of darkness is a gentleman." As St Paul says, "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." ( 2 Cor: 11: 14)
He comes dressed as an angel, and puts us off our guard.
- He comes dressed as a healer, through various new age philosophies.
- He comes in trendy occult guise, through tarot cards, and crystals, and witchcraft, and astrology.
- He comes in intellectual guise, as a secular, scientific rationalist, denying the existence of God.
- He comes in persuasive, aggressive fundamentalist religions, which aim to take over the world.
- He comes in materialistic guise, promising satisfaction in possessions and money.
- he comes in the guise of a high standard of living, encouraging us to plunder our fragile world.
- He comes in the attractiveness of alcohol and drugs and pornography, promising a pleasure that proves to be empty and addictive.
- He comes in the guise of EU directives, which will stifle Christian freedom.
We only have to read the papers to know that there is a war going on between Christ and Satan in his many guises.
Our forbears, who built this Priory church on a pagan site, 925 years ago, were more aware of spiritual warfare than we are in our secular, sceptical age. That's why one of our patron saints is St Michael. I only learned recently (from Rob Swinton) that churches built on previous pagan sites are often dedicated to St Michael. The Christians who built and dedicated them were only too aware of the power of evil that can linger in such a place. St Michael symbolised the victory of good over evil, and those Christians long ago invoked his help. Jesus saw Himself as engaged in a battle against Satan. In the Temptation in the wilderness Jesus faced up to Satan, and resisted him, and rebuked him. "Get behind me Satan!" or "Away with you!"
Jesus often spoke of Satan, and when His disciples returned with joy from their successful healing mission, Jesus said: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven!"
On the cross Jesus wrestled in that final battle with Satan. It seemed that Satan had won. Darkness fell on the land.
And when Jesus took His last breath the earth shook and the rocks split. Buit Satan hadn't won. Jesus turned defeat to victory when He broke open the tomb on the day of Resurrection.
And so we see in Michael a reflection of that other face of God. We see the triumphant Jesus,
The One Who faced up to Satan on his own ground, and beat him.
The Lamb Who is Conqueror.
The Suffering Servant Who is King.
The Victim Who is Victor.
Thank God, though it sometimes doesn't feel it, we are on the side of victory! One day our submissive Saviour will return as glorious King.
In the words of the old chorus which I used to sing as a boy:
Living He loved me.
Dying He saved me.
Buried He carried my sins far away.
Rising He justified,
Freely for ever.
One day He's coming!
O glorious day!
So, meekness and majesty. Submission and victory. The contrasting faces of God, as seen in Mary and Michael.
David Webster
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