-The father of a girl that I dated in high school was an Army recruiter
-When he found out that I was going to West Point, he gave me a lot of cool Army recruiting stuff. One of the items was a pin with the motto of the Army on it
-It said, “Join the Army. Go to exotic lands. Meet new and interesting people and kill them.”
-As members of the military, we know what it is to fight
-We have been trained to kill
-It’s been said crassly that our job as service members is to “kill people and break things”
-That is why we have the equipment that we have
-Most of us carry weapons to allow us to shoot at the enemy to carry out our mission or to defend ourselves
-We wear body armor to protect ourselves from being injured or killed ourselves
-We wear a helmet to protect our head from bullets or flying debris
-That is how we wage war in God’s left hand kingdom, the kingdom of this earth, the kingdom where He rules using the Law through governments
-But that is not how we wage war in God’s right hand kingdom, the church. In the church, God rules using the gospel. Therefore, we wage our war against the devil and his evil forces using different weapons and using different armor.
-However, sometimes we forget what God has given us to fight with and we use the wrong weapons.
-Sometimes we forget that other people ultimately are not our enemies in this fight
-Sometimes we forget that God has already given us our protection from our enemies
-We simply need to use it
-However, we often use our words and fists to fight battles that belong in the spiritual realm
-We too often use our words to tear others down
-Our fight, as Christians, is not a physical one but a spiritual one
-We don’t use human weapons to fight a spiritual war {PAUSE}
-Have you ever seen the Walt Disney movie, Hercules?
-It’s a great movie.
-It is the story of Hercules whose father was Zeus was the father of all the gods.
-That is god with a small “g.”
-Hades who was the ruler of the underworld was angry with Zeus so he devised a plan to overthrow the gods and take over Mt. Olympus where they lived.
-He went to see a sorceress to see if there was anyone who could foil his plan.
-The sorceress told him that Hercules was the only one who stood between him and his goal.
-Hades sent two of his henchmen to steal the baby Hercules and feed him poison so that he would die.
-They abducted Hercules but their mission was interrupted and they did not make sure that Hercules drank all the poison.
-One drop was left so he didn’t die.
-He became a mortal but with extreme strength.
-Hercules was found by a human couple and raised as their own.
Many years later, Hercules was in the temple to Zeus when Zeus came to Hercules and let him know that he was his son.
-Zeus let him know that he could become a god again and come back to Mt. Olympus but he would have to become a true hero.
-So Hercules went into strict training to become a hero.
-After several years of training, Hercules finally got the chance to start proving his heroism.
-One day, the evil centaur Nessos was bugging a young lady named Megara, or Meg.
-Hercules took a few lumps but defeated Nessos.
-He went on to win numerous battles and go all over the world defeating innumerable enemies and saving many people.
-However, Hercules’ title of hero still eluded him, his heroism had not yet been stretched to its limits.
Finally, one day Hades unleashed his evil plan to take over Mt. Olympus but Hercules came and saved the day.
-In the melee, Meg, who Hercules had grown quite fond of, died.
-Hercules stormed through the gates of the underworld and made a deal with Hades.
-He said, ”You can get your revenge on my father, Zeus, by keeping me here in the underworld but you have to let Meg go.”
-Hades jumped at the chance but by that act of selflessness, Hercules was deemed a true hero and since gods can’t stay in the underworld, he too was allowed to go free.
-When Meg asked him why he did it he said, “People always do crazy things when they’re in love.”
-It’s the same way with God! God does blessedly crazy things because He is in love with you. Jesus, similarly to Hercules, was THE Son of God.
-He came to earth too but willingly
-He too was raised by human parents, Mary and Joseph.
-Jesus thwarted the devil’s plan to take over the world and won the day by a most unusual way, by suffering and dying on the cross
-He too stormed the gates of underworld.
-However, not to make a deal with the devil but to proclaim His victory over him once and for all.
-However, Jesus did not just free one person but He paid for the sins of everyone.
-He has paid for our use of the wrong weapons in the wrong fight
-For the times we rely on our own strength and cunning to win our spiritual battles {PAUSE}
-Not only did Jesus win the spiritual battle for us
-But he also showed us how to win a spiritual battle
-Now, we emulate his example
-We pray for our enemies
-We love them. All the while heaping hot coals on their heads
-We use the word of God to show them their need for a Savior and share with them who that Savior is
-In God’s right hand kingdom, the kingdom of the church, the kingdom of the spiritual realm, God calls us to use His weapons, the weapons He gives us to fight that war
