St. Michael and All Angels, 2009
"I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father." Matthew 18:10
There are many forgettable people in the world around us. The poor, the sick, the old folks stuck in nursing homes. They are almost invisible.
Invisible people never count for very much. No one reckons on their help, so no one thinks they’re very valuable. We don’t erect statues in their honor. We think of them as a burden. They have no strong rights or claims to our time, our money, or our praise.
Jesus puts one of these invisible, insignificant people in the midst of the disciples—a child. It’s his answer to the question, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
He might as well have put a leper, a woman, or a foreigner in their midst. Those people were second-rate, forgettable, despised.
But not by God. The angels who watch over our children see the face of God in heaven. I do not think that anywhere else in the Bible anyone else is allowed to see God’s face quite like this. Not even the angels whom Isaiah saw serving in the heavenly throne room. They covered their faces with two of their wings in His presence. But the angels of these little ones are allowed to see God’s glory. No other angels are honored so highly, because no human beings are so well loved. God is watching over those whom we ignore. This shows what a horrible thing it is to lead one of these little ones astray from Christ. Finally, it shows that if we wish to be great in God’s kingdom, we must become as these children. We must join them who have no claims or rights to deserve Him.
That will be the end of all our prattling on about what it will take to go to heaven. No more, “I’ll go to heaven when I die because…” sort of talk. Now we just stand in the presence of Jesus like a child in a crowd of confused onlookers. Most people will never understand that divine honor isn’t earned. It’s handed over by the bloody hands of Christ.
On St. Michael’s Day, the whole church comes before Christ as a little child. It is safe for me to be a little child in the presence of my heavenly Father. I have no claims to greatness, no reason to be saved. But I do have His invitation to come. And that is my place in His Kingdom.
“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for such as these belong to the Kingdom of God.” And, “I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father.” And, “Lord, I am not worthy that you would come under my roof, but speak the word and I too shall be healed.”
The Reverend Sean M. Smallwood
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