A minister was offering the children a sermon about the presence of evil in the world. He brought out a jar of bright red water and said the red water represented evil. Then he reached into his pocket and produced a tablet of some kind and dropped it into the water. Almost magically, before the children’s eyes, the red faded and the water became crystal clear. 

He was feeling good about the sermon. He said, “This is what happens when Jesus comes into our lives. Evil is destroyed and lives become clear and more pure.” But the object lesson was pretty much lost when one child spoke up and said, “Yeah, pastor, but evil sure is pretty.” 

Evil may not be pretty, but evil is pretty much present with us in the world. The writer of Ephesians presents this issue for us in the text for today. He talks about doing battle with evil. He talks about setting up a high-level Department of Defense. 

He uses imagery from the Roman military. For us to don all of the armor of that era seems cumbersome, awkward, heavy and bulky. We have a hard time imagining climbing into all of that. Even bulletproof vests of today seem heavy and unwieldy. 

But for the readers of this letter it was familiar, visual imagery. The military industrial complex of Rome was at its height. The Roman Empire had technological superiority that was familiar over the known world. The “whole armor” refers to the entire stock of protective apparatus. The soldier ready for battle is fully suited with the high tech equipment of his day. He had a helmet, a breastplate, a shield, sword, special belt, and special shoes. 

Readers even knew the function of some of these specific elements. The breastplate was made of steel to protect the vital organs around the throat and the chest and heart area. The shield was made of wood. A soldier going into battle would soak the shield in water for quite a while. That way, if somebody sent flaming darts toward him, they would hit the shield and fizzle out because of the moisture. 

The writer of Ephesians is addressing the Christian community. He’s not writing to unbelievers. He’s not even writing to seekers. He might have used different words here. Jesus used a lot of language from the agrarian culture. This writer might have chosen to do so as well. He might have said, “Pick up the hoe of the spirit, don the straw hat of salvation, hold up your trousers with the suspenders of truth, and pull on the barn coat of righteousness.” But he does not. He uses military metaphors. That gives the people a quick image. 

Probably the reason why “Onward Christian Soldiers” remains in the latest United Methodist Hymnal is because of something similar. Military force is not the Christian way. But the images work as metaphor.

·         “Like a mighty army, moves the church of God…”

·         “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war…” 

The text also uses the passive tense of the verb. We read, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.” (Verse 10) But literally it means, “be strengthened.” We are not asked to gather the armor for ourselves and put it on. We’re not even asked to do internal self-discipline or to “shape up.” Remember the controversy a few months ago when Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was in Iraq. Some of the soldiers complained about having to armor their Humvee vehicles from the junk heap. 

The writer is not saying that we have to be super strong. When I was a teenager in church we had a hymn we liked to sing called “Be strong.” In three verses, the phrase “be strong” appears nine times. Rather, this text says receive what God gives you and do battle. Receive the gifts of God. We are not to get strong, but to be strengthened by what God offers. 

And the writer does not refer to human enemies here. It’s more the powers of darkness—the non-human forces. Furthermore it is the present darkness; it’s not some future battle. He asked the question, “Are you ready for this battle now? Are you ready for the battle for your heart and for your soul?” 

I recently saw an editorial which talked about three things that had preceded the fall of many civilizations. I immediately began to think of things like greed, or moral laziness, or drugs, or alcohol. But none of these were mentioned. What are the three things that preceded the fall of many civilizations? They were, according to this writer, the pursuit of comfort, the pursuit of leisure, and the pursuit of success. There is nothing inherently wrong with these things, but there is a danger. These are the kinds of subtle forces that surround us and can do us in. They are daunting forces, tempting forces, surrounding us all the time. 

There is a story from the Civil War about a Union soldier who was shot in the arm. He was told by his captain, “Give me your gun and get to the rear.” The soldier gave up his weapon and headed for the rear. At the rear, he found another skirmish going on. He headed east, and then west. No matter which way he turned, a battle was going on. He ran back to the front lines, found his captain and said, “Captain, give me my gun back. There ain’t no rear to this battle.” 

Paul implies this battle has no rear. There is no escape. General Creighton Adams once found himself surrounded in battle. He gave this rather optimistic speech to his soldiers: “Men, now for the first time in the history of this campaign, we are in a position to attack the enemy in any direction.” That’s the kind of situation that Ephesians sets up for us here. 

So what to do? What does the text suggest to you and me? What are the minimum daily requirements to receive what God gives? What are the spiritual one-a-days that are needed? 

COMMUNAL RITUALS 

First, we need our communal rituals. Notice that this is a letter to the church. Christians are not found in single file. Christians are not made alone. Someone said, “Christians grow like grapes—in clusters.” 

I am concerned that we have no real idea how important community is to us today. I wrote something about this in my pastor’s column this past week. Perhaps history will tell us a great deal more about this. Some persons have tracked the disappearance of front porches, and made that a definitive change. There’s also television or home entertainment systems or the Internet or TiVos. 

Sometimes the community of believers is the only community people know. The Christian community is essential. And it goes beyond weekend worship. There are daily communal rituals that are also a part of spiritual health: family devotions, study groups, Bible studies, CBS groups and covenant groups. We need each other to practice love, keep faith, and have hope.  

Remember that Ephesians is written to the church. The writer says, “For OUR struggle…” (Verse 12) 

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES 

Furthermore, spiritual exercises are a part of the minimum daily requirements. We’re talking a lot about physical exercise during Lent, using the Walk to Jerusalem as an image. Exercise is important to health and energy. 

Spiritual exercises are essential to faith living. Our spiritual exercises are sometimes fairly anemic. I remember a story about a man who described himself and early morning calisthenics: “I have to talk to myself when I awaken. I say, ‘Ready now. Up, down, up, down.’ After two strenuous minutes I tell myself, ‘OK, now, try the other eyelid.’” 

Flex your spiritual muscles. That means a morning or evening devotional time. It means singing to the Lord in the shower or on the road. It means prayer time—and prayer is not a long list of requests. There was a little boy who called from his upstairs bedroom to the people down on the first floor, “I’m going to say my prayers now. Anybody need anything?” 

A better working definition of prayer would be this: Prayer is both exhaling our needs, our love and our praise AND inhaling God’s peace and power and presence. 

We need our spiritual disciplines. I never thought that I would ever quote Arnold Schwarzennegger in one of my sermons, but here’s an interesting statement he made not too long ago.

I have more faith now than when I was younger. My mother took me to church every Sunday… just an obligation. Later on when I came to this country… I had a chance to rebel. I never went to church. Then… when you get older… the circle comes around again, you get back to where you started. All the things you rebelled against, fought against, you start thinking, ‘This all makes sense now.’ 

Putting on the whole armor of God means the spiritual exercises of faith. As Arnold Schwarzennegger says, “It all makes sense.” 

MISSION 

Thirdly, there is the daily discipline of mission. No hoarding of spiritual energy is allowed here. Spiritually energized people offer love and service to the world. The writer of Ephesians says, “Put on the shoes of the gospel of peace.” There’s a subtle irony in this statement: we put on armor to pursue peace. But the word “peace” is a bit different here. It doesn’t talk about a military peace, although that is most worthy. But it talks about a peace which is the wholeness that God intends. The writer says get involved in mission beyond yourself. 

When Bob Dole was a senator a decade ago, he had a mission. He covenanted with his home church despite a very heavy schedule. He would write a short note to every member of the church who was hospitalized that week. It was a personal spiritual exercise in service. He was putting on part of the armor of God. 

Bring a wholeness to those around you. Supply the food bank. Help build a shelter for the homeless. Provide companionship to the lonely and to the shut-in. This is the business of the church of Jesus Christ. Ask God to provide you with the armaments of mission… and you will be shielded against the powers of evil. 

There you have the minimum daily requirements—communal rituals, plus spiritual exercises, plus mission. These are the God-given resources for the battle. 

A large man was standing on some scales in an open area. The scales were broken, so it only registered about 10 pounds. A small boy standing nearby said, “Look, Mom, that man’s hollow.”  

Don’t live hollow. Put on the whole armor of God. Dress for the battle of life. Enter into the adventure with confidence. Lean into God’s perfect tools. 

There is no better way to go through the Lenten season than this.