Pentecost 15B, 2024

It should come as no surprise that the military guy likes the “armor of God” passage from Ephesians 6. I used to think about that one all the time. When the base chaplain gave me his “chaplain’s coin” at my retirement, it instantly became one of my favorites, because it is this very verse, with the image of a soldier in full armor, sword in hand, and each piece of the armor highlighted in verses 14-17: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes - the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and prayer.

If you know anything about armor, then you know that most of these are defensive items - their purpose and design is to absorb or deflect the enemy’s blows, to protect the soldier’s skin, muscle, and bone from any damage by the enemy’s weapons. Vital organs are the most heavily guarded: head and torso most of all, with a shield held by the weaker hand to provide movable protection. Only one item is for the offensive: the sword. Did you notice this list has 7 items on it? Certainly this is not a coincidence. The number 7 in Jewish writing symbolizes completion and perfection. This is all the armor a Christian needs, and it is perfect armor. And although prayer is not assigned a specific piece of the armor, it is definitely part of the Christian’s equipment.

But let’s take a step back for a moment. This is the very end of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We’ve been reading through this Epistle steadily since mid-July. As we’ve gone through it, Paul has been talking about God’s plan for all humanity, both Jews and Gentiles. The first half of the letter talks about what Christians believe, with emphasis on God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The second half of the letter has been talking about what God’s grace means for the church, for families, and for individual Christians. And now today’s reading “comes to a climax with a command to stand with the armor of God against the devil.” [ESV, 2016, Ephesians, introduction]

Certainly, Paul had a clear understanding of the forces of evil in his day. They were the forces that were aligned to stop him and the other disciples from spreading the Gospel to the known world. As we follow Paul’s story in the book of Acts, we see groups called “Judaizers” following Paul, stirring up trouble for him, getting him arrested, beaten, and even stoned at one point. It becomes terribly frustrating for Paul, even with his great faith. So much so that Paul literally gives up on his fellow Jews and focuses his efforts on bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. As we read Paul’s letters, it seems clear that there are other forces behind the Jews who opposed him; it seems that he doesn’t blame the Judaizers directly, especially in light of today’s reading. Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” These Jews working against him are merely pawns in a spiritual war. And for this type of warfare, mere human weapons and equipment just aren’t going to cut it.

That was how Paul viewed the forces of evil working against him in the early 1st century AD. Let me ask you: do you think we are facing forces of evil today? (Did that make you laugh?) It’s amazing, isn’t it? Some of the stuff we see is just blatantly evil and anti-God, and there’s no effort to be sneaky about it anymore. It’s just right out in the open. We could talk about the satanic statue erected in the Iowa State capitol in 2023 displayed prominently for all to see. Or we could talk about the abortion trailers at the recent political rally held by one of the major political parties. Walk-in abortions. Of course, they wanted to be equality-minded, so nearby was also a walk-in vasectomy trailer. Where God says “be fruitful and multiply”, Satan wants to prevent the birth of children by any means necessary. He is God’s enemy, and his efforts serve to undo all that God wants. So I ask again: do you think we are facing the forces of evil today? What can we do to face this kind of evil? That’s what Paul is addressing in today’s reading.

But before even considering the heavenly equipment for this fight, we have to go to the beginning of this passage: “be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.” For you English students, notice the passive voice here. We might even say “be strengthened” - as in let the strength be given to us. And when Paul says “in the Lord” he means “in union with the Lord”. As this warfare we are preparing to face is no mere mortal, physical battle, our mere mortal, physical strength would be terribly inadequate, just as inadequate as regular, man-made armor would be. We must lean on God’s strength at all times, because we need His strength at all times. If we do not, we run the risk of being caught by the enemy. [Lenski, 657] As Christians, we don’t dare ever being weaklings. But we are joined to a God who is an unending source of power. He is filled with strength and might, and has already conquered His enemies. As we are joined to Him, we have ready access to His strength, but we need to constantly be refreshed in it.

So first we are given God’s strength, but God also has armor to give us, and it is with this armor that we will be able to stand against the devil and his schemes. In order to stand against this wicked foe, the “whole armor” must be used. Not part of it, not most of it… the whole armor. Each piece has its purpose, and they work together for total protection. The armor Paul describes is very typical of a Roman soldier, but one who is heavy-armored, one who would stand in the line of the legion, making that line nearly impenetrable with that armor lined up in formation. And wearing this “whole armor” we are to stand successfully and invincibly against the enemy. When this battle is over, the expectation is that this soldier will be victorious.

Verse 12 tells us just how powerful the foe is. Not merely a mortal of flesh and blood, but the very “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Paul describes vividly the extent of the enemy’s power. He gives us four views of the entire demon army. These are incredibly strong, evil forces, great in number. But again, God is stronger. He has already won victory over them. And as scary as the enemy might seem, we need not fear them. We will stand against this enemy. Standing is the posture of victory, and that’s how this will end…with us standing.

Of course, the enemy does not just lie down and give up. He continues to fight, and we will eventually encounter him, on what Paul calls “the evil day”. It’s evil because the forces that will hurl themselves against us are evil. And Paul sees this not as our entire lives but a specific day which each one of us will face. Thanks be to God, we will not face this day unarmed, and we need not be unprepared. In fact, we absolutely should not be unprepared. Paul’s purpose here is to help us prepare. Let’s look at each part of this set of armor that God gives us:

The belt of truth - this is naturally the first piece of armor. The truth Paul has in mind is the divine, saving truth. God’s truth. This divine, saving truth firmly surrounds and holds the Christian warrior in battle.

The breastplate of righteousness - this is the righteousness of Christ, put on by faith. Our own righteousness would not be enough to go up against this enemy. It must be Christ’s perfect righteousness. Just as a normal breastplate covers the vital organs, especially the heart, so does Christ’s righteousness protect our vulnerable parts, particularly the heart. Christ’s righteousness “acquits us of all sin and guilt and declares us righteous for Christ’s sake. It is the central part of all saving truth. The heart of [God’s] Word makes our heart invulnerable against Satan.” [Lenski, 667]

As shoes for your feet, the readiness given by the gospel of peace… think of it this way: “ready, eager courage that is due to the gospel which fills us with the peace of God.” [ibid] Readiness is our state of being ready to jump into the fight. The gospel of that peace which Christ gives us, which fills us with the feeling of peace. Having been given Christ’s righteousness, that means that God’s “wrath has subsided, God is with us, we are [therefore] ready, eager for the battle unto victory. We are above defeat. We know that if we resist the devil he will flee from us.” [Ibid., 667–668] And, by the way, this gospel of peace is also truth. The armor all fits together nicely.

The shield of faith - faith here is “believing and trusting in the truth of the gospel.” [Donelson, 109] This shield doesn’t merely block attacks; this one has the superpower of extinguishing flaming arrows (which were a devastating attack in ancient warfare). What are the devil’s flaming arrows? Scholars say that this refers to temptations. This is how the devil gets to us, weakens us, steals us from God’s flock. Faith is the shield that blocks those attacks. “Here is the answer as to what ‘the faith’ means when it is used as the shield against the blazing arrows. Luther [tells us]: ‘One little word overthrows him.’ Hold up to the devil, not merely your believing or subjective faith, but the Word, the doctrine, the pertinent Scripture passage, the objective content of faith, of course, also with your whole heart believing, relying on its truth and power. You may believe with all your might, but that will not be a quenching shield; Satan will easily pierce that, and you will be set on fire. Everything depends on what you believe. Hold up ‘the faith’; this extinguishes every tempting lie of the wicked one.” [Lenski, 670–671]

The helmet of salvation - this salvation is not a future thing we don’t yet have. It’s not the salvation we hope for. This is our present salvation - knowing that we are saved, we are kept safe. This “protects the head from a fatal or a disabling blow.” [Lenski, 673]

The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God - this is the only offensive weapon in our inventory. And as it comes from the Spirit, it is invincible [ibid.] Interestingly, the Greek here for “word” is not the usual “logos”, which could be a written word. Instead, Paul uses a word that means “utterance” - “‘going forth out of God’s mouth’, [which] makes it ‘the sword of the Spirit’ that is so deadly in striking down the foe of God and of man. When we use it in our battle we are to use it only as ‘God’s utterance.’ We must also use it unaltered, just as God uttered it. Any alteration takes the power and the edge off this sword.” [Lenski, 673–674] We can think of this “utterance”, when used properly, is the expression of God’s will.

Now, this describes God’s word as it is used for offense. But we can see God’s Word throughout all of this armor: “As truth the Word belts us; as the gospel of the peace it puts the readiness of courage into our hearts; as the faith, the doctrines which we believe, teach, and confess, it shields us against any and all of the wicked one’s lies. In addition to all this ... the Word and utterance smites and defeats our foe himself. What a true description this is of the Word of God! What a call, then, to every one of us to arm himself with it!” [ibid., 674]

Finally…praying at all times in the Spirit. “We wield the power of prayer. This does not place prayer on a level with the Word, its righteousness and its salvation… Prayer must be listed here because it brings our divine ally to our side in the battle on the wicked day.” [ibid., 675] And Paul means all forms of prayer.

Brothers and sisters, when you look around and see things happening that you know are working against God and His children, it can be quite scary. And it’s easy to feel helpless in the face of such an enemy. But please know that God does not leave us unarmed. This passage teaches us what we have at our disposal to protect us and help us stand against that enemy if and when the time comes. Please remember - as any soldier will tell you, if you want your equipment to serve you well in battle, the equipment must be maintained. Immerse yourself in God’s truth, refresh yourself in Christ’s righteousness, read and learn the gospel of peace. Let your faith be renewed in the Word and the Sacrament, rest in the certainty of your salvation, and pray to the Lord who has provided all of this for us. He has already beaten the enemy; call Him to your side in prayer and stand with Him in victory.

In spite of the craziness going on around us, and the craziness we might see in the months ahead, I’m comforted to know that not only does God protect us, but He gives us what we need to protect ourselves as well. Let’s all make sure that we have our equipment ready if we need it.