The Feast of St. Michael and the Bodiless Powers
Hebrews 2:2–10; St. Luke 10:16–21
The Glory and Humility of the Holy Angels
Today we celebrate St. Michael and all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven. Let us talk a bit about angels, especially those who fell. Very little is known—and far less is known dogmatically—but what we do know is amazing. It testifies to the wonder of this world and the power, majesty, and love of the God who created it.
Angels are powerful, single-minded, and awesome. Yet these mighty beings are our beloved guardians. They are assigned to us as guardians and to nations as protectors. We are not the center of their world: God is. But love compels them to care for us.
Notice the juxtaposition: they are mighty, but they choose to serve the lesser out of compassion. We have much to learn from their example.
And here we encounter the great paradox of today’s Epistle. St. Paul tells us that Christ was made “a little lower than the angels” so that He might suffer death for us, and that He is now “crowned with glory and honour” (Hebrews 2:9).
Think about that. The Son of God, whom the angels worship, willingly made Himself lower than they are. He did not lose His glory or surrender His divinity. He humbled Himself because He loved us. And in doing so, He revealed something astonishing about the nature of true greatness.
Keep that in mind as we consider the angels who fell. For their story and Christ’s story move in opposite directions.
The faithful angels follow the example God Himself has set for them. He is perfectly powerful, perfectly righteous, and completely flawless in intent and action. But instead of celebrating perfection and righteousness simply by surrounding Himself with it, He comes to serve people who have rejected righteousness, who have rejected Him, and who neither respect Him nor appreciate His efforts (Philippians 2:6–8).
The Fathers speak of Satan’s pride and his envy of humanity. Created good and entrusted with gifts for service, he turned toward self-exaltation. He could not bear the good God bestowed on others.
Pride asks why someone beneath us should receive our attention; love recognizes in our gifts the means to serve.
Whenever we treat service as beneath our dignity, we should recognize which pattern we are following. The world is not built on a foundation of pride and judgment. It is built on the foundation of love. And love is more powerful than any other way.
The Betrayal of the Heavenly Powers
Those who reject the duty to protect the weak and help the poor set themselves against that foundation. In Psalm 81, we hear the Most High judging the “gods” who have betrayed their calling. Within the Orthodox tradition, we can understand these as heavenly powers entrusted with authority, who have turned away from God’s purposes and neglected those they were meant to protect. Whether we understand them as fallen heavenly beings or as unjust earthly rulers, the indictment is the same: they received authority from God, but used it contrary to His love.
We proclaim this very judgment at one of the highest points of the liturgical year: in place of the Alleluia before the Gospel at the Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Great and Holy Saturday.
God stood in a gathering of gods, but in their midst he discerningly judges gods:
“How long will you judge with injustice and to sinners show partiality? Give justice to orphan and poor; of lowly and needy maintain the right. Deliver needy and poor; from a sinner’s hand rescue them.”
They [i.e. the gods] had neither knowledge nor understanding; in darkness they walk around; all the foundations of the earth will be shaken.
I said, “Gods you are, and sons of the Most High, but you all are dying like human beings, and like one of the rulers you fall.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, because you will gain possession of all the nations.
Psalm 81/82 (NETS)
The Pride that Ascends and the Love that Descends
Isaiah gives us another picture of pride brought low:
The realm of the dead below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—
all those who were leaders in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.
They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”
All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms cover you.
How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
Isaiah 14:9–15 (NIV)
Notice the repeated words: “I will ascend.” “I will raise my throne.” “I will make myself like the Most High.”
Here is the heart of the evil one’s rebellion. He was already glorious, already powerful, already blessed with gifts beyond anything we can imagine. But it was not enough. He wanted to be greater. He wanted to rise above others. He wanted the glory that belongs to God.
And what happened? He fell.
Now consider Christ. Satan said, “I will ascend.” Christ, who was already enthroned in glory, descended. Satan sought to raise himself above the stars of God. Christ humbled Himself beneath the angels. Satan wanted to make himself like the Most High. The Most High became man.
Satan sought glory for himself and was cast down. Christ emptied Himself for others and was exalted.
One sought to become like God by grasping at His glory. The other, being God, revealed His glory by giving Himself away.
This is the difference between the pride of the fallen angels and the love of Christ. And it is the difference between the path that leads to destruction and the path that leads to life.
The Fall of Satan and the Victory of Christ
Another, perhaps more familiar passage from Revelation describes the defeat of Satan and his angels:
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
—Revelation 12:7–9 (NIV)
In the Gospel of St. Luke, the disciples return rejoicing that even the demons submit to them in Christ’s name. The Lord answers, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (St. Luke 10:18).
The victory is real, but the gift carries a temptation. As Saint Cyril of Alexandria explains, their power to work miracles could become an occasion for vainglory. Christ directs their joy toward something greater: that their names are written in heaven.
Whose Example are We Following?
We face the same temptation whenever God gives us something good. Will we rejoice in His mercy and use the gift to serve, or turn it into evidence of our own importance? Will we follow the fallen angels, who sought to use their greatness to exalt themselves, or Christ, who used His greatness to lift up those beneath Him?
The question is not whether we have power, authority, wealth, intelligence, or spiritual gifts. The question is what we do with them. Do we use them to rise above others, or do we use them to raise others up?
The logic of pride would arrange the world so that the lower paid homage to the greater, while the greater basked in the glow of their own splendor. Gifts would establish a claim to honor rather than a responsibility to serve. Those deemed unworthy would have no claim on our attention.
But this is not God’s way. The Epistle tells us that the Lord of Glory willingly became lower than the angels and tasted death for every man. He did not cling to His exalted place as an excuse to withhold His love. He descended to the lowest place, even to death itself, in order to raise us up with Him.
Those who follow Him must reject the logic of pride. The gifts we receive are not reasons to demand honor, but opportunities to serve. And the worthiness of those who need our help is not ours to judge. Christ gave Himself for us when we were unworthy; how, then, can we withhold ourselves from others?
While there really are people in this world who have devoted themselves to Satan, we do not have to worship Satan to follow his example. Whenever we treat our gifts as reasons to demand honor and excuse ourselves from serving others, we adopt his pattern of pride. We may profess faith in Christ while resisting the humility and sacrificial love into which He calls us. But our true allegiance is revealed not simply by whom we profess to worship, but by whom we actually serve. The Lord warns us that “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). We cannot serve our own pride and still imagine that we are faithfully following the humility of Christ.
We should examine ourselves here. When we consider helping someone, do we first ask whether that person deserves our attention? Do we serve only those who resemble us, appreciate us, or might someday repay us?
These temptations enter our parishes as well. We can close our doors to strangers, preserve divisions rather than humble ourselves and unite, and use our venerable religion to defend our various prejudices. We can even approach the chalice while nursing resentment.
Renounce Satan and Unite Yourself to Christ
Whenever we do these things, we are embracing the very pride we renounced at our baptism. When we became catechumens, we turned away from Satan and united ourselves to Christ. But every time we choose pride over love, we begin walking back toward the one we renounced and away from the One to whom we pledged ourselves. We need to repent and renew our union with Christ, who gave Himself for us while we were still sinners.
God did not spare the angels who chose this way. He judged them and cast them out. Do we think that we will be spared if we reject humility, reject love, and embrace the ways of the fallen sons of God?
Reject Satan and all his works. Unite yourself to Christ. Accept the protection and guidance of those people and angels who serve His will. Do this because Christ did it first, and because love compels you.
Christ gives us more than an example to admire. Through His death and resurrection, He brings us into His life and gives us the strength to love as He loves. We learn His humility through communion with Him: His life becomes active in our service, His mercy in our forgiveness, His generosity in our care for those who cannot repay us.
This is our calling as His Body. With the holy angels, we offer the gifts we have received in service to those He loves. The question is before us whenever someone needs our help: will we defend our importance, or will we make room for the love of Christ to act through us?