ALL SAINTS DAY 2005 EPHESIANS 6:10-18 FALSE FACES AND REAL ARMOR
Today is All Saint’s Day; a feast day that has been celebrated for
hundreds of years within the church, particularly within the Roman
Catholic, Orthodox , and Anglican Communions.
As with Christmas, this Holy Day has become a secular holiday in which people, young and old don odd costumes and pretend they are someone else.
In recent years, many people look for make-overs in their appearance and their clothing so as to enhance their standing in society. False faces and false clothing and false prayers do not enhance one’s position in this life. Our heavenly Father and in time, everyone else, sees through the pretense.
Christians have lost stature in many parts of the world in the past 200 years. Our sacred days are caricatured in the world. Halloween is a relatively new cultural invention, and in an odd way, reveals just how much ground the Church has lost.
The commercial world, the secular world hasn’t a clue as to the meaning of All Saints Day. The Satanic and superstitious themes that run through the day give it a dark side sending off messages that this is more than a day of play. Murder and death are part of the Halloween Movie fare. Horror sells. So does witchcraft. Horror has become regular entertainment fare for a growing segment of our society and has become a reflection of a reality that exists at the margins of our world.
Old and young alike enjoy a party and playing pretend. There is nothing wrong with dressing up to be somebody, when it is for fun, for a party. But sainthood, being identified as holy is not a pretend game. The neglect of the Saints in our country’s tradition is a pity because it can make the whole idea of sainthood and of the communion of the saints, seem inaccessible to people. Popularly, a saint is pictured as one who is perfect; someone who has been a spiritual overachiever. It is true that those the universal church has declared to be saints lived good lives, but these wonderful folk are only bright examples of something that is very common; bright examples of a deep and abiding faith in Christ Jesus that has issued forth in action in real lives. This can happen to us as well.
Pope JPII identified hundreds of ordinary people who were extraordinarily generous in giving of themselves and their fortunes in Christ’s service in the midst of our own evil modern times.
The word Saint derives from the word Sanctus - which we translate as the word "holy". That simply means: set aside for the service of God.
In Paul’s letters, the word - sanctus - the word saint - is applied without further distinction to the company of those who believe in Christ Jesus and who strive to live faithfully according to his teachings and his example.
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the
saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus - grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle... to
all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints. Grace to
you and peace...."
And the church in Corinth:
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...
Saints are all around us: people who are holy, people who are set apart from the rest of the world who are distinguished because they believe in Christ Jesus and live faithfully as he has shown them.
Saints are normal people, normal people who differ from most others in this world, not because of the degree of their moral perfection, but because of the degree of their trust in God, and how they live their faith daily. Their example inspires others to believe in and follow the Christ.
The Corinthian Christians were hardly “saintly” as they had severe moral problems in their daily life. Yet, because they had set out to follow Christ, Paul calls them saints even though they were not perfect. We are saints. We are called to be saints. We are not perfect, but we are set apart by our baptism to serve God and mankind in Christ’s name. Thus we are holy. Showing something of Christ’s light in our lives.
In this evil world, some call children martyrs when they tie explosives to themselves and set it off, killing innocent people around them. These are not martyrs; they are not dying because they have lived for a cause. They die not out of love and in an attempt to serve God by living righteously in this world; they die to act out hatred. So even the word “martyr” has, like many other good like saint and the Holy Day called All Saints, is losing its meaning.
The Bishop of Durham, N. T. Wright recently said, “Diversity is the only remaining moral principle” in the leadership of old line American Churches. All else has been systematically dismantled and relativized. We are losing our language; our ideals and our culture.
Bishops exist in the Church to pass on the truths revealed in Jesus Christ. Yet there were bishops who have said, as long ago as the 1950’s and 1960’s that one could be a Christian, holding Christian values without accepting what they termed the primitive world-view of Jesus. They said one could be a Christian without subscribing to the Creed, believing in resurrection, or for that matter a “Heavenly Father.” One could be a Christian they alleged, and support the so called “mother’s right to choose.” One could be a Christian and yet be liberated from the old concepts of sexual chastity and marriage.
When Bishops abandoned the cardinal teachings, it was easy enough for people to believe that morality is also a relative thing. One needn’t talk about chastity or respect for unborn life.
These false faces donned by some church leaders, caused many to abandon churches in the last quarter of the 20th century. If there is no heavenly Father who said “Thou shalt not kill” why should one hesitate to think of euthanasia as a solution to human suffering? After all, according to our current hedonistic moral ethic, terminal patients have no “quality of life” worth saving.
If there is no Day of Judgment, no final rewards and punishments, no God in Heaven or Christ on earth, no commandments to love our neighbor and care for the weak among us, why shouldn’t we please only ourselves and take what we want because we want it without giving a thought to the welfare of others?
Paul in the Epistle this morning says, “Therefore Stand.” Sadly, many leaders long ago abandoned the place where Christians can stand.
Paul said we are in a spiritual battle – a real war. It is life and death.
Only a very naïve person would fail to see that there is real evil in the world.
Following the 911 attack on New York City, Secretary of State, Colin Powell, was asked why anybody would do such a horrible thing to America. He said,” because they hate America! They hate what we have, they hate our lifestyle, they hate what we stand for.” Hatred in people is from the devil! Hatred is the result of people doing business with the devil!
In John 8:44 Jesus said that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. And he is behind all murders and murderous acts, including what happened in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
As Believer’s In Christ, We Do Not Fight For Victory. The battle was won for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the rest is denouement, a mopping up.
Many people in this country have no sure footing in life, no place to stand for they do not know how Christ has overcome the evil world. They have not the resources to stand in a spiritual battle. Their morality, built on relativistic ideas, constantly shifts as life’s situations change. It is not so with Christians. We have no false faces to don, no clothes to make us into someone else just because the situations around us change.
We can stand, because we have been clothed by Christ. (Put on Christ) If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The righteousness of God will, by the grace of the holy Spirit, shine through this new life. People can change. We can stand against the wiles of the devil and the hatred of the world and not be destroyed with it or by it.
Paul challenges us to remember our strength comes from. (vs. 10)
the unchanging, unending power of the Lord. He says, “be strong in the Lord.”
While God is in no way responsible for what happened September 11; it is not He who inflicted the pain, but rather evil, hateful people. But through that event and other afflictions we suffer in this world, the Father is shouting to His church to Wake Up!!
Our Lord turns evil events to good, and that is one of the creative functions of the Church as the Body of Christ; we are to recycle evil into good. We can only do this if we are able to stand up in this spiritual battle.
We can stand, because in His Charity, in His Grace the Father provides us with equipment to enable us to stand firm. Paul describes the Armor of God. On this Halloween, this All Hallows Eve, this All Saints Eve, we don’t don false faces but the armor of God.
Eph. 6:13 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.” Here is the armor:
I. THE BELT OF TRUTH
The girdle was a rope that was tied about the waist and pulls up the robe to prevent a soldier from being entangled in the cloth. It was also the means of securing the sword, the bow and arrow to his body. Knowing the truth holds the rest of our armor together; it holds us together. Jesus Christ Himself is the life, the truth and the way. Knowing the truth holds us together.
Hear the words of one of the great prayers in our tradition, “Defend us in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defense, may not fear the power of any adversary, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
God is our defense, but it is up to us to use the clothing he has designed for us to use in the daily conflict. Staying protected requires the Christian’s ACTIVE participation with God. We read these directives: “Be strong... put on... stand firm ... take up... pray in the Spirit.”
II. THE BREAST PLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (INTEGRITY)
The breast plate protected the heart in battle. The largest target area on the soldier’s body is the chest area. Here are his heart, lungs, and other vital organs. One thrust of a sword, one arrow, one fiery dart in this area will likely kill.
It is not the breast plate of self righteousness. It is the breast plate of integrity, living righteously, living a life congruent with one’s confession. This is not easy, especially when one is undisciplined. It becomes more difficult to be protected if one falls into the habit of lying, cheating, and taking illicit or immoral shortcuts to achieve one’s goals. The Covenant God made with His people was that if they keep His commands, they will live long in the land. Keeping the commandments, loving God and neighbor arms us against the assaults of the world.
Righteousness is a gift granted to us through Christ in response to our faith, our trust that he will make us new every day. Righteousness is closely connected to Truth. Jesus told us how we find truth so we may buckle ourselves into the protection of righteous living. Righteousness is the truth we learned from Christ incarnated in our lives. In John 17:15-17 the Lord prays for us, “protect them from the evil one . . . Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (NIV) When Lord declares that the righteous shall live by faith, then it is truth. It is up to us, however, to put truth on by faith, that is by trusting that God will help us do the right thing, and doing the right things will prolong our lives in this land and finally bring us home to the Heavenly Father.
With the seal of God’s approval – the breast plate of His righteousness that He has created in our lives, we can say, “Let the enemy come” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
III. SHOES – SHOD WITH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE
Shoes give us traction. This is a fundamentally important piece of equipment for the soldier. Especially was this so in hand to hand combat common to ancient wars. The fallen soldier was easy prey. One had to stand and be strong to ward off the opponents blows and arrows.
The Gospel gives us traction in society. It keeps us grounded. We don’t need a new understanding of human nature in each generation. We know who we are, sinners saved by the grace of God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and by the patient example, teaching and prayers of the saints. We know temptation when we see it and are not caught off balance.
The Gospel of peace. Peace of mind, tranquility is a commodity often missing in life, but desired by everyone.
Enemies deal with conflict either by avoiding one another or by attempting to destroy one another. True brothers who love one another deal with conflict by finding some way of resolving the situation; by seeking forgiveness, by remembering all that they have in common, by loving each other with the same kind of love that Jesus loves us. That’s the kind of love that puts the needs of the other person above my own needs. (Mat 5:23-24 NIV)
This technique of loving our enemies as Jesus commanded is a great offensive tool, giving us traction in a society that wants to find ways of resolving conflict and finding peace.
If I am not wrestling against you, then I must be wrestling with you, for you. When people in society recognize that our struggle is for their good, and for peace, we have a place to stand.
When we bring a person we perceive as an enemy to Christ in prayer, we have made him a brother, no longer an adversary. We have, as St. Paul said, overcome evil with good. Paul said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Jesus is our example for “he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
The standard for the Christian in spiritual combat is this, (Rom. 12:21 )“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
(Isa 52:7 NIV) How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Put on your Sunday Best shoes, the Gospel of peace.
IV, THE SHIELD OF FAITH. A shield protected the whole Body – it preserved life. The word "shield" that Paul uses is not that for the small round shield, but for the great oblong shield of the battlefield warrior. One of the most dangerous weapons in ancient warfare was the fiery arrow, dipped in pitch & set afire. The Romans used these great oblong shields & put hooks on them so that the shields could be hooked together to present a large & solid wall against the enemy arrows. Thus each man was able to protect & strengthen the others
A phalanx was a formation of armed soldiers that was the ancient equivalent of the modern tank. A Line of soldiers with shields in front provided a solid line of defense, while the spears protruding from the front served as offensive weapons.
A Second line of troops held shields over the heads of the soldiers, providing protection from hot oil, or hurled stones, or arrows, or fiery darts rained down from the towers the soldiers were attempting to enter. Shields held at both sides and the rear of the phalanx protected from attacks at either side or the rear.
Each soldier had to trust the entire unit not to let down the defenses, not to let one’s guard down. By trusting in God enough to do his will and keep his commandments, we keep our guard up, and we have protection against all assaults of the enemy.
The Breastplate of St. Patrick
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
The strength of your spiritual armour is in the sum total of the individual parts
so that we can stand (Note V13), “WHEN the day of evil comes”; not ‘if’ but WHEN. There is assigned for every one a portion of the battle, a time of conflict with the forces of darkness. Sometimes you were not even aware of being under attack because you had your armor on and the enemy fled without you even noticing.
V. THE HELMET OF SALVATION.
The Greek word for helmet meant literally “encirclement for the head.”
The helmet encircled the brain, protecting it from blows.. In modern slang we would be asking, “where is your head?”
The way Satan defeated Eve (Gen. 3; 2 Cor. 11:1-3), was by attacking the mind. He placed doubts. The helmet of salvation refers to the mind controlled by GodWhen God controls the mind, doubts cannot lead the Christian astray.
Blessed, happy is the man who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the water-side. . . as for the ungodly it is not so with them; but they are like the chaff which the wind scatters away. . . Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand. (Psalm 1)
In our spiritual life we must have a transformed mind that accepts the spiritual work of Christ on our behalf Paul says, ‘Take the helmet of salvation.’ Let God change your mind and thus, your life and your eternal destiny!
The absolute protection of your thoughts, your mind, is necessary for your salvation. You are no longer subject to evil. In Christ, you have come under the protection of God wearing that helmet of salvation.
VI. THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT – THE WORD OF GOD.
Jesus says, "I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth, will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." At some point in time we ought to exercise that authority and tell the devil where to go.
Jesus is God’s last word to this world. He is the authority
We all face this question of authority. Who pulls the strings in your life? Is it Satan or is it God? Satan is depicted in the New Testament as a braggart, a liar, but without final authority.
Often our movies & TV programs tend to exalt the power of Satan & portray the world as helpless in the hands of overwhelming Satanic forces. Despite all the hype of Hollywood & its depiction of Satanic powers, Christians need not be fearful.
The sword is an offensive weapon. We are assured in Scripture that God’s word will not return to Him void . . .that is without effect. His Word will accomplish the purpose for which it is sent into this world.
Jesus is the final word from heaven and came to bring judgment and justice. The words of life in the Gospel are our offensive weapon.
Think about the effect the Scriptures and Jesus, the Word of God Incarnate has had on our civilization. The role of women in Christian societies has been transformed. No longer are they chattel to be bought and sold by the powerful. Women have an honored place and are cherished.
The abolition of slavery in Christian societies reveals how the Word of God has changed men. Employers hire free men, men whom they perceive as brothers. The most productive work places are those where people are knit together in family of respect and concern. These are the values transmitted from the Word of God, as is the words in our Nation’s founding documents, “All men are created equal and endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights. . . .”
James 4:7 Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The author of James remembered the temptation of Jesus, and how He resisted the World, the Flesh and the Devil at the outset of his ministry. Jesus acknowledged that He was in a struggle with the powers of darkness throughout His life. On the night in which He was betrayed He said, “The Prince of this World is coming”. Jesus had met the Devil before on the high mountain from which he surveyed the worlds’ kingdoms when he was offered the opportunity to reign without going to the Cross.
But think, about it, can the evil forces in this world give us anything? When Jesus was tempted with the World, He realized that this was a chimera, a lie. Though evil personified is called the Prince of Darkness, the god of this world, in reality, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness there of. We should resist this evil and it will leave us, and we needn’t think we will get anything back from the powers of darkness because, as St. John said, “Satan was a liar from the beginning.” He simply has nothing to give.
VII. THE UMBRELLA OF PRAYER
Eph 6:18 “Constantly ask God’s help in prayer, and pray always in the power of the spirit. To this end keep watch and persevere, always interceding for all God’s people.” Paul is telling the Ephesians to do what priests do – pray – intercede for others. St. Peter said to Christians, “:You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, a people claimed by God for his own, to proclaim the glorious deeds of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Jude, perhaps the Lord’s brother, said in an epistle (Jude 18) “Remember the predictions made by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. “In the final age there will be those who mock at religion and follow their own ungodly lusts.” These people create divisions; they are worldly and unspiritual. But you must make your sacred faith the foundation of your lives. Continue to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and look forward to the day when our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy will give eternal life. There are some doubting souls who need your pity. Others you should save by snatching them from the flames.”
On this All Saints Day, take off the false faces and put on the Whole Armour of God.
Therefore Stand.
