The 13th Sunday After Pentecost
The Rev. Rod Sprange

Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69

Last Tuesday, as I sat in the garden at our cottage preparing today’s sermon, I was distracted by the birds enjoying our small Mexican water fountain. With the drought this year there had been very little water in puddles and the ditches had dried up. Birds, insects and mammals alike, have been coming to our little fountain to drink and to bathe. Unfortunately, the racoons tend to knock over the top of the fountain as they lean against it to try to reach the water. Wasps gather by the dozen around the spouts where the water trickles out. I don’t usually think about wasps and other insects needing to drink water.

This particular morning, as I was supposed to be preparing this sermon, I was engaged in watching American Redstarts, Yellow Warblers, Chipping Sparrows, a lone Catbird and some Eastern Phoebes all enjoying the cool water and the opportunity to sort out their feathers. Being in nature can be such a distraction from my task of writing a sermon. But, I was reminded of the abundance of God’s creation. Around this little fountain there was so much evidence of life. And this is such a tiny corner of creation. The birds and wasps have no idea I put up the fountain, or where it came from, or that I fill it with water every few days. They have no idea of the pleasure I get from observing them enjoying this oasis. My distracted thoughts gave me a glimpse of the reality of the abundance of God’s gifts to us. Too easily we are ignorant of the providence of these gifts, and forget God’s steadfast love for us. In Hebrew it is called Chesed. God’s steadfast love.

God’s steadfast love is particularly evident in John’s version of the Gospel.

Today we continued our journey through the difficult chapter 6. Two weeks ago Shelagh spoke of the interpretive difficulties and complexities of this chapter and how we cannot possibly do it justice in a few minutes of sermon time. But she did outline the whole chapter. So I don’t want to cover that ground again this morning, except to add a couple of brief thoughts about the nature of what it means to eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood. As Shelagh remarked, this teaching of Jesus is extremely dense in places and was, no pun intended, distasteful to many of his followers, so much so that many of them left him and returned home. I expect those words about munching on his flesh and drinking his blood seem pretty distasteful to many who hear them today.

For me, the heart of this teaching is that if we want to be true followers of Christ we must consume all of him, and be consumed by him. We can’t treat Christ and his teaching like some spiritual buffet - and just take the things we like or approve of. We have to take in all of Jesus, and take him right into our very selves - body, mind and spirit. And once taken into us, allow his essence to be the driving power behind all our thoughts, words and actions. He teaches us that what he wants for us is that he should be alive in us - and we should become truly alive in him.

This is all very good - but it turns out this is dangerous stuff. Inviting Christ to dwell in us, seems also to invite Christ’s enemies to do all they can to thwart us. The evil powers will not accept that they were defeated by the Cross, resurrection and ascension, but continue to wage an intense spiritual battle against Christian disciples, especially against novices and within Christian community. The Screwtape letters, by C.S. Lewis, is a wonderful and accessible book of fiction on this problem. It’s written from the perspective of a seasoned demon instructing a young novice demon, in a series of dusty old letters that were found in the drawer of an abandoned desk in a church office. If you haven’t read the Screwtape Letters, I think you will find it both humorous, and insightful. It is a very important short book about relationships and the constant threat of the spiritual warfare going on around us.

St. Paul is very concerned about this spiritual warfare and for the new Christian communities he has established around the Mediterranean. Towards the end of the letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul talks about how to protect ourselves against this spiritual warfare. This is the appointed epistle reading for this morning. We have been omitting the epistles during our sojourn on Zoom. I think it will be helpful for us to spend a little time this morning thinking about what Paul had to say.

I’ll just read part of the appointed passage:

This is from the letter to the Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10-20. I’m reading N.T. Wright’s simplified translation from his New Testament for Anyone Series.

At the end of his letter Paul wrote: “What else is there to say? Just this: be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power. Put on God's complete armour. Then you'll be able to stand firm against the devils trickery. The warfare we're engaged in, you see, isn't against flesh and blood. It's against the leaders, against the authorities, against the powers that rule the world in this dark time, against the wicked spiritual elements in the heavenly places.

For this reason, you must take up God's complete armour. Then, when wickedness grabs its moment, you'll be able to withstand, to do what needs to be done, and still to be on your feet when it's all over. So stand firm! Put the belt of truth around your waist; put on justice as your breastplate; for shoes on your feet, ready for battle, take the good news of peace. With it all, take the shield of faith; if you've got that, you'll be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is God's word.”

For Paul, who was locked up in prison when he wrote this letter, there is a very real and tangible war going on. The forces of evil will do all they can to subvert and stop the spread of the Gospel. Paul wants the people reading his letter to know that they are in spiritual danger and how to protect themselves and the mission they have been called to undertake by God.

This spiritual warfare can be very subtle: distraction and reasons to procrastinate, nasty little thoughts that come to mind, nasty little comments that slip out. I’m sure we can all make a lovely list of little things that lead us away from being alive in Christ. Unfortunately many of them feel very good at the time.

Paul provides a solid list of protections - taken together he calls this the Whole Armour of God. Interestingly Paul lists five defensive items and only one offensive weapon, and that is the Sword of the Spirit, God’s Word.

Paul wrote “Put the belt of truth around your waist”. We have seen the way truth has been attacked in recent years - the ridiculous suggestion of alternative truth, we used to call that ‘lies’. The use of misinformation to support a particular agenda has become ubiquitous. Even the wisdom and truth of the Gospel has been perverted. It is critically important for Christians to call out lies and assert the truth, in all things. Being a Christian is not a popularity contest. We are in a battle over human integrity.

It’s interesting to me that Paul’s next recommendation is “to put on the breastplate of Justice”. One of the worst effects of the distortion of truth is its impact on justice. As Canadians we don’t have to look too far to see the terrible impact this has had. The treatment of indigenous people across Canada has been perpetrated with lies and injustice. Unfortunately the church, including the Anglican Church, has not only been a party to this, but has been an enabler. I am thankful for a succession of recent Anglican Primate’s and Bishops who have publicly denounced the church’s evil part in this and have offered a succession of heartfelt apologies. As Anglicans we have a responsibility to learn the real truth behind the treaties and the residential school system and legislation like the Indian Act. It is incumbent upon all of us to take part in real reconciliation which means attacking continued injustice. Injustice happens all around us, in the school yard, in the workplace, in family gatherings, even in church communities. It is important that we learn to speak out against any injustice we witness. Remaining silent validates the injustice and further diminishes the victims.

“For shoes ready for the battle” says Paul, “take the Good News of Peace”. We know that God is Truth, that God is Just and that God desires the reconciliation of the whole of creation. God’s desire for peace is indeed the ultimate Good News. God’s steadfast love.

The ultimate protection against the flaming arrows of the enemy, says Paul, is the shield of faith. How often have you been pierced with the arrows of anger, selfishness, intolerance, bitterness, fear, prejudice, jealousy? Any time we find ourselves ready to succumb to these, it is time to pray, to put our trust in God to make us strong and shield us from these destructive behaviours. Remember the words of the statement of faith. We trust in God. We are not alone.

Paul suggests we wear the helmet of salvation. This is a powerful thought - despite all we may know about our own weaknesses, we also know that through Christ we have been redeemed, he is our Saviour - he makes us whole and worthy of standing before God. Knowing what Christ has done for us strengthens us. Knowing that we are all in the same boat should comfort us. That’s why we say the confession together, in public, side by side - face to face - bishops, priests, deacons, men, women, all of us sinners. All of us disgraced and unworthy together, yet all of us forgiven and loved into wholeness by the same God. With the helmet of salvation we have all the protection we need.

The last item Paul mentions is the only offensive weapon in our armoury. The Sword of the Spirit, God’s Word. There is nothing more damaging for evil than to have the word of God proclaimed. The truth of God’s love defeats all evil. We cannot fight evil with evil. Violence does not end violence - it feeds it. All the other armour protects us, the weapon of God’s word destroys the power of the enemy.

We get all this advice from St. Paul, but what do we do with it. Do we let it flow over us this morning and then go back to our real lives once worship is over? Or do we allow Paul’s words to travel with us tomorrow as we engage in work and all the busyness of 21st century life. Will we allow his advice to work in the background of our minds and hearts during this coming week? Will we even remember the five items of armour against the evil powers and the one offensive weapon we can use to help the growth of God’s kingdom on earth? Truth, Justice, God’s peace, faith, salvation and God’s Word.

May the Holy Spirit inspire and guide us throughout the next week and always,
Amen