"ARMOR ALL"
a message by Rev. Dr. Bruce Havens
Coral Isles Church, U.C.C.
August 25, 2024
Ephesians 6:10-20 NRSV
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.
I’m sure you all know that “Armor All” is a car care product. As I was reading this passage again it made me wonder if the corporation somehow chose that name with this passage of Scripture in mind. Inquiring minds, you know. Putting that aside, Paul urges us to “put on the full armor of God.” All I could think about as I read that this week, was, “what? In this heat?” I mean literally putting on a suit of armor would be quite uncomfortable in our tropical climate.
Now, this is an often-used reading. It is often misused as well. As we listen to it and reflect on it this morning, I hope to separate the misuses from what I believe are its real meaning and use. We might have some problems with some of the thinking in this, but let me try to address those and see if we can’t find some truth, some spiritual strength for our faith and living in these days, despite some of our misgivings.
A short list of items that might trouble us would start with the rather “militaristic” imagery of armor. Paul was certainly writing to people who were aware on a daily basis of the presence of the Roman Army occupation. I suspect his point in taking this imagery and turning it to a spiritual purpose was intentional. I suspect it was saying, we see and know the power of the Empire every day, but God is more powerful. The spiritual realm is more powerful than any Empire. So in essence, Paul is taking their reality and challenging them to place it in the context of God’s reality.
The opposite of that is taking our reality and trying to make it God’s. “Christian Nationalism” is one example of this. Far more eloquent critics than I have destroyed this myth as unbiblical. Let me simply say, Jesus did not come to rubber stamp the Roman Empire or any other Empire including the United States, or any political party. What I know of Christian Nationalism leads me to suggest to you that it is a fallacy and even a perversion of God’s purposes. I don’t see this passage as supporting this errant theology in any way. Again, I think it is set up as a juxtaposition to the kind of thinking that God is a militaristic, nationalistic God. God’s prophets always criticized those who used God to pervert justice, abuse power, and control others. Jesus was crucified because he was seen as a threat to the power, control and privilege of Rome and the religious leaders who consorted with them for their own benefit.
Another point for some of us is the concept of a “devil” as the personification of evil. We do well to do so, especially when we are tempted to call anyone we hate or fear an agent of the devil. But the reality is real people do evil. To me the whole point of this part of the Scripture reading is to remind us “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.”
That leads me to the last troubling thought – there is evil in heavenly places? Now before I take this literally, I have to ask myself, does the writer think that heaven is not a pure and perfect place of love and goodness? I do not know of any theological explanation of this phrase. But it seems to me that we must all be beyond the belief in a literal heaven as some place far away with golden streets and angels with harps and wings. I consider heaven to simply be another dimension of reality right beside our physical world, just beyond our physical sight and senses. I suspect the separation is what some might call a “thin line” and that both evil and good slip back and forth between the two constantly.
I want to turn from those concerns to what I hope this passage can give us for living these days. No doubt the idea of armor is a metaphor. We aren’t really supposed to go find a suit of metal to fit us. So I don’t want to get caught up trying to overexplain each feature of this suit of armor the writer describes. Let me suggest that sometimes two things that seem opposing to each other can be true. Suggesting we wear spiritual armor can still be a true faithful practice even in a world where wearing armor was only for the powerful and oppressive. That concept of two things true brings me to this.
Rev. John Edgerton, a UCC minister wrote something I found awfully challenging recently [ dailydevotional@ucc.org, August 14, 2024. ] Perhaps you will find it equally inviting to live by. Rev. Edgerton is Senior Minister and CEO of Old South Church in Boston, a UCC congregaton. He reminds us that “Two Things Can Be True.” He points to one of Jesus’ telling us to “love your enemies.”
Rev. Edgerton points out that, “A person can be my enemy, someone who is dangerous to me and to those I love. And my enemy is a child of God worthy of love. Two things can be true. And that’s hard.” He goes on to point out that, “We’re in a state of deep political polarization in this country, it’s true. But that doesn’t capture the depth of our reality. I am not here to tell anyone that they don’t have enemies in public life. I am not so naïve as all that. And neither is Jesus. I’ve been on the receiving end of death threats, I’ve had to move out of my home for a time to keep my family safe. I know the difference between a friend and an enemy. And Jesus knows this too. A person can be my enemy, and I am to love them. Two things can be true. And if it was coming from anyone but Jesus, I’m not sure I’d be willing to do it. But if there is a path forward for our country, I believe it will require living like two things can be true.” They can seem like an enemy and yet we can love them as Jesus told us to.
The people Paul wrote to a couple thousand years ago were living in a deeply polarized reality too. They were occupied by a foreign army. They were under attack for the values of following Jesus. Their enemies claimed their faith in Jesus was wrong, evil, or just not good enough because it wasn’t the same as theirs. Paul told them to put on an armor that would allow them to live out the values of Jesus in that reality. Those values included loving their enemies. The armor of God would defend them from being overcome by the attacks of those who might consider Christians of their sort an enemy.
Today, as we move through the next few months of uncertainty about the direction of our nation, we might be tempted to give in to hatred, fear, and demonizing others. We might be tempted to give in to considering those who think differently from us as “enemies.” We can do that. But it doesn’t stop us from being accountable to Jesus for loving our enemies. I think in order to do that we are going to need some powerful “Armor All.” I think we are going to need to do more than spray it on our dashboards or our tires. I think we are going to need it bumper -to- bumper. I think we are going to need it head to toe. To love our enemies we are going to need some powerful “Armor All.” And that is what Paul points us to.
I know, this is hard to do. But remember, doing what is true, what is right is almost always hard. The question is who will answer the call of Christ to step up and keep doing the right thing? Will we say, “uh, uh Lord, I can’t do that?” Or, when Christ asks ‘whom shall I send, to love their enemies?” Will we be the ones to say, “Here I am, Lord. Here I am?” AMEN.
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