“Boldness in Christ” 

(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 the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly place. Therefore take up the whole armor 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 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 the 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.

            Most of you know this.  I am an avid newspaper reader.  I know….  I am a dinosaur, a dying breed, old fashioned, boring, an oddity, but I just can’t help myself.  We get both the Beacon and the Plain Dealer delivered, and this is partly because I love the comics.  I don’t care what anyone says.  It is not the same to read the funnies online.           Sadly, the Beacon has reduced their comics significantly.  They’re kind of pathetic, really, but, fortunately, they have kept the comic strip, “Rose Is Rose.” 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this particular strip, there is a nice mom and dad and a cute little kid and a few other characters.  I like a couple of things about it.  When Mom (she’s Rose) is in a situation that requires her to be very cool or very strong, she transforms into this tall, strong Motorcycle Mama in a leather mini skirt, jacket and boots.  She has big, wild hair and sunglasses.  She is SO completely, convincingly empowered.

            The other thing I like about Rose Is Rose is that the little guy has a small angel who flies through life with him.  Now, when some muscle is needed, this little insect-like angel turns into a warrior.  The big angel that the little one becomes is drawn from the perspective of a little kid, so we can barely see his head as we, like the little guy look up at him.  He’s wearing armor, carries a shield, and is totally awesome.

            Well, the transformation of these two characters came to my mind as I read this morning’s text.  It is chock full of warrior language, and, you know, that is not the usual way that preachers like me like to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I do get uncomfortable with those images.  But I think that the strong motorcycle woman and the warrior angel may just offer us imagery and language that will provide a bridge between our ordinary selves and the mandate that we heard in this morning’s reading from Ephesians to put on the armor of God. 

            So, still we have this Bible passage in which all the images for following Christ are about preparing to go to battle.  So, I think about Rose in the comic strip and about the warrior angel.  I think about times in my own life when I have been required to rise up, to be brave, to be strong and, metaphorically, to do battle.  I think about how we are called to be holy and bold in following Christ.  That’s when I began to have some ideas about how to preach this morning.

            Now we know that our task as followers of Christ is not to kill or do violence to others.  That is clear to most of us Christians of good will.  We are called, though, to stand up against the powers of evil, the cosmic powers of the present darkness (as it’s referred to in the reading).  That’s what today’s lesson says.  It also says, fasten the belt of truth around your waist, put on the breastplate of righteousness, put on the shoes that will allow you to proclaim the gospel of peace.  In addition, we are told to take up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is, incidentally, the Word of God. 

I talked about metaphorical language last week. Its importance lies in the way it requires us to look at something that may not seem relevant to our lives and see it in a new way, a way that just might tell us a new truth about God and Christ.   

Now, obviously, our text today is using that metaphorical language, poetic language.  It’s giving us a way to imagine what it would be like to go to battle not for war but, instead, for the Gospel of peace, to fight for love and compassion, and to shed blood in the name of Christ, though not literally.  But, if we try, we can visualize what it would be like to stand up to great powers of evil with the weaponry of goodness.  We can picture ourselves as Rose, the motorcycle mama or Gabriel, the warrior Angel or one of the superheroes that have so successfully made comebacks in the movies these days.  Think Batman, Iron Man, Cat Woman, or the Fantastic Four.

            But let’s be clear, our standing up is not about making ourselves look good or exerting our individual power and authority.  It is all about, completely about, furthering the kingdom of God, the reign of Christ, which, as we know, is not the powers of the world, but it is about humbleness, love, compassion for our neighbors, even our enemies.  And it is about stewardship of the resources with which we have been gifted by God.

            When we see around us the spiritual forces of wickedness, it is our job to put on the armor of Christ, to fasten the belt of truth around our waists, to put on that breastplate of righteousness, to tie up the shoes that will allow us to proclaim the gospel of peace.  In other words, to become the motorcycle mama or papa of Christ, to grow into the big, strong warrior angel of the Jesus movement, to be Superman or Woman when the bad guys seem to be prevailing.

            This is easier said than done in an authentic way.  Unfortunately, we Christians have become either noisy tools of the worldly, self-centered, greedy factions in our nation today, or we have become timid, fearful creatures who either ignore or shy away from the Gospel message of holy and bold peace and compassion. 

            Our job, always and ever, is to rise up and champion the little ones, the children, the prisoners, the widows, the single parents, the folks who live in poverty, those who are without housing.  In other words, we are to stand up for those with no voice.  Our job is to put our resources where our faith is—into programs that feed, clothe and give health care to kids, to bankroll prison ministry, to support mission projects so that we can be super-Christ across the globe in times of disaster.

            And our job is to be courageous and bold in the face of evil that sometimes seems impossible to stop or stem. 

…So–what can we do, people like us living quietly here in northeast Ohio?  Well, hear what our ancestors in the faith in the Paul-influenced church of Ephesus heard so many years ago, “Be brave, be strong, be courageous, stand up for faith in a God who is not angry and determined to destroy those who don’t believe properly.  Don’t be afraid.  And don’t settle for a religion that won’t stand up to powers that do not have at their core, the care for the children and the poor and the widows and the elderly.  Don’t settle for a religion that only wants to keep the status quo.  Don’t let the faith of Jesus Christ become a watered-down version of what Jesus really meant.  And don’t insist that we Christians are the only ones who have the right way to speak about God.” 

Putting on the armor of Christ means bravely speaking and standing for what we know to be Christian, that is, loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  Martin Luther King, Jr. put it this way: “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

There are battles around us that are worth rising up and fighting for.  Yesterday 9 of us carried the banner of this church in the Akron Pride March.  We were surrounded by people of good will, people who are standing up for rights of all people.  And we were having so much fun and sharing our joy.  There were a number of other churches and religious groups represented there as well. 

…And there were probably 20 or 30 people shouting at us along the way, telling us that we and our Gay and Lesbian brothers and sisters are going to hell.  …But…they were outshined and outshouted by the roars of people who know better, that the God of our understanding will not condemn God’s beloved children for being who they are. 

And there are other battles that we need to stand up for against the evils of the world: education of our youth, addiction and mental health services, removal of automatic weapons from the hands of ordinary people, for example. 

I’m sure you have your own list of battles that you would be willing to fight in the name of Christ.  It is the spiritual forces of wickedness that get in our way of doing the work of Christ.

So—let’s not be scared to put on the armor of Christ and take up the shield of faith.  There really is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ.  We don’t need to be frightened–but we do need to be vigilant.  There are powers of evil around us, working to pull us to the dark side, tempting us to be selfish, prideful, greedy, angry and foolish.

What we choose to dedicate ourselves to in this life matters.  It matters that lives well-lived contribute to the good of the world.  It matters that we keep the true faith of Christ and that we fight the good fight as Jesus taught us, by putting on the armor, the helmet, the shield, the shoes that allow us to proclaim the Gospel of peace and love. 

My prayer for us is that we continue to stand up for the truths that we hold dear, that we make the mission of our church align with what Jesus has taught us about being the Church.  I think we can hold both these beautiful realities at the same time, and that we can continue to join together in doing the important work that Christians have been called to do for 2000 years.  So, let’s begin by putting on the armor of Christ and moving out into the community and the world with the Gospel message of Christ’s love.  Amen.