St. Michael and All Angels 2024 (September 29)
St. John the Evangelist
Today we mark the Feast of Angels: these mysterious beings who are of God and of the heavenly realms who move up and down and in between the world of God’s timeless being and our time-bound world.
Angels come to us with a three-fold message: 1. Do not be afraid; 2. God is doing something here in your midst, so do try to pay attention; and 3. There’s a place for you in what God is doing, so, again, don’t be afraid, and do try to pay attention because God is in fact calling you to be a part of God’s own plan.
Today is also the vigil of Truth and Reconciliation Day here in Canada. The practice of keeping vigil is about solemn preparation for the day to come. What do we need to do as we light a vigil candle to prepare with solemnity for Orange Shirt Day, in order to mark well the commemoration of survivors of residential schools and of those killed within the schools, and to prepare ourselves for renewed commitments to understanding the legacies of racism and colonial abuse committed by systems from which many of us non-Indigenous people benefitted?
I remember the days when the first voices were beginning to be raised as survivors of the schools spoke of the abuses they’d suffered. In those days it was tremendously difficult to get the churches to listen – oh, in our Anglican church there were a few courageous leaders who took on the work of deep listening to learn on behalf of us all and then to help us all to learn what we all needed to grapple with in terms of the church’s complicities with these genocidal systems, and in terms of the particular abusive members of our church who perpetrated abuses, some of whom are only just now being brought to justice. So much being brought into the light of public attention. A revelation – and I use that word intentionally – that has been hard to receive. We who are Christians are bound in the body of Christ to all who suffer; and we are also bound in this same body to those who have sinned. Recognizing the roots of abuse of power in the privileges of who has power in a society is something that we as Christians need to do in order to be about healing of abuses and the cessation of ongoing injustices.
In the book of Enoch the angels are portrayed as weeping before God with deep lament for the ways in which the sin that human beings fall into causes such deep suffering in the world. Lament is an angelic activity. God responds by naming four angels as archangels to watch over us. St. Michael in particular is set up as a guardian of the most vulnerable, and in later centuries devotional traditions built up around St. Michael as healer. This begs some pondering as not a few Indian Residential Schools were named after St. Michael, including those were some of the most horrendous abuses took place.
The stole I wear today was given to me by the Bishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Cleophas Lunga. I was there in his hometown three weeks ago along with other members of the Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission members hosting a major international conference on safeguarding vulnerable people within the church. 240 people from 32 different Provinces of the Anglican Communion, of which Canada is just one, gathered to learn together about the dynamics of power. We explored together the insidious ways in which destructive power weaves its ways within our cultures, cultures which shape our church structures and systems of authority, power such as coercion, manipulation, force and abuse. We also explored together the power of healing, of justice, of right relationship and the church’s role. Beholding the cross of Jesus’ suffering, we are called to be attentive to the suffering of all around us. And beholding their suffering, we are being shown God’s own suffering. And God’s own suffering is a call to us in our own pain and struggles for justice in our own contexts to know that God is with us, and that God’s holy angels are with us and that a new creation is being formed as healing happens.
We were gifted in the conference by the angelic voices of a men’s choir performing in southern African call-and-response form. Their message was like that of the angels, and in the course of the conference, they’d pop up at different times with a song that would remind us of God’s presence and God’s own hospitality that was the ground on which we were gathering; God’s hospitality was the ground, the air, the nourishing food for body and mind and soul. God’s hospitality held us so that we could have difficult conversations about how to address the abuses that happen within the context of the church, when people abuse their power.
The second song the choir performed for us was a message like that of the angels. Simple words, offered repetitively, deeply rhythmically, in call-and-response, with dancing: “Abuse is a reality,” they began, chanting quietly, growing in strength as they started to name particulars: “Abuse is a reality in Zimbabwe; Abuse is a reality in Kenya; in our homes, in the church; abuse is a reality in America, in Brazil…”. A near universal list made the point: sin is all around us. At this point I can almost palpably hear the angels saying, “But don’t be afraid! God is doing something. God is doing something here by opening your eyes to this sin. It is fearful stuff, but do not be afraid! This is reality.”
From the rhythmic dance naming the realities of sin before us, the choir then dropped into a sudden stillness. “And what, then, is the church’s responsibility?” they sang. “Am I not my sister’s keeper? Am I not my brother’s keeper? Abuse is a reality, and what is the church’s responsibility?” Fearlessly they proclaimed the healing work before us: to “keep” our siblings in Christ we need to be about the prevention and healing that is what “safeguarding” is all about. The rhythms started up again, empowering and strong, the chanted conviction of our call together as church to be about fair and good relationships characterized by mutuality and not harm. God is doing something in our midst and we all have a place within that work of God. We need to lament the pain we cause each other in the body of Christ, and we need to rejoice that God calls us to healing and new life.
The best way we might prepare for Truth and Reconciliation Day in our vigil today might be to listen to the message of the angels. That message more often than not starts with “do not be afraid,” and goes on to point us to those things that our fear or our shame or our discomfort may not be willing to let us crack open, to lament those things that God is doing by revealing to us the results of human sin; and the angels always have this way of calling us to get on with what God is calling us to in response. Perhaps our best way of preparation is to listen to the angels and, with their guidance, to listen – perhaps it’s for the first time, or perhaps for the thousandth time, to a residential school survivor tell their story. Listening is not doing nothing; it’s a profound gift if done with the heart, and aligned in God’s grace, it can bring about healing.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.
As our parish musician, he provides both support and leadership so that a variety of parish programs can find musical expression and attract participation. When our handbell choir is in season, he is one of our ringers. At parish dinners, he provides popular piano music for the guests to dine by. For both worship services and concerts, he will rehearse and accompany vocal and instrumental soloists from our congregation on piano, organ, or even accordion.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.