Trinity 21 (2024)

What is a materialist. Some one who believes that the explanation to the observable universe is in the observable universe. You are star dust, and everything happening around us is chemical decay as the material of the big bang plays out having been flung outwards during the big bang. The earth has habitability out of luck and chance. It created creatures that write poetry and indulge in sacrificing themselves for their children purely by accident. Your attachment to your spouse is a chemical decay that makes is so that the next set of chemical decay has the same DNA and you will not be forgotten, until you are, and the universe finally spreads out that is runs out of heat to decay. This is known as the heat death of the universe. If you are a secular materialist, this is the world you live in. The chopping off of arms by gorillas in Africa is as un important to the universe as the asteroid belt. There is no hierarchy of importance.

Of course this is not the world view of any theistic religious persons anywhere, weather it be Hindu, Christian, Sihk or Pagan. Theism is the idea that the universe is planned and designed. That this plan and design tell us something about the planner and the designer. There is the premise that there are unseen realms that effect the seen realm. In Christianity we believe that we are here in the physical realm as both the spiritual and the physical touch one another.

We believe that God is three persons, one substance, and is served by angelic creatures. We believe that the Devil is an angelic creature that lives in opposition to God and is also served by fallen creatures of opposition. Ephesians give us a peak behind the curtain so we know hoe to be prepared to live as God’s faithful kids while all this plays out.

So how do we digest the todays text in light of all of this?

Well first lets dig into the text.

Verse 10 - We come into harmony with the strength of God’s strength. There is the command to obedience, be strong. There is also the Grace of God making this possible, strength of his strength.

Verse 11 The command in verse 10, has steps. Put on the whole armor of God. Maybe you learned a a song or a way to memorize what it means to put on the whole armor of God, and maybe you are approaching this text for the first time! Lets get a why before we walk through the armor bit by bit.

We do so to withstand the schemes of the devil. Here is what we know about the devil. He has a few names. Devil, Satan, The opposer, The accuser. Seen in Eden, then in Job, Gets a bit of a makeover in the intertestimental period. We get a better sense in Rev.

Verse 12 - We get a really helpful insight here, that when we are battling the physical its really the spiritual forces behind it that animate what opposes us. And in fighting we need to be as spiritually ready as we are ready any other way. The present Darkness is the physical embodiment of the spiritual reality.

Verse 13 - Verse 11, put on the whole armor of God to stand, verse 13 you are gonna take with you or have.Two different verbs, put on and to take up. The verb from verse 11 is to put on to stand, or firmly face down, where the take up in verse 13 is for the purpose of resisting. These are subtle differences, lets not over read them, lets only note that these two similar instructions make St. Paul more emphatic. This is something you will need in your conflict with the devil.

Verse 14 as 13 ends with standing firm, fourteen carries it, you are standing having the belt of truth.

Now we are in a place to either zig or zag…Some of you have never deep dived into this verse, so our need to zig or zag might seem a little over stated.

This of us who have been taken through this verse are often given an explanation of Roman Armor. Every piece of armor described is using familiar Roman soldier armor. This can help, and maybe is what St. Paul is getting at. But often St. Paul seems to want to use OT imagery more than Modern metaphors. And just as you might be able to connect the armor of God to the Roman armor, you can also connect it to Armor described in Isaiah 11:5 Rigteouness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins. Paul of course the belt of truth and the breast place of righteousness.

Isaiah 59:17 “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.”

Verse 15 - Shoes of readiness Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.””

Verse 16 - Isaiah 21:5 “They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes; oil the shield!”

Verse 17 - Helmet of of Salvation Isaiah 59:17 “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.”

Verse 18 - Sword of the Spirit Isaiah 49:2 “He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.” Revelation 19:15 “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”

No Bible yet, this is what the NT Christians thought of as God’s word, blend of OT, Disciples interaction, Prophetic utterance, Most important the Gospel.

Verse 19 - Along with knowing the truth against Satan the liar, and righteousness against satan the Accuser, the Gospel against Satan the serpent, faith against satan the doubt sower, salvation against satan the damner, and the word against satan the opposer, we need pray in the Spirit.

This is pretty amorphous, but remember, The spirit inspires God’s word…prayer the Bible according the pattern of the Book of Common prayer is a way to do this one. To pray as a baptised spirit creature, is a what to do this. To pray as a one realizing that Jesus is Lord and you are a sinner is one more way. But we must pray in the spirit as Paul commands.

The outcome being that people come to know Christ under the apostolic work of the church.

Well I feel I need to give some words of caution.

On one end we are not to think in a materialist way that the world is just decaying stardust. On the other hand, there is plenty of wickedness out there that is the product of our own human selfishness. More often than not our commandment breaking is the result of sinfulness not Satanic intervention. On the other hand there is Satanic intervention and it has some consistencies. First logical explanation and natural consequences are not strongly in play. If you have used addictions like drugs sex or gambling to get to a happy place, there might be some participation of the demonic and the satanic, but a large portions might be the natural consequences of living outside our good design. On the other hand, if spaces, objects or illness just seem to defy all logic, it could be an attack.

In the last year, I had once church planter friend, who lost his mom, went through inexplicable infant loss, then had a daughter come down with an autoimmune that attacked her bones. His church plant is doing well and it seemed very obviously an attack. I had another friend, go through several miscarriages in his work to plant churches. Another friend, have a daughter discover a difficult to manage auto immune. All church planters in our denomination, all in a season of success.

Then my own summer. I have been vulnerable that I suddenly could no longer opperate in the boundries of normal, I just could not find the joy I once found in so many things. Now all of these things have medical explanations, and yet, all of them are happening at the same time to REC church planters. All of us have walked through medical treatment, and at the same time, all of us understand that we need to pray in the spirit for God’s help and protection.

You too might feel yourself walking through an inexplicably hard season fr faith, health, relationship. You walk not alone. And it is not always the decay of star dust. It often has a spiritual component. And when you hit that season, call the church to pray in the Spirit with you.

Finally remember that all of these forces have been defeated. Jesus wins, and we share his victory. But his victory over evil, sin and death was not at arms length, it came when Jesus went through all of those, and came out the other end the victor. Your own victories will often come not at avoiding the cross of Christ, but putting on the armor of God, and walking straight through it. Just as Christ did, for those who follow him, his victory is our victory.