Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (Matins)
Hebrews 2:2-10
Luke 10:16-21

"You Shall See Angels"

Thus, does the opening chapter of St. John's Gospel boldly conclude. These are stirring words. Those who heard them would have been electrified. For the ways of the forefathers, the ways of Abraham, strictly forbidden by the governing authorities, were to be restored.

Of course, for the ever-present Bodiless Powers and for their God, the "old ways" (so-called) remained serenely in place. Nothing changes above. What had changed was the world's culture. The ways reverently followed in the time of our fathers had been supplanted by Babylon. Sound familiar?

Thus it had become for all of Judah and, following the Maccabees, for the whole Levant. The Babylonians had been supplanted by the conquering Persians, who worshiped the same god.

The culture changes. Its restless mind and churning passions are always flashing new trends, new fads, new colors. But our God does not change. His requirements are always the same.

We are to be His, for He is a jealous God (Exod 20:5, Deut 4:24). And He will accept second-place to no competing lifestyles or new personal habits (which He deems to be idols). Accordingly, there are no part-time Christians. In fact, there are no degrees of belonging to God. Either we are in, or we are out. We are His, or we are not His and our eyes and heart are everywhere and upon everything else.

This is the way it is, the life into which we are born. It is a place of raging war in rebellion against God with God always present and His holy ones always watching. The scope of this war is universal. And no quarter is left untouched. Everyone is affected. Says St. Kosmas the Aetolian,

The Western monk Thomas Merton summed up his vocation this way:

In the midst of these smoking battlefields, the Lord Jesus issues a decree by way of an angel:

It is fire involving every part of our world, indeed, involving every atom of the universe:

The War in Heaven is memorialized in the Book of Isaiah, the prophet nearest to Jesus' heart:

In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus tells His disciples in a matter-of-fact tone, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven" (Lu 10:18). This is no fable. The descent of the fallen angels to earth is the most consequential fact of our daily life and of our lifetimes. We declare their presence in the opening sentence of our Symbol of Faith. God is the "Maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible." This invisible space (so to speak) is populated by the Bodiless Powers whom we call angels and by those malevolent spirits whom we call fallen angels, or demons.

The Bodiless Powers are gathered in ranks of nine, in three groups of three:

The Bodiless Powers named in the Bible are the all Archangels: Michael (Daniel, Jude, Revelation), Gabriel (Luke), and Raphael (Tobit). On this, a patronal feast day of the Hermitage, we name the other four: Uriel, Salaphiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel. Notice their names all participate in the Name of God: El. The Archangel Gabriel (so important to us) is appropriately named "Strong Man of God." The Name of Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host, poses a question "Who is like God?" declaring His absolute singularity and an unapproachable supremacy.

Now this may surprise those of you who have seen angels depicted in fanciful style, ranging from chubby babies with little wings to slender, feminized figures. But ranks of the angels are men-at-arms. They are grave men. They are large men. They are men-at-arms. Those us who seen angels can tell you that they are formidable figures radiating dignified authority. In fact, the meaning of Heavenly Host is army (from the L. hostis which it turn derives from the Indo-European root (g)hosti.) There were no other meanings for this world by the first century. True icons of the angels depict them as soldiers, more splendidly arrayed than Roman centurions or tribunes. As I say, their manner is grave. You feel their gravitas immediately. Their characteristic greeting must take care to allay our fears: "Be not afraid." And their manner of dress reminds us instantly that our world is a place where war rages. Jesus says,

Jesus too appears out of their ranks. Our God is a Warrior. He is called the "Lord of Hosts" 235 times in the Bible. That is, The primary message of the Bodiless Powers and of their Lord is, either you are with us or you are against Him in this daily struggle. There is no middle or neutral position.

And no wonder! For the the battlefield in which they fight are our minds and souls and hearts. Our every thought, our every word, our every action is either godly .... or they are not.

How many people have come to me over years telling me that suddenly indecent pictures will come into the minds as they approach communion. Yes, the evil one tries to flood our minds with indecent thoughts and especially in the presence of the holy. But they have no effect unless we consent to them.

St. Seraphim of Sarov says, "How esteemed you are by the devil that he has singled you out for such attention! But let it pass! Let it go by!" I suppose every adult knows what he means. If we consent to these thoughts, they expand into a full-blown fantasy. But if we do not consent they just pass over us and disappear.

We cannot retreat. We cannot hide. For it is we who are the field of engagement. We are the reason the battle rages on. Should we fail to consent to rebellion against God .... peace .... the rebellion would end. Imagine everyone on earth stubbornly refusing ungodly thoughts .... Heaven.

In the Orthodox Church, we must be baptized right after birth. For baptism is not an intellectual thing. It is not a choice or decision to be postponed until the age of consent. The Rite of Baptism inducts us into a cosmic struggle. We are declared to be in the ranks of God and opposed to Satan actually spitting on the ground at the sound of his disgusting name. This is the moment when our Guardian Angel is given. His name says it all: He is a guard, a soldier. And He teaches us to be on our guard.

Mostly, He teaches us goodness and the love of God, which is the place of our most intimate fellowship with our Angel. Isn't that so? The love of God is that place where we are in perfect fellowship with our Guardian Angel. And from the time we are very, very young He moves our hearts, guiding us into thoughts and actions which He knows will flood us with powerful feelings all deepening this love of God.

And this is how we do battle .... with love, the only Divine property to be found on earth. Love is our most powerful weapon. I know that many saints say that prayer is our most powerful weapon. But I invite you to consider what prayer without the love of God is like.

But don't we already know this? Isn't it our love for our spouse that keeps lust in check, that guards against adultery? Isn't it our love of neighbor that guards against envy and covetousness? We cannot begrudge our neighbor some blessing if we love him or her. And isn't our love for the God Who created us and created our beautiful world the thing which precludes any thought of not loving Him, to Whom we owe everything?

God made family as the building block for everything else in the human lifeworld. And family is the school of love. Everyone born into the world knows this love. And as we graduate from this first "preparatory" academy, learning the ways of receiving and giving tender love, God sees that we are ready to enter the Family for which He created the world, the Kingdom of God. We become aware of our birthright to His marvelous Kingdom. And it becomes natural to call Him "our Father."

But is uncontrolled lust and depravity, the rage of egotism, envy of others and covetousness, greed unto rapacity, and self-centered life .... isn't this how the whole world ends?

An atheist came over to my house many years ago and asked me, "I just can't believe that the whole world became unraveled just because of a piece of fruit." I said, "There were once two people who had everything in the world. They were the only two people to have had everything in the world. But they wanted more, more than everything in the world." Greed unto rapacity. Self-centered life.

But let us answer this through common experience: we enter that world of compulsion, and immediately we are greeted with the world's signature condition of life: disease, depression, and loss of all peace of mind. These are the tell-tale signs that one is going it alone, that one has abandoned the company of God.

A spiritual son of mine who later became a priest served as a university chaplain. He told me that young people came into the chaplain's office complaining of depression and insomnia. Knowing the syndrome well, he said, "Then you're not praying." The reply came back, "How did you know that?" His advice was direct and concise: "Say your prayers!" The ones that returned to daily prayer stopped complaining of depression.

You see, this whole mess of the world God cannot set His blessing upon. It is contrary to His nature. The Prodigal Son's Father does not follow him into bar-rooms, into brothels, or into gambling dens. He cannot. He loves His Son, but He cannot. But the Father waits faithfully at a roadside, watching, and will shower his estranged son with blessing once he has expressed his regret and confesses what he has done. This blessing is instant and complete.

But is this really how the whole world ends? Ask the people of Sodom, where the rape of an angel is planned (Gen 19), where God has utterly been rejected. When we think of Sodom and Gomorrah, the first thing that comes to mind is desolation, the place where God is not.

Ask mankind living before the Flood, when "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen 6:5). When all decency is lost, God rightly declares, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever" (Gen 6:3). God does not choose the end of the world. The world is ours to lose. And after striving with us till it is no use, He honors our decision not to love Him. And the world become a place of desolation which is already Hell.

But to those who love Him,

And we shall see Heaven open with God's messengers and guides lighting our path and acquainting us in the ways of Divine love .... and in the ways of Divine love requited.

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