Ephesians 6.10-20

Ephesians 6.10-20

The focus for our reflection this morning is an image in today’s reading from Ephesians. St Paul pictures faith as spiritual struggle. ‘Put on the whole armor of God for the battle we are engaged in.’ Paul then lists the inventory of this armory: belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, sword. These are all metaphors, of course. Paul is not expecting us to make our daily wardrobe the battle gear of an ancient Roman gladiator or to dress up like a movie extra in a biblical epic ready for the director to say ‘Action.’ But the apostle is talking about us being ready for action in faith. Paul wants us to take our faith seriously, mindfully, and be prepared for the challenges that come with living as followers of Jesus.

Now for some, it may come a surprise that faith includes struggle at all. Yet anyone who has ever tried to follow the path laid out by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, knows that the minute you take two steps forward there are forces trying to pull you one, two, or even three steps back. Jesus says, ‘Speak well of everyone, do not retaliate, love your enemies.’ Yet gossip, bitterness, payback (even if it’s just revenge nurtured in our heart) all take root in us and grow like weeds battled by a gardener. Praying regularly? Fraught with distraction. Resisting temptation? The poet Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist everything except temptation.” I suspect you have your own struggles, even battles, to be faithful. Don’t take this as a sign of weak faith but of faith that is alive and active, of a faith that knows a more excellent way to be. Earlier in Ephesians Paul says, “Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” In a life of faith, there are things worth striving for and struggles worth engaging in.

Yet Ephesians sounds especially ominous this morning when it speaks of “cosmic powers of this present darkness.” Beyond the struggles we deal with personally, there are forces of human fear and greed that enthrall and captivate whole groups of people, societies, and nations and wreak all sorts of havoc from subtle to the most inhumane; people like you and me caught up in powers that demean and destroy.

None of us should need convincing on the truth of this: history is a case study on this very thing; the fragility we feel in the world today, another example. To depict these forces as ‘cosmic powers’ is not an overstatement and keeps us from treating these powers lightly or superficially. It also keeps us from what seems to happen all-too-easily: denouncing people who are different from us, think differently from us, act differently. Political seasons like our current one are testing seasons for all followers of Jesus. We tend, both on the right and the left, to give our political favorites almost messianic attributes and to demonize the other side. Yet today are told, “Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh.” We are not contending against human foes. The diagnosis is in a different place, deeper and darker. There are, Paul says, “cosmic powers of this present darkness.” People get caught up in them and we are vulnerable to them.

Here is a sober, realistic caution about forces in the world and in our lives that oppose the things of God. Through faith we know there are things worth striving for: justice in the world and holiness in our lives. “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour,” says the letter of 1st Peter. “Resist him, steadfast in your faith.”

That’s all very stark, isn’t it? Yet I don’t believe this talk of cosmic powers and present darkness is meant to send us to the basement to hunker down until the storm passes or lock the doors of the church, stay inside, and not engage in the world as it is. Because Ephesians today also speaks with hope and offers a way to persevere, provides equipment that empowers us with the courage and the means to thrive as followers of Jesus in the world. ‘Put on the whole armor of God: belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, sword.’

Now I know military images like these make some people uneasy. For good reason. There’s enough divide and conquer mindset in the world to begin with, and we Christians don’t need to be part of it. But note first that this armor is provided by God. “Put on the whole armor of God.” When we look to fight our battles, we weaponize, lock doors, install cameras, erect barriers metaphorically, emotionally, and physically. Paul, in contrast, says, ‘Be strong—not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless resource.’ Note also that nearly all the pieces of the armor provided by God are not offensive weapons but defensive, not used to attack others but keep us secure: belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, and helmet. Only the sword has potential attacking capability; we’ll come to that in a moment. In our struggles of faith, the hope Ephesians offers is that the gifts God provides are equal to, more powerful than, the challenges—spiritual strength to match spiritual struggles so that we not only persevere but thrive.

The belt that holds everything together is truth. Now in a time when any idea of truth is up for grabs and we stake out claims of competing truths—my truth vs your truth—truth as the New Testament sees it is not a collection of facts but a person: Jesus is the Truth. “I am the truth.” The belt of truth? Our lives girded up with the good news that Christ is for you, not against you; that his creative, life-giving grace continues to find ways in the world and in our lives. The belt is truth.

The breastplate is righteousness, not prideful self-righteousness or endless attempts to justify ourselves but God’s work to set right the world and our lives. St Jerome once stated the obvious. “One who has put on a sturdy breastplate is difficult to wound.” Perhaps less obvious, but no less true, is that God’s work in our lives gives us great resiliency. “No one who trusts in Christ will be put to shame.” The breastplate of righteousness is our God-given integrity.

As for shoes? You know how much a pair of good shoes makes a difference: protection, stability, support—to say nothing of good fashion sense and a little bit of beauty. This, Paul says, is peace. Paul is echoing what Isaiah first said, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace.” Striving to be people of peace makes us sure-footed when things get rocky.

The shield is faith, simple faith turned toward trust in God that quenches the flaming arrows of the evil one. These arrows include sharp temptations, fear, anxiety, despair. Job describes his suffering as arrows that pierce his very being. Our shield and protection? Listen to the effusive praise of God at the beginning of Psalm 18. “I love you, O LORD my strength, O LORD my stronghold, my crag, and my haven. My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, my shield.” Our protection and shield is not found as we look inward to ourselves but outward to God in faith.

The helmet is salvation, the present reality of God’s goodness in your life now and the assurance that God’s grace overflows into unending and eternal life. This helmet makes it possible to keep our minds and thoughts out the Lord.

Only one item in Paul’s armory might be called an offensive weapon: a sword. Only this is not a conventional weapon, a sword forged of iron. This is “the sword of the Spirit…the word of God.” Now I know you know the word can be used as a weapon. But it’s not meant to be that way. In Ephesians, this sword loses its battle edge when we read elsewhere that the word of God is not something used to attack people but the way God cleanses our hearts and lives, the sword of the word like a surgeon’s scalpel meant to heal.

Belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, the Spirit’s sword. This armor does not weaponize us to divide and conquer; it is our protection in God so we can persevere in the struggles that come with a life of faith and flourish as followers of Jesus. There are things worth contending for and striving for—truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, a word that cleanses and builds up others—justice in the world and holiness in our lives. “Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” This is worthy life is the life to which we are called today. Dressed and secure in Christ, as we are meant to be, in small measure, people in whom the life of Jesus is seen. ‘Put on the whole armor of God for the battle we are engaged in.’