It’s late September and that means that it is now culturally appropriate to embrace my spooky side. Pumpkin spice everything is all well and good, but I love the darkening days and ghost stories and howling chill that delightfully shivers. I imagine a little Edgar Allen Poe sitting on my shoulder, muttering creepy “nevermore’s” into my ear as the full moon rises. I’m a fan of Halloween and horror movies even as I enjoy a good cardigan and bonfire. All aspects of autumn always allure (even alliteration).

Today is Michaelmas. For many evangelicals, that doesn’t mean much. But for many Christians, today is a day in which the archangel Michael is recognized as a saint- a holy one, set apart to be used by God. But in our modern age, angels are on par with fairies. They are for children or the deluded. They cannot be seen or tested, so they must not exist.

John Calvin, in his Institutes, said that “angels are the ministers and dispensers of the divine bounty toward us” (I.xiv.6). They keep God’s people safe, defend us from the demonic, direct our paths, and keep us from temptation. They war against the devil and our human enemies. Scripture records that one angel slaughtered 185,000 Assyrians as they lay siege to Jerusalem (2 Kings 19). They are many and they are powerful.

Contra the “Precious Moments” figurines you see in gift shops, angels in the Bible are more like the “eldila” in C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy. Their terrible beauty is a fearsome thing to behold. But as intriguing as they are, the Church has historically cautioned against an overeager interest in their inner workings. The Bible shrouds their ranks and numbers in mystery and that is where one should leave it. We certainly ought not “prostrate ourselves before them in stupid adoration, and then ascribe to them the blessings which we owe to God alone” (Calvin).

Lots of Christians invoke angels for protection (especially today). For some Protestants, this comes dangerously close to veneration or even adoration. The church fathers warned against going too far in our appreciation of angels. Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, and Augustine all urged caution. Still others in the Church have differentiated between the worship of angels (clearly forbidden- Col.2:18) and respecting and honoring angels. Augustine’s mentor and spiritual father, Ambrose, said, “We to whom the angels have been given for assistance and protection ought to entreat them.”

The father of Reformed theology, Herman Bavinck, argued that Christian can and should honor the angels of God, but not with that religious species of reverence that can border on idolatry. Instead, he says, we ought to give them the respect that is due to fellow creatures in our Father’s world, an honor civilis. It is an honor that is mindful of their presence (1 Cor.4:9; 11:10), proclaims to them the manifold wisdom of God (Eph.3:10), gives them insights into the mysteries of our salvation (1 Tim.5:21), imitates their heavenly obedience to our Father (Mt.6:10), and joins their worship of the Creator (Ps.103:20-21).

What does this have to do specifically with Michaelmas? Michael appears in Scripture six times (thrice in the Old Testament, thrice in the New Testament). Likewise, Gabriel splits his four references evenly between the testaments. They are the only angels named in canonical Scripture and that’s probably enough for us. Augustine was content to remain agnostic with respect to angelic societal structures. The spiritual world is as rich and diverse as the physical, but speculations about the classes and hierarchies of angels is an exercise in fantasy, not reality.

So how do I observe this day in the Church’s calendar? If I do not invoke Michael for help, of what spiritual use is this day? Great in at least one respect. Michaelmas (carefully considered) can be an antidote to the reductionistic naturalism of our day. People like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett have swung the sword of naturalism, slashing away at anything supernatural or mystical or mysterious. Everything is just and only what you can empirically test with your senses. The only things that exist are physical things.

But if spooky stories aren’t your cup of tea, be refreshed by the bright shadows of Michaelmas. The holiness of God soaks the archangel who serves our Savior. And just because we cannot measure its reality, that does not mean that the reality of the supernatural is unmeasurable. The more we remind ourselves of what lies beyond what we daily experience, the more our daily experience will go beyond what is only in our minds.

I close with the collect from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels:

O everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succor and defend us on earth: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.