Sermon Title: - “Dress Me Like a Baseball Catcher Lord, & Send Me Out to Face the Enemy”
Grace and peace to you from the God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
One of the greatest struggles for us as human beings is to try and understand what theologians call “theodicy”. Theodicy is the intellectual paradox that briefly stated, goes like this: “God is loving and good; God is all powerful; yet there is evil in the world”. We have made great strides in these late centuries as a human species. Our science and technology have propelled us forward in mind blowing ways. More people live in good and just societies with access to education, health care and abundant food, clothing and shelter than ever before an history. Yet, evil still exists. We had a holocaust, millions were killed in Cambodia and Rwanda, and the trauma of 911 reminds us that our optimism about the perfectibility of the human creature should be very guarded indeed.
St. Paul reminds us that in the combat with evil, the Devil and the satanic minions are no match for them without God’s help. He says these weighty and rather alarming words; “for our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, it is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness; against the spiritual forces evil of evil in the heavenly places”. If we believe him and his words, we should be frightened.
We have come along in human history. While on vacation, I saw a remake of the old movie Spartacus – the story of a slave revolt in ancient Rome. At the time of Jesus, 1/3 of the people in the Roman Empire were slaves. The Romans brought order, technology and progress to the ancient world, but were also cruel. The gladiators were slaves who fought for the amusement of Roman spectators and the losers were killed, butchered to excite the crowds. Slavery was one of the “authorities”, “rulers” or “cosmic powers” that Paul talks about in today’s lesson. As we look back even on our own history, it is astounding that it has only been the last 150 years that slavery has been outlawed. Yet it is still practiced in the Sudan, Yemen and underground in brothels thought the world. Behind this “power or authority” stands the human tendency to exploit others for personal gain. It is simply evil to enslave another human being we think today, but even in St. Paul’s time, slavery was accepted as part of the natural order. This tendency to enslave is still with us. There are companies that have two part time workers, instead of employing one full time one that they have to pay benefits to. Those with power use it to gain advantage. It has always been that way and always will be.
St. Paul is addressing in today’s lesson from Ephesians the power of evil and how vulnerable we human beings are to the Devil’s temptings. He says “Put on the whole armor of God. Of course, it is a metaphor but he is saying wrap yourself in Godliness and the Word of God. Where God’s Word is, there God is. The Spirit fights for us when we are wrapped in the word.
How do we do that?
How are we wrapped in the word?
It’s very much like getting a suntan. As you gradually expose yourself to the sun your skin absorbs the sun’s energy and you are protected from burning. We worship regularly. We memorize Scripture’s words and take them to heart. In Bible School this year, we studied the story of Jesus birth. All the kids who came regularly to worship know the words of the Gloria which comes word for word straight from St. Luke. “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth”. The kids also understood that the peace being referred to is and was Jesus.
We listen to the lessons each week, we gradually build up a data base of scripture words, images and parables that take on their own life in our hearts, minds, psyches, spirits, - in short – our very souls. If I say to you “turn the other check” most of you will know that these words refer to Jesus’ prescription not to take or to seek revenge when we have been wronged.
We hear the word of God from scripture which says “Do not come to the altar if you have a grudge against your neighbor, but first go and make peace with your brother. We hear these words again and again and consciously and subconsciously they shape us and mold us into the people God knows we can be and whom God wants us to be.
We listen to the hymns, they are saturated with scripture “Rock of Ages, cleft for me let me hide myself in thee”. This hymn reminds us of the biblical story of Moses and the Hebrew people wandering for 40 years in nomadic exile and how God provided water when there was none when Moses struck a rock. Jesus later appropriates the story and the image and says “I was the rock”. When we hide in Jesus we are safe – just like God put Moses in the cleft of a rock so that we couldn’t be harmed by the revelation of God’s glory as he passed by.
Hymns, prayer, devotions, turning ourselves over to God, day by day, we gradually become so immersed in God’s word that we fuse with it and it with us.
St. Paul reminds us that we aren’t simply fighting human forces; we are fighting against the celestial powers of evil in the heavenly places. I was heartened this week to learn that the scientist who discovered that the ozone layer which protects earth’s atmosphere was disintegrating and that there was a giant hole in it over Antarctica has received wonderful tribute and recognition from the international community. Formerly, gases, notable CFC’s used in aerosol cans were creating this hole. The world believed this scientist’s research and we stopped using CFC’s. The ozone layer is healing; the hole is growing smaller and should be completely healed in eighty years. The principalities and powers can be fought and they will yield to concerted human effort for the good.
At about the same time we discovered the hole in our ozone shield, scientist concluded that carbon based gases, by-products of the burning of coal and gasoline were resulting in a heating up of the earth’s temperature. To take on these adversary’s however was to really learn how powerful the principalities and powers are. The powers and principalities always dig in their heels to protect the status quo and to protect the powerful, the wealthy and the sources of their wealth.
But again, that’s where the word of God comes in. God’s word shapes not only our individual consciences but our collective national and global conscience. The most powerful of God’s words of course is Christ. He is the word made flesh, the word incarnate which models for us what true humanity means – how to sacrifice, how to love justice and goodness.
His Spirit remains in the church and in the world and his power is the power of almighty God. So, even through the powers and principalities will always do their thing and oppose God, God has triumphed over these spiritual giants in the cross. The Devil, our sin, death all that can hurt or harm has been defeated by Christ. Stand in the power of His Love.
In Jesus’ Name,
Who We Are