Spirit-Filled Ethics 2 (Aug. 27, 06) Eph. 6:10-20
I hate to confess this, but preachers generally put sermon illustrations ahead of self-respect. So here goes. Some years ago, I think shortly after we moved here, I needed to drive a nail. I had a nail but no hammer. The hammer was down in the basement. Our bedroom is on the second floor, so I decided to drive the nail with something handy – at least handy in the sense of NOT being down 2 flights of stairs. I tried a shoe. I tried the back of a wrench. I tried a piece of wood. Eventually, I’m so proud to announce, got that nail in the wall, but it took me about 3 times longer, and more effort than if I had just gone down to get the hammer.
Last week we focused on Ephesians 5 where Paul encourages us to live wisely. This is the heart of living ethically. As the French say to their kids: soie sage – be good/wise! Paul specifically, the Bible generally, tells us that wisdom is not found in laws, rules and regulations. Wisdom is found in the Spirit of Christ. It is found in a relationship, in a commitment, in a disposition. Whereas Aristotle said that the heart of living well, was imitating the virtuous – the Apostle Paul says that it is in imitating Christ and adopting his mind, his spirit. (if this sounds unfamiliar, you might get the tape!)
But Paul doesn’t leave it there. He moves on to discuss the “hows” of spirit-filled living. OR to put it another way, he provides a list of essential tools that will aid you in developing the mind of Christ, in adopting the spirit of Christ. Or to put it yet another way: you need these tools if you are going to construct a house in which God will live.
If you have ever attempted to dig a hole without a shovel, cut a piece of wood with a very dull saw blade, drill a hole with a bad bit, drive a nail without a hammer… you know the importance of tools. I believe that Paul wants to give us a list of essential tools for a wise spirit-filled life.
I’ve done enough writing (a sermon every week) to have a sense of “inspiration desperation.” Every writer, and for that matter every artist, has occasional writers block – times when you can’t figure out what to put on that blank page. When that happens, one approach is to look outside, watch people, look out for inspiration.
This is just speculation, but I have a feeling that Paul comes to the end of Ephesians and he begins to wonder: how can I explain what is in my heart? He wants to explain in more detail, in better earthly pictures, this ethical life he’s talking about. He then sees a Roman soldier. Helmet on head, breastplate on his chest, sword in his hand.
He writes this (reading now from the NIV):
13Therefore 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. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
If you’ve been in church a long time, I worry your reaction might be: yawn. If you haven’t possibly your reaction is: why the militaristic language?
Neither reaction is equal to what is deserved. Let me explain why.
1) Interpretations of this have sometimes made child’s play out of this text, and hence your yawn. These interpretations have literalized the images, and can make light of the truth behind them. I read this text, and I think of a child, with a sword that reads “Bible” and a breastplate that reads “righteousness.” I think of the company that makes children’s costumes with all the appropriate labeling. There is nothing wrong with this, as long as we grow up. The tools Paul encourages us to take on are to be life long pursuits, worthy of every effort, not plastic costumes to slip on for a church show.
These tools are essential because they protects us against those who might say that living in the spirit is just a subjective experience of doing what feels good or seems right. It challenges those who reduce living in the spirit to emotional experiences. I hope you’ll see what I mean in a moment. Don’t yawn, it matters.
2) And if this strikes you as too warrioresqe, there is a reason that military language is appropriate. It’s because we are in a battle. This battle should not be confused with the war on terror, the war against crime, the Baptist war against Methodists.
This war is fought mostly in your heart. We all have a tendency to located evil out there. But never forget where evil first originates. At one point the religious rulers are trying to trip up Jesus, and so they ask him why his disciples don’t do the ceremonial hand washing.
These are the words of Jesus (Matt. 15). He minces no words:
16"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. 17"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "
Evil is out there, but more importantly, it originates in here. If we are to follow the spirit of Christ, we must begin with the assumption that all have sinned and have fallen short. That evil is not what was foisted upon us by some all powerful devil, but what we choose.
The other day the US Ambassador to Cambodia gave a speech in which he criticized those who called Pol Pot a monster. This might seem strange, given that Pol Pot is responsible for killing millions, and ranks up there with Hitler and Stalin. But the point he was making is that we should be very careful about putting those criminals in some exceptional category. None of those three “monsters” would even be remembered today if it weren’t for thousands of people, like me and like you, who did their bidding.
Life is a war. It is not a war against Muslim people, or even radical people, it is a war against the darkness which threatens us all. It is a war against the evil inside of us, and occasionally inside of others. Paul’s point: no good soldier goes to war without the right tools.
I like what Peterson does with this text in his Message translation. He makes it about the tools, not the metaphor itself:
“Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words, learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life.”
Let me expand:
1) The belt of truth. Let truth surround you, let it be the thing that holds you together. This, more than anything else, is the test of emotional and spiritual health: how well you deal with uncomfortable truth. Denial leads to death, disconnection from life. Only a radical truth orientation will give you health.
I’ve met families where a loved one is in hospice care, days from death, and someone in the family refuses to deal with it, and that denial is almost always disruptive. Truth is such a beautiful thing, even when painful. Why are we Christians accused of being such hypocrites? Because we don’t tell the truth about our sins.
2) The breastplate of righteousness. This we must connect with the Hebrew concept of justice. Like Joshua we must choose: will our lives be about our own pleasure, or about living rightly? There’s lots of pleasure in living well, but it’s a question of priority.
3) The agility of the gospel of peace. I think what Paul means to emphasize here, is that when we know we are forgiven and loved – when we are in a community of support and love – we are better able to live agile lives. We can run the race with endurance. We aren’t weighted down with the burden of guilt. We can be lightfooted and hopeful.
4) The shield of faith. Again I don’t think we need to take this picture too literally, but it is a fact that faith protects us. It protects us from the cancer of cynicism and the decay of despair. It protects us from the darts of nihilism and hedonism. Faith helps us wake up, and decide that there is a reason for living.
5) The helmet of salvation. I see this as a result of the previous two: faith and the gospel of peace. Given what he says elsewhere, it’s natural to think that he wants us to “think on our salvation.” Let it be something that occupies your mind. Last weekend the deacons looked at this passage: Phil. 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
6) The sword of the Spirit – the word of God. Much has been made about this being both a defensive and offensive weapon. This is true of a sword – which is what makes watching a swordfight interesting. There’s all of this back and forth action. The Bible has certainly been used as a weapon, but like the sword, it has sometimes been used offensively against the wrong enemies. Our enemies are not non-believers, or liberals, or Roman Catholics, or Presbyterians… our enemy is twofold: the evil in our own heart and the evil in the heart of others. That war, Paul says in this passage, is not against flesh and blood – but the spiritual ruler of darkness. The darkness if found in every human heart.
7) Which is why Paul adds the 7th tool: prayer. Pray in the Spirit. In other words pray in recognition of the presence of God in your life, and in view of all that Christ is and does.
Prayer, as we saw in Jesus teachings a few weeks ago, can’t be reduced to a formula. It is rather a practice of recognizing the presence of God and having a conversation.
Those are seven tools, seven virtues, seven essentials, seven values to not live without. Adopt them, and create a life God can live inside.
I don’t claim to have some particular kind of skill at using these tools. I’m still working at it, as I suspect you are. May God help those of us who want to drive the nail of a wise life to pick up the right tools God provides.
Last week we focused on Ephesians 5 where Paul encourages us to live wisely. This is the heart of living ethically. As the French say to their kids: soie sage – be good/wise! Paul specifically, the Bible generally, tells us that wisdom is not found in laws, rules and regulations. Wisdom is found in the Spirit of Christ. It is found in a relationship, in a commitment, in a disposition. Whereas Aristotle said that the heart of living well, was imitating the virtuous – the Apostle Paul says that it is in imitating Christ and adopting his mind, his spirit. (if this sounds unfamiliar, you might get the tape!)
But Paul doesn’t leave it there. He moves on to discuss the “hows” of spirit-filled living. OR to put it another way, he provides a list of essential tools that will aid you in developing the mind of Christ, in adopting the spirit of Christ. Or to put it yet another way: you need these tools if you are going to construct a house in which God will live.
If you have ever attempted to dig a hole without a shovel, cut a piece of wood with a very dull saw blade, drill a hole with a bad bit, drive a nail without a hammer… you know the importance of tools. I believe that Paul wants to give us a list of essential tools for a wise spirit-filled life.
I’ve done enough writing (a sermon every week) to have a sense of “inspiration desperation.” Every writer, and for that matter every artist, has occasional writers block – times when you can’t figure out what to put on that blank page. When that happens, one approach is to look outside, watch people, look out for inspiration.
This is just speculation, but I have a feeling that Paul comes to the end of Ephesians and he begins to wonder: how can I explain what is in my heart? He wants to explain in more detail, in better earthly pictures, this ethical life he’s talking about. He then sees a Roman soldier. Helmet on head, breastplate on his chest, sword in his hand.
He writes this (reading now from the NIV):
13Therefore 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. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
If you’ve been in church a long time, I worry your reaction might be: yawn. If you haven’t possibly your reaction is: why the militaristic language?
Neither reaction is equal to what is deserved. Let me explain why.
1) Interpretations of this have sometimes made child’s play out of this text, and hence your yawn. These interpretations have literalized the images, and can make light of the truth behind them. I read this text, and I think of a child, with a sword that reads “Bible” and a breastplate that reads “righteousness.” I think of the company that makes children’s costumes with all the appropriate labeling. There is nothing wrong with this, as long as we grow up. The tools Paul encourages us to take on are to be life long pursuits, worthy of every effort, not plastic costumes to slip on for a church show.
These tools are essential because they protects us against those who might say that living in the spirit is just a subjective experience of doing what feels good or seems right. It challenges those who reduce living in the spirit to emotional experiences. I hope you’ll see what I mean in a moment. Don’t yawn, it matters.
2) And if this strikes you as too warrioresqe, there is a reason that military language is appropriate. It’s because we are in a battle. This battle should not be confused with the war on terror, the war against crime, the Baptist war against Methodists.
This war is fought mostly in your heart. We all have a tendency to located evil out there. But never forget where evil first originates. At one point the religious rulers are trying to trip up Jesus, and so they ask him why his disciples don’t do the ceremonial hand washing.
These are the words of Jesus (Matt. 15). He minces no words:
16"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. 17"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "
Evil is out there, but more importantly, it originates in here. If we are to follow the spirit of Christ, we must begin with the assumption that all have sinned and have fallen short. That evil is not what was foisted upon us by some all powerful devil, but what we choose.
The other day the US Ambassador to Cambodia gave a speech in which he criticized those who called Pol Pot a monster. This might seem strange, given that Pol Pot is responsible for killing millions, and ranks up there with Hitler and Stalin. But the point he was making is that we should be very careful about putting those criminals in some exceptional category. None of those three “monsters” would even be remembered today if it weren’t for thousands of people, like me and like you, who did their bidding.
Life is a war. It is not a war against Muslim people, or even radical people, it is a war against the darkness which threatens us all. It is a war against the evil inside of us, and occasionally inside of others. Paul’s point: no good soldier goes to war without the right tools.
I like what Peterson does with this text in his Message translation. He makes it about the tools, not the metaphor itself:
“Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words, learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life.”
Let me expand:
1) The belt of truth. Let truth surround you, let it be the thing that holds you together. This, more than anything else, is the test of emotional and spiritual health: how well you deal with uncomfortable truth. Denial leads to death, disconnection from life. Only a radical truth orientation will give you health.
I’ve met families where a loved one is in hospice care, days from death, and someone in the family refuses to deal with it, and that denial is almost always disruptive. Truth is such a beautiful thing, even when painful. Why are we Christians accused of being such hypocrites? Because we don’t tell the truth about our sins.
2) The breastplate of righteousness. This we must connect with the Hebrew concept of justice. Like Joshua we must choose: will our lives be about our own pleasure, or about living rightly? There’s lots of pleasure in living well, but it’s a question of priority.
3) The agility of the gospel of peace. I think what Paul means to emphasize here, is that when we know we are forgiven and loved – when we are in a community of support and love – we are better able to live agile lives. We can run the race with endurance. We aren’t weighted down with the burden of guilt. We can be lightfooted and hopeful.
4) The shield of faith. Again I don’t think we need to take this picture too literally, but it is a fact that faith protects us. It protects us from the cancer of cynicism and the decay of despair. It protects us from the darts of nihilism and hedonism. Faith helps us wake up, and decide that there is a reason for living.
5) The helmet of salvation. I see this as a result of the previous two: faith and the gospel of peace. Given what he says elsewhere, it’s natural to think that he wants us to “think on our salvation.” Let it be something that occupies your mind. Last weekend the deacons looked at this passage: Phil. 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
6) The sword of the Spirit – the word of God. Much has been made about this being both a defensive and offensive weapon. This is true of a sword – which is what makes watching a swordfight interesting. There’s all of this back and forth action. The Bible has certainly been used as a weapon, but like the sword, it has sometimes been used offensively against the wrong enemies. Our enemies are not non-believers, or liberals, or Roman Catholics, or Presbyterians… our enemy is twofold: the evil in our own heart and the evil in the heart of others. That war, Paul says in this passage, is not against flesh and blood – but the spiritual ruler of darkness. The darkness if found in every human heart.
7) Which is why Paul adds the 7th tool: prayer. Pray in the Spirit. In other words pray in recognition of the presence of God in your life, and in view of all that Christ is and does.
Prayer, as we saw in Jesus teachings a few weeks ago, can’t be reduced to a formula. It is rather a practice of recognizing the presence of God and having a conversation.
Those are seven tools, seven virtues, seven essentials, seven values to not live without. Adopt them, and create a life God can live inside.
I don’t claim to have some particular kind of skill at using these tools. I’m still working at it, as I suspect you are. May God help those of us who want to drive the nail of a wise life to pick up the right tools God provides.
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