Proper 16

Sunday, August 23, 2009

St. David’s Episcopal Church, DeWitt NY

The Rev. James C. Bresnahan, Interim Rector

“Spiritual Warfare”

 

Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.

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. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 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. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 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.

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, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

 

Today’s second reading invites you and me to take up weapons and fight –not with blades, bullets, or bombs, but with weapons of the spirit, what the author call “the armor of God.”

 

In reading these verses, we are brought back to the year 90.  Thirty years before the apostle Paul had been put to death by the Roman emperor, likely by beheading. Now a follower of Paul, taking up a pen and writing in Paul’s name, calls on Christians to stand firm against Roman might and persecution and execution and not pledge unconditional allegiance to Caesar as divine.

 

What kind of resistance does the author urge on Christians. Not the resistance of violence and of treating others as they treat you.  For if you use the weapons of your opponents, then you become like them. There are spiritual weapons to fight the battle with, and he will name them.

 

But first he makes an astounding assertion.  Those who are persecuting Christians, and killing them, making themselves God and demanding absolute obedience – they are not the enemy.  They are not the enemy.

 

We do not have flesh and blood enemies, he asserts. Our struggle,” he writes, is against powers that take control of humans and governments, and systems of every kind, corrupt and pervert them, such that people are not served by servants but victimized by dominators.

 

The writer calls Christians to a struggle against that enemy with weapons of the spirit – the weapons of being grounded in faith and not in anger or despair; of acting justly, of praying for others, of practicing peace, of speaking the truth to power, of living in hope, of standing firm, and of always listening for God’s voice so as to discern God’s will in difficult situations.

 

As I reflected on the words of this reading, my mind immediately went to Martin Luther King, Jr., who fought with weapons of the spirit.  He did not hide in safety or seek an easy life over a good life, but engaged in a non-violent resistance movement to bring about greater justice and equality.  And though imprisoned, stabbed, vilified, and persecuted, he did not treat others as others treated him. He prayed for his persecutors. He too understood that the enemy is not people, but ideologies, systems of exploitation, and bad laws that use people as pawns.

 

Is there ever a time in which we as Christians are not called to struggle in one arena or another against what degrades, debases, and dehumanizes the people God has made?

 

I want to go on from here to take this text in another direction.  For just as there are powers, forces, and systems outside of us that have control over people, so there also are powers and drives inside of us that control us.

 

We wage a battle as Christians not only against the injustices, inequities, and sufferings in society; we have a battle to fight as well against the forces that want to own our minds, souls, and spirits.

 

An older generation has a battle to wage against the cynicism that belittles a younger generation.

 

Those late in life have a struggle to engage in against overwhelming sorrow and depression as friends of a lifetime die, sisters and brothers too, and bodily maladies and aches and pains become constant companions.

 

We all struggle against the urge to have everything our way as if God had made us, like Caesar of old thought of himself - the repository of all wisdom and all authority.

 

We struggle against the desires of our body to have its every wish or craving met.

We struggle against the urge to acquire more and more as if our life consisted in an abundance of things and not in a generosity of heart and a bounty of healthy relationships.

 

And we struggle against the fear of losing, the fear of dying, lest, through fear, death have hold of our life every day and the good God invites us to embrace is neglected.

 

The Christian life, our author is telling us, is not a passive life, but an active struggle against forces without, and drives within, fought with weapons of the spirit through  commitment to prayer, Scripture reading, reflection, Eucharist and holy conversations.

 

Beyond that, we arm ourselves practically as well.

 

When you are at the age of losing friends and family members by death, how important it is to have young children in your life – to help nurture your spirit, to delight in curious minds, to be with those who are going to outlive you, whose deaths you will not have to grieve.

 

Now that we have separated the time of church school from worship,  I hope some of you will spend time assisting in our Sunday School and build relationships of love and affection with our children. You might be a storyteller, a craft person, a song leader. The ways are many.  Or, you might find opportunity to volunteer in an outside tutorial program, or to become engaged with the youth at Springfield Gardens through our Outreach Committee. Or to befriend a divorced family in your neighborhood who has a child needing extra support.

 

Practical ways, grounded, though, as they need to be,  in a spiritual life, spiritual disciplines, and a spiritual struggle!