Saint Michael Bridles His Tongue, Why Don't We?

ወሚካኤል ፡ ሊቀ መላእክት ፡ አመ ፡ ይትበሀሎ ፡ ለሰይጣን ፡ በእንተ ፡ ስጋሁ ፡ ለሙሴ ፡ ኢተኀበለ ፡ ቃለ ዕርፈት ፡ ይንብብ ፡ ኣላ ፡ ይቤሎ ፡ ይኂስከ እግዚአብሔር ።

 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”  (Jude 1:9)

There is a lot to be said regarding the Book/Epistle of Jude. It is not germane to our current topic, but Jude quotes from the Book/Prophecy of Enoch as holy scripture. Here, Jude gives us the example of the archangel Saint Michael bridling his tongue. Why don't we? It is right, and it is just for us to revere him. Indeed, the Holy Scriptures also give us an example of that.

 When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”“Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?” (Joshua 5:13-14).

Falling with our face to the ground in 'reverence' means nothing if we do not follow the example of the archangel Saint Michael. We can sing hymns about how God works through him to aid Joshua, or guide the Israelites out of the house of bondage of Egypt, but we are only turning ourselves into whitewashed tombs if we don't change our hearts. We are now in the Fihlseta Ssom (ፍልሰታ ጾም) period again, and I still hear believers thinking that the fast is only about dairy and meat. If that were the case, what would separate us from the Vegans? If fasting qua fasting is holy, why is it that demons always fast? Abstaining from delectable food items, of the dairy and meat varieties, helps us build uniform obedience to our holy mother the Orthodox Church. But, beyond the food question, we should be focusing on the Word of God. In fact, during the fast we should meditate on the Word of God every time our tummies grumble and our thirst seeks quenching.

If there is anyone in existence that should have reviling judgments thrown at them, it is Satan. And yet St. Michael does not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him. If there is anyone that stands in a place to make such a judgment, besides The Lord God, it is the commander of the Lord God's army, St. Michael. And yet St. Michael does not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him. The formula is there. The building blocks are in place. And yet he does not do it. Why? St. Michael is an exemplar bondservant to the Word of God.

Saint James is no stranger to this subject. Read James 3 in its entirety to learn how to bridle your tongue. I'll briefly summarize it here. Saint James mentions two examples: the horse and the ship. Both have great power of transportation. The horse transports you faster on land than you could go on your own two feet. The ship transports you faster through bodies of water than you could swimming. The tongue also has the power of transportation. But, the tongue transports your soul to sin or to righteousness. Which destination do you prefer? Really?

St. James exhorts us to not bless God with the same tongue that we use to pronounce reviling judgments on others. Either stick to the reviling judgments or stick to worshipping the God of the martyrs. There is no middle ground. Lest you delve into the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the Scribes, bridle your tongue. If we truly revere St. Michael, we will do as he did and serve the Lord God, and not just emptily sing O MIKAEYL during his holidays once a month.

Use this fasting period to reduce your sin count, by abstaining not just from dairy and meat, but from pronouncing reviling judgments as well. Keep watch of your tongue day and night during this fast, and after. Though you may physically slumber, do not fall asleep in your duty to bridle your tongue. Remember the importance of words. Words were used to create everything. They can destroy and create. They can lead to sin, and to righteousness. Keep watch.