Sermon
August 26, 2012
1
Kings 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43
Psalm 84
Ephesians 6:10-20
John
6:56-69
“Strengthened
and Equipped”
God
of Power, God of Peace, you equip us to face the existential,
political and spiritual challenges of this and every era. May we be
mindful of your protection, and help us share your word in ways that
promote love, grace, and justice. May the words of my mouth and the
meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight. O Lord,
our rock and our salvation. Amen.
Like
many nerdy couples in this world, Carl and I watch “Doctor Who,”
which is, if you are unaware, a British television show that features
an alien a. k. a., a Time Lord who looks just like a human—or
according to him, we look Time Lord—who travels through time and
space in a ship that looks like a British police box from the 1960's.
In some of the episodes we watched recently a deeply in love young
couple, Amy and Rory, were separated. She was locked into a kind of
box. And through a long complicated storyline I won't explain—he
was able to guard her for over two thousand years, many of them
dressed as a Roman centurion. When, after that 2,000 years, they were
reunited, the Doctor said in awe of his love, “2,000 years . . .
the boy who waited . . . good on you, mate.”
So,
this time I read this scripture which describes the armor of God in
such Roman terms, I thought of Rory guarding Amy for over 2,000 years
until she was able to be released. Talk about love, talk about
commitment, talk about protective. He'd saved the box from military
conquest, fire, looting and all kinds of things and eventually ended
up exactly where they needed to be, at exactly the time they needed
to be there. The original purpose of the armor he had worn was
irrelevant—it was Rory's love that made it all
possible—spiritually, he had been equipped in some way through
their relationship to make it through.
And,
I confess, I am a geeky Doctor Who fan . . . and a fan of British
entertainment. But I really do love this kind of modern day allegory
of love. What does it look like to have the strength, the courage,
the gifts (tools and equipment) we need to carry on as disciples of
Jesus? In Rory's case, as unreal as the example is, he was equipped
by Amy's love and knowledge of him—in this fictitious universe he
was equipped by her imprint of his commitment and love through her
commitment and love.
We,
too, are equipped by relationship, a relationship with God that this
Pauline writer describes as armor—based on the armor of a Roman
soldier which was in his day, an ever-present symbol of imperial
power. Though it can be seen as a militaristic description, it is
also a way of overturning what we think of as power—making God's
peace (the good news) the ultimate purpose and aim.
Power
and perfection in the world where this epistle was written—especially
when it came to military power and perfection of power and
influence—was the Roman empire. And since it was everywhere, it was
a good place to start when describing the powerful and perfect—as
long as the metaphor is understood as metaphor. In other words,
beyond a certain level of comparison, the metaphor breaks down. For
example, some of you are early birds; I happen to be a night owl, but
none of us (as far as I know) have feathers. So these gifts and
products of our relationship with God are like armor in many ways and
in may ways they are not.
But
there is a reason that the Pauline writer describes them as pieces of
armor. For one thing, as I had said, Roman armor was the ultimate
technology of the day—the pinnacle of human invention when it came
to weaponry, defensive and offensive. And as has often been said
about this text, the only offensive weapon in this description—from
the helmet, to the breastplate, the belt, the shield, the shoes—is
the sword, which is the truth, God's word. There is no physical
weapon here, but the message, as the text also says—the gospel or
good news of peace.
This
metaphor describes God's protection so that we can stand up to
whatever is evil in the world. And I contend that evil exists within
us (in our disbelief that we and all people are God's beloved
children and all that comes from that disbelief) as well as the evil
that comes from that belief within others.
The
metaphor of the armor of God, then, speaks of the power with which we
are clothed through our relationship with God—and so rejects the
power that we may have through our relationships with powerful
people, powerful groups or powerful governments and nations. We have
no authentic power based upon any connection, except the connection
that we have with God through the gift, the grace that is Jesus
Christ.
The
truth that holds it all together, wrapped around us, keeps us
standing, sets a foundation for all the rest. Truth, not information
or factual data, but the truth of the gospel that Jesus brought helps
us try and test what comes to us. According to Jesus, we are to love
one another. Following his example, we are to care for the poor,
lame, sick and imprisoned. Looking to his teachings, we are to repent
of our selfishness and seek God's household and realm of influence
all around us and in unexpected places. Listening to the testimony of
his disciples, we are to seek out a relationship with God like he
had, praying and celebrating the presence of God in our lives, doing
what we can to live according to the stories and principles of God's
household.
The
breastplate of righteousness reminds me that, to the best of my
ability, I seek good choices for myself and in my relationships and
promote them in my community, state, nation and world. It won't
always be perfect, but as one person wrote, “What if we embraced
the best thinking on conflict resolution? The most forward thinking
of international laws and courts of justice? The most technically
sophisticated responses to the alleviation of poverty and hunger? The
cleverest weapons to fight climate change? The most comprehensive and
international resistance to evil regimes?”1
We won't always be right, but we will be on a path toward better ways
of living.
In
each and every way, we can look for ways to carry the gospel of peace
within us—whatever makes us ready to proclaim the gospel of peace,
live as witness, share as example, work as purpose or mission—those
are the shoes on our feet. I've always liked the idea that the shoes
are my choice, according to what it is that I am called to do for God
as I proclaim this gospel.
Another
preacher commented, “The shoes of the gospel of peace interest me.
My son has autism and doesn't speak, so much of the communication in
our house is non-verbal. When my wife and I come down each morning
the first thing my son does is check our shoes. He's learned that the
shoes we have on speak volumes about the kind of day we have planned.
Dress shoes mean work. Scuffed slip-ons mean a casual, more relaxed
day around the house.
“In Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner writes, "If you want to know who you really are as distinct from who you like to think you are, keep an eye on where your feet take you." Peace is the goal. Our feet, not our words, will get us there. The author of Ephesians doesn't commit to any one style of shoe as THE most appropriate for spreading the gospel of peace. I suppose wing-tips or high heeled pumps will do, even Crocs or flip-flops. But my experience is that spreading peace is hard work. My money would be on work boots as the best, probably a pair with steel toes.”2
We
can then be sure in faith because whatever is said, done or given to
us, we can hold tight by trusting in God, by believing in the vision
that is also faith, by knowing that God is faithful to us
steadfastly, even when we fall short of perfect loyalty, by believing
that God is with us, even when we feel alone and afraid, even when we
make others feel that way.
Our
ultimate deliverance, whatever happens on a daily basis, caps off the
ensemble because bad things will happen—and the original readers of
this letter understood that. They had begun to suffer from
persecution due to their faith, whereas before their difficulties may
have been of a more general kind, living under the Roman Empire's
forcible peace. So knowing that deliverance or salvation was already
theirs spoke volumes. They knew that in Jesus' vulnerability and
mortality, he led the way through death into life by resurrection, so
death wasn't to be feared. It was still inevitable, but it was no
longer an end in itself, but a means to lead to life lived eternally
with God.
The
word of God is described as the only offensive or unquestionably
aggressive piece of the costume as we stand wrapped in truth—truth
we may not fully understand in every situation, but truth
nonetheless. Yet, as the sword of truth is described also in the
Revelation of John as coming from Jesus' mouth, perhaps we need to be
reminded of that, too. The words of scripture, contains the word of
God, the words of Jesus also convey the words of God. May the word of
God we also carry be as finely tuned and carefully used—not
carelessly used to hurt, but more like a surgeon's blade, a tool to
cut away disease.
Therefore,
it seems to me, before we act and as we act and while we act as
disciples of Jesus, we pray for wisdom. We pray for one another—in
supplication. We pray for people who preach and teach us. We pray for
ourselves so that we will have that responsibility, opportunity, and
ability when we need it. And we pray for boldness, to stand up
knowing that we stand in relationship to God, who provides all that
we need to be God's very own children.
To
the glory of God, in strength and in power. Amen.
2David
Cameron, Pastor of Rockfish Presbyterian Church in
Nellysford, VA
No comments:
Post a Comment