This sermon, based on Ephesians 6:10-20, was preached by Rev. Candasu Vernon Cubbage on August 25, 2024 (Proper 16).
Today’s scripture reading begins with Paul saying, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of God’s power.”
Be strong. I’d like to say that I always feel strong, but the truth is that I don’t. Sometimes I feel weak, and I suspect that sometimes most of the rest of us feel weak too.
Sometimes we feel physically weak. We just don’t have the strength to lift heavy things, or the strength to face another difficult project, or the strength to keep going for hours or even days on end.
Sometimes we feel emotionally weak. We are sad, or afraid, or just right overwhelmed.
When Paul says be strong in the Lord, he means for us to be spiritually strong.
And yet, sometimes we feel spiritually weak. We do not understand, or we forget, that our spiritual strength does not come from our own work or our own knowledge or our own belief.
Spiritual strength comes directly from God and works through us. It is God’s power that gives us spiritual strength.
Paul also advises us to: Put on the whole armor of God to protect us. Each piece of that armor protects us from disobeying the will of God while we work for God.
Put on the belt of truth around our waists. This belt will hold together our clothing which covers part of us for the sake of our humility or to make our appearance more appealing to others, and also to protect us from cold. We can also hang some of our tools from the belt of truth so we are always prepared to go to work.
Put on the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate is a piece of metal or leather that covers our chests. Righteousness means living in a right relationship with God, other people, and all creation. We act with righteousness when we live justly, honestly, and faithfully according to God's instruction, and righteousness will protect our hearts.
Paul also advises us to: Put on our shoes so that our feet are always ready to go and proclaim the gospel of peace.
Keep hold of the shield of faith. Our faith is our confidence in God and God’s promises, and it protects us by blocking attacks from our enemies.
Put on the helmet of salvation. Salvation is living our lives in the peace of Christ. The helmet of salvation protects our heads, our brains, and our thoughts through God’s love and grace.
And hold on to the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit is the word of God and the Spirit is the life giving breath in our lungs. This word of God is the gospel of peace, and by peace it means not the end of the war, but the beginning of Shalom: health, wholeness, completeness, justice, everyone having what they need to live. Living like this is what salvation is all about.
Paul reminds us that God calls all of us to continually pray with every breath we take. We breathe in the Spirit which sustains us and is our only weapon.
We pray for ourselves and we pray for others, breathing in the power of God which strengthens us and fuels us to proclaim the good news of salvation to all people with everything that we say, with everything that we do, and with everything that we are.
Our constant prayer is for us and for all people to be more in agreement with the will and the ways of God.
This full armor of God protects us with the complete coverage of the power of God.
So far, this passage sounds like it is about preparing for war. It sounds like our goal is to be mighty.
But this passage isn’t really about how strong the army is. This isn’t about how strong each one of us is on our own. It’s about strength that comes directly from God.
It’s about trust and dependence on God for all things in the new life we discover and live in Jesus Christ.
Brian Peterson wrote: the spiritual arming of the church in this text is nothing other than putting into practice the new reality created through Christ.
This passage is not about how each one of us needs to put on the whole armor of God so that we can go out and work for God as individuals.
Standing firm is not something that we do by ourselves. We are not called to be strong through our own individual actions.
We are called together as a group, as the church, to be strong. Together, as the church, we resist evil.
It is as a community that we put on the different pieces of armor, each according to our own abilities.
It is as a community that God strengthens us to proclaim the gospel of peace.
It is in our lives together that we proclaim the gospel of peace.
Or as Brian Peterson also wrote: It is in our lives together that we live with love and peace toward one another, singing hymns to God, speaking truth, forgiving one another and reflecting Christ in our homes and our closest relationships.
Paul is telling us: all of you together, keep on being strengthened by the Lord.
God doesn’t just lay some strength on us once and for all. God continues to give us strength over the course of our lifetimes.
Being strengthened in the Lord is a life-long quest. We are never finished being strengthened.
Being strengthened is also a life-long habit of trusting God and finding life, love, and strength in God.
Our job is not to seek and find evil in the world and do battle with it. The church is already the sign and the promise of what God will do for the world through Christ.
Our battle is not so much with individuals or groups of people. Our battle is with lies, division, claims of superiority, and dehumanization.
Our battle is with sorting people into US vs THEM, into those who count in this world and those who do not count. There is no US and THEM, there is only us, and we all count.
The armor of God allows us to stand firm and not give in. We are not putting on armor as preparation to attack. The armor is defensive, it protects us while we live a life of Shalom.
Sarah Henrick wrote: Putting on the armor of God does not create us as an impenetrable community who does not hear the cries of others.
It does not render us invulnerable to change or to preaching the word of God uttered by others.
It calls us to remain alert and pray for wise speech.
The armor of God protects us from confusing “standing fast” with “rigidity”.
It empowers us to resist manipulation.
So once again, we called to live in community with each other and in community with the rest of the world.
We strive to be a living example of shalom where everyone has access to health, wholeness, community, equity, inclusion, peace, and justice, and all that we need to thrive. This is what Jesus Christ calls us to do and what he modeled for us.
Paul originally wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus. He didn’t just write to one small group of people; he wrote to the whole church in Ephesus made up of several different congregations.
This letter still applies to all of us today. Paul encourages people to turn away from worshiping idols and seeking magical answers to fulfill their own desires.
He advises people not to see themselves as God’s army sent to defeat their enemies, but as a living example of the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ.
It’s not easy to be a living example of peace. At least it’s not easy to be a good example.
It requires us to be strong, not so much physically strong but spiritually strong, and that’s not something we can do for ourselves.
It is God who gives us strength. We participate by opening ourselves up in prayer: asking for God’s help, seeking God’s will and direction in our lives as a community.
It’s hard work to learn and practice a new way of living. It takes a whole lifetime of continual learning and strengthening to do it.
We were never meant to try and do this alone. We need the community around us to help us, to encourage us, to discern with us.
This is not a solo project, it is a group project. It is a new life that must be practiced and refined throughout our entire lives. It is continually being strengthened by God so that we can welcome others into the community and be an example to others.
Together we can be strong in the Lord and in the strength of God’s power.
Together we will be strong in the Lord and in the strength of God’s power.
Together we will live out the gospel of peace.
AMEN.
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