First Baptist Church of Asheville Podcast
Sermon: Equipped for Battle
Sitting in his jail cell, feet shackled with iron chains bolted to the wall. Paul concludes his eloquent letter to the Ephesians with a rousing call to combat. We can almost hear the haunting sound of war horns bellowing in the distance, warning of the battle to come. Everyone wake up, he says, out of your tents, armor up, get your belts, your breastplates, your shoes, your shields, your helmets, sharpened those swords. By the end of Paul's stirring speech we turn around to see a congregation dressed not in business casual but outfitted like a legion of soldiers. I wonder what went into your decision of what to wear to church today. Something nice but not too formal. I want to stand out. Maybe something from lands in or Talbot's. A very appropriate author Annie Dillard would like a word with us though. A Christian herself she once upbraided the church people for the the madness of wearing our Sunday clothes our Sunday best instead of what we should be wearing which she said are crash helmets. Usher should issue life preservers and signal flares she said they should lash us to our pews for the sleeping God may wake some day and take offense or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return. To the settled in the comfortable Paul's battle cry courses like fingernails across a chalkboard how dramatic what an overreaction calm down Paul is just church why so serious just you know in it all about just loving God and neighbor don't be so dramatic but to those who know faith is a matter of life and death. His address draws a chorus of amends. Paul knows that to follow Jesus it's a join a kind of army to go toe to toe with cosmic powers spiritual forces principalities rulers authorities Paul also knows that such spiritual militancy will provoke resistance at least persecution at worst after all he's writing this from prison. Nevertheless as he sits in captivity with fire in his bones he gives us instructions on how to dress for church. First with the fastening of the gilded leather belt of truth a substantial piece with loops and envelopes for carrying essential items think more like a policeman's belt with all those attachments then the breast plate of righteousness laced up and down the sides with leather straps and metal buckles and then the shoes of peace is my favorite part of the whole passage because here Paul gives a lot of leeway for what kind of shoes you can wear he just kind of says just put on whatever shoes you like whatever works for you you like hokas great wear hokas whatever you're comfortable in to send the message of peace. Next is a shield of faith to protect oneself from flaming arrows and so at this time and in Roman times and the biblical times the shield would have been covered with leather and the leather would have been soaked so as to be a kind of flame retardant when it was catching fiery arrows then a helmet of salvation probably made of brass or or bronze probably a neck plate a face shield and finally a sword generally made of steel sharp as a razor the fine balance. Now here all clad if you imagine yourself as this fully outfitted soldier now stand back take your look at yourself in the mirror what do you see not a whole lot really these are metaphors we're still just looking at a regular person dressed however they dress for church the very picture of a sheep sent out into the midst of wolves you have nothing to offer nothing to help yourself nothing to defend yourself except truth and righteousness and peace and salvation. Oh and one more thing the word of God sometimes it can seem like what we do as Christians and what we do as a church doesn't amount to much I bet you've had these days you've come to church you've said your prayers you've met your friends you've attended worship you go home and we can be forgiven on our cynical days of thinking what what is that what is really changed what's at stake why do we do this depending on our luck or where we were born we may go on eating and drinking and being married or on the other hand suffering violence or persecution or perishing from malnutrition the world goes on and all of its beauty and terror there are still wars and rumors of wars that you know male area is making a comeback by January 1st we'll probably look back on the year twenty twenty four is the hottest or one of the hottest on record what good are these metaphorical weapons in our hands the good news though is that God knows that these are the only weapons that work against what Paul calls the principalities and the powers and we should note that these weapons are mostly defensive weapons sometimes the world can be such a harsh place that we duck into the church for cover you remember times of crisis when we fleeing open wide the doors of the portico and people rush in to pray to be with others to be closer to God and that's a perfectly appropriate thing to do under duress we need the comfort and the consolation of community when things fall apart with our shields we can form together what the Roman soldiers called a testuto formation that's where they would stand side by side and really tight rose and they'd hold their shields in front and above their heads and that would form this kind of impenetrable turtle shell and they could advance with a kind of invincible force field around them that's perfect description of the church at the times we need it to be a place of solace and safety but there's one weapon here that's used offensively and that is the sword of truth the spirit Paul says which is the word of God up against all the fury of the powers of darkness we have one offensive weapon the word of God against all the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places God gives us our only offensive weapon words as Martin Luther wrote in the hymn lyrics a mighty fortress is our God the prince of darkness grim we tremble not for him his rage we can endure for low his doom is sure one little word shall fail him Luther knew very well what was at stake with the Christian life and message he used all of these weapons defensively offensively we remember him best for a list of words he nailed to the door at Bittenberg that changed the world for centuries and ongoing but don't forget he was also once fake kidnapped by King Frederick and delivered safely to the castle at Wartburg where he spent several years doing what wielding a sword truth writing speaking piercing the armor of the powers those wearing actual armor were absolutely helpless to stop him today I charge our deacons to be exemplars of taking up the whole armor of God we need you on the front lines much is at stake God has entrusted you and to us a precious community constituted by truth righteousness peace faith salvation and the word of God what we stand to meet in the way of challenges ahead we don't know but you've been equipped with everything you need and what do we need from you to borrow again from Annie Dillard she also said us churches our children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets mixing up batches of TNT to kill a Sunday morning in other words we don't know the kind of power we really have we're working with explosives here we need our deacons to help us know in our hearts that what we're doing here is nothing short of telling and living out the most powerful story ever told I don't know if I know a story about Jesus where he gets in more trouble with the powers and the rulers and the authorities and the principalities then when he uses one little word forgive have you ever forgiven anybody has anyone ever forgiven you then you know what Annie Dillard means when she says TNT and when the resurrects to Jesus appears to the disciples he breathes on them which is to say us and he says receive the Holy Spirit if you forgive anyone their sins they are forgiven if you withhold forgiveness from anyone it is withheld so it's time today to suit up mount up sharpen your swords take up the whole armor of God and God's spirit will envelop you and nurture and sustain you in these crucial years have y'all ever heard of a thing called enclosed cognition this is this refers to the influence that clothing has on your psychological processes this is why you feel weird when you're underdressed at a party to make it plain what we wear tends to change how we think and act so from now on friends what will it be a nice blouse button down shirt and khakis whatever shoes you like look you do you but don't forget your armor we've got batches of TNT to mix around here and your sword sharpen it we've got a story to tell forgiveness to offer and receive and more than enough love to share