Be joyful in HOPE,
patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer.
Share with the Lord’s
people who are in need.
Romans 12:12-13

St. Michael &
All Angels – 2024

“THE LORD HAS SENT HIS ANGEL”

Acts 12:5-17. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the doorand saw him, they were astonished. But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Let Your holy angels be with us, that the wicked foe may have no power over us. Amen.

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ, who is Lord of the heavenly hosts:

St. Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, begins this story in the prison, but let’s start somewhere else: at Mary’s house. Luke says this Mary was “the mother of John whose surname was Mark” – John Mark. John Mark is the one we know as Mark, who wrote the gospel. This is his family’s house.

Peter “came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” The Christians in Jerusalem are at Mary’s house – Mark too – praying into the night for Peter.

When Luke mentions Mark in passing here, it’s almost like he’s telling us how Mark’s story starts. Mark’s story starts with an angel story! Nobody knew it at that time. They didn’t know who Mark would end up being. Nor did they know what was happening over in the prison at the Fortress Antonia.

They all think it’s the last night on earth for the apostle Peter. That’s all that is on their worried minds. King Herod was going to “bring him out” the next day to be judged and killed. Like Herod had just done to the apostle James – which was a shock to these Christians, the first apostle killed, and without warning! So they’re praying for Peter now. Are they praying for a miracle, or a blessed death for Peter, for strength for him, or just for help? They’re up all night praying and singing psalms. Nobody can sleep.

Now let’s go to Peter’s dungeon. It’s dark. Each of his arms is chained to a prison guard. And yet Peter is sleeping soundly, without a care in the world. Suddenly his dark prison cell lights up. We who have electricity and can just turn on a light can’t appreciate what this was like. It was an angel, and Peter was sleeping so soundly that the angel had to hit him hard on the side.

Peter opened his eyes. The angel commanded him to get up, come quickly, get your clothes on, grab your coat. Peter’s chains fell off. He just silently obeyed. The guards stayed sleeping, as God planned it. The big iron gate opened by itself and they were out. Peter followed the angel down a street.

He’s in a daze, thinks he’s dreaming. The angel leaves, and what are Peter’s first words? “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel!”

Now back to Mark’s house. They keep praying, singing, crying, giving each other fearful looks. It’s hard to have hope. They hear someone knocking. Is it Herod’s men? Is Peter dead? Did the authorities find out the Christians are there? Is this the end? They send the servant-girl Rhoda to the door. Were they saying their last prayers? Was Mark thinking how to protect his mother?

Turns out it’s Peter at the door! Rhoda not believing it could be Peter tells us how pessimistic they all were. But there’s Peter in the flesh, he tells the whole story, takes them back to the darkness of his dungeon, the blinding light and the angel, confesses he thought it was all a dream till he was standing in the street. Then he repeats to them the words he had said to himself: “I know that the Lord has sent His angel.” He keeps saying it: “The Lord brought me out of prison.” Then Peter tells them to spread the word, and he walks off.

You can picture young Mark with his mouth still open, stunned. We don’t know how much of a Christian he was yet, if he just observed his mother and all these people praying and singing, or if their faith in Jesus was his faith too.

We do know Mark’s nature was a little on the timid side. It was hard for him to be brave. The next chapter of Acts shows him giving up when things get difficult. He had a courage problem. Do you have a courage problem?

Wouldn’t it help him to hear of a God who answers prayer, who gives His apostle a fearless calm, for whom military might, maximum security prisons and the power of the sword present no obstacles, who sends an angel who is mightier than all and by whose will heavy gates open! Doesn’t it help you?

Yes, Mark would need that. So do we. We too have a bravery problem.

But you believe in angels, don’t you? You believe they “excel in strength” as Psalm 103 says,don’t you? You believe they stand in the presence of God, don’t you? You believe they guard you through the night, don’t you? Just as they rescued Lot from Sodom and protected Daniel in the lions’ den, you believe they also serve all who will inherit salvation including you, don’t you?

And yet we still get worried sick. We have a bravery problem.

We know about the angels. But we can’t see what they do. They’re in the invisible part of God’s creation. Here we are in the visible part. What we can see are dangers around every corner, and everything that can go against us.

We’re just like the Christians gathered in Mark’s house. They couldn’t see that Peter’s prison cell all of a sudden lit up like heaven. They didn’t know an angel was rescuing him. They only knew what they’d seen before, the power of the godless state to hold their prisoners and put Christians to death.

But unlike those Christians, when we see the dangers we don’t pray but we worry, we live enveloped by fears, we don’t sing, we don’t feel like we can sing, we’re too depressed, too full of doom and gloom, we don’t open the prayerbook God’s given us, the Psalms, like they did.

The sudden appearance of the angel to rescue Peter is God’s way of showing His Christians how glorious it is wherever they are, in His kingdom.

It didn’t feel glorious to those Christians praying at Mark’s house, on their knees, crying all night. But when the angel brings Peter out and he comes to the house in freedom and safety, it’s a sign that it truly is glorious in God’s kingdom, even in His Church on earth. For that brief time when the angel – a representative of the Church in heaven – touches Peter and is joined with the Church on earth, we see how glorious it is to be in His kingdom!

This shows the importance of those words of Peter’s, “The Lord has sent His angel!” The angels specifically help Christians, they’re only there because God sends them, because He sees you, His little one, in the dangers you’re in, He sees that it will be too much for you, for your faith, so He sends His angel.

So while the guardian angels protect our bodies, you see it’s really about our faith. And it isn’t just about the person being protected. Peter’s rescue by the angel wasn’t only for him. It was for Peter’s believing wife too and for the other Christians who still needed Peter’s preaching and witness. It was even for someone hardly anyone there thought of, young Mark. The Lord was thinking of him too. Years later Peter would be in prison again; Mark would sit near him using Peter’s reflections to publish the gospel for others to hear.

It’s this way for you and me as well. God sends His angels to protect your loved ones, to protect and strengthen your faith too. He doesn’t do this only after you get worried. He takes care of you before we see the danger and pray.

We need to know this about the angels’ protection. It helps us to do as Peter was doing, casting all his care upon God. It helps us to see that life in Christ’s kingdom is glorious, even when we’re on our knees in prayer. Nothing was accomplished by being angry at Herod. The Christians may even have been praying for Herod during that long night. It’s the Gospel alone that gives us a fearless calm, to have the innocence that Christ gives us in place of our sins, to be sure that because of your faith in Christ no one can harm you. With Peter you say: “I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel!” Amen!