A Bundle of Myrrh

September 29th, we celebrate the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, this is also known as Michaelmas. I read from Revelation chapter 12 where Michael and his angels fight the dragon Satan:

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

Traditionally I think you’re supposed to eat Blackberries on Michaelmas using them all up, since as stories for children go, when the devil was cast out of Heaven he landed in a bramble patch. I didn’t have blackberries, so raspberries it was, raspberry cobbler for dessert, unfortunately there was no ice cream to go with it either! Yes, very very sad.

This Feast is a great occasion to teach children about what God’s Word says about angels and about the devil. We also talked about Gabriel, how he came to Mary to announce the coming of Jesus. For Gabriel we listened to one of my favorite Christmas songs:

“Everlasting God, You have ordained and constituted
the service of angels and men in a wonderful order.
Mercifully grant that, as Your holy angels
always serve and worship You in heaven,
so by Your appointment they may also
help and defend us here on earth.”

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Cross or Holy Cross Day.

“Although there will always be some question concerning the origins of Holy Cross Day, this festival invites an appropriate and salutary focus on the Cross as the means by which our Lord Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of the world, defeated death and the devil, reconciled the world to God, obtained our salvation and glorified the Father’s name. Though His Cross is a foolish scandal to the world, to us who are being saved it is the power and wisdom of God, unto salvation. Thus, with St. Paul, we know nothing but the Cross, preach nothing but the Cross, and boast in nothing but the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. ” source

I’ve been sick this week. A long week with many sleepless nights. I stayed home from church with the two littlest who have been sick too for weeks now. As I prepared the bread for our cross the church bells rang and Ephraim said, “Da Da!” I smiled but my thoughts were full of the ways sickness steals your days from you, full of recent disappointments, full of potential possibilities gone. Full of the ways I have failed and all the ways I will fail.

We Lutherans often talk about Crosses, bearing crosses, being given crosses. Disappointments, sickness, today these were my crosses. All the days of this earthly life will be filled with these crosses, some perhaps, will become very heavy.

But this Cross Day is not one for mourning loss it’s for exalting. Exalting in what Christ lost on His cross in order to lavish upon us everlasting life, forgiveness and love. Today we see the Cross as our glorious trophy, our triumph.

“Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle,
Sing the ending of the fray;
Now above the cross, the trophy,
Sound the loud triumphant lay:
Tell how Christ the world’s Redeemer,
As a victim won the day.”
Sing My Tongue, The Glorious Battle

Blessed Holy Cross Day to you all!

August 20th is the day the Church remembers Samuel. Occasionally while the babies are eating breakfast I’ll read to them whatever I’m reading from Treasury of Daily Prayer. I recently was reading about Saul and David and Samuel. So on this day as things were rushing and children were fussing I just gave them a “remember Samuel who anointed David to be king and who lived with Eli for a while? That’s who we remember today.” It was deep.

But I did tell them the story of the Ebenezer stone Samuel set up in I Samuel 7:

“Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and the Lord answered him. 10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great [a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were [b]routed before Israel. 11 The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it[c]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.” 

We had to dip our Ebenezer stones in chocolate.