22nd August 2021 Pentecost 13 (Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost) Put on The Whole Armor of God
(Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 8:22-30, Ephesians 6:10 – 20)
By Heeyoung Lim
The earth is the LORD’s and while humanity has been entrusted with care of God’s creation. We are only stewards, not owners. The earth itself is a witness to the glory of God and the Lordship of Christ, but it suffers from many things that are normally linked with human sin and fault. In addition to the difficult situation of COVID-19, there are so many difficulties such as violence, wildfires and earthquakes occurring all over the world, and the world is being destroyed and torn by human induced climate change and selfish and greedy people’s mistakes. I hope we can make a better future by saving energy and water, tree planting, using environmentally friendly products, and living in harmony with creation. God commands us to look after and protect whole creation in accordance with God’s word. I hope we can have our own stories and actions for our environment and sustainability and participate in God’s work. Every effort must be undergirded with prayer.
David was promised that someone from his house would a dwelling place for God. 1 Kings 8 tells of the fulfillment of that promise and emphasizes that the temple is a place of prayer. Solomon stands before the people in public prayer and opens the temple as a place of prayer for all people. At the centre of all prayer is a conviction about God. God’s presence is not limited to any physical place, but He graciously reveals Himself in special ways in His house. That is why biblical prayer begins with adoration of God. Our prayer needs to be based on what God has chosen to reveal about Himself and what He has spoken to us, not on what we like to think or imagine about Him. (1 Kings 8:22) God is never far away, and the presence of God equips our faithful lives.
Today’s Ephesian text gives advice on how to live the new Christian life and Christian spiritual warfare. (Ephesians 6:10-20) Christians faced daily harassment, discrimination, and suppression by their neighbours and the authorities at that time because Christianity was illegal until A.D. 313.
Christians must go through transformation while they grow spiritually. They must shed old selves and licentious lifestyle and put on their new selves of godly righteousness and holiness. (4:22–24) Christian
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individuals, families, and communities become exemplary, living in love, forgiveness, and thankfulness. In this spiritual warfare with sin and evil, God in Christ through the Spirit supplies to Christian’s power and strength, and Christians are “to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power”. (6:10) Christian life in the predominantly pagan world became challenges to the “Ephesians.” One of the major challenges that early Christians experienced in their transformation was about power. We must prepare ourselves inwardly for the outer struggle. The outer struggle against the injustice and powers will test our inner resolve. God never ceases to offer new opportunities to grow and deepen our sense of commitment in faith community. Our inner heart and resolve might be tested or shaken while we are struggling against injustice and powers.
However, suffering and struggling can be parts of the process of faith development where spiritual growth occurs and can be ways of deepening into a mature faith. Fighting and the victory in the spiritual warfare may be opportunities for spiritual growth where followers of Jesus stay alert to evil, pray and love, influence one another’s growth, and look after one another. God’s unconditional love and spiritual resources are found among us and in nature. His love and spiritual power enable us to stand firm and endure in tough times.
These spiritual resources are “truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, and faith” that are found in the human-divine relationships and in the natural environment. (14-16) Spiritual resources are expressed in music, arts, and through our lives. Expressions of spiritual resources can be seen in the care of world and nature, in acts of love and justice among the people, and in the compassion and commitment of faith communities. It is very inter-relational and helps in spiritual growth.
Today’s text invites us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. God wants us to put on the whole armor of God, specifically, “stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (14-17)
The weapons are mainly defensive, equipping us to withstand attack. The belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield, and the helmet are all to enable us to remain safe under attack. As we can see from the fact that
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the sword is an offensive weapon, this passage does not just suggest passive resistance. Paul is challenging his readers to take the fight to the enemy. The Bible tells us to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The best weapon we can use against our enemies in spiritual warfare and life fields is the Word of God. There may be attacks of doubt, despair, and temptation in our lives, but faith in Jesus as Lord of the Resurrection will protect us and the Word of God will give us all victory. We do not wrestle against human, but against the forces and authorities, against rulers of darkness and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (12) We do not have to fight each other because humans are not our enemies, they are our neighbours we need to love. May spiritual growth be occurred with the hope and resiliency in Christ.
In today’s text, prayer in the Spirit is crucial. We cannot win the spiritual battle against Satan in our own strength. It must be the strength of the Lord. We do not need to be unduly fear the devil or evil because Jesus is everywhere. I hope we will be able to defend ourselves in Christ and we will still be standing firm before the Lord when the battle is over. We are to take on the enemy by Spirit-empowered words and by Spirit-inspired prayer. Our prayer needs to be based on what God has spoken to us, not on what we like to think or imagine about Him. Spiritual warfare must be undergirded with prayer. Our common weapon is prayer that the community is able to be strong in the strength of God’s power.
May we be to put on the full spiritual armor of God so that we will be able to win the spiritual war against the devil. If our armor is in place, we can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Our community is encouraged to know God’s presence to be closer and more active, to walk on God’s love, God’s truth, and God’s way of peace. Do we have all our pieces of armor on? If not, which ones do we need to put into place? Are we under-girding our battle with prayer? We are to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. I believe that we can be strong in the Lord. When God is glorified, His people are blessed. May we put on whole armor of God in Christ. I hope and pray that we are equipped, protected, and transformed to do God’s work together by protecting whole creation and putting on full armor of God.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)
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