Saturday, August 17, 2013

Equipped for battle

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should
(Ephesians 6:10-20).

It is easy to live in fear.  Read or listen to the news, and you are bombarded with stories of war and crime, political corruption and unethical business practices.  During break time at work, there are people who are anxious to share juicy gossip—tales of addiction, money troubles and adultery.  When the kids come home from school, they talk about things that make you feel uneasy about their future.  Our lives are a-swim with bad news and negative talk, making us ask the question “what’s going to happen next?”

My friends, we live in a war zone.  We are under constant attack by the forces of evil.  The government passes laws that allow immoral behavior.  The Internet is filled with content that promotes lust and hatred.  Movies glorify violence and television programs encourage poking fun at people instead of respecting them.  There are kids offering to teach your children about drugs and sex.  There are adults who urge you to do whatever is necessary to reach your goals, even if that means breaking promises.  There are well-spoken extremists who want you to share their prejudices.  Evil assaults us from every side, every day, trying to wear us down so it can take us captive.

It sure would be nice to avoid all the conflict.  Some people come to Christianity with the hope that Jesus will empty their lives of turmoil.  They are disappointed when they find out that isn’t the case—Christians struggle with evil just like everyone else.  Being a follower of Jesus does not guarantee a stress-free life.  But being a Christian does have its advantages–God does not leave us alone on the battlefield, ill equipped for battle. 

Evil assaults us from every side, but there is a pattern to the attacks; there is a military commander hiding in the shadows, coordinating the offensive.  Paul reveals this truth in today’s Epistle lesson: our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Behind the corrupt government officials, behind the fanatical terrorists, behind the abusive husbands and fathers, there is a dark spiritual influence.  These are the demons—fallen angels commanded by their leader the devil.  They whisper lies and distort the truth.  They encourage hostility, fear and despair.  They entice whoever they can into making rash and harmful decisions.  They are a vast army, and no mere human can withstand their influence.

Thankfully we have God on our side, and God is more powerful than Satan and all of his minions combined.  God is the King of Creation and His Son Jesus is our Prince of Peace.  Yes, that’s right—in the midst of war with the powers of darkness, Jesus has won the peace.  He did it on the cross when He died to save us sinners from the devil’s control.  You see, by nature we are unclean; we are born tainted by sin, inherited from our parents like a birth defect.  Sin makes us blind to God’s pure light; all we see are shadows and deep darkness.  We come into this world cut off from God and easy prey for the devil, who is a master of shadows and darkness.  His demons have free reign to play with us as they will, and knowing no better, we play along.  We become willing pawns of evil and don’t even realize it.

Of course, God hates evil; He designed hell as a prison for those who sit in darkness, where they will suffer His righteous punishment for all eternity.  But God is also loving and compassionate; He wants to free us from the devil’s clutches and make us members of His precious family.  So God sent His Son Jesus to suffer and die in our place.  All the agonies of hell that our sins deserved were inflicted on Christ as He hung on the bloody cross.  Through that sacrificial act, the Lord settled our debt of sin.  When He died, our Lord visited hell to proclaim His victory over Satan and the demon horde.  Then Jesus rose from the dead to open heaven for us; He is the living Savior, and He alone is authorized to forgive our sins.  Through His great mercy, we have peace with God—and so Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  Through Him we are freed from the devil’s leadership, and we join the holy army of God.

Of course, no commander likes having traitors defect from his ranks; when Jesus frees us from the devil’s control, Satan gets enraged.  He wants to completely demoralize us, and attacks with everything at his disposal.  It’s a good thing, then, that our Lord equips us for the battle.  Paul writes, Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Christ has made us soldiers under His leadership, and He offers all the equipment that we need to survive the battle and remain standing until the end. 

Paul tells us about the field kit that the Lord offers to give us.  First up is the belt of truth.  A belt keeps your clothing in place so nothing will slip and leave you embarrassed.  That is what the truth does—it keeps you from making a fool of yourself.  Whenever you get taken in by a lie, the devil has you in his grasp.  He uses lies to get you angry, so angry that you say or do things that are foolish.  Without the belt of truth firmly in place, the devil can use falsehood to yank down your pants and humiliate you in front of everyone.  The truth frees us from the Satan’s lies; Jesus said, the truth will set you free (John 8:32).

Next, Paul mentions the breastplate of righteousness.  A breastplate is the piece of body armor that protects your heart from injury.  Satan loves to go after your heart; he wants you to feel bitter over the pain you’ve suffered, because bitterness chokes out love and compassion.  The breastplate of righteousness reminds us that God can always be counted on to do the right thing.  He does not treat us unfairly; He does not let us suffer needlessly.  In 1st Corinthians chapter 10 Paul writes, God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.  In His letter to the church in Rome Paul says (chapter 8), we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.  The breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts from despair with the assurance of God’s love.

Next on Paul’s list is the footwear of the Gospel.  The devil wants to trip us so that we fall flat on our face in the mud of sin.  He works to knock us down over and over again, until we get too worn out to continue on.  He wants us to lie down, give up and die.  But the Gospel gets us back on our feet, no matter how many times we slip and fall.  The Good News of God is that Jesus forgives our sins whenever we confess them; He is always at our side, ready to lift us up, clean us off and support us with His strength as we walk in His ways.  As Peter wrote, Humble yourselves…under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Another important piece of God’s armor is the shield of faith.  The devil is like a sniper; he hides from sight and takes shots at you when you least expect it.  He’s trying to chip away at your confidence; the devil wants you to question whether fighting him is worth the constant struggle.  Paul compares these attacks to deadly flaming arrows—first they draw blood, then they burn you as well.  Thankfully, God gives us faith as a shield to protect us.  We trust that God is stronger than the devil.  We trust that Jesus won the victory for us when He died on the cross, and that Satan knows his position is hopeless but is so desperate that he won’t give up the fight.  The shield of faith gives solid protection in times of trouble; as Psalm 125 says, Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

The last piece of armor on Paul’s list is the helmet of salvation.  One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to attack the mind.  He asks us if God is real, or just something the church made up?  He challenges us to explain why Christianity is true and every other religion is wrong.  He wonders if the promise of heaven is worth giving up sinful pleasures in the here and now?  The devil plays mind games with us, hoping to stir up confusion.  But salvation is real.  Salvation is God’s free gift offered through Jesus alone, a gift that promises life after death with God in paradise.  Salvation is the goal of Christianity—through Word and Sacrament the Lord places faith in our hearts, moves us to reject sin and adopts us into family of God.  We are saved from the darkness of evil so that we can live in the light of goodness and love.  The helmet of salvation protects us from confusion with the promises of God, so we can press on towards the goal of everlasting life.  Among those promises is this one, spoken by Peter in Acts chapter four: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Yes, thanks to God we are well armored.  But what good is a soldier without a weapon?  And so the last piece of equipment Paul mentions is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Make no mistake—God’s word is powerful.  When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, our Lord drove the devil away simply by quoting Scripture.  That’s why pastors insist that confirmation students memorize Bible verses; the more of God’s word that you know by heart, the sharper your sword will be when fighting off the devil’s attacks.  This is why Luther wrote, "Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill; they shall not overpower us.  This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will; He can harm us none—he’s judged, the deed is done.  One little word can fell him" (A Mighty Fortress).

Of course, armor and weapons do no good if you don’t put them to use.  If you are willing to accept what other people say at face value instead of searching for the truth; if you prefer to nurse grudges rather than forgive; if you would rather do the easy thing instead of the right thing; if you don’t think that building your faith through worship and Bible study is important; if you’d rather live it up now and worry about heaven later; if you don’t want to risk making people angry by fighting the good fight, then you are walking into the battlefield completely unprepared and the devil will have you for lunch. 

My advice?  Listen to Paul; take his advice seriously. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes…And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

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