Talk given by the Rector on 6 July 2008Reading: Ephesians 6:10-18
Some years ago, while on holiday, I read through the first 3 volumes of Winston Churchill's account of the Second World War. Just a little light reading for those long hot afternoons! Volume 1 describes the years leading up to the War, during which the life of most people in England was comparatively untroubled by the turbulent events in the rest of Europe. But then something decisive happened. In response to Hitler's invasion of Poland, we declared war against Germany in September 1939. And, as Volume 2 sets out, life in England changed dramatically as Hitler turned his destructive energies on our island and prepared to invade us. Something rather similar has happened to us as Christians. When we respond to God's invitation to rescue us from the dominion of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of his Son we change sides. In effect, we declare war on God's enemy, called the devil or Satan. Up to that point we were under his diabolical thumb, even if we didn't realise it. But by turning to God and placing ourselves under his authority, we're rebelling against our former master. And so, whereas in the past he more or less ignored us and left us alone, he now has us in his sights and is gunning for us in a big way. That's why the life of a Christian believer is such a complicated mixture of love, joy, peace etc on the one hand and disappointment, frustration and struggle on the other. It's a battle. A battle in which we are the Lord's Army. Now the thing to take comfort from is that it is supposed to be like this! The thing about warfare is that it demands hard work and discipline. It involves risk and suffering. We can expect struggle, fighting, casualties. And what is true of the wars going on around the world that we hear about on the news is also true of the unseen, spiritual battle. Not for nothing does Paul tell his young friend Timothy, 'Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus' (2 Timothy 2:3). This is what it's all about. During the Gulf War a few years ago, one of the soldiers put it like this, though in rather more colourful language than I shall use here: "We all know when we join up that one day someone's going to ask us to do this job for real." As we look at what Paul writes at the end of his letter to the Ephesians, this is indeed what we are being called on to do: to do it for real. Christianity isn't a game, a hobby, a spare-time leisure activity. It's a battle. We aren't members of a club. We're soldiers in an army. History tells us that this building was used to accommodate solders during the English Civil Wars. Well, it still is! The soldiers of Christ. Right from the outset, though, let's just be clear about one thing: we are on the winning side! That's a relief, isn't it? We can say that with complete confidence because this is a battle in which the decisive campaign has already been won. Jesus accomplished the absolute defeat of evil on the cross. Paul puts it like this in another of his letters: '...having disarmed the powers and authorities [ie, Satan and his forces], he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross' (Colossians 2:14). Just as Jesus told his disciples on the evening before his death: 'In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world' (John 16:33). This is a battle in which the outcome is clear: God will ultimately triumph. But in the meantime it's a battle in which we are involved now. Which is why we need to be armed and equipped. And this is where this famous passage from Ephesians 6 comes in. Please turn to it on page 1177. 1. STRONG IN THE LORDI guess that there are two main reactions to talk of the Christian church as an army and the Christian life as a battle. Some of us set our chins and prepare to take it in our stride as just one more complex thread in life's rich tapestry. Others of us recoil from the idea. We would rather keep our heads down and opt for a quiet life, thank you very much. As a matter of fact, far from fighting against evil, we find ourselves giving in to it more often than not. We don't really have the strength to withstand or the willpower to resist. And so Paul begins in verse 10 with a word of warning to those who think they can cope and a word of reassurance to those who know they can't and are tempted to get into a bit of a panic. The thing to understand is that this is not a battle we can face alone - so don't even try. But on the other hand, there's no need to worry - our weakness and lack of power don't matter. We are not being asked to depend on our own strength and abilities - which is just as well, because they would soon let us down anyway. We are to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. We are to put on his armour. We don't have to manufacture our own resources: they are his gift to us. 2. THE DEVIL'S SCHEMESPaul goes on to brief us on some important things about the enemy. He needs to do this because the enemy is not who we often think it is. Look at verse 12. We might have a list of people in our lives against find ourselves having to battle as Christians. Difficult neighbours. People at work or school we just don't get in with. Perhaps even members of our family and so-called 'friends'. Bureaucrats. Tax officials. And so on. But no. However it may appear on the outside, 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood' (verse 12). It may seem to be. But it isn't. It's against an assortment of unseen spiritual enemies - what Paul calls in verse 12 the rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. What does he tell us about these forces? First, as we've seen, they're not flesh and blood but spiritual and unseen. But that doesn't make them any less real and powerful. We tend to think that what we can see is real but that there is room for doubt with what we cannot see. But that's wrong. Though unseen, they are real and powerful. There is the very real possibility that, if we don't remain on our guard, the enemy will be able to disable us and overpower us. Secondly, they are 'spiritual forces of evil...' (verse 12). Their aim is to oppose God and frustrate his intentions for his world, to destroy what is good. Satan doesn't play by the rules. But it won't always seem like that. For, thirdly, these evil forces will often seem to be the very opposite of what they really are. This is what lies behind Paul's talking about the 'devil's schemes' in verse 11. If it suits his purposes to pretend to be what he is not, then he will. Paul warns the Corinthians about the way he 'masquerades as an angel of light' (2 Corinthians 11:14). We need to take this seriously, especially because so many spiritually dubious ways of going about things are justified by the claim that 'it works so it must be alright'. That's simply not true. It may well seem to work, at least for a time. But that doesn't make it right. Fourthly, these spiritual forces of evil are close to each one of us who are Christ's followers. Verse 12 talks about our 'struggle' against them. We're not talking missiles and bombs beong aimed at us from a long way off. The word Paul uses calls to mind the hand-to-hand combat - the point being that each and every soldier is personally involved. All these features explain why we need to rely on God's resources rather than our own. Our enemy is powerful. He is evil. He is clever. He is cunning. And he is an enemy against whom each of us has to struggle. 3. STAND YOUR GROUNDBut despite the undobted strength of the enemy, Paul's response is that it is perfectly possible for us to stand firm against his onslaught. There is no need for us to collapse under his attacks. How? How can we recognize and resist him? By being clothed with God's armour and equipped with his resources. What armour and resources does Paul mean? The answer comes in verses 14 to 18. These are the ways in which God equips us so that we can stand and fight. Bible scholars come up with all sorts of ideas about exactly what Paul means by the different qualities he describes here. Maybe the best approach is to sit in a quiet corner and, in an attitude of prayer, let these phrases roll through our minds... First, the idea that, for a belt: truth, honesty and integrity will always win out in the end against falsehood, deceit and insincerity. For a breastplate: the righteousness, the right standing with God, that he freely gives us in Christ rather than forcing us to try and pull together by our own efforts. For boots to help us maintain our footing: a clear grasp of the good news of what God has done through the gospel to bring us salvation. For a shield: faith, the ability to hold on to what God has said even when all the evidence seems to point in the opposite direction. For a helmet: the hope of salvation, the confident expectation that the battle isn't going to go on for ever but will one day finally be won. Our struggles will come to an end. For a sword: the Word of God. We use what God says to counter the lies and distractions of the enemy. And then, binding all these together, the resource of prayer, the ability we have at any time and at any place, to call on our Commanding Officer for help. This, then, is what leads Paul to have such confidence that the soldiers in the Lord's Army can stand up against our powerful enemy: '...be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power' (Ephesians 6:10). As the hymn 'Onward, Christian soldiers' puts it: Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King's own army
None can overthrow;
Round his standard ranging,
Victory is secure,
For his truth unchanging
Makes the triumph sure.
Master, Thou wilt keep us,
By Thy grace divine,
Always on the Lord's side,
Saviour, always Thine! May almighty God deliver us from the powers of darkness, and lead us in the light and obedience of Christ. Amen. © 2008 David Stone | 