Sermon Tone Analysis

Anger

I’ve reported before that the world is getting angrier.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/worried-angry-and-sad-5-things-to-know-about-how-miserable-the-world-is/

I certainly see it on the soccer field.

Grown men acting like temper-tantrum-toddlers over things that won’t make a bit of difference in their lives after the final whistle blows.

I certainly see it online.

One person posts their opinion, and immediately a flood of hate comes in that nowhere matches the intensity of the original post.

I certainly see it in the lives of people I meet.

Anger at health situations, living situations, financial situations, work situations … basically any situation … and basically situations to which there is no solution.

One could argue that the anger comes from a loss of control — if only we could control the situations in our lives, we wouldn’t be angry.

Control

I know I’m happier when I’m in control.

Who wouldn’t be?

We get our way — do what we want, when we want, how we want.

Isn’t that the great dream of being an adult?

As a kid we dream of the days when we’ll have the job, the money, the house, the family that we want and we can decide on our own how things are going to be.

We dream of being in control.

Today’s story is a story about the control of heaven.

The Devil, Satan, fights Michael for the control of heaven.

It looks originally like Michael picked the fight.

However we need to know the context of the story — I wish the framers of the Narrative Lectionary had included the six verses that preceded today’s reading.

Since they didn’t, I’ll read it to you.

Who are these people?

The woman is Mary, clothed with the sun, and a crown of 12 stars.

She gives birth to Jesus who is the Messiah — the one to rule all nations.

Satan, the Devil, Lucifer, the dragon wants to snatch Jesus away.

Instead Jesus goes to be with God, and Mary hides in the wilderness for 3.5 years.

Of course, all this gets tied back to the ancient story of Adam, Eve, and creation through the reference of the dragon as ancient serpent and deceiver of the whole world.

So, this story is not just a story about the control of heaven — it is about the control of the earthly paradise we live in — the control of our knowledge of good and evil — the control of our sinful natures.

These are big stakes at play — not just a poor sporting situation, or an idea expressed in a virtual world.

This is about the very identity we have as people of faith.

Faith

It is that very word that we should take a moment to pause over.

Faith, in some ways is the anti-thesis of control.

Faith requires us to confess that there is something beyond us, something outside of us, something that is not in our control.

Today we celebrated a rite of healing.

Healing requires faith — faith in the skill of the nurses and doctors — in the health-care workers — who provide for us — faith in the medical system — faith in those who help guide us to make important decisions about our health.

Ultimately, our faith, as God’s people is rooted in God.

Our faith, as disciples of Jesus, is rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

How does the story end?

Not only do we not read the beginning of the story — we don’t read the ending.

So here it is:

You could say that we’re still fighting that same battle now — maybe we don’t talk about Lucifer — Satan — the Devil — the Great Dragon — the Ancient Serpent — as a physical reality but we do talk an awful lot about control.

Holding the testimony of Jesus can only lead to one thing — a realization that we are not the ones in control — and for me that is when true healing comes about — not necessarily the physical kind — but the emotional, spiritual kind of healing that puts us in right relationship with God, the angels, and each other.

And for that we give thanks.