Armoured Up
Text: Ephesians 6:10-20
I have a confession to make… Not every passage in the Bible comes as a natural favourite. There are some passages that personally have to struggle with and try to come to terms with. Sometimes they are the so-called texts of terror, such as Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, sometimes they are the minutiae of the kosher laws in the depths of Leviticus, and sometimes it’s not so much as the passage itself, but in how it has been used and abused through interpretation down through the centuries. As I have learned, there is no such thing as the “plain meaning” of the text, because all of us come to a passage carrying our own personal baggage. Our experiences and understandings inform how we hear something, whether we’re aware of it or not. Sometimes, our own experiences can help us to connect to a story or passage, and quite often those same experiences can actually get in the way.
For me, on a personal level, it’s the whole armour of God that comes out of Ephesians 6 today. This is one that for various reasons, doesn’t work for me… at least on an initial reading. Why? Well… it’s a bit complex.
As some of you may know, my first degree is in Military history. I have a fascination of all things military both historical and in a more science-fiction and fantasy genre. I have been tempted on more than one occasion to purchase a replica of a mediaeval or even a fantasy sword for display in my house. However, with a 3-year old at home, that’s not a good idea. I have never owned a firearm, and I will never have one in my house… but at the same time I paint models of science-fiction tanks and soldiers as my hobby. It’s a contradiction to be sure…
…but I am also very personally leery when Military and militaristic language gets mixed in with the Bible. I have seen it greatly abused, especially when used to justify war and bloodshed in the name of God. The whole armour of God is one of the passages that falls into this category… at least for me. The militaristic cultures of Europe in the 19th century is ultimately what led to the outbreak of the 1st World War. Part of my own challenge is to set aside my own baggage, but at the same time not to simply pick up the militaristic tones… rather look at the passage on its own merits, and what this sermon to the early church is really trying to say.
I don’t want to dismiss it, but at the same time I also don’t want to misinterpret this one at all. So maybe a bit of history may help us engage in it.
When Ephesians was written, the church was not as it today… and certainly not as it was even 100 years ago. The Christian Church as a whole was an underground, illegal organization. It had no legal standing to exist within the Roman Empire, and if anything the authorities viewed these various mystery religions as a threat. Christians were seem as a real irritation, because as a tenet of their faith, they could not recognize any Divine authority in the person of the Emperor. If this small group got away with it, then the larger threat might see others refuse to acknowledge the Emperor’s authority.
The implications was that church buildings like this didn’t exist. Christians met in people’s homes… often with someone on the watch to make sure that they hadn’t been given away. They would keep a wary eye out for soldiers that might pass by, or even worse a band of soldiers called in by concerned citizen wishing that the blight of this mystery faith might be erased from their city. It was not an easy time at all. To be a Christian in the Roman Empire was to be a criminal that hadn’t been caught yet… not only that, every Christian knew that it was at the hands of Roman Soldiers that Jesus was crucified… so even on the street, they would very likely be keeping a wary and watchful eye on any soldier that passed by.
That’s why this passage seems so out of place… because in this sermon to the early Church, the preacher uses this fearful image of a hostile force to try and create something reassuring for the people. He talks about putting on the whole armour of God… and then begins naming the various components of the armour… and they are piece-for-piece exactly what the Roman Soldiers at the time wore. Belt, Breastplate, Shoes, Shield, Helmet, and Sword… I think these days we miss out on the power and the controversy that this image really would have had in the early church. Using the images that would immediately evoke the symbol of the feared soldier is not exactly a good way to preach… but that is exactly what happens in Ephesians.
That’s why I put the image of the Roman Soldier up on the screen… chances are the first thing that comes to mind is the soldiers standing around the foot of the cross… casting lots for Jesus’ clothing.
So this image that Ephesians evokes came with all this personal baggage for even those people who heard it the first time. It was the image of the oppressor, it was the image of something that that the early Christians feared the most. Maybe I’m not so far off track with my own baggage… Now Ephesians has me… the controversial image is supposed to be controversial. It wasn’t to be taken blithely… and it was certainly not to be taken as a glorification of war as it was interpreted in the 19th century.
This was thumbing noses at the powers that be, by taking the images of the enemy in armour, and re-casting that whole picture into something entirely new.
Each of them are given a spiritual name… each corresponds to a piece of Roman Armour:
The Belt of Truth, The Breastplate of Righteousness…
These two images are evoking from Isaiah (11:5);
Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation…
Again… also from Isaiah (59:17)
The shoes/sandals aren’t really given a specific name, but instead it’s whatever carries us to proclaim the gospel of peace. It’s inserted right into the middle of all this armour imagery… it’s about proclaiming the gospel of peace.
And then there is the Sword of the Spirit… which Ephesians identifies as the Word of God. I think this is why I personally am not fond of this passage, because it clearly evokes an image to me of bashing people over the head with a Bible. After all, that’s the Word of God… right?
Well… it’s not that simple. In the early Church, the Word of God did not mean the Bible. When one said “Word of God” at that time, what they meant was the living Word of God… one of the many names that the early Church used to talk about Jesus Christ… Logos… the Word of God… the association with the Book would come much later.
What I find fascinating is all of these pieces of equipment served as a defence. Armour provided protection against the blows of an opponent. Knowing what I know about Roman Armour and Weapons, it’s interesting that with the exception of the sword, the whole armour of God has any weapons. Roman soldiers carried several weapons, including the Pilum spear, bows, and daggers. The sword… the gladius was not the weapon of first resort. When combined with the shield it served a primarily defensive purpose to deflect and parry the blows of one’s opponents. The offensive capability was left to the archers, the cavalry, chariots, and siege engines. The armour simply allowed the warriors to hold their ground.
Ephesians reminded the early believers that this was not a physical struggle… and emphasized the gospel of peace right in the midst of this… and yet by evoking the Armour of God, it was a call for them to realize that they belonged to God, and that nothing that the powers-that-be could do, would have any permanent harm. Even if they faced death at the hands of the Roman authorities, the armour of God was an image to remind them that their eternal life was something that could never be taken away.
The genius of this image, was by evoking the whole armour of God, early Christians could be reminded of their ultimate protection and even find some degree of assurance even if they were taken into custody. Why? Because every time they looked at a Roman Soldier, they could be reminded of their own protection even when looking into the face of what they feared most.
Maybe that’s what I need to take away from this… what we need to take away from a passage like this. The whole armour of God was never intended to be a call to crusade or holy war, but words of reassurance in a very dark time. It allowed the people who heard it to stare directly into the jaws of death, and still find some comfort that Christ was still with them in their darkest hour. Maybe when we read or hear this sermon from Ephesians, it’s about protection. Even in the midst of our own personal dark times… it’s about encouragement and hope. Such a revelation completely changed the personal baggage that I brought to this. I see it differently now.
I think sometimes when it comes to our encounter with stories like this in the Bible, is that being aware of our own experiences, our own baggage, can help us set things into perspective. Knowing what it meant to the people who once heard it might help us hear something new and even encouraging… even from a story of passage that we might have otherwise wanted to ignore. It’s like reading the Bible again for the first time.
Amen.
I have a confession to make… Not every passage in the Bible comes as a natural favourite. There are some passages that personally have to struggle with and try to come to terms with. Sometimes they are the so-called texts of terror, such as Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, sometimes they are the minutiae of the kosher laws in the depths of Leviticus, and sometimes it’s not so much as the passage itself, but in how it has been used and abused through interpretation down through the centuries. As I have learned, there is no such thing as the “plain meaning” of the text, because all of us come to a passage carrying our own personal baggage. Our experiences and understandings inform how we hear something, whether we’re aware of it or not. Sometimes, our own experiences can help us to connect to a story or passage, and quite often those same experiences can actually get in the way.
For me, on a personal level, it’s the whole armour of God that comes out of Ephesians 6 today. This is one that for various reasons, doesn’t work for me… at least on an initial reading. Why? Well… it’s a bit complex.
As some of you may know, my first degree is in Military history. I have a fascination of all things military both historical and in a more science-fiction and fantasy genre. I have been tempted on more than one occasion to purchase a replica of a mediaeval or even a fantasy sword for display in my house. However, with a 3-year old at home, that’s not a good idea. I have never owned a firearm, and I will never have one in my house… but at the same time I paint models of science-fiction tanks and soldiers as my hobby. It’s a contradiction to be sure…
…but I am also very personally leery when Military and militaristic language gets mixed in with the Bible. I have seen it greatly abused, especially when used to justify war and bloodshed in the name of God. The whole armour of God is one of the passages that falls into this category… at least for me. The militaristic cultures of Europe in the 19th century is ultimately what led to the outbreak of the 1st World War. Part of my own challenge is to set aside my own baggage, but at the same time not to simply pick up the militaristic tones… rather look at the passage on its own merits, and what this sermon to the early church is really trying to say.
I don’t want to dismiss it, but at the same time I also don’t want to misinterpret this one at all. So maybe a bit of history may help us engage in it.
When Ephesians was written, the church was not as it today… and certainly not as it was even 100 years ago. The Christian Church as a whole was an underground, illegal organization. It had no legal standing to exist within the Roman Empire, and if anything the authorities viewed these various mystery religions as a threat. Christians were seem as a real irritation, because as a tenet of their faith, they could not recognize any Divine authority in the person of the Emperor. If this small group got away with it, then the larger threat might see others refuse to acknowledge the Emperor’s authority.
The implications was that church buildings like this didn’t exist. Christians met in people’s homes… often with someone on the watch to make sure that they hadn’t been given away. They would keep a wary eye out for soldiers that might pass by, or even worse a band of soldiers called in by concerned citizen wishing that the blight of this mystery faith might be erased from their city. It was not an easy time at all. To be a Christian in the Roman Empire was to be a criminal that hadn’t been caught yet… not only that, every Christian knew that it was at the hands of Roman Soldiers that Jesus was crucified… so even on the street, they would very likely be keeping a wary and watchful eye on any soldier that passed by.
That’s why this passage seems so out of place… because in this sermon to the early Church, the preacher uses this fearful image of a hostile force to try and create something reassuring for the people. He talks about putting on the whole armour of God… and then begins naming the various components of the armour… and they are piece-for-piece exactly what the Roman Soldiers at the time wore. Belt, Breastplate, Shoes, Shield, Helmet, and Sword… I think these days we miss out on the power and the controversy that this image really would have had in the early church. Using the images that would immediately evoke the symbol of the feared soldier is not exactly a good way to preach… but that is exactly what happens in Ephesians.
That’s why I put the image of the Roman Soldier up on the screen… chances are the first thing that comes to mind is the soldiers standing around the foot of the cross… casting lots for Jesus’ clothing.
So this image that Ephesians evokes came with all this personal baggage for even those people who heard it the first time. It was the image of the oppressor, it was the image of something that that the early Christians feared the most. Maybe I’m not so far off track with my own baggage… Now Ephesians has me… the controversial image is supposed to be controversial. It wasn’t to be taken blithely… and it was certainly not to be taken as a glorification of war as it was interpreted in the 19th century.
This was thumbing noses at the powers that be, by taking the images of the enemy in armour, and re-casting that whole picture into something entirely new.
Each of them are given a spiritual name… each corresponds to a piece of Roman Armour:
The Belt of Truth, The Breastplate of Righteousness…
These two images are evoking from Isaiah (11:5);
Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation…
Again… also from Isaiah (59:17)
The shoes/sandals aren’t really given a specific name, but instead it’s whatever carries us to proclaim the gospel of peace. It’s inserted right into the middle of all this armour imagery… it’s about proclaiming the gospel of peace.
And then there is the Sword of the Spirit… which Ephesians identifies as the Word of God. I think this is why I personally am not fond of this passage, because it clearly evokes an image to me of bashing people over the head with a Bible. After all, that’s the Word of God… right?
Well… it’s not that simple. In the early Church, the Word of God did not mean the Bible. When one said “Word of God” at that time, what they meant was the living Word of God… one of the many names that the early Church used to talk about Jesus Christ… Logos… the Word of God… the association with the Book would come much later.
What I find fascinating is all of these pieces of equipment served as a defence. Armour provided protection against the blows of an opponent. Knowing what I know about Roman Armour and Weapons, it’s interesting that with the exception of the sword, the whole armour of God has any weapons. Roman soldiers carried several weapons, including the Pilum spear, bows, and daggers. The sword… the gladius was not the weapon of first resort. When combined with the shield it served a primarily defensive purpose to deflect and parry the blows of one’s opponents. The offensive capability was left to the archers, the cavalry, chariots, and siege engines. The armour simply allowed the warriors to hold their ground.
Ephesians reminded the early believers that this was not a physical struggle… and emphasized the gospel of peace right in the midst of this… and yet by evoking the Armour of God, it was a call for them to realize that they belonged to God, and that nothing that the powers-that-be could do, would have any permanent harm. Even if they faced death at the hands of the Roman authorities, the armour of God was an image to remind them that their eternal life was something that could never be taken away.
The genius of this image, was by evoking the whole armour of God, early Christians could be reminded of their ultimate protection and even find some degree of assurance even if they were taken into custody. Why? Because every time they looked at a Roman Soldier, they could be reminded of their own protection even when looking into the face of what they feared most.
Maybe that’s what I need to take away from this… what we need to take away from a passage like this. The whole armour of God was never intended to be a call to crusade or holy war, but words of reassurance in a very dark time. It allowed the people who heard it to stare directly into the jaws of death, and still find some comfort that Christ was still with them in their darkest hour. Maybe when we read or hear this sermon from Ephesians, it’s about protection. Even in the midst of our own personal dark times… it’s about encouragement and hope. Such a revelation completely changed the personal baggage that I brought to this. I see it differently now.
I think sometimes when it comes to our encounter with stories like this in the Bible, is that being aware of our own experiences, our own baggage, can help us set things into perspective. Knowing what it meant to the people who once heard it might help us hear something new and even encouraging… even from a story of passage that we might have otherwise wanted to ignore. It’s like reading the Bible again for the first time.
Amen.
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