August 22, 2021
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Ephesians 6:10-21
The Whole Armor of God
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul concludes his letter to the Christians in Ephesus with his parting wishes for them. He wants them to be strong – strong in the Lord. To illustrate, Paul uses imagery that would be extremely familiar to everyone. He looks to the protective gear of a Roman soldier. As a principle city in the Roman empire, fully decked out Roman soldiers would have been a common sight on the streets of Ephesus. The church members could easily picture the uniform from the crested Roman helmets to the cleated, leather strap sandals.
This military imagery has not always been a comfortable fit for the Church. Non-violent denominations like Quakers and Mennonites and Franciscans find such imagery to be incompatible with a gospel of peace and reconciliation.
Further, Christianity has a questionable track record with militarism and violence. During the Crusades, Christians marched under the sign of the cross, leaving a wake of blood and destruction behind them. Protestants and Catholics in Europe fought a bloody 30-year war following Luther’s reformation.
And at times, Christianity has linked arms a little too closely with nationalism. We’re tempted to claim that God is on our side and not that of our opponent. But the church of Jesus Christ is GLOBAL in character. It doesn’t cling to one nation over another.
So when we reflect on Paul’s imagery, we need to recognize something very important. Paul specifically points out “Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh.”
This struggle isn’t human made. It doesn’t have to do with human foes or human institutions. This armor of God is intended to protect us from invisible forces, These enemies function on a spiritual level. Paul wants us to be protected from the forces of evil.
Against a spiritual enemy, one needs spiritual armor.
• We need a shield so that disagreement with our neighbor doesn’t spiral into antagonism, and antagonism into spite and spite into hatred.
• We need spiritual armor so that personal regret doesn’t cascade into shame, and shame into self revulsion.
• We need godly protection so that anger doesn’t snowball into rage, and rage into violence, and violence into utter destruction.
Against spiritual forces we need godly protection. That’s what Paul desires for the Ephesians. Paul generates quite a list of this spiritual armor. I’d like to focus on a few of them.
First of all, the belt of truth. The belt of the Roman soldier was like a tool belt. They attached equipment to it. If you ever looked at all the equipment our police officers carry on their belts, they frequently carry 20 pounds around their waist.
Paul says the belt we gird around our waist is truth. The truth can be very weighty. But outside of the truth, there’s only falsehood. The truth is a tool of utmost value. Jesus said, “The truth shall set you free.” There are realities we might rather ignore or deny. But healing and freedom can only come to fruition in the truth.
When we begin our worship services with a confession of sin, we’re taking a truthful look at ourselves. In the book of 1 John we read, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” In confession, we take a sincere and honest look at ourselves. Living truthfully and seeking truth is the belt we put on each day. And we can do this without fear, because along with the belt of truth, we also put on the breastplate of righteousness.
A breastplate is a protective covering over the vital organs of the body. It protects our core. Paul invites us to put on the breastplate of righteousness.
The righteousness of this breastplate isn’t our own. We don’t generate this rightness within ourselves. When we’re truthful with ourselves, we immediately recognize this. No, this righteousness can only come from a source other than ourselves. It comes from God.
That was the great awakening moment for Martin Luther, as he studied the phrase in Romans, “the righteousness of God.” It doesn’t mean that God holds righteousness like a standard, and we better measure up to it. That’s what Luther had originally thought. And it left him miserable. There was no way he could measure up!
But then his eyes were open. He realized that God is the SOURCE of all righteousness. All righteousness comes from God. We have been made right by God’s redeeming actions through Christ. It’s not something we do; Christ has already accomplished it.
And so we put on this breastplate, this righteousness from God, every morning. When we’re barraged by haunting questions: Am I good enough? How can I know if salvation is mine? There is a breastplate of righteousness that will protect us from these arrows. We have been made right with our maker through Christ’s righteousness.
St. Patrick wrote a prayer that has become known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate. “I bind unto myself today,” he wrote. “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity.” In this breastplate, Christ’s righteousness completely surrounded him:
“Christ within me,
Christ beside me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.”
We put on the breastplate of righteousness. And in that righteousness, we have peace in Christ.
Paul also addresses shoes for our feet. He says, “put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.”
The Ephesians lived under what was known as the “Pax Romana.” Nations under the rule of Rome enjoyed a certain kind of peace. They knew they were under Roman rule, and so they wouldn’t be overrun and their cities razed. They wouldn’t be carted off into slavery. Rome provided stability. But that peace came at a price. They obeyed Rome, they paid taxes to Rome, their sons were conscripted into service for Rome.
But the peace of Christ is something very different. We have peace with God. And with our neighbors, our lives reflect the peace and healing compassion of Christ. That this peace is associated with shoes means that we are called to move. We’re called to be Christ’s peace and move it outwards. We take that peace where it’s needed. Through our words and deeds, we become Christ’s peace in the world.
So when you get dressed in the morning, let that action be a reminder to you. As you put on your shirt, remember that you are surrounded by God’s righteousness. As you thread your belt around you, remember to live in truth. And as you put your shoes on, remember that you can be an agent of peace and reconciliation in the world around you.
