Ephesians 6:10-17; St John 4:46-54
Psalm 46 and LSB 668
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
St Paul was sitting in prison in Rome when he wrote to the Christians in Ephesus. It was perhaps the largest and most important city in Asia. By the grace of our Lord given him to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, St Paul was privileged to help establish the Christian Church in Ephesus. He spent nearly three years there, preaching and teaching, catechezing. Reading the context of Acts 20 and Revelation 2 it seems likely that a seminary of sorts was established in Ephesus. Serving not only the metropolis, but the entire sounding region. Paul knew these Christians well. His heart was with them.
The epistle is a beautiful pastoral letter, a sermon, in which he reminds the Ephesians of the Gospel, of the gift of repentance through faith, of the doctrine of justification. By grace you have been saved, through faith. And this faith is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8-9). He also reminds these saints that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). These good works take shape according to the Ten Commandments within our various vocations and callings.
In Ephesians 5:22-6:9, Paul provides a “table of duties,” showing how the Christian faith enlivens husbands and wives, parents and children, bond servants and masters.
This is important context for our text this evening. Paul is describing a soldier who is on guard duty. He is describing each of us as we are stationed in our vocations. Parents are stationed in the home on spiritual guard duty for our children. Like you see with the father from the Gospel reading. Pastors are stationed in our congregations to do spiritual guard duty for the families and individuals whom the Lord has given them to serve. Christians are at their jobs, in their neighborhoods, among their communities as spiritual sentries.
In the ancient world the Romans placed sentries all along their borders. Those soldiers were to stand night and day. Alert. Watching for danger. If there’s any trouble, they call for reinforcements. They don’t go an fight alone. That would be futile. Their job was to stand. To stay awake. To stay alert. To watch. To listen. And to call for help when needed.
So there you are, standing on the wall of a great city. Everyone is sleeping. But you’re there, looking out, scanning the horizon, watching, listening, noting the movements of the enemy, and reporting to your commanding officer. This is our duty in spiritual warfare. We stand on the watchtowers of the estates, in the places where the Lord has put us. We watch to see how the enemy attacks. We pray for the Lord’s help.
And to keep you safe on our posts, the Lord Jesus has given us equipment, spiritual armor. Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
We are not scheming. We are resisting and standing against the schemes of the devil. The devil is busy and active, working to overthrow the Lord’s kingdom. We are still, standing, watching. There is a calmness, a peace, to the Christian’s place in this battle. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Our fight is not against other people. The Christian war is not at war against any other human being. We can’t be. Our Lord Jesus has died for all. God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. How can the Christian be at war with one for whom Christ has died?
Our battles are spiritual. We fight against the demons, the rulers, the cosmic powers over this present darkness. Our equipment, then, is also spiritual. The whole armor of God in which we stand and withstand and stand. We are not to charge. We are not to attack. We are not summoned to rush into battle. Like a sentry standing on the wall, we stand, we watch, we pray.
And our equipment, dear Christians, is not what we do or accomplish on our own. Rather, it is provided by the Lord. They are His gifts.
Belt of truth:
Christians are truth tellers. Not our own truth. God’s truth. He has spoken to us in His Word
The belt is the truth of Jesus: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Christian truth is a person - Jesus Christ. His person. His work. His Word. (Apostles’ Creed)
Breastplate of righteousness:
Protects the heart
Not our own righteousness that keeps us safe. That would be filled with holes.
Impenetrable breastplate of Christ’s own righteousness - For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Not our righteousness, or even the righteousness of Adam before the Fall. The Righteousness of God! We are partakers in Christ’s own righteousness!
No wonder Paul so often warns of trusting in our own righteousness
Shoes:
Shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the Gospel of peace
Exception to standing - shoes for readiness - run.
Messenger. Euangelion. Good news. Origin of word “marathon”
Beautiful feet of Romans 10
Shield of faith:
Extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one
Spiritual attacks. Don’t even know we’re being shot at.
Faith that is believed. Faith that believes. Both.
Strength of faith is always its object. The shield of faith is always saturated with the blood of Jesus. Extinguishes the flaming arrows of Satan
Helmet of salvation:
Protects the head. Our mind. Our thoughts. Our imaginations. Our study. Our convictions. Our reason. Our plans.
Life of the mind and the life of faith connected
Already and not yet of salvation
Sword of the Spirit:
Roman soldiers known for their deft handling of their short swords. Would that the Christian Church would have the same reputation for handling the Word of truth!
Word of God is the Spirit’s sword
Devil tempts us with lying words. We use the word of truth on the counterattack. Example: Christ’s own temptation against the devil, He employs the Word of God
Continue the text: The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making intercession for all the saints. We engage in spiritual warfare in prayer.
We don’t rush into the fray. We don’t jump from the wall and run onto the field. We sound the alarm. We watch. We pray. We run to Jesus - like the father in the Gospel - and Christ our Champion fights for us. He takes the field against our old Evil Foe who means us deadly woe. And like the Psalm, He turns back to us on the wall and says, Be still, and know that I am God. “I’ve got this,” Jesus says. “I will lay down on the wire. I will allow Satan to do His worst to Me. I will die at His hand. And in so doing, I will rescue you. This is how I will win the victory. And in My resurrection I will bring the victory back to you. I will bestow it upon you in Holy Baptism. In the river whose streams make glad the city of God.”
Behold, dear soldiers, food for your watch. Provisions as you stand and watch and pray. He knows you are tired. He knows your weaknesses. How easy it is to give in and give up. Here He gives His Body and Blood to strengthen you in His Word and faith. To shield you from harm.
Receive the Word made flesh, given into death for you, back from the grave to support you in body and soul. Take up His Word. Speak it back to Him in prayer and praise and thanksgiving. Hold fast to His promises. They are the basis of your prayers. Stand guard in your vocations, where the Lord has placed you. Ask God for wisdom and serve and bless your neighbors in that wisdom. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 46 and LSB 668
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
St Paul was sitting in prison in Rome when he wrote to the Christians in Ephesus. It was perhaps the largest and most important city in Asia. By the grace of our Lord given him to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, St Paul was privileged to help establish the Christian Church in Ephesus. He spent nearly three years there, preaching and teaching, catechezing. Reading the context of Acts 20 and Revelation 2 it seems likely that a seminary of sorts was established in Ephesus. Serving not only the metropolis, but the entire sounding region. Paul knew these Christians well. His heart was with them.
The epistle is a beautiful pastoral letter, a sermon, in which he reminds the Ephesians of the Gospel, of the gift of repentance through faith, of the doctrine of justification. By grace you have been saved, through faith. And this faith is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8-9). He also reminds these saints that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). These good works take shape according to the Ten Commandments within our various vocations and callings.
In Ephesians 5:22-6:9, Paul provides a “table of duties,” showing how the Christian faith enlivens husbands and wives, parents and children, bond servants and masters.
This is important context for our text this evening. Paul is describing a soldier who is on guard duty. He is describing each of us as we are stationed in our vocations. Parents are stationed in the home on spiritual guard duty for our children. Like you see with the father from the Gospel reading. Pastors are stationed in our congregations to do spiritual guard duty for the families and individuals whom the Lord has given them to serve. Christians are at their jobs, in their neighborhoods, among their communities as spiritual sentries.
In the ancient world the Romans placed sentries all along their borders. Those soldiers were to stand night and day. Alert. Watching for danger. If there’s any trouble, they call for reinforcements. They don’t go an fight alone. That would be futile. Their job was to stand. To stay awake. To stay alert. To watch. To listen. And to call for help when needed.
So there you are, standing on the wall of a great city. Everyone is sleeping. But you’re there, looking out, scanning the horizon, watching, listening, noting the movements of the enemy, and reporting to your commanding officer. This is our duty in spiritual warfare. We stand on the watchtowers of the estates, in the places where the Lord has put us. We watch to see how the enemy attacks. We pray for the Lord’s help.
And to keep you safe on our posts, the Lord Jesus has given us equipment, spiritual armor. Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
We are not scheming. We are resisting and standing against the schemes of the devil. The devil is busy and active, working to overthrow the Lord’s kingdom. We are still, standing, watching. There is a calmness, a peace, to the Christian’s place in this battle. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Our fight is not against other people. The Christian war is not at war against any other human being. We can’t be. Our Lord Jesus has died for all. God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. How can the Christian be at war with one for whom Christ has died?
Our battles are spiritual. We fight against the demons, the rulers, the cosmic powers over this present darkness. Our equipment, then, is also spiritual. The whole armor of God in which we stand and withstand and stand. We are not to charge. We are not to attack. We are not summoned to rush into battle. Like a sentry standing on the wall, we stand, we watch, we pray.
And our equipment, dear Christians, is not what we do or accomplish on our own. Rather, it is provided by the Lord. They are His gifts.
Belt of truth:
Christians are truth tellers. Not our own truth. God’s truth. He has spoken to us in His Word
The belt is the truth of Jesus: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Christian truth is a person - Jesus Christ. His person. His work. His Word. (Apostles’ Creed)
Breastplate of righteousness:
Protects the heart
Not our own righteousness that keeps us safe. That would be filled with holes.
Impenetrable breastplate of Christ’s own righteousness - For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Not our righteousness, or even the righteousness of Adam before the Fall. The Righteousness of God! We are partakers in Christ’s own righteousness!
No wonder Paul so often warns of trusting in our own righteousness
Shoes:
Shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the Gospel of peace
Exception to standing - shoes for readiness - run.
Messenger. Euangelion. Good news. Origin of word “marathon”
Beautiful feet of Romans 10
Shield of faith:
Extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one
Spiritual attacks. Don’t even know we’re being shot at.
Faith that is believed. Faith that believes. Both.
Strength of faith is always its object. The shield of faith is always saturated with the blood of Jesus. Extinguishes the flaming arrows of Satan
Helmet of salvation:
Protects the head. Our mind. Our thoughts. Our imaginations. Our study. Our convictions. Our reason. Our plans.
Life of the mind and the life of faith connected
Already and not yet of salvation
Sword of the Spirit:
Roman soldiers known for their deft handling of their short swords. Would that the Christian Church would have the same reputation for handling the Word of truth!
Word of God is the Spirit’s sword
Devil tempts us with lying words. We use the word of truth on the counterattack. Example: Christ’s own temptation against the devil, He employs the Word of God
Continue the text: The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making intercession for all the saints. We engage in spiritual warfare in prayer.
We don’t rush into the fray. We don’t jump from the wall and run onto the field. We sound the alarm. We watch. We pray. We run to Jesus - like the father in the Gospel - and Christ our Champion fights for us. He takes the field against our old Evil Foe who means us deadly woe. And like the Psalm, He turns back to us on the wall and says, Be still, and know that I am God. “I’ve got this,” Jesus says. “I will lay down on the wire. I will allow Satan to do His worst to Me. I will die at His hand. And in so doing, I will rescue you. This is how I will win the victory. And in My resurrection I will bring the victory back to you. I will bestow it upon you in Holy Baptism. In the river whose streams make glad the city of God.”
Behold, dear soldiers, food for your watch. Provisions as you stand and watch and pray. He knows you are tired. He knows your weaknesses. How easy it is to give in and give up. Here He gives His Body and Blood to strengthen you in His Word and faith. To shield you from harm.
Receive the Word made flesh, given into death for you, back from the grave to support you in body and soul. Take up His Word. Speak it back to Him in prayer and praise and thanksgiving. Hold fast to His promises. They are the basis of your prayers. Stand guard in your vocations, where the Lord has placed you. Ask God for wisdom and serve and bless your neighbors in that wisdom. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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