Revelation 12:7-12
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
It sounds like the stuff of big-budget Hollywood movies. The ancient, long forgotten prequel to the Avengers. St Michael - Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk all rolled into one - stands at the ready, commanding a supernatural army of extraterrestrial beings that numbers in the thousands upon thousands, ten thousands upon ten thousands. The mighty angel band of the Lord God of Sabaoth, the Maker and Master of the Universe. An elite squad of truly invisible warriors, greater than any ninja clan or assembly of Avengers.
And their opponent? The arch, super villain, one of their own rank, a traitor from their midst, Lucifer. Who possesses a dark, chaotic power of his own. Imagine Loki times a thousand. He is the ultimate Trickster, the unholy offspring of Baron Von Doom and Maleficent, worse than Ronan the Accuser. Hell-bent on one thing: destruction of God’s good creation and int inhabitants.
The author of this real-life comic book, St John the Apostle and Evangelist, calls him the Deceiver of the Whole World, the great dragon, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Σατανοσ - the Accuser of mankind. And he has a third of the host of heaven at his command, willing to fight to the destruction of the heavens and the earth in a violent rage because of the Incarnation of the Son of God. Even if you don’t like Marvel movies, this is still pretty cool.
What would we pay to see Peter Jackson or Joss Whedon turn that into a movie? How long would we be willing to stand in line on opening night? Get the KickStarter account up; break out the tents.
The problem, dear Christians, is that this is already real. More real than any movie or character or comic book. I get most of my theology from movies. Which isn’t all bad. Movies like the Avengers franchise, Guardians, Superman, Lord of the Rings, Narnia and others suck us in to the story, help us imagine a world in which good triumphs over evil and remind us there’s more in life than what meets the eye. They give us an escape. They have staying power.
And they do this because they are based on what CS Lewis calls, the true myth, that is, the most compelling cosmic comic book of all time: the story of the all-powerful, eternal, omniscient God who became part of His creation, entered our story-arc, and became Man. He has an alter-ego, a quick change two natures, that is even better than Clark Kent and Superman.
We think we’d pay anything to see this live-action movie, but its happening all around us. Those dastardly things you chanted about in the Psalm - the snare of the fowler, the deadly pestilence, the terror of the night, the arrow of the day, the stalking pestilence in the darkness, the wasting destruction of noonday - all those pitfalls and traps, seventh century Church Father St John Cassian wrote, “All these names we ought not to take as given at random or haphazard, but as alluding to their fierceness and madness under the sign of those wild beasts which are more or less harmful and dangerous among us” (Conferences 7:32).
Imagine the grotesque creatures allied with the White Witch in Narnia. Hags and ghouls, minotaurs and wraiths. They represent the fallen angels, those whose beauty and splendor, the majesty in which God the Father created them has been demonically altered. They represent on the outside what our sin has done to us on the inside. Their outer nature exemplifies our scarred conscience. They are the army of the Evil One, amassed in battle worse than any orc or oruki. And they are all around us. Elsewhere St Paul says, We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).
Fear not! For opposed to them stand the legions of holy angels, who seek to do the good and gracious will of God. St Michael is their commander. How did they conquer? How did they overcome and εκβαλε, cast down Satan and his horde? Did you catch it in the text? What is the center of this battle, the cause of victory, the Champion and Conquerer?
Out onto this cosmic battlefield, amongst the clash of these supernatural titans, comes the Lamb, unblemished, spotless, pure and holy. A weak, defenseless, helpless Lamb led to the slaughter.
But the ancient dragon could not devour this Lamb, either at His birth nor in the wilderness. He could not destroy Him by the hand of a wicked tyrant. He could not withstand Him by the obstinacy of mankind. It wasn’t until the Lamb was offered up on the cruciform spit did Satan finally do His worst. He unleashed the very powers of Hell, poured all his venom into the slaying of this Innocent Lamb, until finally He breathed His last and spilled His blood.
And in the best dramatic plot twist of all, it is Satan who is defeated. He expends himself to death. He falls on his own sword. In the slaughter of the Lamb of God, Satan is dealt a mortal blow. And behold, the Lamb who was slain, lives! And they have conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives, even unto death.
While the cosmic battle between St Michael and the dragon is captivating, the truly epic victory, the ultimate triumph of good over evil, is the Cross. It is folly. It is shame. It is weakness. It is the power of God unto salvation. And it is the radical nature of the Gospel: that by faith in the shed blood of Christ Jesus you are reckoned righteous. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Behold the Lamb of God! And the Bread that is His Body is held before your eyes and placed upon your tongue. He takes away the sin of the world! And the Wine that is His Blood is poured from the chalice over your sin-parched lips and you are steeled for battle. For you were conscripted in your Holy Baptism, by which the whole armor of God was placed upon you, the Holy Cross of Christ, marking you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified, and a mortal enemy of the mortal enemy of our Lord, Satan himself. Stand firm beloved. The Lamb is your Victor!
How much would you pay for this movie? Its playing every Sunday! Every Sunday, every Divine Service, heaven and earth meet in the very communion of the Body of Christ, in the fellowship of the Lamb. You get bored and have to entertain yourself with bands and songs and screens.
But if we understood what was happening here, if we would grasp the cosmic significance of the Divine Service we would treat it with more reverence and respect. That beyond that mystical East lies the country of our Aslan, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and we long for His holy habitation. That on the other side of the Altar, hidden from our sense, lies all the angels and archangels, the whole company of heaven, joined together with us around the throne of Lamb, ever singing His praise: Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come; who together with the Father + and the Holy Spirit, be glory now and in the Church unto the ages of ages. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
It sounds like the stuff of big-budget Hollywood movies. The ancient, long forgotten prequel to the Avengers. St Michael - Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk all rolled into one - stands at the ready, commanding a supernatural army of extraterrestrial beings that numbers in the thousands upon thousands, ten thousands upon ten thousands. The mighty angel band of the Lord God of Sabaoth, the Maker and Master of the Universe. An elite squad of truly invisible warriors, greater than any ninja clan or assembly of Avengers.
And their opponent? The arch, super villain, one of their own rank, a traitor from their midst, Lucifer. Who possesses a dark, chaotic power of his own. Imagine Loki times a thousand. He is the ultimate Trickster, the unholy offspring of Baron Von Doom and Maleficent, worse than Ronan the Accuser. Hell-bent on one thing: destruction of God’s good creation and int inhabitants.
The author of this real-life comic book, St John the Apostle and Evangelist, calls him the Deceiver of the Whole World, the great dragon, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Σατανοσ - the Accuser of mankind. And he has a third of the host of heaven at his command, willing to fight to the destruction of the heavens and the earth in a violent rage because of the Incarnation of the Son of God. Even if you don’t like Marvel movies, this is still pretty cool.
What would we pay to see Peter Jackson or Joss Whedon turn that into a movie? How long would we be willing to stand in line on opening night? Get the KickStarter account up; break out the tents.
The problem, dear Christians, is that this is already real. More real than any movie or character or comic book. I get most of my theology from movies. Which isn’t all bad. Movies like the Avengers franchise, Guardians, Superman, Lord of the Rings, Narnia and others suck us in to the story, help us imagine a world in which good triumphs over evil and remind us there’s more in life than what meets the eye. They give us an escape. They have staying power.
And they do this because they are based on what CS Lewis calls, the true myth, that is, the most compelling cosmic comic book of all time: the story of the all-powerful, eternal, omniscient God who became part of His creation, entered our story-arc, and became Man. He has an alter-ego, a quick change two natures, that is even better than Clark Kent and Superman.
We think we’d pay anything to see this live-action movie, but its happening all around us. Those dastardly things you chanted about in the Psalm - the snare of the fowler, the deadly pestilence, the terror of the night, the arrow of the day, the stalking pestilence in the darkness, the wasting destruction of noonday - all those pitfalls and traps, seventh century Church Father St John Cassian wrote, “All these names we ought not to take as given at random or haphazard, but as alluding to their fierceness and madness under the sign of those wild beasts which are more or less harmful and dangerous among us” (Conferences 7:32).
Imagine the grotesque creatures allied with the White Witch in Narnia. Hags and ghouls, minotaurs and wraiths. They represent the fallen angels, those whose beauty and splendor, the majesty in which God the Father created them has been demonically altered. They represent on the outside what our sin has done to us on the inside. Their outer nature exemplifies our scarred conscience. They are the army of the Evil One, amassed in battle worse than any orc or oruki. And they are all around us. Elsewhere St Paul says, We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).
Fear not! For opposed to them stand the legions of holy angels, who seek to do the good and gracious will of God. St Michael is their commander. How did they conquer? How did they overcome and εκβαλε, cast down Satan and his horde? Did you catch it in the text? What is the center of this battle, the cause of victory, the Champion and Conquerer?
Out onto this cosmic battlefield, amongst the clash of these supernatural titans, comes the Lamb, unblemished, spotless, pure and holy. A weak, defenseless, helpless Lamb led to the slaughter.
But the ancient dragon could not devour this Lamb, either at His birth nor in the wilderness. He could not destroy Him by the hand of a wicked tyrant. He could not withstand Him by the obstinacy of mankind. It wasn’t until the Lamb was offered up on the cruciform spit did Satan finally do His worst. He unleashed the very powers of Hell, poured all his venom into the slaying of this Innocent Lamb, until finally He breathed His last and spilled His blood.
And in the best dramatic plot twist of all, it is Satan who is defeated. He expends himself to death. He falls on his own sword. In the slaughter of the Lamb of God, Satan is dealt a mortal blow. And behold, the Lamb who was slain, lives! And they have conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives, even unto death.
While the cosmic battle between St Michael and the dragon is captivating, the truly epic victory, the ultimate triumph of good over evil, is the Cross. It is folly. It is shame. It is weakness. It is the power of God unto salvation. And it is the radical nature of the Gospel: that by faith in the shed blood of Christ Jesus you are reckoned righteous. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Behold the Lamb of God! And the Bread that is His Body is held before your eyes and placed upon your tongue. He takes away the sin of the world! And the Wine that is His Blood is poured from the chalice over your sin-parched lips and you are steeled for battle. For you were conscripted in your Holy Baptism, by which the whole armor of God was placed upon you, the Holy Cross of Christ, marking you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified, and a mortal enemy of the mortal enemy of our Lord, Satan himself. Stand firm beloved. The Lamb is your Victor!
How much would you pay for this movie? Its playing every Sunday! Every Sunday, every Divine Service, heaven and earth meet in the very communion of the Body of Christ, in the fellowship of the Lamb. You get bored and have to entertain yourself with bands and songs and screens.
But if we understood what was happening here, if we would grasp the cosmic significance of the Divine Service we would treat it with more reverence and respect. That beyond that mystical East lies the country of our Aslan, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and we long for His holy habitation. That on the other side of the Altar, hidden from our sense, lies all the angels and archangels, the whole company of heaven, joined together with us around the throne of Lamb, ever singing His praise: Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come; who together with the Father + and the Holy Spirit, be glory now and in the Church unto the ages of ages. Amen.
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