Relating rightly to angels, the firstborn of the old creation
01/23/2024
There is a humorous saying that a holy pastor wakes up at
four o’clock…twice a day. I do not know how other pastors manage to wake up at
four a.m., but I ask the assistance of my guardian angel. That is, rather than
set an alarm clock before I fall asleep, I sort of set my angel clock to wake
me up early the next morning. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I
actually set an alarm clock before bed. I am convinced that my guardian angel
rouses me like St. Peter’s guardian angel woke him in Acts 12:7, where we read:
“An angel of the Lord…struck Peter on the side and woke him [in prison],
saying, ‘Get up quickly’.” Now, many modern scientific people probably scoff at
my idea of an angel alarm clock. They would chalk up my earlier raising to
deeper circadian rhythms, or sleeping habits formed over time, or to other
natural causes. But I disagree. Why?
Well, my belief in the angels follows in the footsteps of
countless Christian scholars and saints up and down the ages who were convinced
that the citizenry of the cosmos included a vast array of beings, not only
those we can see but also those we cannot see, most notably, the angels. Hamlet
corrected his close friend, Horatio in the same way he would have corrected
modern scientists, observing: “There are more things in heaven and earth,
Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (Hamlet, I, v). That is, when
those saintly scholars peered at creation through the eyes of faith, they
perceived that angels were primarily our older brothers because they were
created first. Put differently, angels are the firstborn of creation.
But their faith in the coming of Christ helped them to see
even more than that. They understood that the Incarnation and later the
Resurrection of Christ had wrought a deep ontological role reversal in the
ordering of the cosmos. What does that mean? Well, in the natural, original
order, angels are our older brothers, and hence they rank higher than us mere
mortals. Therefore, like older siblings, they wield greater intelligence,
authority, and power over their younger siblings, meaning the rest of creation.
Now, this is hard to appreciate in our modern American culture which tends to
deemphasize this sibling hierarchy within families. We pride ourselves on being
very democratic; everybody is equal. But my Indian culture highlights this
hierarchy. Growing up I learned that out of respect a younger sibling should
address an older sibling not by using their first name – much like we address
our parents as “mom” or “dad” rather than Raichel or Tony. Instead Indians use
the respectful title of “Chetan” which means older brother.
However, when I was ordained a priest, I socially leaped
over my older brother Paul, and now I rank higher in the family hierarchy. As a
result of this social role reversal, he should no longer address me with my
name “John” but with the title “Achen”, which literally means “Father.”
Amazingly, I now stand as a “spiritual father” to my older brother. I have
always wanted to say to Paul like Zod commanded Superman in the movie: “Kneel
before Zod!” But I don’t dare because Paul can still beat me up. In other
words, thanks to the death and resurrection of Christ, Jesus became the
firstborn of the new creation, and replaced the angels. And when we are
baptized we become part of that new creation, as St. Paul taught in 2 Co 5:17,
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” What ordination did for me
within my natural family, Baptism does for Christians within the supernatural
family of the cosmos. That is, the old, natural hierarchy has been turned on
its head so that now our older brothers and sisters, the angels, serve us,
their little brothers and sisters. How so? Well, one way my angel does that is
by getting me out of bed every morning.
In this brief essay, we will study the activity of the
angels from three different angles. First, we will consider the
super-historical events surrounding the angels, that is, before the creation of
man as Adam and Eve. Several chapters of created history had been written long
before Adam and Eve appeared on the scene. Second, we will survey the
scriptural witness to the angels, namely, how our older brothers treated us before
and after the coming of Christ. Angelic behavior toward humans is dramatically
different in the two Testaments. And third, we will explore the practice of
exorcisms, which is also a way we deal with the angels, in this case, fallen
angels or demons. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say this is how they
deal with us.
But before going any further, we must address a rather
stubborn objection to angels, namely, scientism or materialism. Scientism is a
modern bias that insists we should only believe in what our five senses can
verify. Think of scientism like the blinders we put on horses, so that they are
forced to only look forward and not side to side. Scientism only wants us to
look at matter, and not let our eyes be distracted by spirit. But what is good
for horses is not necessarily good for humans. Why not? Well, because scientism
basically throws angels into the same basket as the Tooth Fairy, the Easter
Bunny, and Santa Claus. It confuses faith with fiction and cannot tell them
apart. And then it throws the baby (of faith) out with the bathwater (of
fiction).
In a sense, scientism tries to make us too smart for our own
good. How so? Well, C. S. Lewis took scientism to its logical (even ludicrous)
conclusion in his essay on “Miracles”, writing: "If the end of the world
appeared in all the literal trappings of the Apocalypse, if the modern
materialist saw with his own eyes the heavens rolled up (Rv 6:14) and the great
white throne appearing (Rv 22:11), if he had the sensation of being himself
hurled into the Lake of Fire (Rv. 19:20; 20:10; 20:14-15; 21:8), he would
continue forever, in that lake itself, to regard his experience as an illusion
and to find the explanation of it in psycho-analysis, or cerebral pathology”
(God in the Dock, 25).
So, in the place of this modern apathy toward angels, I
would suggest we throw off these twin blinders of scientism and materialism and
see the world with the wide-eyed wonder of children, who have no preconceived
prejudices against angels. Jesus promised: “Truly, I say to you, unless you
turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt
18:3). We are in fact alluding to the angels every Sunday when we profess in
the Nicean Creed: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven
and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” Angels are part of those
things that are invisible, but they are very real. I strongly suggest we put
our trust in these invisible intercessors when we pray like humble children:
“Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this
day be at my side, to light and guard, rule and guide. And to wake me up at 4
a.m. Amen.”
Praised be Jesus Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment