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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning’s sermon comes from the Old Testament reading, the prophet Daniel. You may be seated. The actual date of St. Michael and all angels is the 29th in a few days. But the reason we observe it faithfully each year is because it marks something that you visually can see outside every single day from this point forward. And that is each day there’s a little less light and each day the night grows longer all the way through the end of the church year, reminding us all in the time in which we live right now that we live in the last days.
The very things that Daniel speaks to us about, we’re living through: Satan prowling about like a roaring lion, though he has been defeated beyond a doubt. We have a lot in common with Daniel. Consider this: Daniel wrote this when he was in exile in Babylon, present-day Iraq. That was not his home. You don’t live here in this world either. This is not your home. Heaven is your home.
Daniel was surrounded by a culture that despised and ridiculed his faith. You live in a culture and in a world that ridicules and despises your beloved faith. Daniel watched as many of his fellow countrymen left the faith and walked away, embracing the pagan lifestyle of the Babylonians. So you and I have grievously seen, like Daniel, some of our beloved friends and family members walk away from the church, seemingly forever. We know not. But just as Daniel grieved, so do you.
Daniel would never see the promised land of Israel. He would die in a land that was not his own, just as you, in this life, do not get to see the promised land of heaven, and you will die living in a foreign land. Amen. And who does get to go? In Daniel’s time, it was his children and grandchildren. The faith that we pass on, that we receive from those who passed it on to us, that is what Daniel lived every day of his life.
Now the revelation that was given to Daniel, now that you see how much his life is just like ours, the revelation was remarkable indeed. For he was given a revelation to sustain his faith there and then while he waited to die there and then in that country, knowing full well he would never see Israel again. You are given the same promise given to Daniel that you may be sustained in your faith as you live out and practice your faith here in this world, here in this country, here in this town.
And just as Daniel was given a promise that could not be changed about this victory that he and all believers in Christ would have, so you have been given the same promise of the same victory that you have as Christ’s child and shall never be taken away from you. We also get to see a little snapshot of the world that is hidden from our eyes: the spiritual world of demons and angels and the ongoing battle that we do not get to know all the details. We just only get a snapshot.
Nevertheless, we are still encouraged because it is said very clearly: you shall have deliverance. At the very beginning when the angel greets Daniel, the angel gives Daniel a statement saying, “It’s the same statement that was given to you before you could even understand or tell anyone what was said to you.” It was the statement proclaimed over you in your baptism. Daniel was called a man greatly loved. You were called Jesus’ beloved child at your baptism. And throughout your whole life, it is a constant reminder that God calls you his beloved son and his beloved daughter as he calls Daniel his beloved.
Daniel was told, “Hear this revelation and instruction.” It’s for you, for your benefit. From your baptism on, the Lord has been proclaiming to you from his word, “Hear this revelation that’s outside of your experience that I give to you. It is for you.” Daniel is stirred up because he is also among all kinds of contradictions in his life, from what he sees and experiences to what God’s promises proclaim. Is that not your life and my life? What we see and experience, is that a distinct contradiction to what God’s promises say?
So what does Daniel get told by the angel? What all human beings are told by angels: “Fear not. Fear not. Fear not. God will rescue you.” And then finally, the other thing this text brings out: how often have you prayed and have wondered, does God hear my prayer? Will he change something? In this text, Daniel had been praying for deliverance for his people and for himself. And God did answer.
But if you notice, God answered in a way that was so sublime and so invisible to Daniel. God sent angels to combat the demons who were continually in control of the pagan nation of Persia. And the angel makes it clear to Daniel that that started the moment Daniel prayed. But from all appearances, it hadn’t happened. And in fact, Daniel will die never seeing it happen until the Persians do come in and completely take over Babylon and ultimately deliver the people of Israel back to Israel.
Here’s that snapshot. The angel talks about the prince of the kingdom of Persia. That is the demons who control that land of Persia. And we’re getting a great revelation in that the first time any angel is named before us, and that name is Michael. And Michael in Hebrew means “Who is like God?” Who is like God? And he and the angels triumph over the demons just as they kick Satan out of heaven and all of his angels because of our Lord Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection for you.
And you received that when you were baptized, but it didn’t look like it, did it? And you surely didn’t always act like it and haven’t since. Nevertheless, it is yours. In the book of Revelation this morning, we see this defeat laid out for us so clearly. And Daniel’s statement that’s given to him by the angel is that your people shall be delivered. That’s you.
And though you may be very frustrated by what you see going on around you, it says, “The resurrection of all flesh is a reality that God proclaimed through that angel to Daniel.” For he makes it very clear in the text and he says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting shame and contempt.” Paul said it in a different way when he said, “And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.”
That’s the whole point of this text given to Daniel: to encourage him and encourage you. You and you alone know your heart’s pains for what you see and experience in your life and around you. What sin has done, both to you and to your family, to your friends, to this church. But sin does not win. It is the encouragement that God has given to you and to me to pass on to the children and the grandchildren.
Now, lest you think that that job is only for those who appear to be the strongest in their faith, you are boldly mistaken, for God uses you with the weakest of faith because of who dwells within you. Jesus dwells within you because of your baptism. And lest you think it’s only for the people who are the most seasoned of veterans, God also does it through those who are new to the faith, young in the faith.
Unless we think that it’s only through those whose lives are thus and so, God does it through people whose lives are as chaotic and as scattered as any you have ever seen because of who dwells in you. Christ does. And he will not let you be taken. Amen.
You shall be delivered, as was told to Daniel, as is told to you. This is the promise of the resurrection and deliverance. Though we may not see it as Daniel didn’t get to see it, we believe and shall die in it and more importantly, pass it on to those around us.
It could have been very interesting to have seen and spoken with Daniel as he sat there and thought of what use it would be to remain faithful in a land that is not my own, among people who despise and ridicule me. Of what use is it? Well, somehow, someway, 800 years later, that faith was still dwelling in that land. And for out of that land did come magi from the east to visit the one born as king of all. And they would not have come had that faith not been passed on in that place.
God works through you, brothers and sisters, whether you think you’ve got it together or whether you think it’s fallen apart all around you. God works through you because of who dwells in you, who is Christ. And thanks be to God. For as we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer. But we pray in this petition that it may come unto us and to those who share it with us.
In the name of Jesus, amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.
