2026
The Rt. Rev’d Stephen Andrews
St Michael and All Angels SMYC (22.viii.26)
As far as most 21st century Canadians are concerned, angels belong to ancient legends and fairy tales. But some people, maybe even someone here today, will claim to have seen an angel or felt their presence. Father Thorne said yesterday that we live in an enchanted world, and people are often curious about contemporary reports of the supernatural. This is why Hollywood continues to make movies about them.[1] The great American evangelist Billy Graham will never be remembered for what he has written, but one of the most popular books he wrote was on the subject of angels, and it has sold three million copies.
For the next few moments let us think about the world of angels. While we should not be obsessed with angels (they are, after all, only butlers in the divine household), it is important for us to be aware of, and even be open to, their presence and purpose in the world and in our lives.
Put very simply, angels are God’s messengers and agents. They are called various things in the Bible. In Hebrew they are mostly called ‘emissaries’ (malʾaḵ, מַלְאָךְ), but also ‘holy ones’ (qᵉḏōšim, קְדֹשִׁים), or ‘sons of God’ (bᵉnē ʾᵉlōhim, בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים). In Aramaic they are sometimes called ‘the watchers’ (ʿir, עִיר). In Greek they are most often designated, simply, ‘messengers’, which is what the word aggeloi (ἄγγελοι) literally means. We refer to angels every time we use the phrase ‘Lord God of hosts’ for the hosts are the legions of angel armies in heaven.[2] We often picture them with wings, but, being distinct from cherubim and seraphim, Scripture never describes them like that, saying only on occasion that they have the capacity for flight.[3]
Their job description is varied, but chief among their responsibilities is that they are to be forever glorifying God, as Psalm 148 says: ‘Praise him, all ye angels of his: / praise him, all his host’ (v. 2).
But they also appear to human beings at important salvific moments. When the Hebrews were fleeing the pursuing armies of Egyptians, Exodus says that ‘the angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them’ (14.19). At the birth, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, they are also present extolling the glories of God and explaining what God is doing to the anxious witnesses.
Of course, angels also appear in dreams (think of Jacob sleeping in Bethel and seeing a ‘a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God ascending and descending on it’).[4] In Genesis 18 three angels appear in disguise as wandering strangers to Abraham. And one Old Testament story describes how an angel was visible to Balaam’s donkey, but not to Balaam![5]
On revealing himself to the shepherds in Bethlehem, the angel said ‘Be not afraid!’, but in other instances the angels are fearful creatures. The angels of destruction, described in Genesis 19, are given the grim task of annihilating the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
According to Scripture, angels were in existence before the creation of the world; indeed, in the Book of Job we learn that when the foundations of the earth were laid by God, all the angels ‘shouted for joy’ (38.7).
Now, in the history of Jewish and Christian thought, this is a very telling verse. For if there were angels around before God spoke the world into being, it might well answer a question that has bothered readers of the Book of Genesis: namely, where did the serpent in the Garden of Eden come from? The snake, you remember, was singled out among the creatures ‘which God had made’ as being the most cunning, and its wickedness is hard to explain in a creation that God had proclaimed to be ‘good’. Could it possibly be that the serpent was in reality an angel? An angel which had gone bad? For there are good and bad angels.
The lesson which was read a few moments ago from the Book of Revelation talks of Satan’s angels which were ‘cast [out of heaven] with him’ (12.9). In fact, somewhere along the line, as people made connections in the biblical story, Satan was understood to be the chief of the fallen angels. Indeed, as we have heard from our reading, he is called ‘that old serpent’, referring to the deceitful creature in Eden.
So, although it does not completely explain the origin of evil, Jews and Christians early on came to believe that there was a revolt in the divine household before the creation of the world, and many have understood Isaiah’s description of the fall of the ‘morning star’ (which is, in Latin, ‘Lucifer’) as an account of the fall of Satan (you can read it in chapter 14).
Consequently, during the historical period between the Old and New Testaments, the Jews in the region of the Dead Sea (where the scrolls were found) developed an elaborate description of the heavenly orders, with the angels of darkness headed by Satan arrayed in battle formation against the angels of light, led by the Archangel Michael. And they anticipated a day when a grand cosmic conflict would break out, and God’s angelic host would defeat the devil and his minions. I know it all sounds fantastic. But Scripture itself confirms; indeed, our lesson for this morning even describes this battle.
[Hang on! There it is again! Did anyone see it? Andrew? I could have sworn there was something . . . sorry, I got distracted there.]
Well, there is a lot more that could be said about angels. They appear some 280 times in the Bible. But I would like to end by suggesting three things that all Christians ought to affirm as part of a healthy and godly understanding of the world.
The first is that there is a cosmic conflict taking place. You may not wish to imagine a celestial battlefield with angels and demons pitched against one another, but surely you will agree that there are evil forces at work in our world. There is a power for brutality and wickedness in some individuals and institutions which seems almost inhuman — the pathological hatred that fuels a genocide; the anger or twisted delight that makes one person want to bully or torture another; the ability that some seem to have to deceive and prey upon the weak without any apparent pang of conscience. These are things where Christians discern the hand of an adversary. They are evidence of a malign power that seeks to overthrow the rule of a good and just God. This power is Satan, whom St Paul describes as the prince of this world (Eph 2.2). As long as he roams the world like a fugitive, there will be conflict.
Then, secondly, Christians should affirm that, although the final battle has yet to be fought, the evil one has in fact been defeated. In our lesson, the writer of Revelation declares that he was overcome ‘by the blood of the Lamb.’ That is to say, the decisive victory over the powers of evil was achieved by the death of Christ on the cross, when Jesus effectively removed the devil’s most potent weapons: sin and death. For on the cross, Christ both paid the penalty which our sins deserved, and he died in our place. Consequently, if we cling to Jesus, we have the resources to thwart the assaults of wickedness.
Finally, because the war continues, and because the battleground is the human soul, we should not easily dismiss the possibility that angels may in some fashion appear in our lives or in the lives of others. True, we may never have the chance to witness dramatic events such as we read in Scripture, but God often works in secret and inconspicuous ways, guiding and protecting his beloved. If you are a sceptic about such supernatural matters, I would urge you to keep an open mind. Christians should not be superstitious about angels. But they should be a little stitious.[6]
Oh yes. And also keep open eyes. For as the writer to the Hebrews says, ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels without knowing it’ (13.2).
My friends, by God’s appointment angels are present to help and defend us in the treacherous path towards eternal life.
[Wait! There it was again! Did you see it?]
[1] E.g., ‘Good Fortune’ (2025), an American comedy film written and directed by Aziz Ansari and featuring Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh and Keanu Reeves; or Wes Anderson’s black comedy espionage thriller ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ (2025).
[2] The term does not occur in the Torah. It appears only later, during times of national crisis, monarchy, and war, and is used most heavily by prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah to comfort a defeated nation. We use the phrase in the Te Deum (BCP p. 8) and Eucharist (BCP, p. 79).
[3] Gabriel in Daniel 9.21; Rev 14.6. They are sometimes confused with cherubim and seraphim, which do have wings (Ezekiel 1, 10 and Exodus 25:18–20; also Isaiah 6).
[4] Genesis 28.12.
[5] Numbers 22.
[6] Credit to Michael Scott in ‘The Office, Season Four, Episodes 1 and 2.
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Bishop Stephen Andrews is the former Bishop of the Diocese of Algoma and recently retired Principal of Wycliffe College in Toronto. He has retired to the Diocese of Fredericton where he and his wife enjoy time with their extended family - including being active grandparents. 2026 was Bp Andrews’ St Michael’s Youth Conference debut.
