Ephesians 6:18-20
In one of Mark’s grad school seminars, the group carefully studied Ephesians 6:10-20. The professor, a brilliant, world-renowned scholar, believed that this passage commends a purely passive approach to spiritual warfare. He argued that all of the armor in 6:10-20 is defensive, even the sword. “What do we do when we put on the armor?” he asked one day in class. “Nothing! We just stand there. Standing firm is what we do. That’s how we fight.” At this point Mark raised his hand nervously. “I have to disagree,” he said. “There is something more for us to do here, something vital. Verse 18, as you know, is not separate from the armor passage. It is all part of the same argument, the same sentence beginning in verse 17. So, when we have put on the armor, we don’t just stand there passively. We do something active. We pray. We pray with all kinds of prayer, all the time, for all people. Prayer is how we fight.” When he finished his comment, the room was quiet, filled with tension because he had so plainly disagreed with the professor. He looked at Mark intensely and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “You may be right,” he said finally. “I haven’t seen that before.” On the outside Mark appeared to take his positive response in stride. Inwardly, he was cheering. he had not made a fool of himself. He might even have helped his professor to see Ephesians 6 in a new way. Most translations of Ephesians make it difficult for anyone to see the necessary connection between God’s armor and prayer. English translations begin a new sentence with verse 18 (. . . which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit . . .). Most, like the NIV, even start a new paragraph with verse 18. But the original Greek of this passage reads quite differently. A more literal translation would be, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit . . . praying in the Spirit at all times.” The Greek participle meaning “praying” is dependent grammatically on the imperative “take.” In other words, once you’ve put on the armor of God, here’s what you do: Pray! You pray often. You pray in all sorts of ways. That’s how you fight the battle when wearing God’s armor. In the next few Sundays, we’ll examine in detail exactly what Jesus teaches us about prayer. We learn more about how exactly we’re to fight in God’s battle. For now, I simply want to underscore the truth of this passage – a truth often ignored. Once we have put on the armor of God, we have a clear battle strategy. We have our marching orders. We are to pray. And pray. And pray. Gracious God, well, now I’m fighting! At least that’s the implication of what I have learned from Ephesians. I take seriously what Ephesians teaches. Help me to learn to see prayer more truthfully and fully. And, dear Lord, help me to pray. Teach me to pray! Amen. Ephesians 6:10-13
The Bible contains good news: the best news of all, the news of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, the news that we are saved by God’s grace, not by anything we do. Yet the Bible also conveys bad news: the bad news of our sin and guilt, the bad news of our hopelessness apart from God. Ephesians 6:10-13 reveals more bad news. We are in a battle against the devil and his schemes (v. 11). Our struggle is really not against human opponents, but rather “against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (v. 13). This certainly feels like bad news to me. How in the world are we going to do battle against powerful evil forces we can’t even see? Against the backdrop of this bad news, our passage also has good news for us. We do not have to fight in our own strength. Rather, we can “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (v. 10). How do we do this? Twice our passage gives the same answer: “Put on the full armor of God” (vv. 11 and 13). Of course, our next question would be: What is this armor? And how do we put it on? Here are a few words about the nature of God’s armor. Paul’s use of armor imagery was inspired by the Old Testament, especially Isaiah 59:17 where the Lord “put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head.” Both of these pieces of armor appear with the same imagery in Ephesians 6, which shows clearly Paul’s dependence on Isaiah. Yet in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul writes about “putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” The variations in the meaning of the armor indicate that Paul does not have one fixed schema whereby one piece of armor always has the same meaning. Rather, his use of armor imagery is fluid. What is conveyed by this imagery? In Isaiah, God’s armor consists of righteousness and salvation (Isaiah 59:17). In Ephesians the divine armor includes truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God (Ephesians 6:13-17). We might say, therefore, that the armor of God comprises those things that are essential to God’s nature, God’s work, and our response. The armor of God is composed of those realities that are absolutely central to Christian faith and life. For many of us, the notion of spiritual warfare feels foreign. We’re not apt to think in these terms or experience life in this way. In some segments of the church, however, believers easily—even eagerly—recognize the demonic dimension of our battle. They boldly go on the offensive against evil. Some focus on exorcism and deliverance, casting out demons while others practice an unusual sort of prayer that concentrates on rebuking the devil and his demonic minions, taking authority over these powers in the name of Christ. But this is not the point of Ephesians 6:10-20. There is nothing in this text to support a battle plan that revolves around rebuking or claiming authority over the spiritual forces of evil. Yes, we are to engage in the struggle against the dark powers, but in ways that seem much more mundane than we might expect. According to Ephesians, we are to fight principally by putting on God’s full armor. We are to put on truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. If we are to fight God’s battle in God’s way, these are the majors in which we need to major, both as individuals and as God’s people together. These pieces of God’s armor are certainly less exciting than engaging in verbal conflict with demonic powers. Yet they are precisely what Ephesians emphasizes in teaching us to do spiritual warfare. Consider for a moment some of the implications of this teaching. If you were to say, “I’m going to do spiritual warfare at work today,” your colleagues, even your Christian brothers and sisters, might be a bit concerned. But if you said: “I’m going to be committed to truthfulness; I’m going to make sure my relationships are right; I’m going to help make peace where there is conflict, I’m going to trust God more; I’m going to be gracious in how I relate to others; and I’m going to let God’s truth guide my actions” – I doubt that even your secular colleagues would be put off. The bottom line is this. If you want to fight in God’s way, if you want to put on God’s armor, then major in the majors. Be committed to truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. Let these guide and form your life. Gracious God, thank You for Your strength. Thank You for giving us Your full armor, which we need to fight our spiritual battles. Help us, Lord, to put on Your armor. May we wear Your armor in our workplaces, with our clients, among our friends, with our families, and in our churches. Help us to “major in the majors” as we live our lives for Your glory. Amen. Because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3b-4
Making Great Wine – 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 One of Italy’s favorite destinations is the Piedmont region, home of some of the best vineyards in Italy. This is no surprise for a wine aficionado. A representative from one of the leading vineyards in the area was leading a tour of the vineyard to a group of visitors. He began a startling statement, “The quality of the wine is based on the suffering of the vine.” What did he mean by that? As one looks out on the vineyards, they notice that the hills were densely populated with vines. The host pointed out that the vines are deliberately planted close together so that they have to compete for nutrients and water. The competition drives their roots deeper into the soil and give the grape they produced the complexity and richness required to make a great wine, such as the Barolo for which the region is known. Great people rarely develop in isolation. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, character is formed by enduring suffering. And, as the Italian vineyard host suggests, that suffering is like that of a grapevine. It comes from being placed in particular times and places, and with a particular community of people, that requires us to “go deep looking for nutrients and water.” That’s how our capacity to serve our communities and organizations is formed within us. I find myself often wanting to escape the conditions that make for great wine in people. It’s tempting to avoid dealing with difficult people and unmanageable circumstances. It is also easy to gloss over important underlying issues rather than dealing with them. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wisely said that idealism is the enemy of community. In other words, not facing the realities of our community context actually undermines the possibility of real and healthy organizational relationships. And, it deprives us and those we serve of the gift of being required to “go deep looking for nutrients and water.” To use the language of Paul, we should see our suffering as God’s gift to form our character and that of those we serve and lead. The noted biblical scholar, N.T. Wright, has said that the biblical text is both supple and subtle. Sounds almost like the characteristic of great wine, doesn’t it? So, it should be for those of us who are formed by a biblical vision of discipleship. But that means embracing the suffering that discipleship requires rather than escaping into a simplistic and ultimately destructive practice of discipleship. As our community context – and the suffering we encounter there – requires us to go deeply into the soil of God’s character and faithfulness, we find ourselves developing a complex and rich capacity to serve and lead. We become a great wine worthy of the Great Wine Maker. Lord Jesus Christ, we are grateful that You are the vine and we are the branches. We are grateful that Your life is what produces fruit in our lives, and that we are not left to try and produce that life on our own. Often, we find ourselves in close quarters with what seems to us impossible problems. But, we are reminded that You have placed us there by Your design and for our good. Help us to embrace the gift You have given us and to go deep with You. You alone are our help and confidence. Produce in us the great wine that is worthy of Your Name. Amen. The apostle Paul encouraged believers to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). I used to wonder how one can “pray continually” upon reading this scripture. Perhaps only saints who dedicates themselves to praying throughout the night and develops calluses on their knees could achieve such continuous prayer. However, Philip Yancey’s “Prayer: Does It make Any Difference?” gave me some inspiration. He recorded how a spiritual teacher "prays",
A conversation with someone can be a prayer. The Samaritan woman at the well talked to Jesus about mountains, water, and Jerusalem. Isn’t that a prayer? I like to think of my conversations with others as prayers. I was talking to Jesus in that person. I began to practice this kind of prayer. When I talked to someone, I told myself that I was talking to Jesus in that person. I found that when I do this, I listen more intently (which has always been a problem for me) because Jesus in that person is speaking to me. I am also able to control my tongue better, say fewer words of criticism and blame and more words of thankfulness and praise because I am speaking to Jesus in that person. And I found that see people in a different way because I see Jesus in others. This spiritual teacher not only regards dialogue with people as prayer with God, but also regards daily life as communication and prayer with God: I ask the Lord Jesus: Lord, may this lunch, or tea, whatever it is, be a prayer. I read the Bible and also pray. Instead of reading Psalm 73, I pray Psalm 73. I am willing to submit my actions to God; if I do this, they become a prayer. Brother Lawrence in seventeenth-century France also used a similar method. Lawrence’s secret to being with God is “constant fellowship with God.” He rejoices being with God in his daily life and at work. Lawrence emphasized: Our sanctification does not depend on the work we do, but on whether we work for God. What God loves is not the size of things, but what is done out of love for Him. In daily work, the purpose should not be to please others, but only to love God. Our approach to God should be absolutely the same when we do things and when we pray. We can bring Jesus into every aspect of our lives. Our prayers and daily life are integrated and no longer separate. We can pray while doing anything. Our actions become our prayer. We ask God to remind us that we are doing it for God, the love of God, and the glory of God. "Pray continually" helps us get closer to God and leads us to change from a self-centered perspective to a Jesus-centered perspective to life. Let us practice "praying continually." In our everyday lives, no matter what we say or do, we should constantly fellowship with God and enjoy the joyfulness of being with God. |
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