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Be Prepared!

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“Be Prepared!”

Ephesians 6:10-20 (6:10) – August 25, 2024

            I love to go to a baseball game! I do not go that often now, but in years past, I used to regularly go to Wrigley Field and watch the Cubs play. I don’t know if everyone is familiar with the equipment that baseball players need, but one player on a baseball team needs special equipment. The catcher is in a key spot on the team, and a very dangerous one! The pitcher regularly throws the ball at very high speeds. A catcher needs protection from those balls! A catcher’s mask, a chest protector, and shin guards, just to mention a few!

            This is similar to our Bible reading today. The Apostle Paul is finishing up his letter to his Ephesian friends. He warns them to be prepared, with a few practical, direct words for his long-time congregation. (I say long-time, because he spent about three years with this church, longer than with any other church he planted.)

Paul goes through a list of spiritual equipment that will protect his friends from attacks – the attacks of the Devil! Paul does not pull any punches. He is straight and up front with his former church members. He wants to warn them, prepare them for some really difficult times. These difficult times can often come into our lives today, too.

Let’s look more closely at what Paul says. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.”

            When I think of armor, my mind immediately goes to the military. Military service people definitely wear armor to protect themselves every day, in some duty stations, where some serve. Just as in baseball a catcher needs certain equipment to be prepared and safe while in a dangerous position, so do Christian people. Paul was in prison, in Rome, while writing this letter to the Ephesians. Paul was shackled to a Roman soldier inside of his cell, to make double sure he was going to stay put. Paul had the opportunity to become sadly familiar with the Roman soldier’s armor. Everyone, all believers in Christ need certain equipment (or pieces of armor) simply to be prepared!   

Let’s talk about baseball again, for a minute. What about the pieces of equipment the catcher wears? “The mask protects the catcher’s face from foul tips or pitches that might get past the glove. The glove protects the hand from balls. The chest protector protects the middle part of the body. Finally, the catcher wears shin guards to protect the knees and legs. No catcher would ever think of going into the game without this protective equipment.” [1]

            Here in the letter to the Ephesians, at the very end of the practical portion of Paul’s letter, Paul details the protection you and I need in our lives, too. (And, this protection is so similar to what a baseball catcher wears!) We can see very well the kind of protection Paul is talking about if we think of a Roman soldier. Roman soldiers were commonplace, all over the Roman empire. Paul calls this protection the armor of God. He is thinking specifically of the armor the typical Roman soldier wears.

            We buckle the belt of truth around our waists. This is like putting on truthfulness. We are to tell the truth – at all times. Sometimes, it is not easy to be honest! In some situations, we are so tempted to bend the truth a little, or even a lot! But, the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit will help each of us with this important foundation of our faith.

            Next, each of us puts on the breastplate of righteousness. That’s a word we mention a lot in religious circles. Another way of thinking of it is putting on right behavior, putting on justice. Just like a catcher puts on a chest protector. Paul exhorts us to act rightly! This is certainly not easy! This thoughtful and prudent kind of action and behavior is often laughed at, by many people. Just think of rude or uncaring people, who may tease you or be mean to you for acting in a way that Jesus tells us to! (And, Jesus is our model for righteousness.)

            Which leads us to our shoes. Paul tells us to put on shoes that show we are speakers of peace. Not to argue and bicker, we are to go out of our way to bring peace to people!  

            These next two pieces of armor are clearly protective pieces. The shield of faith is our protection against those fiery darts that Satan can fire at us. And, not just physical darts! What about mean and nasty words that come our way, words that plant seeds of doubt in our hearts and minds? And, the helmet of salvation keeps the Evil One away. Thank God we have Jesus gifting each of us with salvation, because that is exactly what Paul talks about here.

            The last piece of armor is actually a weapon. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. The Roman sword is a short sword, or weapon, used for combat at close quarters. This means that we are to actually engage the enemy, become active participants in battle! No sitting on the sidelines, as far as Paul’s fellow believers are concerned. As we continue to follow Jesus, we will continue to win the battle against Satan.

Whether inside or outside the church, however and wherever we serve our Lord, God intends for us to be prepared. That means being prepared by these words of caution and exhortation. Paul used these words in Ephesians to advise all of us to be ready to deal with challenging, even dangerous situations. We all need this prudent protection of God’s armor, in our everyday walk as believers.

Final words for today, quoting Paul? Be strong in the Lord! Stand ready, inside and out. And, do all this in prayer, always asking for God’s help. Are you prepared? Am I? With God’s help, yes – we are! Alleluia, amen! 

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks so much to link http://www.lectionarystudies.com/sunday21bae.html from the Rev. Bryan Findlayson of Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources, a lectionary resource I often quote from. Rev. Bryan gave me a lot of insight this week, and I used much of his material for describing the pieces of Godly armor!)

[1] https://sermons4kids.com/sermons/the-armor-of-god

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Have Compassion

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“Have Compassion”

Matthew 9:35-9:38 – June 18, 2023

            Today is Father’s Day, the day people set aside in the United States to honor fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers – everyone who takes on a fatherly role in the lives of families and individuals across the country. Even, fathers across the world.

The Scripture reading today is the Gospel reading for this week, from the Revised Common Lectionary. I haven’t chosen an alternative reading for today, because the set reading from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 9 is so appropriate for our Summer Sermon series. We are re-imaging God. Seeing God from a different point of view.

Many, many people throughout the world look at the Holy, the Divine, and see something impersonal. This view of the Almighty can seem to be really far away. Distant and cold. Even forbidding and scary. Other times, some people see our God as a strong and mighty Deliverer. The Lord is described many times in the Hebrew Scriptures as a Rock, or a Fortress. That can be helpful, especially when we are in need of Someone strong to help us fight our battles, or when we need a safe, divine Shelter to hide inside – but quite impersonal.

But, what about when some of us (yes, I include all of us here!) need our God to be something other than distant, cold, and scary? Or Someone else than just a super-strong tough-guy? What then? It is really difficult for certain people to believe that their God could be that way! They cannot even conceive of God being warm, welcoming, caring and compassionate!

In Matthew 9:36, our Lord Jesus feels great compassion, and through the words chosen shows us just how deeply He cares. “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

            I wanted to see what a proper, in-depth word study on the word “compassion” had to say. According to one word study, “Com-passio literally means to “suffer with.”  In Latin, com means “with” and passio means “to suffer.”  “Passion” is suffering, which is why we talk about “the Passion of Christ” during Holy Week.” [1]    

            As He traveled throughout Palestine from place to place, the Rabbi Jesus had the opportunity to see a whole lot of people. Plus, many of the individuals who came to Him (or, were brought to Him) were not in good health. Many of these souls were distressed. Two other words for that state are “troubled” or the old-fashioned “vexed.” Have you seen troubled souls? Sometimes, these souls carry all their troubles inside, and the only way we know is by looking at their haunted eyes. Other times, some souls have physical aspects of their bodies that show us their distress and anxiety.

            Many of these hurting souls are dispirited. This word means “downcast” or “thrown down.” When people are inwardly helpless and forsaken, often we can see their souls as dispirited. “Philip Keller, in A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 [Zondervan], describes how sheep can get turned over on their backs and not be able to get up by themselves again. Such sheep are called “cast” or “cast down” sheep (p. 60). These sheep flail at the air with their legs, but they can’t get back on their feet without the aid of the shepherd. Left in this condition, helpless and vulnerable to their enemies, they will die after a few hours or days.” [2]

            We can easily see how Jesus as our Good Shepherd would be greatly concerned and compassionate for these dear souls! I would like to return to the word “compassion.” We looked at the Latin roots of that word, but the Gospel of Matthew was written in Greek.

If we take a closer look at what the Greek word “compassion” means, we see the word splagchna, which appears in the letter to the Philippians. The Apostle Paul’s words in the King James Version say: “I long after you all with the bowels of Jesus Christ.”  The word splagchna means “bowels” – literally, the innards in your belly.  It’s an earthy image that might offend some. “The people of the ancient world believed that all of the most intense feelings originated in the belly.  For them, “guts” did not mean “courage,” but depth of feeling.

It’s easy for us to understand why they would believe that, because when we feel anxious or afraid, our stomachs churn.  Our lower innards give away how much we are affected by our circumstances.  The Greek phrase Splagchna oiktirmou means something like “’the bowels of deep feeling.’” [3]

            Our Lord Jesus felt like this for the crowds surrounding Him. He had deep compassion, caring and love! As the classic hymn tells us, “O, the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of ev’ry love the best! ‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing, ‘tis a haven sweet of rest!”

            No matter how our popular culture makes fun of the “kinder, gentler” emotions like compassion, or labels them as “unmanly,” we can readily see from passages like these that our Lord Jesus felt them deeply. No matter how much some scoff at strong, mighty people also being caring and loving, we have a Divine example right here to hold up. To hold on to.

            Moreover, this does not only refer to the crowds Jesus saw in Palestine. Jesus has compassion on us, today, too. “He sees us in our lostness, in our emptiness, under attack by enemies within and without; and he loves us. Although we are harassed and helpless, he loves us. He doesn’t say, “Well, they should have known better.” He doesn’t say, “You’d think that by now they would have figured it out.” He doesn’t say, “What a bunch of losers.” [4]

Jesus has deep compassion for the sheep without a shepherd, centuries ago, and for us sheep, too! Jesus loves us all, cares for us all, down to the very depths of His being.

We can rejoice in the deep compassion, the deep caring, and yes, the “deep, deep love of Jesus.” This is for each of us today, and this is the Gospel truth. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] Compassion in the New Testament (Part 1) http://www.jmarklawson.com/traveling-in-place/2012/03/compassion-in-the-new-testament-part-1.html

[2] https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-1-help-wanted-matthew-935-38

[3] Compassion in the New Testament (Part 1) http://www.jmarklawson.com/traveling-in-place/2012/03/compassion-in-the-new-testament-part-1.html

[4] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/the-path-of-the-disciple-the-weight-of-the-call/third-sunday-after-pentecost-year-a-lectionary-planning-notes/third-sunday-after-pentecost-year-a-preaching-notes