Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Nathaniel S. Bendel
29 Aug 2021
Deuteronomy 4:1-9
Psalm 15
Ephesians 6:10-20
Mark 7:1-23
When it comes to writing a homily, sometimes the topic jumps out from the scripture and is immediately obvious. Other times, not so much. The lectionary today is so full of great topics we could spend multiple Sundays on it. I mean, we heard some great scripture today. Scripture about righteousness, wisdom, prayer, and hand washing. Hand washing is SO important these days, isn’t it? We also heard Christ declare all foods clean. Bacon cheeseburger anyone?
Now, I’ll admit a homily topic immediately jumped out at me when I was reading the lectionary, but I resisted it because it seemed too obvious. So, I read the scriptures over and over, challenging myself to find something deeper; less obvious. I prayed on it. Meditated on it. No matter what, I kept coming back to this topic and as much as I wanted to find something else, I soon received a message. A phone call really. “Hey Nathan! It’s Father Thomas. What are you preaching on this Sunday?” “Well…I was thinking about Ephesians 6 and the Armor of God, but…” “Noooo….Not Ephesians 6! That’s what I’m preaching on! Let’s have breakfast and compare notes.” Ok then.
As I read the passages over and over, I was reminded how important it is to put on the whole armor of God, especially in the world we live in today. Any time a concept is associated with imagery, pay attention. It’s important. Not the imagery itself or it’s relation to the concept, but the concept itself was important enough to assign imagery to it. Imagery and symbolism are powerful tools of instruction. They’re powerful memory aids to remind us of things which are important to retain, recall, and practice.
Paul, who is imprisoned at the time he’s writing to the church in Ephesus, has been spreading the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. No doubt he’s seen his share of Roman soldiers. Now that he’s in prison, he’s probably seeing Roman soldiers all day, every day. They guard his cell. They bring him food. He sees their armor and is reminded of a passage in Isaiah 59. A passage about God’s armor. In Isaiah, we’re told God puts on a breastplate of righteousness and a helmet of salvation. Paul takes this concept and expands on it to teach us to put on the Whole Armor of God. I’ll bet he shared these same concepts with some of the Roman soldiers so they would be reminded every day as they put on their armor. He’d tell them:
“Fasten on your belt of truth” – So what is truth? It’s the opposite of deception and falsehood. By wearing the belt of truth we are defended against the deceptions and falsehoods of the enemy.
“Put on your breastplate of righteousness.” Righteousness: Holiness. Being right with God. Purity of life. Correctness in thinking, feeling, and acting. By putting on the breastplate of righteousness we defend ourselves from those things which would draw us away from God to a life of thinking, feeling, and acting that is no longer in alignment with God’s will.
Next he says: “As shoes on your feet, put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” Be ready to proclaim the gospel of Christ. Be ready to share God’s peace.
“Take up the shield of faith.” Faith is belief in that which we cannot see. It’s conviction. Conviction that God exists. Conviction that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and our Savior. Regardless of the attacks on our faith, or as Paul says, “the flaming darts of the evil one.”
Next: “Take the helmet of salvation.” Salvation is the process or state of being saved. Restoration to something new. Transition from the old, broken state of sin to the new, improved state of grace.
“Take the sword of the spirit which is The Word of God.” Given to us in the form of scripture. Notice something…this is the only weapon. Armor is passive. You put it on, and it does its job. Weapons are active. They can’t do their job by themselves. They require the soldier to pick them up, learn them, and use them. Use them and practice with them until they can wield the sword effectively. When you look at professions that require weapons, such as military and law enforcement, we don’t just shove a gun in their hands and say, “Go to it.” They get training and practice. They have to know the weapon, inside and out, forward and back. How effective would a soldier be without knowledge of his weapon? The same goes for the Word of God. It requires us to pick it up, use it, practice it, learn it, know it forward and back, so we can wield it effectively.
We know we’re not Roman soldiers about to do battle with the enemies of the Empire, but we are Christians, and spiritual warfare is real and very active in our society today. As real today as it was in Paul’s time. Paul says in verses 11 and 12 that we have to put on the armor of God so we can stand against the schemes of the devil, against cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil. Paul is telling us that the enemy is organized and on the offensive. He’s telling us we must be able to stand against them. Against all their schemes like deception, blasphemies, attacks on our faith, temptations to follow the ways of the world instead of following Christ.
When Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, the temple of the goddess Artemis was central to the commerce and beliefs of the Greek and Roman citizens of the city. Emperor worship was also common at the time and many Christians had been killed for refusing to worship the emperor. You can imagine the pressure on Christians of the time and the temptation to conform to the society around them in order to avoid persecution or even death.
Today, we are bombarded every day with images and messages intended to draw us away from a righteous and faithful walk with God. Immorality and faithlessness are rampant in our society and becoming normalized. Atheism and agnosticism are on the rise. The media only focuses on Christianity when a Christian does something wrong. There’s an expectation to support causes and beliefs that don’t align with our faith, and if you don’t, you’ll be chastised or ridiculed for your “outdated superstitions and intolerance.” A lot of churches have even buckled to the pressure of society to preach a message that twists scripture to conform to social norms and they do so under the guise of buzzwords like inclusiveness and diversity.
If the enemy can’t get us to abandon our faith altogether, they will twist the gospel to deceive us. THAT is why the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, must be used, practiced, and carried in our hearts and minds always. So that we can be prepared to battle the deceptions of the enemy and the blasphemies of this world. That is why we must put on the armor of God. Because if we walk in truth, righteousness, faith, and peace, equipped with the knowledge of the scripture, no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Paul doesn’t talk about these things to instill fear. This isn’t hellfire and brimstone preaching. Remember, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” This is just a reminder to be vigilant and alert while we wait for Christ’s return, so we don’t become complacent and susceptible to the snares being laid for us.
How does that look in our daily lives? How do we equip ourselves with the armor of God?
Paul gives us some instruction on that as well.
He tells us to pray. Pray at all times in the spirit. Pray for each other. Pray that we might be alert and have perseverance.
What else? What about community. Soldiers don’t just train alone. They come together, share knowledge, practice with each other, encourage one another. We also come together on Sundays and Wednesdays. We learn scripture together and encourage one another in our efforts. We share knowledge so we all might be better prepared.
How about Eucharist. Armies must be fed. Without food they won’t have the energy to fight. In the Eucharist, we have spiritual food so we can do the work our Father has given us to do, as we say in our post communion prayer.
And of course, Scripture. Make time for scripture in your life. Whether that’s in the daily office, a devotional, or a reading plan in one of the plethora of bible apps available. Make time for scripture. Study it. Learn it. Wield it.
To have a relationship with God we must first know him. To know him, we must pray and read scripture. These two are the pillars of our faith. Prayer and Scripture.
Lastly, be encouraged that we are children of a living God who has already won the war. When I was in leadership training in the Guard I learned that an important part of soldier care is morale. Troops will endure hardship as long as they have morale and someone to encourage them. So be encouraged and encourage one another. Be cheerful and cheerfully share the good news with others. Because, frankly, we’re on the winning side. And as we heard in Deuteronomy today “What great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him.”