Sermon for Sunday 23rd August 2009

‘The Whole Armour of God’

When we think of Christians in other parts of the world and hear how some are victimised by members of other faiths, and hear how difficult it is for some to worship and proclaim their faith openly, we need to give thanks to God and remember how fortunate we are to have the freedom to worship as and when we choose. But there is always the danger for us, of complacency, that rather than fit our lives around God, we are more likely to fit God, around our own lives and interests. For those, whose lives are constantly under threat because of their faith, they will always be prepared and ready to meet the challenges from those opposed to the Christian faith, for they will usually be well equipped for such occasions.

All of us here today, as ‘Ambassadors’ of Christ, have a much greater freedom to share our faith, than St. Paul, who was at that time literally, ‘an Ambassador in Chains’, for he was physically chained to the soldier responsible for his safe deliverance to the authorities. It was while chained to the soldier, that Paul was able to reflect on the physical protection worn by the soldier, and compare it with that, which we as Christians have available to ourselves.

In certain companies today, Friday is seen as a day to prepare for the weekend by dressing down. Schools have mufti-days, when the children can dispense with the traditional school uniform, usually paying a small fee in order to raise funds for a particular project.

And, the dress code for attending worship has become more casual over the years. But we also need to remind ourselves that God is not concerned with our outward appearance. For God, as we read in the book of Samuel (1 Sam. 16.7) ‘does not see as mortals see; they look upon the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’

Nevertheless, today, Paul gives us some idea of the dress code that we as Christians need to put on each day, as we begin each day. For while we may not face the problems of those in other countries in worshipping God, we need to be equally vigilant in our awareness of those less obvious means, which can distract and draw us away from the faith of Jesus Christ, and from our true worship of God.

Tom Wright the Bishop of Durham, in commenting on today’s New Testament reading, said – ‘Look what happens when people worship, Mammon, Bacchus or Aphrodite. Yes, or Mars.

Take away those four,(money, wine, love & war) and the newspapers would have to start printing good news to stay in business.’

And so we are given a dress code by Paul to enable us to stand against the wiles of the devil.

‘The first item of clothing mentioned is the ‘belt of truth.’ George Braque a painter, once said that ‘Truth exists, falsehood has to be invented.’

The Christian faith can certainly, and is often challenged, by falsehoods. But many Christians have witnessed to ‘the Truth’ of the Gospel in their own lives, and have passed that same faith down to us today, so that we can also hand it on to the next generation. The Christian faith has stood the test of time, and not been found to be wanting. The belt worn by the soldier is the sign of active service. It denotes that the wearer is at the ready. There is surely, not one moment in our Christian lives when we can afford to deny the truth of the Gospel, if we would draw others to faith in Jesus Christ.

The breastplate of righteousness.

In the 59th Chapter of Isaiah we read that – ‘God put on righteousness like a breastplate’. Jesus, in Matthew’s Gospel tells his hearers that it is the ‘righteous’ that will go into eternal life. And in Peter’s 1st letter we read that – ‘The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.’ When Abel offered his gift to God, a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s, he received approval as righteous. It is our covenant with God, a covenant of faithfulness, which will prove a frontal defence against those who would oppose us and all that we seek to proclaim in God’s name. We need to remember God’s loyalty to us, and respond by evidencing our loyalty to him. So that in our own lives it might be seen by those with whom we spend our lives.

The third part of the armour, are the shoes.

‘How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings peace,’ says the prophet Isaiah. The shoes mean that we are ready to move on taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ with us, and to those who may not as yet have heard that Gospel personally from another. It is true, that in our own land, that there will be few who have not heard about the Gospel. But how many will have heard that Gospel personally from another. How many will have shared their own experience of the telling others of the difference that it has made to their own way of life, their home life, marriage, work life, and in their personal relationships? And what about our proclamation of that faith to those of a different faith?

Solomon’s plea to God is that when a ‘foreigner’ comes and prays, that God will hear that person’s prayer, and do all that the foreigner asks. So that all the peoples of the earth may know God’s name and fear him. In our own land today there are many citizens of different faith traditions. When the opportunity arises to share our faith with such persons we should respond. Our nave altar, was made by a Bosnian Refugee.The response to that disaster, to those who came to our own Diocese as refugees, by this Parish and other Christians, spoke volumes for our faith, in responding to the needs of those who happened to be of another faith tradition, but who I believe worship the same God.The proclamation of the Gospel of peace is not simply by words, but by our whole bearing towards others. And our Lord has spoken of that on many occasions and the need for ‘Good Samaritans’ is as much in demand today as it was in Jesus’ day.

One of the most dangerous weapons in ancient warfare was the fiery arrow. It was an arrow dipped with tow, the coarser fibres of flax and hemp used for rope making, and then dipped in pitch. The pitch-soaked tow was set alight before the arrow was sent on its way. The fourth piece of armour is the great oblong shield for it was the very weapon to quench the flaming arrow. Made of two sections of wood glued together, the arrow would sink into the shield and be quenched. The shield of faith is the overall means by which we can go forward with confidence each day. Faith according to one Father Andrew is defined as follows.‘Great faith is not the faith that walks always in the light and knows no darkness, but the faith that perseveres in spite of God’s seeming silences, and that faith will most certainly and surely get its reward.’ There was once a hermit who lived in a cave. He became so disillusioned that he inscribed on the wall of the cave – ‘God is nowhere’. Sometime later a shepherd took refuge in that same cave from a storm. The lightning showed up part of the writing on the cave wall where the shepherd had taken refuge. As he traced the letters on the wall of the cave with his finger he read those same letters as – ‘God is now here!’

In all the storms of life, we need to hold on to the fact that God will never desert us in our troubles.

As the psalmist has written – ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’ (Ps 46.1)

For each one of us here today ‘faith’ is one of the most personal things we can possess.

Paul in his letter to the Romans has said –

‘The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.’ (14.12) That faith will shield you in all adversities.

The ‘Helmet of Salvation’ our penultimate piece of equipment - Paul draws from Isaiah, where Yaweh wears this on His head as He goes forth to vindicate his oppressed people. (59.17) The death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ have won salvation for us. The helmet worn on the head proclaims that for us. As on many Sundays during the year we make the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the children brought for baptism we are sealing them for our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a joy and a reason for the church to celebrate and give thanks as we welcome those who have been sealed with the sign of faith at our Family Worship services. For having been signed, all who have received baptism, can avail themselves of the saving work of Jesus Christ. It is our birthright, and it is our defence, against the evil one.

Finally we come to the ‘Sword of the Spirit.’

The sword of the spirit is the word of God. The power of the word of God can best be seen perhaps, in the way that our Lord himself was able to ward off the Devil in the wilderness. At every temptation, Jesus responded with words from scripture. Isaiah in his 11th Chapter talks of the Messiah – ‘striking the earth with the rod of his mouth.’ The book of Revelation speaks thus – ‘From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down nations.’ (19.15) and in Hebrews we have that well-known verse –

‘The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ (4.12)

Equipped with the whole armour of God then, we still have that final weapon which has no earthly counterpart or equal, in military terms – we have the power of prayer. Our prayer life links us as the foot soldiers, with the already victorious and all conquering general. So let us each day put on the whole armour of God and in the words of Joshua –

let us ‘revere the Lord, serving him in sincerity and faithfulness’ - for he is our God.