Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NRSV). 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 this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of 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 the 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 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.

     There is a lot going on here in these words wrapping up Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Some of what is shared here is rhetoric that borrows from the writings of Jewish prophets like Isaiah which were written centuries before and had no knowledge of such spiritual battles, but also grabs some contemporary (for Paul) paradigms of cosmology that would have been widely understood by (especially) non-Jewish Gentiles in the Roman world where Ephesus was firmly planted.  I’d like to nerd out just a moment on some hermeneutic principles, then offer some practical principles to consider for today.

     The Devil, etc.  What do we do with this?  Many Christians simply take this at face value as part of their conviction that if it’s in the Bible, it’s what God wanted us to believe.  Surely, for many who treat it as such, it works.  It must, otherwise they wouldn’t stay committed to it.  Many more people, however, are more likely to see this as yet another reason to not take the Bible seriously as it stems from an ancient cosmology that doesn’t seem to match contemporary ideologies.  The historical development of the Satan/devil figure in Judaism is quite interesting, but beyond the scope of this teaching (that I use the word development should indicate that there is a history here, a process, and that there isn’t simply one view of “evil” in the Bible).

     Hermeneutics refers to the approach we take to understand the ancient biblical text and how we apply it to our contemporary context.  Much of American Christian thought stems from schools which stick with Lower Criticism and largely reject Higher Criticism.  One simplified way to understand Lower Criticism is that the only voices allowed around the discussion table are those that agree that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. That means any voices that challenge the veracity of the scriptures are not part of the record used for deliberation.  Higher Criticism allows all relevant disciplines to offer their voice and perspective, even if it doesn’t care or even know about inerrancy or infallibility.  The Lower-Criticism-only camp grew over time, largely in reaction to scientific discovery and, in the United States in the early 1800’s, a largely Deist theological perspective held by most of the Founding Fathers that didn’t espouse the narrower view of the Bible.  I believe that the rabbinical tradition that informed Jesus welcomed more voices around the table, not less, and allowed their contributions to further shape their understanding of God and God’s involvement in creation.  This can be clearly witnessed in the Torah – the first five books in the Old Testament, where God’s will as expressed in the Law shifted over time.  Jewish thought on a lot of major areas of theology and life shifted over time, and they were okay’ish with it.  I say “ish” because we generally prefer certainty on a lot of things, and when our certainty get challenged, we often fight back instead of leaning in.  Sharing new insights got a lot of prophets killed, including Jesus.  It got me fired from a role within my denomination, and our church forced to leave our region.  Change usually comes as an unwelcome guest.  If you feel uneasy about what you read/hear as “new” theological perspectives, congratulations!  That means you are a human being. How will you determine what you believe?  What is your hermeneutical approach?

     Evil exists in the world.  There is no denying it.  People make decisions unwittingly or with malice aforethought to do things that serve themselves at the expense of others.  At times, at great expense to those others. In my view, such evil does not require an evil organization of fallen angels with Satan in command. We may talk about our demons, but I think those refer to the power of unaddressed wounds more than supernatural forces.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think a Satan figure or person exists.  If I am wrong, I am comforted by the fact that what I choose to do in response to evil, as evidenced in the life of Jesus as well as in this week’s passage to the Ephesians, is the exact same as if I believed in a literal devil.  I think it best for those who claim to be Christians – Jesus followers – to focus a lot more on the “following” of Jesus than the “arguing” about the source of evil.  If we get off the discussion of the source and look at the evil around us, perhaps we can address it more effectively?  By the way, I do believe that the writer of Ephesians believed in such a hierarchical evil Empire, and Jesus may have, too, given the rhetoric he used.  Rhetoric is powerful, yet tricky – in its use are they articulating their positions or simply leveraging the audiences’ or both?

     Gearing up for battle.  In recognition that there are forces at play beyond the naked eye, Paul advises his audience to put on the whole armor of God.  Here are some thoughts on the different pieces of gear:

·       The belt of truth is a good idea lest you find yourself caught with your pants down.  Starting the day stating that we choose to live according to the truth of God helps keep us focused on True North lest we be swayed by truth competitors.

·       The breastplate of righteousness is about living the right way, which, as Christians, is the choice to follow the example of Jesus.  We struggle with this because we tend to adopt “self-righteousness”, which is a completely different thing and, as it turns out, was diametrically opposed to the way of Jesus.

·       Shoes promoting peace?  I am pretty sure the image here is not combat boots.  Maybe house slippers?  Or vans?  Or Converse All-Stars?  Certainly Birkenstocks!  What Paul seems to be saying is that, girded up with the truth of the Spirit, the righteousness-producing way of Jesus, our demeanor is to be peace, our goal is shalom.  Combat boots might elicit a temporary reprieve of violence, but true, lasting peace does not come from a forced agreement (are you listening, US Government?  Remember Vietnam and now Afghanistan?)

·       The shield of faith is not a small circular one like Captain America’s, but rather a body-length one, usually made of wood and wrapped in leather.  Attacking a city with flaming arrows was a common offensive military maneuver that was terrifying.  When we are under attack, Paul is saying to have faith that the attack itself is not evidence that we are wrong.  Have faith that the truth, righteousness, and peace you are literally wearing is the right attire for life, even if it doesn’t go well.

·       The helmet of salvation may be a reference to the covering over your head as well as what needs to be in your head: You are fully loved by God who is forever with you and for your True Self. God is for your best your whole life long, constantly nudging you toward it and encouraging the same in everyone and everything around you.  When this temporal life is over, there is a life beyond the flesh that awaits that will blow your mind, where you already have a reservation.

·       The sword of the Spirit isn’t an actual sword, it’s more likely your words.  Some contemporary folks call the Bible the Word of God and therefore, the sword, to them, is the Bible itself.  So, they memorize lots of verses to fire at people when the time is right.  Some folks are amazing at this. I’m a fan of memorizing scripture, by the way – drawing on verses can be really helpful at times. Yet the Word is much bigger than that – even bigger than the historical person of Jesus.  The Gospel of John speaks of the Word becoming flesh (in Jesus), a Word that is eternal.  It sure seems like the Word is more like what we might call the Spirit of God, which is Godself.  It seems Paul is reminding us that since the battle isn’t really one of flesh and bone, neither should be our weapon.  We call on God to fight the things we cannot even see, which is surely why he then immediately calls his audience to pray all the time in the Spirit for everything (including him).

     Defeat. Many modern scholars do not believe that Paul wrote Ephesians – at least not alone.  There are enough peculiarities in his language to suggest that his disciples wrote it in his stead, using his name to provide credibility with the Colossian and Ephesian audiences (both letters likely went out at the same time).  The reason they needed to pen the letter is because Paul was probably dead after spending a long time imprisoned in Rome. In other words, all of Paul’s work and the prayers for his release and the winning over of the people around him did not come to pass.  He was defeated, martyred.  How could this happen?  Paul lived his life so well, so committed to the Way of Jesus?  Isn’t this the exact wrong result we should expect from a saint?  No, not really.  Jesus is the one we’re following, who certainly wore the truth belt, the righteousness-done-right breastplate, definitely wore the Birkenstocks, took a ton of arrows that seemed to bounce off his shield of faith, proclaimed to everyone the salvation-wholeness of God, and allowed God to wield the sword through him all the time.  And he was beaten and crucified.  And neither Paul nor Jesus would have changed their mission if they could do it all over again.  Defeat wasn’t failure for them.  Defeat, in their cases, was actually a sign of their faithfulness and dedication.  They believed the message was so worth living for that it was also worth suffering for and even worth dying for.  For them, as Paul said, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Have you understood Jesus’ message this way?  Does it have a similar effect on you?

     Victory.  Jesus went first.  He died, and then his disciples experienced an afterlife expression of him a few days after he died.  The impression was so strong that they shifted from cowardice to boldness in a heartbeat and went forward in their whole armor of God for the rest of their lives.  They knew that if they took a beating, that was normal and to be expected.  They also knew that if they died for the cause that it was not the end of the story. They believed as do I that there is more, and that we can build our lives on that “more” now.  In fact, the more that we build our lives on the “more”, the more we believe in the “more” and the “more” to come!  But wait, there’s more!  Paul never met Jesus, but he did meet Christ.  He became the most unlikely disciple given his self-righteous past.  Yet because his conversion began with a glimpse of the “more”, he moved quickly to proclaim to the public that there is more to this life than flesh and blood, and so much “more” to come.  

     This coming week, I invite you to simply read the passage from Paul at the start of each day, reminding yourself to choose the truth of God, the breastplate of living the right way of Jesus (which is to live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly), wear slippers all day to communicate peace, to shield yourself with faith, to cover your head with the loving wholeness offered by God, and to trust and call on the Spirit to fight the battles you cannot see.  See what difference it makes in your day.  You might catch some defeat, honestly, but remember that there is certain victory in the end.