You Have to Put the Armor On
Preacher: Tim Jenkins
Passage: Ephesians 6:10-20
You ever think about how important the right equipment can be? Let me tell you a true story:
Dave Fenton loved his job. Dave worked in construction as a crane rigger; that’s the name of the person responsible for lifting and moving large or heavy things with the use of a crane. He hadn’t always worked in construction. Dave used to be a cook, but then one day, while passing a construction site, he stopped to watch a tower crane at work, those are the super tall cranes that are used to build high rises and tall buildings, and Dave found himself thinking, “that guy must have a great view of the mountains.” So, it was a short time later that Dave made a career change.
So, there Dave was, happily working in construction, and he’s just stopped for a quick lunch break. He turns to talk to one of the other guys on the site when it strikes him square on the head. What was it? It was an 80 pound aluminum joist falling from about 9 stories up, around 100 feet, give or take. Now, here’s the crazy thing, Dave lives, because Dave’s hardhat does what hardhats are supposed to do and deflects as much of the blow as it can. It took Dave less than 4 months to recover and get back to his dream job.
There are lots of times in our lives where the right equipment has kept us from harm or made some experience more endurable: paintball masks; indoor rock climbing harnesses; shin guards; football pads; leather work gloves; a gardening kneeler pad. Our lives are full of these kinds of things, and often we don’t really think about them until we find ourselves in a situation without the right equipment.
One Spring Break I took a trip to the Grand Canyon. This was when I was in high school, and the youth minister decided to forgo some recommended gear (youth ministers, am I right?). The gear were these traction enhancing things you slip on over your shoes, recommended because the paths going down the Grand Canyon are still pretty icy in March. Let me tell you, walking down an icy path with canyon wall on one side and sheer drop-off on the other, it only took one girl falling and sliding, taking out another person as she slid down the path, for me to say “no thank you” to the rest of that hike. Having on the right equipment matters.
This is, to a degree, what Paul is getting at in our Epistle reading today. Found at the tail end of his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul’s conclusion contains one of the most well known pieces of new testament scripture: the Armor of God. There is a very good chance, if you have been in the church for any amount of time, and especially if you’ve gone through Children’s Church, that you are pretty familiar with the Armor of God. For example: It was our theme for VBS this summer. It’s a well worn piece of scripture; it’s one of those passages that you can always find printed on stuff at Hobby Lobby, you know?
Paul is closing out this letter to the Ephesian with one of those “pump you up” speeches. You know what I’m talking about. Movies love these kinds of speeches: Braveheart, Independence Day, Patton. This is basically Paul doing the “Quack, quack, quack” part of the Mighty Ducks, except he uses armor instead of duck noises. This military imagery is pretty clear both to the original reader and to us today. For the Ephesians, they were picturing Roman soldiers; we might imagine a medieval knight, but the metaphor works the same: “Put on the armor and prepare yourself.”
However, this is not a call to arms; not a “ready yourself to attack.” Paul is writing to people who saw themselves as already under attack, and he includes himself among them. Who are these attacking forces? The world that persecutes the faithful, the temptations of our old sinful life, and even the spiritual forces opposed to the Kingdom of God. Because they are already under attack, he is reminding his readers that followers of Christ do not have to endure alone.
This point becomes clearer when we strip away the military language: make truth your foundation; pursue righteousness; be ready to share the gospel of peace like someone who has their shoes on in anticipation for a journey; let your faith give you security; be confident in the salvation you have received; remember the power of God’s words. And there’s the part where he ran out of armor pieces: pray with the Spirit; pray for one another and all of us in the faith. These things, Paul has just spent a whole letter explaining, are available to those who have given themselves to Christ (and that includes you), but our part is doing the daily work of putting it on: choosing God through pursuing holiness.
That’s the thing about equipment: you have to put it on for it to do anything. Imagine how different the story would have been if Dave had taken his helmet off at lunch. His helmet would have been as useful to him as the shoe traction equipment we didn’t rent at the Grand Canyon. And this, in some sense, if we’re honest, is how we go about our spiritual lives. We know that there is “useful equipment” available to us, and, if we ever wanted it, we’re content to know that we could go put it on. However, if we don’t put it on, when the time comes, when life throws at us the spiritual equivalent of an 80 pound joist, there won’t be anything there to help.
It’s not going to keep difficulty from happening, we are not promised an easy life in Christ, but the armor is designed to preserve us. Dave lived because a hard hat is designed to deflect an impact. The Armor of God, Paul writes about, is designed to do the same. It will deflect the temptations of our old sinful lives. It will help us endure the world that persecutes the faithful. It will help us withstand the spiritual forces that oppose the Kingdom of God.
So, friends, let me encourage you to keep putting on the Armor of God. Commit yourselves to following his commands, to holiness, make truth your foundation, pursue righteousness, be ready to share the gospel of peace, let your faith give you security, be confident in the salvation you have received, remember the power of God’s words, pray with the Spirit, and pray for one another and all of us in the faith. You don’t have to do it alone.
Amen.
