Letter to the Ephesians 6: 10 – 18

(Sings)

"Oh Soldier, Soldier, won’t you marry me.
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh no, Sweet Maid, I cannot marry you.
For I have no helmet to put on.


So off she went to her grandfather's chest.
And brought him a helmet of the very, very best.
She brought him a helmet of the very, very best.
And the soldier put it on."

Of course any of you who remember that song will know that the soldier is not satisfied with just a helmet. He needs a sword, a spear, a cloak: the full kit. If you're not wearing the full armour, your opponent will find your weak spot.

In today's reading from Ephesians with which we conclude our study of this amazing letter, the writer uses an image well known to his readers, the image of the Roman soldier in his full equipment (in Latin panoplia from which we get the word, panoply). While the armour is not described in full, enough is listed to give the picture. The writer tells us that to withstand the destructive powers active in our world, we need to put on armour, but it is not a man-made, it does not come from grandfather's chest: it comes from God.

But before we look at this reading in detail, let us first try to gather the threads of the last four Sundays' Ephesians sermons.

This whole letter has been described as prayer because all the way through it the writing keeps getting caught up in adoration and joy as he contemplates the grace of God expressed in his son, Jesus Christ. Even though our author is in prison he sees himself as blessed beyond measure by all that God has done for us. He may be physically in chains, but spiritually and emotionally he's flying free.

So it is that in our first Sermon we saw how the writer introduced his teaching with a great prayer of thanksgiving for all the spiritual blessings we have received and for our calling to be part of the plan of God in the working out of his will in the world.

In the second week we looked at parts of chapter 2 where the writer invites us to take seriously the powers of darkness and negativity in the world, those very real things we all contend with, that make us cynical and afraid, that undermined trust in God and in each other, that make us chase after empty things that we believe will bring us a happy and fulfilled life only to be disappointed, that destroy hope. These negative, spiritual forces are what the writer calls the “powers and the dominions of this world.” I always picture the Dementors in the Harry Potter books when I think about these dark forces. For those of you who don't know the Dementors are ghastly wraithlike figures who suck all the hope, all the joy, all the happiness out of people.

The outcome of all this dismay and negativity, says the writer, is that we build walls, barriers of suspicion and distrust. These barriers are between us and God, us and other people, even inside ourselves. In the writer's day the barrier that was most obvious would be the barrier between Jews and Gentiles.

But all is not lost, because God has sent Jesus into the world to break down the barriers – to take all the fear and hatred into his body on the cross and to show that God's love is stronger than any cosmic or earthly force.

In week three Jean showed us again how the writer as he thinks on these mysteries of Christ's saving act finds himself praising God in one of the great prayers of the New Testament. He prays for every family in heaven and on earth and for all who hear this message that they will be able to comprehend in their hearts, "How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses all knowledge" deep within them. And that is his prayer for us today. Why is this so important? Because it is fear that builds walls, but it is love, God's love, that drives out all fear – so the wall can come tumbling down.

Last week, Michael took us one more stage of the journey. If God has given us every spiritual blessing and called us to be part of his saving plan; if he has conquered those evil forces which divide us, through the death of his son; if by his grace, we can even begin to comprehend this mystery and the depth, length, height, width of his love, then we as a community of Christ's followers are called to be an example in the world of unity, of love to each other; constantly working at breaking down any walls among us as a church, but also in our places of work, in our families, in other social situations. We will only do this by living as Children of Light and coming to maturity in Christ. We must learn to speak the truth to one another in love, to help each other, so that the whole community like a body, grows and builds itself up in love, as each one of us, each part of the body does its work.

But to do this we will need the full armour of God, because whenever we try to do something good, the forces of negativity try to stop us. These forces of negativity sometimes seemed to come from outside us. But they often seem to come from within in the shape of a voice that undermines us. You know what I mean. It says things like, "You are no good." "No one likes you." "Who you think you are?" "You're a bad person." "You could never do this." Now I want to tell you something quite categorically. This voice is not God's voice. It is the voice of the destroyer, the voice of the Prince of Lies. It echoes down the years from our childhoods, from those occasions when we were told off, from the experience of conditional love, which is the only kind of love we human beings can give each other, however hard we try. But God's love is unconditional. God loves us in our beauty and brokenness, and God knows that we have not got the power in ourselves to help ourselves, so he offers us his protection, this armour that works within and without.

But this is strange armour because it is permeable. It will not protect us from feelings of pain or sadness because it will grow in us compassion and mercy for others and sorrow for all the unkindnesses we observe. But it is the armour of God, because it will protect us from the negativity that destroys; that undermines faith and hope and love.

We do not have to be afraid, even though we are called to be God's soldiers in a world which has disowned its Creator, for it is Christ, who will supply the necessary strength for the task he has given. Verse 10 tells us to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. We don't do it in our own strength. The armour described in verse 13 may mean the armour that God supplies, but it may also mean God's own armour; these are the weapons Christ used.

The first item to be put on is truth. This described as a belt, was really the Roman legionnaires broad leather apron which went under the metal armour and prevented it from chaffing its wearer. So truth is the foundation garment of Christian armour. But what does the writer mean by the truth? It is most likely that truth which we learn from the gospel; the truth about who we can know God to be as expressed in his Son, Jesus Christ and the truthfulness and integrity of life which we are called into when we follow Christ.

Next comes the breastplate, which was the body's main protection covering all the vital organs. This is the breastplate of righteousness – of right relationship with God and others.

In verse 15 we come to the feet, but the writer is not interested so much in what we put on our feet, but in our readiness to respond. We are called always to be ready to respond peacefully, to be peacemakers, peace creators, to break down barriers and work at community. In verse 16 we are given the shield of faith, and this rather odd reference to extinguishing flaming arrows. Roman infantry were equipped with large rectangular shields of wood which was covered with leather. Before battle, the shield was soaked in water, so that flaming arrows could not set it alight. This, says the writer, is faith – the resolve to trust God at all times – which will effectively extinguish any thing the powers of darkness can throw at the church as a whole or us as individuals.

The two remaining items are pure gifts from God. The first in verse 17 is a helmet which even today is a vital part of the soldier's equipments. But this is the helmet of salvation, providing the spiritual equivalent, the certainty of protection should we be attacked. This protection was bought by Christ's death and is there for us the moment we claim it. The sign of salvation is baptism.

Finally, we are given the sword. This for the Romans was a short, stabbing weapon. For us it is the Word of God, the gospel. The power of the Holy Spirit gives it an edge that cuts through the world's tangle of deception, cynicism and illusion, and challenges the powers seen and unseen, that rule it.

The whole of Ephesians has been about spiritual warfare. How do we take such talk of spiritual conflict today? Are there hostile spirits or do we prefer to talk in terms of ideas and institutions that embody sin, be they political, economic or personal. On the most important level it does not really matter as long as we courageously face the rule of the powers. We do this by speaking the truth in love and thereby confronting the power of falsehood; by making the gospel known, so as to challenge the power of ignorance of God that keeps so many estranged from him; and by living lives of personal integrity and holiness, as far as are able, so at to challenge the power of sinfulness.

And we undergird it all with prayer – prayer, which is where the author started this letter and where he ends it. In verse 18 he tells us to keep on praying on all occasions for prayer is the place where we listen to God and strengthened for the battle.