"Walking Through Ephesians: Part 7 - Suiting Up" - Ephesians 6:10-20 (August 26, 2018)

Ephesians 6:10-20

    Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

     Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

     Prior to the battle of the Five-Armies, the climax of Tolkien’s classic, the Hobbit, Thorin Oakenshield gifts Bilbo Baggins with a kingly treasure, an intricately woven milthril vest of chain mail.  The mysterious metal of the vest was as light as a feather but strong enough to ward off even the strongest attempt to pierce it.  Even though he did not know it at the time, the mithril vest was valued more than the entire worth of the Shire, Bilbo’s home back west.  

    Earlier in the narrative, Bilbo was gifted with another kingly piece of weaponry, an Elven-forged sword procured from the cave plundered by the company of dwarves after their encounter with the hideous mountain trolls.  The sword, which Bilbo named “Sting” after brandishing it against a band of vicious spiders, was as sharp as any other sword, perfectly fitted for his short stature, and glowed with a bluish sheen whenever orcs or goblins where nearby.

    It was these two gifts with which Bilbo armored himself before going into battle against the evil forces of orcs, goblins, trolls, and wargs.  Later on in the narrative of Middle Earth, Bilbo would give both the sword and the mithril vest to his nephew, Frodo, for use in his quest to take the ring of power to be destroyed in the fires of Mt. Doom.

    Now, I highly doubt that either Bilbo or Frodo could have completed their tasks had they not dressed appropriately for the journey.  A few weeks ago, we talked about packing wisely for the journey ahead and I spoke about my trips up Mt. LeConte with my father.  Here are a few things I’ve learned about dressing appropriately for trips such as that:

• Cotton is bad.  When cotton gets wet, you get cold.  It’s always better to wear synthetic fabrics or wool because they better retain heat when wet.
• You must break in your boots before the trip.  Blisters are not fun.
• A hiking stick is your best friend.  It keeps you steady.  It keeps you from falling when walking on ice.  And, it can even be used to fight off that squirrel who is determined to steal your granola bar.

    Dressing wisely is of the utmost important whether traveling up Mt. Doom or Mt. LeConte, or just navigating whatever journey you have before you, dressing wisely is vital to a safe and successful adventure.  

    The author of Ephesians gives advice for how to “suit up” for the task at hand.  However, instead of clothes to prepare against goblins or frostbite, Paul tells us to protect ourselves from a society that is unfriendly toward Christianity.

    According to today’s passage, we are called to arm ourselves with the following:

• A belt of truth.
• A breastplate of righteousness.
• Shoes to protect the gospel of peace.
• The shield of faith.
• The helmet of salvation.
• And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

    Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Gospel puts it as such:  “For we’re not fighting against ordinary human beings, but against the leaders, politicians, and heads of state of this dark world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  So, put on God’s uniform so you’ll be able to put up a fight on the day of battle and, having tended to every detail, to make your stand.  Therefore, take your position when you have put on the pants of truth, the shirt of righteousness, and the shoes of the good news of peace.  Above all, take the bulletproof vest of faith, with which you’ll be able to stop the tracer bullets of the evil one.  Also, wear the helmet of salvation, and the pistol of the Spirit, which is God’s word.”

    Now, here I must be 100% honest with y’all.  I really dislike the militaristic metaphor of this passage.  It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  I dislike it because it is my opinion that this country, of which I am a proud citizen, has long had an idolatrous relationship with war and violence.  The last thing this country needs is more weapons.  But here we have to look at the context of today’s passage.

    The people of Ephesus, the original recipients of today’s passage, were living in an area occupied by the Roman Empire.  Seeing Roman soldiers marching up and down the streets in full armor and weaponry would have been a daily occurrence.  Furthermore, this would not have been a friendly place to be a Christian (not that there were any friendly places to be a Christian at the time!).  Christianity was illegal until the fourth century.  The Book of Ephesians was probably written in the first century at a time when being a Christian meant, at best, a life of ridicule and, at worst, a painful and public execution.  Seeing a Roman soldier in full regalia would have been a fearsome sight for any person proclaiming Jesus as Lord.

    Therefore, the author of Ephesians is using deliberately controversial imagery.  Imploring his audience to take hold of the sword of the Spirit would be like telling someone today to pick up the semi-automatic rifle of faith.

    Therefore, we must first and foremost acknowledge this language as inherently metaphorical.  The author of Ephesians is not attempting to incite violence.  In fact, quite the opposite seems to be true.  Paul does not say to put on a belt with bullets or hand grenades.  Instead, we are called to arm ourselves with truth, a common refrain we’ve heard several times throughout this series on Ephesians.  Our shoes are not boots made for kicking but made for walking the path of peace that the Gospel implores us to preach and practice.  The sword that we are called to pick up is not a sword of destruction but a sword of the Spirit, a member of the trinity whose business is not destruction but creation and sustenance.

    We have no need to arm ourselves with physical armor because, let’s face it, we live in the safest country in the world to be a Christian.  Unlike Paul’s first century audience, we have no need to fear walking the streets with Christian symbols upon us.  There is no “war on Christianity” in this country, at least not in the sense that most people use that phrase.  However, it is a helpful reminder that there are places in the world that Christians do suffer for being Christian.  But we must affirm together that that is not the case in this country, thanks be to God.

    So what are we to do with this passage?  Can we simply dismiss it as a passage that is no longer relevant to our current context?  Although that might be the easier solution, I do not believe it to be the right one.  I believe that we must analyze our current context and see what the Spirit is telling us today.

    A friend and colleague of mine often tells her congregation the following:  “If you want your religion to be comfortable, you picked the wrong Savior.”  C.S. Lewis communicated something similar when he famously said the following:  “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”  

    We must be dressed appropriately with the garments of today’s passage because a Christian position is seldom the most comfortable or popular position around.  In our current Sunday school class, we’re going over a confession that was written to address the current crisis of moral and political leadership in this country.  One of the things that this confession affirms is that we are grateful and blessed to be both citizens of the United States of America and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.  However, those two citizenships do not always play nicely together.  And when those two identities come into conflict with one another, we are called as Christians to choose Jesus over the U.S.A.

    For example, to use the language of today’s passage:

• When undocumented immigrants are portrayed as criminals, rapists, and drug dealers, perhaps the belt of truth is called for.
• When our politicians, Republican AND Democrat alike, have failed repeatedly to enact sensible gun reform, the breastplate of righteousness is called for.
• When the number of deaths resulting from opioid overdose doubles from 2013 to 2016 in the city of Lexington, special shoes are needed - you know, those shoes that are meant to preach the gospel to people who feel lost.
• When the attorney general of this country quotes the Bible to defend separating families at the border, the shield of faith is needed to ward off such perversions of God’s word.
• In a society that tells us constantly that we’re not good enough, successful enough, sexy enough, skinny enough, or wealthy enough to merit love, the helmet of salvation is needed.
• When our society shoves a gospel of individualism down our throat, you and I need to arm ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, the same Spirit that reminds us that we are members of one another and are bound intricately with one another for the mutual benefit of all of Creation.

    Friends, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said the following:  “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.”

    If those of us who claim to be people of faith take seriously our role as the conscience of the state, then we must be clothed with peace, truth, faith, salvation, and righteousness.  It is a daunting task, I know, but I believe it to be the single most important task of the Church right now.

    If we don’t place the belt of truth around our waist when falsehoods are thrown around so casually, then what’s the point?

    If we don’t put on the breastplate of righteousness when people are being sexually, physically, or emotionally abused by leaders in the church (Catholic or Protestant), then what are we doing?

    If we don’t arm ourselves with the Word of God and take its mandates seriously, then all we’re doing right now is gathering once a week to sing a few songs, pray a few empty prayers, and then go back to an unchanged world to do it all again next week.

    But friends, you and I know that there’s more to faith than that.  I hope that the people who are Beaumont Presbyterian Church want to do more than just talk about faith, I hope y’all want to live it.  And the best news is that we already have all of the tools needed to do that.  Just like Bilbo and Frodo, we have been gifted with the clothing needed to defend the faith in a world that often offers a different narrative, one that is often violently antithetical to the Gospel we’ve been called to proclaim boldly.

    Friends, please know that I don’t use this phrase lightly, but I do believe that there are forces of evil in this world.  But I’m not here to make you feel scared; actually, quite the opposite.  I’m here to proclaim to you that evil will not win in this world because God has given us Jesus Christ and all the tools we need to follow him to victory.  So do not fear but instead have hope that we have been equipped with the tools of faith.

    So, tomorrow, before you go off to school, or work, or wherever you’re going, pack and dress wisely.  Put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation and I promise that you’ll have what you’ll need to be the disciple God is calling you to be.  

    In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.  Amen.