Today is the 2nd part of a two-week series on the theme, “Back to School.” Last Sunday, our focus was on “Back to School” supplies.
Hopefully, we already have the basic supplies like plenty of pencils, erasers, markers, and notebooks, but King Solomon from our Old Testament reading last week reminded us of the most important item and that is wisdom.
Wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing. Knowledge is the information we will take in during the school year through reading books and listening to lectures. Wisdom is about how we apply that information in loving and fruitful ways. We can memorize all of the facts and information in the world but unless we know how to use that knowledge in helpful ways, it doesn’t really matter what we know.
This reminds me of the widely circulated leadership phrase, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
This is what the new King Solomon was asking God to grant him when he asked for wisdom. It’s important for us to remember that King Solomon did not always make wise decisions as the King of Israel.
Wisdom is something that we don’t want to take for granted. It’s something that we need to constantly work at through disciplines of study, prayer, and reflection. This is why you can’t find this school supply at Walmart. It’s the intangible school supply but it can make all the difference in the world.
And this brings us to our focus today which is the back to school clothing that we will need throughout this new year of learning. Yes, even in our faith, it’s important to have the clothing that will help us to be the growing and mature Christians God is calling us to be.
According to our scripture reading from Ephesians, this is the back to school look we need to have this year. What do you think?
It’s a little much if you ask me. Actually, I’ve always been troubled by this scripture passage and others like it because it seems to promote having a warrior type of faith. I cringe whenever I hear preachers talk about spiritual warfare because don’t we have enough violent talk in our culture?
The phrase “spiritual warfare” is problematic to me because of a couple of important reasons. The first reason is related to the many holy wars that have been fought in the name of religion. One would think that since Christianity emphasizes peace and humility, we would not have such a violent history. Unfortunately, we know that’s not the case.
Just think of the several crusades that Christians undertook around the 11thcentury. Those crusades were to reclaim land in the name of Christ. They would use the cross to show that God was on their side. Many people were killed in the name of the one who died on the cross for our sins.
When President George Bush first referred to the fight against terrorism following the 9/11 attacks as a “crusade,” he later realized that it was a poor choice of words. That loaded word, “crusade” is a reminder of how Christians have a very violent history.
The events of 9/11 have led us to rethink how we use certain words and phrases like “crusade” and “spiritual warfare.” We often forget that our choice of words are so important because they are packed with so much historical meaning.
This is why a Christian student organization changed their name from “Campus Crusade for Christ” to the shortened word, “Cru” just a few years ago. They became more aware of how words and phrases have meaning.
Some of us may remember when our current hymnal was being revised back in the late 1980s and how the big controversy was if the old hymn, “Onward Christians Soldiers” should be included in the hymnal because of it’s spiritual warfare language. Ironically, this debate over a Christian hymn in the hymnal became so heated among Christians that it kind of proved the point of how our phrases and words really matter!
And by the way, this whole discussion about the use of the phrase, “spiritual warfare” is related to last Sunday’s “back to school” supply of “wisdom.” Knowledge alone isn’t enough. Wisdom is what we gain when we think about our use of words and how they impact the people around us.
The second reason why I get uncomfortable with using spiritual warfare language is because the use of that phrase has become misunderstood in our culture. It has a holier than thou sound to it. It’s language that sets up a “we vs. they” mentality.
Sadly, we see this “we vs. they” mentality in politics, in churches, and in our everyday conversations. We even have a phrase that speaks to this mentality. We call it, “demonizing others” because they don’t agree with us.
And let me just say this. This spiritual warfare language sounds so primitive and antiquated. Let’s look at my picture again where I’m wearing that armor.
Is this what you want your pastor to look like when you introduce me to your friends. “Pastor Robert, your helmet looks so nice on you. It makes you look so much taller and more intimidating.” I cringe whenever I come across scripture passages like this about getting ready for a battle and putting on armor for a spiritual warfare.
I still stand by what I have just mentioned about the difficulty of using this warfare language, but here is what we can learn from it. There really is a spiritual warfare going on around us in any given moment. But it’s not the kind of warfare where we put on this armor so that we can take land by force in the name of Christ. And it’s also not the kind of warfare where I see people who don’t agree with me as the enemy.
The warfare as the Apostle Paul says in our Ephesians scripture reading 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.”
That’s the context we need to remember as we read Paul. He wants us to be fully aware of the spiritual forces of evil and to not take that lightly.
God’s intention for the world is for there to be justice, righteousness, goodness, and peace, but the force of evil in the world seeks to undermine these things. Unfortunately, we see many examples everyday of the presence of evil. Whenever we see hate groups or racist attitudes or anything that is dehumanizing toward other people, that is a sign of the presence of evil in our world.
Think of what we say in the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a prayer asking for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. That’s the justice, righteousness, goodness, and peace that God desires for the world. But notice how the prayer concludes. It says, “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
This prayer reminds us to be delivered from evil which is anything less than God’s desire for their to be justice, righteousness, goodness, and peace. And this is why he wants us to put on the whole armor of God that will help us to withstand and stand firm as he says.
So let’s quickly look at what this back to school clothing looks like and why it’s important for us to wear. There are six items that we need to put on if we want to withstand and stand firm against evil and promote justice, righteousness, goodness, and peace in our world.
So let’s bring up my picture again. Paul says that we fasten the belt of truth around our waist. The belt of truth is what reminds us that our faith is true. God has sent us Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. God’s redemptive and saving love for the world is made possible because of Jesus. Jesus is our belt of truth.
Paul also wants us to wear the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate serves as a protective device because when evil presents itself, we can boldly declare that we have been made right with God through Jesus.
We also are to put on shoes of peace. Evil will do everything it can do to knock us off our feet, but if we are wearing shoes of peace, it will help us to stand straight and not lose our balance.
We also are to take with us the shield of faith. Whenever the arrows of despair, doubt, or discouragement come our way, we can hold up the shield of faith that will see us through anything that evil might throw our way.
And my favorite thing that Paul says we need to wear is the helmet of salvation. What a back to school fashion statement if we all really started wearing helmets! This helmet is what reminds us that we have already been rescued from evil and we belong to Christ.
And don’t worry, this good news of our faith will more than offset the helmet hair you will have when you take it off each day.
And last but not least, we are to always carry with us the sword of God. This is the only offensive part of our armor. The sword reminds us that God continues to speak to us through the careful and prayerful discernment of the scriptures. This relates to the back to school supply of wisdom where we are always discerning what God is saying to us.
God is not silent. God still speaks to us. That’s why we need the sword of God.
As we think about the importance of putting on the whole armor of God to help us in our struggle against the spiritual forces of evil in the world, I’ve been thinking about an anti-racism task force that I have been helping to chair in our West Ohio Conference.
About fifteen clergy and laity from all over our conference including Bishop Palmer have been meeting to develop a mission and strategy to overcome the sin of racism. It’s been very humbling for me to learn just how deeply embedded racism is in our society.
After several meetings discussing all of this, one of the members of the group finally named what needed to be named. He said, “what we are really going up against is the powerful force of evil in our world that would seek to dehumanize others just because of the color of someone’s skin.”
It was only after this person openly used the word, “evil,” that we were able to have a spiritual breakthrough in our conversations. Our task became more real, more meaningful, and more purposeful because we realized that the sin of racism is so much bigger than any one of us can handle alone.
We were reminded in that moment, that we really do need the WHOLE armor of God.
Whether it be racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, bigotry, or whatever injustice we may encounter, the only thing, the ONLY thing that will help us overcome evil in this world, is by putting on the belt of truth, the breastplate of justice, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
As we begin this new year of school, my prayer for all of us is that we would seek God’s wisdom and put on the whole armor of God.
Back to School Clothes
O Lord, as we begin this new school year, may we find our strength in you. Lead us to have wise and discerning minds. Clothe us with all that we need to stand firm in our faith. We confess that we often forget to put on your armor that will enable us to have a growing and mature faith. Remind us in this time of new beginnings that our faith is not meant to be lived out in isolation but in community. Thank you for the opportunity to worship together and to be part of your family! Amen.
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