Sermon - Trinity XXI 2021 - Ephesians 6:10-17

Man in Armor, Rembrandt, 1655

We are living in some tumultuous times. Here in America we were spared most of the major tumult of the 20th century, at least on our own land. Certainly there was Pearl Harbor and many riots and demonstrations, but nothing like our Civil War in the 19th century or what much of Europe faced in the 20th century. But now some fissures and chips are starting to appear in the shiny facade of our highly decadent society.

Like the Cold War era, people are starting to get the impression that something isn’t quite right. In that era they built bomb shelters, today the risks are different so people are trying to live more sustainably. Gardening, raising small livestock, canning and preserving foods, these are becoming incredibly popular especially with the younger generation and in some places finding supplies is getting difficult. Similarly, with threats of banning guns and fears of civil war or meat shortages, the sale of firearms and archery is through the roof.

If nothing else, these are all useful skills and generally wholesome activities. It’s good to have local neighbors who can defend, hunt, and provide for themselves and others should the need arise. It’s healthy for our bodies and minds to get out and learn new hobbies. It’s a very good thing for us to get outdoors and make use of this world God has lovingly and wonderfully created in the beginning.

When times of tumult arise, it’s necessary for us to take heed of God’s Word. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” However the primary battle we fight isn’t fought by building bomb shelters, becoming a sharp shooter, and making your own goat cheese. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The battle we fight is primarily in the heart.

The devil certainly fights with swords, guns, and bombs, but that’s not his primary line of attack. “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The devil fights with lies against the truth of God’s Word. He likes to go right for the heart and the soul, he likes to kill faith. He knows that if he can strike at our hearts and kill our faith he doesn’t have to bother killing our bodies. When he manages to kill faith he knows that he will have managed to kill both our souls and bodies for eternity.

Lies are so dangerous because they crush a person’s soul. God’s word sets you free, Jesus says, but lies enslave, tear down, and crush. Lies are poison for the soul. Lies are parasites for the soul. The devil loves lies. 

Jesus knows that the devil loves to devour souls by spreading his insidious lies. This is why Jesus’ ministry is centered in His teaching the truth and His focus isn’t on healing the body. When Jesus does heal the body He tells people not to tell anyone about it. But when Jesus teaches the truth He wants it to spread far and wide. Jesus doesn’t often offer physical comfort, but tells His followers to take up their crosses and follow Him. When Jesus finally sends out His apostles, He does tell them to bring a money bag, some provisions, and to buy a sword, so that’s important too, but that’s only for the sake of being able to teach the truth of God’s Word.

When Jesus does heal the body He does it for the sake of building up the faith. For example, Jesus heals the official’s son because He desires him and his family to have faith. When this official approaches Jesus he obviously has some faith, “He went to Jesus and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.” The man wouldn’t have gone to Jesus if he had no faith whatsoever. But be that as it may, the faith he did have was still weak, as evidenced by the fact that He needed Jesus to go to his son in person. Jesus recognized this weak faith: “So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.””

But Jesus doesn’t crush the bruised reed or smother the smouldering wick, instead He builds up the man’s faith. Jesus doesn’t do exactly what the official requested, Jesus doesn’t go to the son. Instead, Jesus heals the son by speaking His Word. “Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” Faith comes by hearing! The official heard Jesus’ Word, He heard the truth, and faith blossomed in his heart! Not only him, but his whole household believed because they heard the word of truth. The physical healing was secondary to the faith Jesus gave these people through the truth.

Since the devil’s primary mode of attack is with lies, therefore Jesus’ primary line of defense is with truth. Therein rests our primary armor of God by which we defend against the devil and all of the tumult in our day. “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.” It’s no coincidence that the first piece of armor we’re commended towards is the belt of truth.

Since we’re not the first Christians to experience tumult and difficult days, we’d be smart to glean the wisdom from those who have gone before us in battle. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, famous soviet dissident of the 20th century who spent time in a Russian gulag, knew well the tactics of the adversary. He knew that the devil first fills us with lies, and therefore we are to live not by lies. 

Solzhenitsyn wrote in his famous article Live Not by Lies about the first and simplest step we can take in the fight against the devil: “The simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me! And this is the way to break out of the imaginary encirclement of our inertness, the easiest way for us and the most devastating for the lies. For when people renounce lies, lies simply cease to exist. Like parasites, they can only survive when attached to a person. We are not called upon to step out onto the square and shout out the truth, to say out loud what we think—this is scary, we are not ready. But let us at least refuse to say what we do not think!...Our way must be: Never knowingly support lies!”

For us today, this is our first step in the fight against the devil! We must not live by lies but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Just as in the beginning God spoke and all things were created through the power of His Word, likewise shall we be sustained against Satan’s lies through the truth of God’s creative Word. The shoes on our feet which help us walk this stony path is the gospel of peace. The shield which extinguishes and defends against Satan’s flaming darts, his lies, is faith in the truth of the Gospel that Jesus is crucified for us. The sword of the Spirit by which we fight against evil is the Word of God.

There are many lies around us, and we are called on to fight those lies with the truth. There are theological lies which Satan has been sowing throughout Christendom for centuries, such as the ideas that we’re not sinful from birth, that the sacraments don’t save, and that the Bible isn’t trustworthy. There are social and political lies infecting us, such as the ideas that men and women aren’t different, that human life isn’t sacred and worth protecting in the womb, that the household and marriage matters less than the economy, and that boys can become girls or vice versa. 

If you’re ready and able, then boldly speak the truth in the face of lies, stand on the highways and at podiums and speak the truth. If you’re not ready for that kind of battle yet, because that battle is scary and may be very costly, then at the least don’t live by lies in your own heart. Be familiar with the truth and know it concretely in your mind. When lies present themselves, tune them out, shut them off, and don’t repeat them. Flee from the places where lies are taught.

Flee to the truth which God speaks for the life of the world. The official went from Capernaum to Cana to go and talk to Jesus. He went on a trek that would have taken a fair amount of time, leaving his dying son in order to talk to Jesus; fleeing to Jesus is a sacrifice. Likewise, when we flee from lies and live not by lies, let us flee to Jesus for refuge and live by every word that comes from His mouth. His Word doesn’t crush and poison our souls, but His word is creative and powerful, building us up so that we may withstand the devil’s attacks. His Word creates faith in our hearts, so that even if we may die for the truth, we trust that Jesus has already died and risen for the truth, and so we’re crowned with the helmet of salvation and know that the victory is ours. Christ is risen and truth has won the battle. So may God bless you to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.