Dangerous and in Danger

2^nd Sunday after Pentecost,             Sunday May 25, 2008

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.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

This weekend is Memorial Weekend.  It’s a time to remember those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.  It’s a time to remember and reflect on past wars and battles that have brought us to this place, and a time to take a few days, an extra long weekend to relax and rejuvenate before going back to our routines.  As our prelude reminded us this morning, it’s also a good weekend to remember what Jesus did for us when He died.  What did He die – and rise – for?  You and me!

Today is also the day when we are starting a new sermon series.  The real meat of the series will start next week, but today – on the day we remember those who have fallen in battle – we want to take a look at the spiritual battle we are in, and what our weapons are.

First, though, why have a series on Spiritual warfare?  The answer is actually pretty simple: you, me, Lutheran Church of the Cross, are all dangerous, and because of that, we are in danger.  Now what do I mean by that?

Let’s pause for moment to review the past few series we’ve had.  Around Thanksgiving last year, our series was “The Treasure Principle,” and we focused on how you and I are God’s greatest treasure.  Then our series was “The End of the World as We Know It” looking at the non Christmas-y sounding passages in our weekly readings that talk about the end of the world.  We talked about how because we are God’s treasure, because we are in His treasure chest, we don’t have to fear the end of the world as we know it.  That, in turn, affects how, as God’s treasures, we are going to live and respond to the world.

After Christmas at the start of 2008, we did a series called “The Spirit’s Healing for Emotional Wounds.”  We talked about real issues of depression and anxiety and what forgiveness is and is not, and how, as God’s treasured possessions living in the world we live in, we can respond and be healed and move forward into the lives God would have for us. 

Then we moved into Lent and talked about Jesus.  We talked about who He really is, and what He really did and still does for believers – those treasured possessions, living in the world we live in, growing out of the spiritual bondage and wounds that so many of us have.  That series culminated on Easter Sunday with a choice: is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or is He Lord?  And we made the case for Him being who He said He is: God in the flesh.

Then we went into our most recent series: “Can I get a Witness,” and we took a look at the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus and the witness of those appearances.  We talked about how their lives were affected and what we can learn from them.  That series culminated in two different services, first with you and me being the last witness called in the Bible, the second with a celebration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and a call for renewal and submission as the Holy Spirit has His way with us again.

We are God’s treasured possession who He is keeping safe through the trying times to come; who He is healing and freeing from spiritual, emotional wounds and bondage; who have come to know Jesus for who He really is; and who have been freed to be the last witnesses to our world through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

And that makes us dangerous.  We are dangerous to the devil, to the evil one.  We are growing in our understanding of the Truth; we are growing in our understanding of who we are in Christ.  Because of this we are growing more and more free from that which would hold us back from our Lord.  And that makes you and me and this church dangerous to our enemy who would much rather have us sit back, be quiet and not engage with any of this.  Because once we know all this, then not only have we broken free from the hold the enemy would have on us, we can help others break free, too.

All of this also means that we who are dangerous, are in danger.  We are in danger of being attacked, repelled and put down by our enemy.  He’ll do it in big, bold, audacious ways, and he’ll do it in subtle, sneaky ways.  But make no mistake: the devil hates us, and because he hates us, we’re in danger.  He doesn’t want us to be free from his hold, and he most definitely doesn’t want us to help other be free.

We’re in a battle.  God tells us in His word that our enemy, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour[1].  Over the next few weeks we’re going to look at this battle, and discover it for what it is.  So please, take out your Bibles...aaaannnddd stop.

How many of you brought your Bibles today?  My friends, your Bible is the very words of God Himself, and it is the strongest weapon we have.  It doesn’t get any bigger or stronger.  But we’re not reading it.  We’re not bringing it to church to study it.  We’re not spending time digging into the things God tells us.  And then when the battle rages around us, we duck and cover and wonder why it’s happening.  If you don’t have your Bible with you today, please bring them next week and every week after.  What we are going to be doing over the next few weeks is too important to let slide, and is grounded firmly in God’s word.  If you don’t have your Bible with you this morning, I invite you to take out a pew bible, and we’re going to the book of Ephesians, chapter 6.

Ephesians is the 10^th book in the New Testament.  So it goes: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – the Gospels that tell of Jesus’ life and teachings; Acts – this is “Luke, part II” and tells what happened after Jesus ascended into Heaven; then comes Romans, 1^st and 2^nd Corinthians, Galatians, and then Ephesians – letters God wrote to His people on how to live in light of the Gospel.  We’re going to Ephesians chapter 6, beginning with verse 10.

You may remember we talked about Ephesus a couple of weeks ago: it was located in modern day Turkey and was an extremely important city because it had access to the sea.  Most anything that came in or went out of Asia Minor by boat went through the port city of Ephesus.  It was a rich and powerful city, and at the same time was rampant with false religion.  In fact, the ‘goddess’ of Ephesus was Diana (her Roman name, or ‘Artemis’, her Greek name) and there was a large temple built in Ephesus for the worship of her.  This letter was written by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul while he was in prison.

So, beginning with chapter 6, verse 10: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Do me a favor – in your bibles, even in the pew Bibles underline the words “in His mighty power”, and in the margin write, “it’s not about me.”

Let’s go back to that roaring lion image for minute.  We don’t have too many lions on the South Shore, but we do have dogs, don’t we?  Now I’m not talking about a little house or lap dog whose bark sounds like “yip, yip.”  I’m talking about DOGS.  Dogs whose bark vibrates along the ground.  Dogs who cause grown men to grow weak at the knees, and give little kids nightmare.  I’m talkin’ DOGS.

As long as you stay outside of the reach of these DOGS, you’re ok.  If one these DOGS is on a ten foot chain, and you’re fifteen feet away, you’re fine.  You need to acknowledge the strength and power of the DOG, but you’re okay because there is something that is keeping that DOG from getting you.  And because of that, you can be confident as you walk by that DOG knowing that all he can do is bark and growl, and snarl and howl, but he can’t hurt you. 

However, if you walk within nine feet of the DOG on the ten foot chain, you’re going to lose something – most likely a limb.  And you’re going to lose it because you’ve gotten too close, and you’ve gotten too close because you’ve gotten careless about acknowledging the strength and power of the DOG.  You’ve ignored the warning signs that say “stay away from the DOG” and instead you’ve wandered into his realm.  Maybe he lulled you in, pretending he wasn’t that bad; maybe he even made himself look cute and harmless.  Maybe the DOG used some sort of twisted DOG logic and tricked you into ignoring the warning signs, or getting you to think they were old and outdated and no longer applicable today, and so you moved in too close.  Regardless of how it happened, now you’re in the DOGS reach, and there’s only one thing that’s going to save you: being moved out of the DOGS reach and having the chain there again.

The devil is like that dog, and there’s only one way to deal with him – that’s the power of the Lord.  It’s not about us, it’s all about God, and that chain the devil is on was clamped down securely around his neck the moment Jesus said, “It is finished.”[2]  It’s as if Jesus said, “You can’t have them anymore.  You can’t claim them as your own ever again.  You don’t have free range anymore, you’re bound, and one day, you will be put down.”  That’s the power of the Lord that has already defeated the devil and put that chain around him.

Back to Ephesians: 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.  Go ahead and circle the words “devil’s schemes” and underline all of verse 12.  Our battle is not against one another, it’s against the schemes of the devil that come in the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Understand what this means: your battle is not against your spouse.  Your battle is not against your children or your parents.  Your battle is not against that co-worker, that fellow student, that teacher, that person in your neighborhood, that person in the other pew. 

Your battle is against the devil and his schemes against you – a treasured possession of God who is being kept until the end of the world; who is being healed and brought out of emotional and spiritual bondage and woundedness to come to understand and know more and more who Jesus is and proclaim that to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit given to you.  What’s the devil’s scheme?  To do whatever it takes to pull you away from Jesus.

He’ll do it overtly; throw enough things at you to try to get you to throw your hands up and say, “I quit!”

He’ll do it subtly; keep you too busy to spend time in God’s Word, with your family and with other Christians who will pray for you and with you, and hold you accountable.  Here’s a saying to think about: “If the devil can’t make you ‘bad’, he’ll make you busy.”

He’ll do it subversively; causing complaining, griping, innuendoes, and hushed conversations in corners against other people or plans; against the church – yeah, LCC – and the positive, forward direction the church is moving by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He’ll do it treacherously; introducing teachings and thoughts and “logic” that sound nice and loving and “Christian,” but are just not in agreement with God’s word. 

What are we to do then?  Back to Ephesians: Therefore, underline that.  It’s an important word.  Given what has already been said about the devils schemes and who we are really in battle against, what comes next in these verses are shown to be important by this one simple word, “therefore.”  It’s a call to pay attention, listen up, because we need to hear what follows. 

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.  Underline the word “when.”  God did not say “if” the day of evil comes, but rather, “when” it comes.  It’s a given, it’s a-comin’ and God is going to give us what we need to stand in that day. As we read through these next verses, I invite you to underline each of the weapons God will give to us for the standing.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth  - underline that –  buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness – underline that –  in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace – underline ‘fitted with the readiness.’  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, – underline that – with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit – underline both of those –, which is the word of God – underline, circle, highlight, draw arrows to, whatever – just somehow make note of phrase: the Word of God.  

So what do we need in this battle?  The truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, the knowledge of our salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  Here’s the question: since the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God that you have in your life, are you comfortable with the sword you have for the battle you’re in?  Put another way, how big is your sword?  How sharp is it?  Is it ready for battle?  Has it been honed, strengthened, sharpened and made ready by the Word of God?

Finally, the last thing we do as we engage in this battle is to pray.  Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  Go ahead and underline “all occasions” and “be alert.”  Is there ever anything God doesn’t care to hear from you about?  Is there ever anything that is too small to bring to God?  Too big?  Anything we should not pray about?  No!  Should we expect the devil to fight fair?  Not at all, and that’s why we need to be alert to his schemes and stay in prayer.

Welcome to the battle.  There is no sitting on the sidelines and watching others fight it.  We’re each one in the middle of it, even if we don’t recognize it.  Again, here’s the good news: the war is already over and won – Jesus took care of that.  Now it’s a matter of dealing with the battles we’re in.  Over the next few weeks we’ll talk about this and the promise and hope we have.

Amen.