Standing Firm

Ephesians 6:10-20
August 23, 2009


I have never preached on this passage before
because it’s so warrior-like
and we have enough images of warriors and aggression
every day
Actually, when I read this passage,
I picture a full suit of armor
where the person inside can’t even move
much less defend him or herself
Christian bookstores have little plastic sets
of armor for children to play with
in reference to this passage
They have swords, breastplates
and big, sturdy belts that come down like an apron
They have plastic helmets
like the kind you’d see in Ben Hur
or some ancient warrior movie
And of course, they have a shield, also
like you might see in a movie about gallant knights
and inevitably the shield has a cross on it
I’ve often thought that the little kid wearing those things
should get into a macho stance
and say in their best Clint Eastwood voice,
“Go ahead, make my day.”

And that’s why I never preached on this passage before
because by the time I’m done reading it,
I’m kind of giggling
and it’s hard for me to relate
But I thought I’d work with it this week
because sometimes I like to try impossible things

As many of you have learned by now,
on Friday at school,
Sarah thought she’d channel the spirit of Michael Jackson
and suddenly be able to dance like him
If you’ve ever seen Michael Jackson dance
you know that he did things that are physically impossible
One of his signature moves
is called a toe jump
where he literally goes up on his toes
on both feet
seemingly with no effort at all
Well, when Sarah spontaneously tried it,
it didn’t work out so well
and after a long afternoon in the doctor’s office
she’s wearing one of those lovely post-op shoes on her foot
and her big toe is taped to her second toe
to keep it from moving
As you see, she’s using crutches to walk
I can’t help but think that if anyone wanted to try the infamous toe jump
it is recommended to be wearing steel-toed boots

In my braver moments when I’ve tried roller-blading,
I’ve worn all the protection that is available,
the helmet, the elbow pads, the knee pads
the wrist braces
just because there is a greater chance than not
that I will fall
We have air bags and seat belts in our cars
not because we’re PLANNING on crashing
but because crashes happen
and it’s best to have a little insurance
to lessen the pain in the event of a crash
And to try to protect our lives as best we can
It’s just common sense

When I was a kid, there was that age-old saying
“Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me…”
I said it, my friends said it,
we all said it
because other kids are cruel
and they say mean things
but as much as we said it
I’ve come to learn it just isn’t true
In fact, it is pure bovine excrement
Sticks and stones may break our bones
but words do in fact hurt
and sometimes they hurt worse than a broken bone
I don’t like this passage
because it feels so violent to me
It conjures up a warrior image
a violent image to me
We have to be ready to fight
to stick out our sword
to do battle, draw blood if we have to
and challenge our enemies to go ahead,
make our day
It reeks of the images of my God is bigger than your God
my God will wipe you out
if you are a sinner, or if you don’t believe
Christians have absorbed all the violent imagery of the world around us
and utilized it in our language, our attitudes and actions
We tend to assume that God blesses our anger, our hate
and our thirst for violence
But the more I read this passage,
it’s not a violent passage
The things that we are given to put on
are not things to fight and kill with
but things to defend ourselves with
To protect ourselves
They are defensive, not offensive
They are things intended to protect us in the fight
that is inevitable in living in this violent world
It’s not an ad to condone the freedom to have a concealed weapon
or a weapon that can kill
it is a passage of strength
of putting on the strength of God
to live and love in a world that is allergic to everything
Jesus stands for
Jesus didn’t wear armor
Jesus never carried a weapon
even though his life was in danger all the time
even though some crazy lunatic
could have jumped out of the crowd
at any moment
and killed him in anger
in righteous anger
because there were people, religious people
who believed that he was the son of the Devil himself
and they would have justified the killing
as a righteous act
“Finally,” Paul says, “ be strong in the Lord and in the strength
of his power….”
We have a funny view of power in our world
We think of power
as power OVER something
as something dominant, even violent
We are always striving for power in our lives
and a lot of what we do is an effort to not lose that power
We try to control other people
we try to control our children
and our spouses
We try to control our world
If things don’t go our way
we get mean
We don’t like the feeling of not having power
Of feeling powerless
We live in a democracy and we say we value that
but we don’t seem to value it very much
when we don’t get what we wanted
what we voted for
We like democracy as long as we are on the winning side
We don’t like to lose
So a person who feels powerless
feels like the whole world is against him
doesn’t properly value him
and then he loses his job at the post office
or the factory
or he fails a course in the college
So he gets a gun and he goes in there and blows everybody away
because that gives him a sense of power
for just that one tragic moment
Someone didn’t agree with Abraham Lincoln
trying to free all those slaves
they didn’t like his policies
his vision
and they didn’t vote for him
So they blew him away
Someone didn’t agree with Martin Luther King, Jr.
and they hated “his kind”
and they didn’t want his kind
to get too full of themselves
to have any power
and so they blew him away
But every day ordinary people
who are otherwise peace-loving people
use words as their weapons
and do incredible damage day after day
because they feel powerless
and they use words to feel power
Sticks and stones break our bones
but words kill spirits,
words kill souls
and cause life-long guilt and shame
that can do enormous damage
I know I talk about this kind of stuff a lot
because I feel very strongly about it
I am tired of the Church and Christianity
having the reputation of being mean and judgmental
Religious people can be some of the meanest people out there
We tend to think that we live day to day
without a moral checklist
Without examining ourselves and who we are
what we’ve done
But I think all of us need to take a look at ourselves
every person who professes to represent Jesus Christ
should take a moral inventory daily
Have I said something today to hurt another?
Have I done anything to foster an attitude of violence?
Have I tried to be controlling of another human being?
Have I said something hurtful
even in an attempt to be funny
that could have taken out a piece of someone’s heart today?
If so, I need to repent
and even ask that person’s forgiveness before I ask God
Have I been a gracious loser in an argument
or in a decision making process?

I say all this, because we are told to put on the armor of God
to hold a shield to protect us from flaming arrows
We need protection according to this
but what is it that we need protection from?
From the ways of the Devil, it says
well, the ways of the Devil, I think we can all agree
is evil
But what is evil?
What is coming at us that we need protection from?
It is a tough world out there for anyone
but it’s even tougher for people of peace
for people who strive for peace in all things
who want to see a world governed by peace
because the rest of the world
is very violent
We want to kill our opponents
we want to kill people who live differently than ourselves
we want to kill people we don’t even know
And to stand up against that attitude is dangerous as well
When you stand out as different in this world
you get called names
We have a variety of names
slut, communist, red, Satanist, you name it
we come up with the worst names we can
to convince ourselves that our enemies are not human
Who wants to be called those kind of names?
No one
So we keep quiet
But God calls us to stand firm
against the ways of evil
with the very real risk that we will get labeled a terrible name
that will break our hearts
and threaten to wound our very souls
But God calls us to be a people of peace
in a world bent on violence
God calls us to strengthen ourselves
to wear protection
which doesn’t mean our hearts won’t get broken
or that we won’t bleed
because if we are human at all, we will
We are not called to participate in the violence all around us
we are to wear defensive armor
only to defend, and not to hurt others
We are to hold shields to ward off the stinging, burning arrows
that others point at us
that may momentarily knock us to our knees
but we are also to wear the shoes
that will give us the foundation to proclaim TRUTH
give us the foundation to walk forward
amidst this world of sharp and deadly arrows coming our way
and to still be a people of peace, grace,
mercy, and a love that cannot be shaken
cannot be stopped even
if the one bearing that good news
is shot down like Lincoln or King
the message still goes on
because the message is eternal
and the message cannot be shut up
or destroyed
How do we protect ourselves?
We pray, Paul says
we pray on our feet, we pray in our car
we pray even in the midst of one of those deadly arguments
we walk away from the argument if we have to
before we decided to do or say anything deadly
We fill our minds with good things,
good words, good images, good songs
We associate with peaceful people
who build us up, who nurture our spirits,
who make us laugh, and who will listen to our deepest pains
without judging us
We shut off the commentators
who spew violence
we shut off the loud, obnoxious fights
we get up from the table and walk away
when the conversations turn violent
We stand firm as believers in the God of peace and justice
We stand firm in the footsteps of Jesus
who was and is the Prince of Peace
who never carried a weapon
who only spoke violence against those
who used religion to bless their own evil ways
who faced his enemies without a sword
because he knew that no power on earth
is greater than the power of love
that comes from heaven
It is hard to be a good person
it is easy to say, I’m just doing what everyone else does
and I’m just trying to save my own skin
but we’re called to look out for each other’s skin too
and I don’t believe there is anything more offensive to God
than to use God’s name
to condone violence, cruelty, meanness
and killing
So be strong, it’s a tough world
Stand firm in your values and convictions
stand firm in the power of God’s kingdom
God’s mercy, love and grace
Clothe yourselves, cover yourselves in God’s peace
cleanse yourselves with God’s unwavering love
Pray, pray, pray
for the strength to keep a tender heart
in a vicious world
Pray for the power to resist evil
to resist getting caught up in the crossfires
pray for the strength to walk away from the fight
before you are tempted to pull the trigger
Pray to be fully clothed
in the power and light and glory
of the Living Christ
who absolutely refuses to give up on this world
who refuses to give up on you and me
and who will not stop
resisting the powers of evil
until this whole world is governed by peace
and life is free to endure…