Able to Stand

Scripture: Ephesians 6: 10-20, NT page 195 Last Sunday had our friend David Lock thinking back to August 15th, 1945, the day Japan’s surrender was announced, ending World War II. He was in the air already, flying over the Pacific Ocean, and he was called back because all at once the war was over, but by the time he made it back to the base the celebration had already started – and to keep the troops from getting out of control, Mr. Lock and several others were confined to the base, not allowed to go into San Francisco because the party there was already too big. Think about that – it was 70 years ago, the enemy surrendered, the war was over – but today, with the wars we are fighting, declaring victory is more complex. In June of 1971 President Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” Today, more than 40 years later, it is certainly clear that we haven’t won, but what’s not so clear is who the enemy is and where is the battle field. On September 20th, 2001 President Bush declared a war on terror. Troops were soon after sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, but it’s always been clear that the war on terror would be fought everywhere. Airport security guards were hired to protect us, not from some foreign army, but from the people who would sit down next to us on an airplane. There is such a difference between World War II and the wars our nation fights today. Today we have to ask - who is the enemy? Where will the war be fought? How will victory be declared? “Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh.” That’s the way the author of our Second Scripture Lesson described it. The Apostle Paul is said to have written this letter to the church in Ephesus, a city in what is now Turkey but was then a major port in the Roman Empire – a place where Christians knew that their beliefs were different from that of their neighbors, that their children would go into the homes of their friends and would be exposed to ideas that were new and different and that, in some instances, were in opposition to the truth of the Gospel. Father’s would go off to work knowing that they were different from the ones working on either side of them. They’d walk home avoiding the subject of religion maybe, for even there in the midst of a group they were all alone, they were different, they were set apart – but it wasn’t just not fitting in that they were afraid of – they were afraid of being defiled by a culture that they knew was evil. And what could they do about it? Who was their enemy? Where would the battle against him be fought? How would victory be declared? It wasn’t so different from the situation that we all find ourselves in today, for we all know that there is a dark side to our culture that we want so badly to protect our children and ourselves from, but how? It was a significant summer that I spent at the Metro State Women’s Prison in Atlanta, Georgia, and if ever there was a time where I was forced to see the underside of our country that was it. There lived the victims of drug abuse, and it was one thing for these women to be clean and drug free within those walls, for the day they were released the devil was right there waiting for them on the outside. Now how do you fight an enemy without any one face? Who lurks in the shadow of every alley way, who hides until you are at your weakest? Such an enemy cannot be defeated using any weapon, cannot be hunted down and faced on the battlefield – no, to prepare for this war you must put on the whole armor of God. “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.” You have to be ready to make it in this world – there is no place of complete safety for the enemy is everywhere and the battle ground is encroaching on every human heart. The doctrine of violence creeps into all our homes. All around us they serve the god of wealth. Everywhere they are possessed by a selfishness that brings unhappiness and destruction. Women are treated as objects, men are tempted in every direction, and how can you get away from it? Where can you go? And when will it all be over? Protection comes when the line between right and wrong becomes clearer, because you have put the belt of truth around your waist. When righteousness guards your heart from your worst impulses. When you have put on those shoes that enable you to stand firm enough to speak the truth that is hard to say. When the shield of faith saves you from despair, when the helmet of salvation guides your thoughts, and the sword of the Spirit – the very word of God – slays your fear, your doubt, and your temptation. But too often we go out into the world unarmed and unready. And going out into the world without wearing the Armor of God is like walking up on the stage at a dance recital without ever having practiced. Everyone is watching, everyone is waiting, but if your parents never equipped you for this moment – never had the courage to talk about the realities of life, never sent you to Sunday School, never told you those stories from Scripture that bring the light to our path, then you will crumble. I was driving up 65 to Vanderbilt Hospital last week. There on the side of the interstate was a coyote, just sniffing the air, thinking about crossing those ten lanes of traffic. You know what he reminded me of? Me on my first day of middle school. I weighed 70 pounds, nearly as much as my backpack, and there before me was a different world. A world of pressures I had never known, full of things I had never seen, where I would be offered things I previously had no idea even existed – it was a full 10 lanes of danger – now how would I make it through? There was no one enemy to defeat. There was no battleground to avoid. And it was not a war that my parents could win for me – and that was good, because middle school was training for the rest of my life. The survival skills I developed there of slowly but surely learning who I was and what I stood for have served me ever since. In our world today, not so unlike Ephesus, you have to know who you are because if you go out into our world and your identity comes from the crowd, their affirmation is what makes or breaks you, than how can you help but go along with everything they suggest that you do? If you can only feel good about yourself if you are in a relationship, than your whole identity is held hostage by someone else who you have no real control over. And if your sense of self-worth is caught up somehow in the amount of money that you have in your bank account than you have far too much invested in something that can be taken away. Only God can tell you who you are, and without this sense of identity our culture will take you captive. Arm yourself for battle then – arm yourself for battle against a foe who stars in every movie, who offers a sales pitch during every commercial, who lurks in every hallway and is disguised as your friend. Only the one who is dressed in the mighty armor of God will have victory on that day. For if you are protected in heart, soul, and mind – than there is a security that they cannot break through. There is a strength within you that they know not of. You will persevere no matter what trials await. For our God is a mighty fortress. A bulwark never failing. Behind Solomon’s Walls are safety, provision, and peace at last. There is shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home. Our Lord is the sure foundation – and if you are to endure the fight that awaits – on this foundations you must stand. Amen.