Sermon for August 27

The reading

Revelation 6:1-8; 7:9-17   

6:1 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.  When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, "Come!" And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword.  When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, "Come!" I looked, and there was a black horse! Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand,  and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's pay, and three quarts of barley for a day's pay, but do not damage the olive oil and the wine!"  When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature call out, "Come!"  I looked and there was a pale green horse! Its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed with him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth.

7:9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,  singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The message

  

We are at the start of the challenging chapters of the book of revelation (which make up most of the book). We have the first visions of the horsemen of the apolypase, beings who will bring great destruction. In the early chapters, we saw the first vision of God’s throne room, a heavenly court built and centered around worship, praise and God.   Last week that throne room, with the countless angels, people and creatures, celebrated that Jesus, the lamb who was slaughtered but is alive, was worthy of opening the seals on the scroll containing God’s plan of Judgment and Salvation. This week, we wonder why they were so happy.  With the opening of each seal, peace is taken away, death and destruction are sent to the world, evil forces are given limited, temporary power over God’s creation.  There are 7 seals. The first 4 are seals of destruction. The last 3 are seals of Judgment.  (our reading only has the opening of the first 4). 

The first 4 seals release horsemen who have their nasty work to do. Each one brings death and destruction. In order, there is conquest, violence, economic insecurity, and death. The horsemen portray threats that are real. Few people, religious or not, would doubt these things could happen.  They were real for the original audience.  The first horseman brings defeat in war.  People knew their communities could be invaded and their armies defeated, events that would lead to slavery, exile, genocide or other horrors. The second horseman brings violence. At the time, there was an unstable peace we call the Pax Romana, where the Roman Empire was so powerful, no one would fight or resist them. That peace was fragile and no one really knew what the consequences of its collapse would be. The third horseman, the only one who speaks,  brings extreme economic inequality.  His words A quart of wheat for a day's pay, and three quarts of barley for a day's pay, but do not damage the olive oil and the wine indicate an extreme rise in the costs of basic food supplies (wheat and barley) that sustained the poor, while the price of luxury goods like wine and olive oil, remain the same.  A condition like this would be generated by a drought or famine (grapes and olives where deeply rooted crops that were not as affected by environmental crisis).  The 4^th horseman brings death we can do nothing to prevent or stop.   

These visions are real possibilities today as well.  People might doubt parts of the Bible, not think Jesus did miracles or dismiss the good news of God’s salvation as wishful thinking but it would be hard to find anyone who doubts these visions could happen.  Most nations are afraid of losing a conflict, anxious about what war could do to their way of life, loved ones and community, the loss of everything we value. We do not have the Pax Romana but we have a decades old idea of mutually assured destruction, a fragile peace based on the reality that a significant attack by one world power against another will result in the complete destruction of both (and most of their neighbors too).  To imagine the economic inequality and undeserved death brought by the 3^rd and 4^th horseman, you just need to look at the news, they seem to be happen all the time.  As horrible as these things are to read about in the Book of Revelation, we are close to making them happen (and we don’t even need those horsemen to help, we can destroy life, kill others and create inequality all by ourselves).      

Perhaps that is why people are so obsessed with the visions of destruction in Revelation. It’s a multi billion dollar industry, creating movies, shows and one of the best-selling book series of all time (a collection of delusional and creepy beliefs called the left behind series, books I throw out when I see them in church libraries). We can point to events that appear to be happening.  There are churches and pastors who convince their congregations they will be relaxing on clouds drinking lemonade and watching God destroy all their enemies, like a big budget blockbuster movie.  There are people building bunkers, stashing supplies and hoarding weapons to get ready for this time.  There are people who don’t care about the environment because we will not need it much longer.  We need to not let people do that stuff in Jesus name. We can easily lose sight of the fact that revelation is not about the end of the world, it is about God’s new creation and victory over evil.  The visions of destruction stop between the 6^th and 7^th seal. (the 7^th seal releases a group of 7 angels with trumpets, as each one blows the trumpet, things like stars falling out of the sky, mountains of fire and great plagues kill huge numbers of people).   

The break between seal 6 and 7 is a much needed reminder that God is life, forgiveness and love.  As the visions escalate and approach the 7^th seal, we would expect complete destruction, an unstoppable progression.  Instead, the visions stop and our attention to pointed towards great promises, God’s protection of the faithful and ultimately salvation.  Where we expect to hear visions of complete destruction, we hear, They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."     

The world does not end with total destruction, it ends with a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"   

We need to try as hard at that vision of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, as we do trying to make "A quart of wheat for a day's pay, and three quarts of barley for a day's pay, but do not damage the olive oil and the wine!"  happen. 

We need to try as hard at creating a world where They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd  as we do to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another;    We need to be obsessed with the time when people have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb not with the ordeal  

We need to be singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.", not sit quietly afraid of our loving God. We need to be looking forward to the time when God will wipe away every tear from their eyes not the moment when our creating God brings destruction.  Those days of death and evil will come and go, God’s promises will remain forever.  

Sermon for Auugst 20

The reading

Revelation 5:1-13

Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals: and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."

Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sing a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;  you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth." Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,  singing with full voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

The message

Last week, we heard about John’s initial visions of God’s throne room.  First, John hears the letters he is to send to 7 churches around Asia, with news of encouragement against persecution and correction where the church communities are missing the point or in the wrong direction.  After this a voice invites John to heaven, saying "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." There in heaven John sees a throne, with one seated on the throne. Around the throne, John sees creatures of all kinds, representing the tribes of Israel, the apostles, people of faith and the entire creation worshipping God.  The visions in the Book of Revelation start with symbolic and powerful reminders that God is to be praised, God is in control of all things and God will completely defeat the powers of evil. 

That scene of God praised, victorious and all powerful, sets the tone for the entire book. After this, the business of new creation begins.  That means change. This will not be a nice process and this will not be a peaceful process.  Next door to the house where Jen and I live, they are doing new construction.  They demolished the old house and have started to lay the new foundation. There is no trace of the former house, not even a small sign of what was once there.  Every brick and piece of wood is gone, even the dirt has been trucked away. The workers have dug deep and carefully laid out a maze of steel and cement, to ensure the new building was on a good foundation.  As the workers started to pour cement, the owner came to watch and make sure things were right.  After all, the owner is building this place for her own family, people she cares deeply about, it should be right. I think of God’s new creation, the world formed after the familiar and frightening visions of John’s revelation in the same way, evil must be totally demolished, there will be no trace of the greed, violence, hated, separation, inequality and sin so common in our world. This new creation will be for the people God created, loves, forgives and redeems, it should be right.

Today, God’s new creation begins, like so many of our projects and plans, with a big problem, an apparent set-back that drives John to weeping and tears of disappointment.   God, seated on the throne has a scroll, sealed with 7 seals and containing God’s new creation, the plan of judgment and salvation (we see this once the seals are broken).  Now, we assume this scroll is sealed for the same reasons people have sealed things for 1000s of years, to show they are authentic, keep them from being altered and reserve the contents for the right person or people. A question is asked of creation, of all in heaven, on earth or under the earth, “who is worthy to open this scroll or to look in it”, who can cause this plan to actually happen.  There was no answer, no created being could do this.  John is devastated.  He sees what heaven is, the full power and glory of God and joy of God creation. He now knows just how far away from that the earth is, the difference between what is and what should be is overwhelming.               

One of the elders interrupts John’s grief with good news.  “do not weep, See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals”.  Lion of Judah, Root of David, the Lamb all refer to Jesus, the one who died and rose from the dead. (there are close to 40 different titles that Jesus is given in revelation, if someone does something good or an action no one else can do, it’s probably Jesus).

There is great rejoicing in heaven, the scroll can be opened, its seals can be broken and the plan of judgment and salvation can happen.  We can be left uncomfortable since, as we will see next week, this celebrated plan is violent and brutal, the breaking of each seal unleashes death, evil forces and destruction.  Necessary, for reasons we do not know, this plan ends with God’s new creation.  For this, new songs of praise are created and sung. The elders, representing all of God’s people and the 4 creatures, representing all creation worship Jesus and sing:  You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;  you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth.  After this the countless angels sing their new song:  Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"

In confirmation class, I sometimes joke and tell the students, if you don’t know an answer, just say Jesus, its usually at least part of the right answer.  Today, we see that Jesus is the answer to the angel’s question, “who can open the scroll”, who can start, direct and fulfill God’s plan of judgment and salvation.  I would like to spend a few minutes talking about why Jesus can do what no other can possibly do.  The answer is given to us in how Jesus appears, as a lamb that has been slaughtered (but is alive) with 7 horns and 7 eyes. Today, all of our hymns are ones usually sang on Good Friday, when we mark Jesus death with solemn, simple and dark worship services and Easter Sunday, we celebrate Jesus resurrection with the great proclamation, Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  Jesus can open the scroll because he has already defeated sin and death.  With his death and resurrection Jesus has brought the forgiveness of sins to all people and taken away the power of death by opening the way to eternal life.  The events that happen when the seals on the scroll are opened, is sort of clean up, finishing the last parts of God’s plan for judgment and salvation, work already done when Jesus rose from the dead.  The Lamb can open the scroll because the Lamb has already defeated the powers of evil, sin and death.           

The appearance of the Lamb with 7 horns is symbolic of full power.  In the old testament horns are frequently a sign of power, in reference to bulls and calls to war.  The number 7 indicates full or complete power (7 was the number of fullness or completion).  In dying and rising again, Jesus had power over all things, good and evil, over death and life, sin and forgiveness.   The 7 eyes refer to the 7 Spirits of God, a term of uncertain reference but representing God’s presence in the world. (again 7 meaning complete or full, God is totally present in Jesus).  The lamb is God and can do what only God can do.    

At the very beginning of the book of Revelation, Jesus is introduced as the one who accomplishes God’s plan of Judgment and salvation.  The book is authenticated as a message coming from:  from “he who is,” and who was, and who is still to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ – the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever!   This never changes. 

Sermon for August 13

The reading

Revelation 4:1-11

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God;  and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal. Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing, "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come." And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

The message

In 1522, Martin Luther wrote.

About this Book of the Revelation of John, I leave everyone free to hold his own opinions. I would not have anyone bound to my opinion or judgment. I say what I feel. I miss more than one thing in this book, and it makes me consider it to be neither apostolic nor prophetic.

First and foremost, the apostles do not deal with visions, but prophesy in clear and pla in words, as do Peter and Paul, and Christ in the gospel. For it befits the apostolic office to speak clearly of Christ and his deeds, without images and visions.

Moreover he seems to me to be going much too far when he commends his own book so highly [Revelation 22]—indeed, more than any of the other sacred books do, though they are much more important—and threatens that if anyone takes away anything from it, God will take away from him, etc. Again, they are supposed to be blessed who keep what is written in this book; and yet no one knows what that is, to say nothing of keeping it. This is just the same as if we did not have the book at all. And there are many far better books available for us to keep.

Finally, let everyone think of it as his own spirit leads him. My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. For me this is reason enough not to think highly of it: Christ is neither taught nor known in it. But to teach Christ, this is the thing which an apostle is bound above all else to do; as Christ says in Acts 1[:8], “You shall be my witnesses.” Therefore I stick to the books which present Christ to me clearly and purely.

This preface was part of Luther’s campaign to get the book of Revelation removed from the Bible. His reasons, it’s not from the apostles (none of them wrote entirely in visions), the overly bold, self-described claims as to how great the book is makes him uncomfortable and it does not proclaim Christ clearly and purely, the message of God’s salvation is hidden someplace in a serious of difficult, frightening visions. Luther wonders what comfort and good news this book can offer. Now, Instead of following Luther’s advice to ignore or disregard this book, we are starting a 4 week series on The Revelation to John.  

I wanted to start by answering a few questions I have (and you might have too).

Why are we looking at Revelation?  The answer is simply because I would rather we learn about it here, together then on our own.  I had a few choices for the next 4 weeks, a series on the sacraments or something completely different. The book of Revelation is the most confusing and difficult book in the Bible to understand and find grace in, but there is grace in it.  It is an often abused book where people twist its words and visions around. People have created a big, not really Christian business around interpreting this book.  We must be very suspicious if anyone talks about only a few verses from revelation without its context. The end of the world is big business but the Revelation to John is not about the end of the world.    

That brings up our next question, if it’s not about the end of the world, what is it about?  Also called the Apocalypse of John, this book is a disclosure, unveiling or revealing of a series of visions John receives.  These visions are rooted in Old Testament references, symbols and secret codes. The book is about Christ’s victory over all evil forces and God as creator and redeemer.

Now, we have to ask why is it written in this way?   Revelation’s message of God’s ultimate victory over the forces of evil was meant to be understood by insiders and dismissed by persecutors or outside authorities.  A book that said, God is more powerful than and will destroy the Roman Empire, the monetary system and the kings of the world,  would have lead those authorities to attack Christianity as rebellious. On the other hand, a book that talks about multiple headed dragons and horsemen with flaming swords, bowls of death and monsters, that gets dismissed as crazy talk by those who do not understand the symbols. Revelation was written to  7 churches in Asia. (the first 3 chapters are individual messages of encouragement against persecution and correction in faith to these communities, we will look at those in our Bible study after church) While John, the author of this book, is unknown (it is almost certainly not the same author as John’s Gospel), we do know the author understood the history, life and rituals of the Temple well. The author was well versed in the Hebrew scripture.  There are 440 verses in the book of revelation, 275 of them are references to Old Testament.  Numbers are deeply important, not so much for what they describe but for what they mean (7 is perfect, 6 is imperfect or evil, 12, the number of tribes and disciples, is special)   

Most importantly, whenever we look at the book of Revelation, we have to remember this book is visions, not prophesy.  There is a big difference.  We can think of the events seen in revelation like the visions of Christmas past, present and future in Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. In particular the sad, difficult vision of Christmas future, of what could be, what will be unless things change.  If you remember the story, things do change and that vision of Christmas future never comes to be.  Here in Revelation, God always has all the power, God does not have to do anything in this book, God is not promising to do anything in this book.   

I’d like to end with a few thoughts on today’s actual reading. Revelation 4 is a vision of the heavenly throne room.  Many parts of this vision are reported by prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah.  The vision of God’s throne room, and the book of Revelation in general, shows that God is to be praised. The 4 creatures covered in eyes, which represent all creation, sing constant praise to God, The 24 elders represent the community of faith and they too worship God. (its probably 24 to represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 disciples)   Even the physical properties (gems, crystal, valuable stones) and layout of the place (God is the creator and center) reflect God’s power and glory. We are invited to worship too.  In this scene, there is no doubt God is in control.  Things are rightly ordered. This is a bit of a spoiler, but Revelation does not end with death and destruction, that is not the ultimate message. It ends with a new creation, a time when earth looks like this throne room.     

Sermon for August 6

The reading 

Ephesians 6:10-20

6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

The message

Growing up in New York City, my family and I would go to all of the different museums, historical sites and landmarks every year or two.  One of my favorites was the Met.  This art museum had all sorts of different famous paintings by artists like Van Gogh and Picasso, whose names I knew. They also had artifacts from all over the world, ancient places like Egypt, Rome and Babylon as well as more modern history.   As soon as we got near the museum, my brother and I would always say, “we have to go to see the armor first”.   There is a section in the museum where they have medieval armor, whole suits of large, thick metal protective wear meant for knights and soldiers.  There is a display in the middle with models of 8 or 10 knights and horses fully covered in armor. Even in the safety of a museum, there was something intimidating and overwhelming about standing in front of this display.  You could imagine being on the wrong side of this frightening and powerful group of knights.    

Of course, things changed over the centuries.  Today, soldiers have a range of armor, bulletproof vests, armored vehicles and protective gear for gas or chemical attacks but nothing like those suits in the museum.  A long time ago, enemies slowly began to develop crossbows and other weapons that would cut right through this armor.  It also made the knights incredibly slow, which caused them to fall to lighter, faster attacks. Then, as gunpowder was introduced and guns improved, this armor became virtually useless.  It was developed to protect knights from the impact of large, heavy weapons in close combat, things like swords and axes.  It was no good against very tiny projectiles easily able to go through it and shot from a great distance.       

Today, Paul ends this letter to the Ephesians with talk about armor and advice on living in and fighting in the battle between good and evil.  The early churches were places of confusion, anxiety, legal insecurity and religious conflict. To this Paul adds a cosmic battle between good and evil. In fact, all of those other issues seem to stem from those evil forces, intent on destroying the church and hiding the saving work of God. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  This is not the only time Paul talks about the armor of God, this idea is also found in his letter to the Romans and in places like Thessalonians 5:8: But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Paul is not the first person to talk about the armor of God.  The prophet Isaiah writes:

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
    that there was no justice.
 He saw that there was no one,
    and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm brought him victory,
    and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
    and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
    and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle.

The writer of Proverbs  reassures people every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Paul’s appeal to unity that we have focused on over the past few weeks, the demand for us to see all people as children of God, saved by the same, undeserved grace, is a large part of this armor. That is how we can show the power of God to conquer all things and that is how we can experience the power of God to conquer all things.   Paul was a smart guy, well aware that these evil forces would do anything to draw people away from God. Like bacteria evolving resistance and finding ways to survive old antibiotics, evil changes. That means the armor of God has to change too. It will not go the way of medieval armor, something cool to see in a museum but of no real use anymore. The armor of God needed to be invincible but flexible, able to protect us from whatever those evil forces could throw at us, to distract us from God’s grace.   Today, those forces of evil could mean school kids facing bullying, drug epidemics in the suburbs or poor cities suffering with the loss of work, gangs welcoming people with nothing else going on, corporations too greedy to develop new antibiotics (since it will only save lives and avoid a devastating health crisis but not lead to big profits), misused technology, a value system where not everyone is a child of God, (or that some children are more important), a constant stream of ads telling us we need stuff, or even messages that pretend to be wrapped in biblical teachings.         

We still have this armor of God and while it sounds like wishful thinking in light of what’s happening around us, that is enough to change things.  The armor is God is not meant to sit in a museum. Even today, I find myself stopping to pray in places I am not supposed to, in the medieval collections of religious art and artifacts.  We are asked to admire the craft, the beauty and historical value and virtually forget they are taken out of context, it is an object meant to be in a community, to teach and express faith, point people to God.   The armor of God is meant to be worn, to be used. This armor's power can be understood by 3 verbs or action words, to sit, walk and stand (this idea comes from Andrew Lincoln’s survey of the commentaries on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians).  In this morning’s bible study class with the Fujianese church, I looked at bible stories to illustrate each one.    

To sit:  We looked at Luke 10:38-42. The story of Mary and Martha. As Mary sits with Jesus, listening to his teachings, Martha is running around fulfilling the obligations of a hosts. Martha complains and Jesus remind her (and us) to sit with what is most important. We are invited to sit with the comfort and peace of God’s promises  

To walk: we looked at the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke.  Here, we are reminded to forget divisions or rules and see each other as a child of God, to stop for those in need because it’s what God does for us.   It meant knowing God’s complete care and sharing that grace.

To stand:  We looked at Jesus chasing the money lenders out of the temple in Matthew 21, an act that ultimately leads to his death. Here we are reminded to speak out about injustice, to confront the causes of suffering and stand up to the forces of evil, confident that we have the armor of God.