(by Dave, 20-25 min)
Scripture
Ephesians 4: 10-17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish 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.
A high calling
Today’s Scripture verse is the culmination of Paul’s thoughts in his letter to the church of Ephesus. The letter opens with praise for the spiritual blessings of Christ and moves on to gratitude for the church at Ephesus. Paul then celebrates the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile through Christ into one body. Within these expressions the evangelist presents the reason for his feelings. There is a mystery unfolding that will require the very attributes about which he is grateful and celebratory. He expresses it this way: “With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment-to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (1:8-10).
The church in Ephesus and we are part God’s plan to bring unity to all things under Christ. But notice that people are not the only target of the unfolding mystery. Heaven is as well. Paul reiterates this second target for unity under Christ in chapter 3: “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (3:10-11).
Apparently, what we do as members of the church could influence heavenly beings. The NIV study Bible interprets the passage with the same sense of shock I felt when reading this: “It is a staggering thought that the church on earth is observed, so to speak, by these spiritual powers and that to the degree the church is spiritually united it portrays to them the wisdom of God.”
No wonder Paul is very detailed in his letter to the Ephesians and elsewhere about how we are to live as individual Christians and conduct our lives within our Christian families. Given that we are part of the evidence of God’s wisdom to the world and the heavenly realm much is at stake and Satan has noticed.
All are important
The best way to derail our ability to testify about God’s wisdom is to ruin us individually. If the devil’s schemes of today’s Scripture verse are successful, one by one all who could testify in unity to God’s wisdom with their lives and actions will no longer be able to serve that role. It’s not surprising that Paul evokes military language as he culminates his letter to the church of Ephesus in today’s reading. Our testimony to God’s wisdom is under attack through schemes that undermine our unity one person at a time.
If we think of it in terms of human warfare, this seems an inefficient way to go. Soldiers are lost in battle all the time. Whether it’s one fellow or the guy next to him is of little import to the outcome of the war. If one of the several billion Christians in the world falls to Satan’s schemes and loses their faith, of what import is that to the overall testimony for God’s wisdom? It’s just one person among billions.
Paul disagrees with this perspective. Notice he uses the singular in our reading for today: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” This inspirational language conveys both responsibility and holy purpose that outdistances our transgressions. If each one of us is an important part of the testimony for God’s wisdom, we cannot yield even if we lose a battle. Paul says be left standing no matter how hard the individual battle. No matter if you won or lost. Whether you fell to sin or resisted it. After you have done everything whatever it may be, be left standing for another day to be the testimony for God you were intended to be. For without you our unity is one less and God’s testimony to creation is diminished.
The power of one
To God, there are no acceptable losses. Every soldier is important and fulfills a purpose. The image Paul creates reminds me of a story from World War II when the Allied forces were trying to finish the liberation of France. Audie Murphy was a lieutenant in the US 15th infantry as allied forces were attempting to take the last stronghold of German control in the south of France in 1945. After taking and then losing a position that included a vital bridge, the Allied forces retook the bridge and moved forward only to be overwhelmed by a fierce German counteroffensive.
Lieut. Murphy knew the battle was lost and ordered his troops to retreat but surrendering the bridge would prevent further Allied support from crossing it. Murphy would not personally yield and climbed into a tank destroyer taking on the German offensive alone while air support was ordered. He successfully held them off until the support arrived.
Undoubtedly, France would’ve been liberated even without Murphy’s heroic actions, but he believed one person’s actions mattered and so he stood his ground. Perhaps most relevant to Paul’s letter is that I am talking about Lieut. Murphy to you today. He’s easy to find on the internet and a movie was made about him. In short, he testified to the world through his actions and commitment. His single stand against evil mattered and still does 77 years later.
This is the mindset I think Paul is hoping to engender in his readers. A mindset that believes your resistance to evil matters to people and the authorities in heaven. It matters because God makes nothing that is superfluous, and every person has the potential to stand their individual ground against evil adding to the unity of the church. Thus, Paul provides direct instructions on how an individual is to wage war against evil. Although we often think of that war as one against sin in our lives only, it also serves the purpose of testifying to God’s wisdom. This is a purpose for which we should fight with the same devotion Lieut. Murphy brought to the defense of that bridge.
The armor of God
Paul presents a list of how we should resist the devil’s schemes and it is clear satan’s assault is not going to be a nuclear bomb wiping us all out in one swoop. It will be a deliberate, individual corruption occurring one soldier at a time, and Paul addresses us at that level.
Embrace God’s truth the evangelist tells us, and you will be prepared to identify lies. Live a life righteously and be indisposed to the siren call of debauchery. Adorn your feet with the gospel of peace and you will be ready to hold firm against anger, bitterness, jealousy and the pettiness of humanity that will remove you from the unified ranks of Christian testimonies. Remember your faith and be shielded from those who would diminish your purpose in the world. For if Christ died for you, then you are indeed important to God’s kingdom. Hold in mind that you are saved and be protected against the doubts and bitterness that can accompany misfortune. The belt, breastplate, foot fittings, shield and helmet assure that you and I can stand firm against schemes that would incline us towards sin and undermine our demonstration of God’s wisdom for all to see.
There is one offensive weapon used by God on our behalf that strikes back against the devil’s schemes: the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Pick up that sword and hear the counsel of God in your heart confirmed by the written word. Now confident, you and I can go forth into the world knowing our interactions will be good and true, reflecting God’s wisdom to all observers.
The war we wage
These words from Paul are lovely and inspiring, but for me I want to know how they look in real life. Hoping it might be the same for you, it’s worth considering the schemes we encounter day by day. We could distill the devil’s schemes down to presenting us with straightforward temptations like greed, power, anger, lust, etc. and then consider how we could apply the defenses/weapons Paul describes to resist them. I heard quite a few eloquent sermons on this over the years, and they were very helpful. However, Paul describes many pieces of armor. Apparently, we must know truth, live righteously, have faith, know the gospel of peace, remember our salvation, lean on the Spirit, and know the word of God. That’s a lot of armor for just resisting temptations like cheating on your spouse or income taxes.
I think the depth of the armor anticipates the sophistication of the schemes. When Jesus walked into the desert, Satan used what was best in him to corrupt. In the final, and I believe greatest, temptation the devil says bow to me and all the kingdoms you see before you can be yours. Jesus doesn’t care about power or glory. Instead, people are his greatest concern above everything except God. He loves people with everything in him. Think of the good he could do without having to be crucified if he could rule all the lands. His virtue became his temptation in the devil’s schemes, and so it will be for us. While global temptations like greed will always exist, the full armor of God is most needed when the scheme is personalized.
Defenseless
Recently I watched an interview with Michael Franzese, a longtime Mafia boss in the Colombo crime family of New York. The schemes Michael faced were intensely personalized. He describes his father, Sonny Franzese, as being a loving man to him even though he had the potential for great violence when doing his job. At a very early age young Michael was exposed to the virtue of love which he reciprocated and then saw the object of his love be fiercely violent. The love for his father was used in a scheme to normalize violence.
Love for his father served a second purpose in the scheme. As he was growing up, law enforcement was always after his dad and Michael grew to hate them. He believed they were the enemy because they were always going after his father. He describes that his father was indicted multiple times and acquitted at trial for several different crimes. Then he was convicted of conspiracy to commit a large string of bank robberies. When Michael visited his father in jail, his dad told him that this accusation was not true and had been created out of whole cloth because they could not get him on any other charge.
Michael’s love and trust of his father was used so that he would believe his father should not be held accountable. Then another component to the devil’s scheme emerged. Michael knew his father was never involved in bank robbery and so he believed his father’s denial and for all we know perhaps his dad was set up. Either his love for his father or the corruption of the police was used to turn Michael’s devotion to his father against God’s wisdom. The young man left college and entered a life of crime in an attempt to set things right for his dad. He saw it as the only way to clear his name.
Michael’s loyalty and love for his father is a good thing. We are specifically told by God to honor our mother and our father. As the interview went on it became clear that loyalty and a strict code of behavior were absolutely required for his work. This suited him well because fidelity to your commitments and loyalty were congruent with his personality. Some of his best attributes had been used against him in a very effective offense from the devil that caused Michael to lose the battle Paul so hopes we can win. Alas, Michael had no armor of God to prevent his laudatory attributes from being used against him. As a result, many people were hurt and much was stolen. Moreover, his immediate family members were severely hurt by the life he and his father chose.
Then defended
Eventually, Michael’s world came crashing down and he found himself in solitary confinement cut off from his family with nothing but four walls 24 hours a day. He became utterly despondent and believed his life was over for there was no way for him to squirm out of things now. A guard saw his despondency and asked if he was alright. He sent him away saying he didn’t want to talk with anyone, but the guard returned and silently slid a Bible through the door into his cell. For the first time in his life, Michael started to read it and suddenly his personal attributes reengaged the war.
Highly analytical as you would have to be to run a huge successful mob operation, Michael wanted to know if what he was reading was true and requested and received from his wife multiple books on religion all of which he read and compared. His reason drew him to the conclusion that everything he saw in the Bible was true. In other words, Michael now had some armor. Moreover, the loyalty of Christ to save the people of the world struck a chord deep within him because loyalty and fidelity to purpose were strong in the man.
One day an FBI agent came to his cell and announced he was going to take him into custody and fly to the location of a case where Michael might be able to provide information. When they got to their destination, the FBI agent took his handcuffs off in the baggage area and left him there for 20 minutes while he went to get the car. Michael believed he was being set up and so waited. As they drove from the airport Michael asked why did you leave me alone? If I had left, it would’ve meant your job. The agent responded that he left him because he wanted to establish some trust. He was going to have to trust Michael to tell the truth, so Michael was going to have to trust him to do what he says he would do.
Michael describes this as a major turning point because for the first time he believed perhaps law enforcement wasn’t the enemy. Maybe not every agent was corrupt. Over time he began to see that it wasn’t law enforcement who were the evil ones. Surely some of them were corrupt, but it was him and the people in the mob who were the true evil. As Michael’s conversion was underway, Paul’s belt of truth was buckled in place, and he could now see the world differently than he had before.
The power of the armor Michael now wore emerged even in this 2022 interview I watched. He asked the interviewer if it was ever right to lie and gave as an example lying to protect your son. The problem he was having was that his Christian wife believed that lying was wrong no matter what. He had trouble with that because it conflicted with familial loyalty. This is not surprising given his past, but what was surprising to me (although it shouldn’t have been) was how he responded to the interviewer’s answer.
The interviewer suggested that many times the lies we feel morally compelled to tell are the ultimate products of micro-deceits that finally play themselves out so that you are left with lying as the best option, but not the right one. The right option was to always see and embrace the truth to prevent being forced to choose the lesser of evils. The interviewer went on to say that Michael’s wife was right, but it takes tremendous discipline because little deceits can slip by unnoticed. Michael responded to this by shaking his head and smiling with real understanding and then said, that makes sense, a lot of sense. I was left with the impression that the belt of truth just got more securely fastened around his waist.
Donning God’s armor always testifies
Michael’s two stories contrast a man armed as Paul described and one defenseless. Typically, we would focus on the new Michael as a testimony to the power of the armor Paul describes. Indeed, he is now a motivational speaker and book author and will tell his story to all who care to listen. But his first life was a testimony as well. In Michael’s life we can see one of God’s soldiers first defenseless and then defended and the difference testifies to the wisdom of God.
You and I are no different. There’s a role we are to play unique to us as individuals. If we put the armor on, we can defend against the evil arrows shot our way and who knows what pivotal role our testimony will play. Because that testimony is not just to us but to the heavenly authorities, every action we take might be one that has tremendous impact. God does not place his soldiers by accident, and I hope you live confident that if you keep the armor in place, perhaps you can do something extraordinary. But even if we fail and lose a battle as Lieut. Murphy did, we can climb into the tank destroyer of God’s armor and stand firm to produce much good. God will use our failures and our successes as a testimony to all.
I hope you feel this way too for it is a content place to be. It is one of the things that struck me most about the interview with Michael. He truly understood the power of the helmet of salvation. He said that the past was the past and it can’t be undone, but with Christ the past is forgiven, and a new life begins. Well said soldier of God. I hope Satan cannot scheme to make you or me believe that our past invalidates our membership in the army or our future ability to stand firm. If anyone tells you differently, it’s part of the devil’s scheme against you and should be ignored.
I hope you will feel the armor of God around you today and will be filled with the same confidence Michael feels that your life matters to God. That you are serving a critical service by being part of a unified church doing good in the world and testifying to the wisdom of God.
May God be with you this and every day of your soldier’s journey.
Dave
Note: the inspiration for this post came from a discussion of today’s Scripture verse that occurred in my Sunday school class. Many thanks to the members of that class for their thoughtful discussion and devotion to God.
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