Our Captain in the well-fought fight

Paul tells us that he endured “...imprisonments, countless floggings, often near death. Three times I was beaten with rods, Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked, on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from Gentiles, danger from my own people, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty....” [2 Corinthians 11:23-27]

Before one dismisses these words as exaggeration or Paul as a special case, we should look carefully to why Paul would write like that.

He wants to get across the utter seriousness of his commitment to the Lord Jesus, and that when the Lord Jesus gives an invitation, it is with the understanding that it is an entire life that is being asked, not only a gentle hour on Sunday morning if it isn't too much trouble.

Perhaps “Onward Christian Soldiers” as a hymn is too triumphalistic for your tastes, but the impulse behind it is accurate; there is combat going on.

It may not always be with weapons of steel.

The gods of this world can with words and clever actions stir up hatred of the Lord Jesus and those who follow him.

And the opposition can be subtle or overt; we may recognize it at once, or not easily sense what is going on.

In either event, we have to be prepared.

Someone will always come out with the line, “I just don't get much out of the Bible.”

And the reply is, “And when did you last spend time in a Bible-study group?”

“I just thought you could pick it up and read it for yourself and sort of like, get the point.”

Tell the kids over at the Little League fields this week that all they needed to do was to pick up a baseball and poof, end up here in Williamsport.

It is not magical for baseball players; neither is it for Christians.

A college chaplain years ago said that he regularly was annoyed when college students told him they were rejecting the Christian faith when what they were rejecting was a childish understanding that had not grown any since they sat through confirmation classes years earlier.

If one is not growing, then one is dying, in faith or in life.

There was a man who meant to be a faithful Christian, but when he went through a tough time in his life, his faith fell apart.

He became angry with God and quit.

One might think it was because of the tragedies and disappointments he had suffered.

His pastor gave a different diagnosis: “When it was time for him to go to the well for water, he had no bucket.”

He lacked the needed defensive armaments.

And those are the sorts of things that Paul is listing in our lesson today:

--the belt of truth around your waist,

--the breastplate of righteousness.

--As shoes, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

--The shield of faithfulness

--the helmet of salvation.

All of them are parts of defensive armor.

There is but one offensive element in Paul's list: the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Paul uses military imagery to describe something which is not military at all in the usual sense of the term,.

There is a tremendous conflict going on, a conflict of allegiances and the focus for life.

Satan is very clever in trying to make us think that we don't need the armor.

C.S. Lewis talks about the good power that went wrong as the power that lurks behind every kind of death.

We are at war with its destructiveness, even as we live in a part of the universe occupied by that rebel Satan.

Enemy-occupied territory, that is what this world is.

Every day in myriad ways, the enemy is trying to overwhelm us, but we are here to subvert his cause.

The church is the outpost of those who have a different picture of life.

“When you go to church you are really listening in to the secret radio transmission from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to keep us from coming here.” [C.S.Lewis, Mere Christianity, p.51]

Don't get hung up on horns and hoofs and black whippy tails; by whatever picture we prefer, Satan, the power in rebellion against God, has made himself ruler over the world and we have to look to Jesus to find ways to subvert its dastardly rule over us.

Remember, our only offensive weapon is the Word of God.

And we are here together today for training in how to use it.

Paul's urging about armor puts matters like daily prayer, devotional reading, regular Bible study groups and so on into perspective.

We can't expect to be very effective in this fight if we haven't done the training.

Common sense and reasonableness are not enough; thought, training, and vigilance are needed.

The baseball player must place himself where he can most effectively pick up the grounder, pull in the fly ball, cut off the steal.

That can only happen with thought, training, and vigilance.

Jesus did not call admirers but “disciples”; you know that word is related to “discipline.”

He asks us to follow him, deny ourselves, denounce evil, forgive enemies, help the helpless, share with the needy.

There is nothing easy or automatic about it.

One writer describes our current situation as “rampant permissiveness.”

Anything goes; whatever.

We are surrounded with sloppy work ...as long as people mean well...; where things are slapped together without much effort or expenditure of self.

But a disciple of Jesus cannot do that.

He or she knows that it is a constant struggle, and whenever he begins to think that he can take a break and do nothing, that will be when the powers of darkness will be able to make more headway with him.

We're going to sing about saints, past and present, in the next hymn.

We want to say thank you to God for the examples of those who have been able to persevere, and to serve as models for us to emulate in this new day.

Saints, see the cloud of witnesses surround us;

Their lives of faith encourage and astound us.

They call to us, ”Your timid footsteps lengthen;

Throw off sins' weight, your halting weakness strengthen.

Come, let us fix our sight on Christ who suffered;

He scorned the shame, He died,

Our death enduring; Our hope securing. [HS-98,#840]

September is approaching, an excellent time for a fresh start.

Whether it is in The Way, an established group, or a new configuration,

now is the time for on-the-job training.

The 5^th stanza of the hymn is based on one of my favorite prayers by Eric Milner-White:

Lord, give us faith to walk where you are sending,

On paths unmarked, eyes blind as to their ending;

Not knowing where we go, but that You lead us –

With grace precede us.

With that confidence, let's get ready to follow our

Captain in the well-fought fight. [LBW#174.2] Amen

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.