Proper 17 B
Stand in Your Armor
Ephesians 6:1-10
30 August 2015 – Redeemer
If you want peace in your life don’t get baptized. If you are baptized you are incorporated into the body of Christ. By baptism you are conscripted into the rank and file of the church militant. Stay away from baptism, stay away from Christ and the Devil will stay away from you, but if you are near to Christ, if you are a member of His body, you are in for a battle. Jesus did not come so your life would have purpose. He is not overly concerned about your happiness. Jesus came to give you life instead of death, and the only way to win you from death, was to destroy the prince of death, the father of lies, that deceiver Satan.
The good news for you this morning is that the victory is won. God Himself died for the sin of the world. The flesh and blood of Jesus died, but paradoxically that death is victory, that death won forgiveness, that death destroyed death. Satan doesn’t have any weapon that destroys forgiveness. He cannot breach Christ’s righteousness to conquer you. Your sin is forgiven. Satan is a loser with a capital L. The tomb is empty and body of Jesus is risen and living. That’s your life. That’s your victory. That’s why every Sunday is a little Easter.
So then what’s the deal with this Christian life? Shouldn’t we be marching from one victory to another? Shouldn’t the life of a Christian be the best life you could live with purpose and passion? Not according to God’s word. For now, this victory is by faith alone. Someday, when God wills it, we will see the victory and experience it ourselves. And while we wait for that day, Satan, in his grand delusion, thinks he still has a chance. He’s like one of those WW2 Japanese soldiers in the south Pacific who never heard the news – not only is the war over, but you lost.
So the Christian life is a militant life. It is for this militant life that Paul exhorts us in today’s Epistle. One of the first directives Saint Paul gives the troops is this – “Know your enemy!” “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Your enemy isn’t your unreasonable brother or your demanding boss or your neglectful husband. Your enemy isn’t liberal newscasters or right wing pundits. Your enemy isn’t Barack Obama or Donald Trump. The only enemy you need to worry about is Satan. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood – the battle which we Christians fight is not against people, but against the Devil and his demons – the rulers of darkness, the spiritual forces of evil. (And if he has you convinced that the problem is people – he’s winning.)
Secondly, Paul’s words instruct us that the victory in the battle isn’t up to us. The victory has been won in Christ. He is already ruling the entire course of history and the world for the sake of His church. Oh, He may not have revealed His plan to you or me, but Jesus now sits at God’s right hand and all things, all things, even Satan himself, are under His feet.
Since the victory is won, Saint Paul doesn’t direct us to fight, but to stand guard. In baptism we weren’t conscripted into the infantry, instead we were summoned to sentry duty. The Lord has already won – by faith we are already under Christ’s rule and reign, in His territory. Now, we stand guard. In fact the word “stand” is found four times in this short text.
To give you an idea of what this standing means – learn a little from the Roman army of Biblical times. Sometimes Roman sentries had their sandals nailed to the ground so they would stand and not run when they saw the enemy. If you were a Roman sentry there were two offenses punishable by immediate death – one, of course, was falling asleep on duty. The other was abandoning your post – either running away or running into battle to engage the enemy. A sentry was to watch and watch only, not fight, not sleep, watch and then declare the presence of the enemy.
This charge of being on the defensive, of being a sentry instead of a warrior, is found in the list of weapons that Paul describes as belonging to the Christian. All these weapons in the spiritual armory are defensive weapons – they are meant for protection, not for fighting. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
How does the devil make his attacks? As he always did – with lies about God’s Word – therefore stand, having fastened on the belt of truth. You have God’s Word, the Word of truth. Wrap it around your life, surround yourself with it – read it, hear it, mark it, inwardly digest it, wear it. Be in the Word – that means be in church, be attentive to the readings and the sermon, be in Bible study, read the Scriptures in your home, out loud. Wrap the truth around your body and life.
Put on the breastplate of righteousness. When the devil attacks with his lies he will lie about Christ’s righteousness. He will tell you that you are righteous enough without Christ – you’re a good person and good people go to heaven. There’s no need for church or His Word or forgiveness. Or he will tell you that you are so vile and wicked Christ could not forgive someone like you – you are beyond righteousness. If the devil can’t flank you on the right with self-righteousness, he’ll try the left with despair. Stand firm in what you have received in baptism. You are righteous before the Father. Christ has declared it so in His resurrection and in your baptism – that breastplate protects your heart from the thrusts of the devil.
Your feet are wrapped in the readiness of the Gospel – you stand on the good news of eternal peace – that your sins are forgiven. It is the Gospel that makes you ready for whatever comes your way, that gives you confidence to stand your ground.
Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Roman soldiers carried a shield made of heavy wood that was then wrapped in leather or some softer wood. On the night before battle they would soak their shields in water so that if any flaming arrows or darts hit the shields they would be extinguished. Our faith was given in water and our life is never lived apart from that water. We daily return to baptism, drowning the old Adam in confession and being resurrected by Christ’s forgiveness in absolution. As we are continually soaked in our baptisms, our faith is made ever wetter to extinguish the devil’s fiery darts.
On our heads we wear the helmet of salvation – this is what guards our minds. We are safe in Christ – saved from our sins, saved from Satan’s attacks, saved from death itself. We have been plucked from enemy territory, saved, rescued, and returned to the heavenly Kingdom, under Christ. Our helmet reminds us who is our head – Christ our Savior.
We carry one weapon and once again this is a defensive weapon – it a short sword, used if the enemy gets close. It is the Word of God. This is what we hold in our hands – God’s Word. And really it is the weapon behind every piece of armor – this Word reveals the truth, this Word declares us righteous, this Word gives us peace, this Word brought us to faith, this Word delivers salvation. By this Word we are called into the body of Christ, and by this Word we are fed, and by this Word stand against the Devil.
If you are baptized into the Christian faith you are drafted into the church militant. If you are baptized you are in for a fight, but stand firm, for the victory is yours and the Holy Spirit has given you all the weapons you need to stand on Christ’s ground. You have the truth, Christ’s righteousness, the Gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and God’s own Word. Keep alert, stand your ground, and know that you’ve already won. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
30 August 2015 anno Domini