Our Marching Orders

Ephesians 6:10-20

Introduction

I enjoy military-type stories, whether they are historical or fiction. It could be a fantasy world such as Lord of the Rings or history from the Second World War or even some futuristic science fiction epic. There are numerous things that I enjoy about this genre but there is a particular kind of scene that is found in most of these stories no matter the time period or the historical nature. There is at some crucial moment a leader who gives a short but intense speech to their people. They are about to face great danger and there are many reasons to be scared and so the leader seeks to inspire them with words of courage. It is this kind of scene that gives me the goose bumps more than anything else.

Why do I share this? The passage that we are looking at in this conclusion to our series on Ephesians is Paul’s version of that into battle inspiration speech. While he is not sending the Ephesians into a literal military battle, he is just as much sending them into a spiritual battle. In this passage, Paul attempts to both inspire and equip the Ephesians to go forward despite all of the difficulties that they will face. In this passage, Paul uses three imperatives, that is statements that are not just suggestions or advice but commands such as a general might give their troops in order to ensure their victory on the battlefield. We are going to look at each of these three imperatives.

Be Strong

The first imperative is to be strong. That sounds wonderful but in the world does someone do such a thing? Can we just will ourselves to be strong? Can I go to the gym and face a 500 lb barbell and then say to myself: “Okay self, be strong” and then curl it? Probably not.

Likely, you will want to remind me that Paul is not talking about physical strength but more of an inner strength. We hear people use that phrase from time to time, “Be strong.” Perhaps someone has experienced a great loss and they are very expressive of their grief. Someone might put their hand on their shoulder and say “Be strong.” But what does that mean? In some cases it might be encouragement to discover strength but often it is a plea to at least act strong. Try to hide the expressions of grief and seek to suffer quietly.

That sounds rather cynical and you might think that I doubt any valid meaning to “Be strong.” That is not the case. On a mundane level, I think there are times that we can remember the strength that we have. But I don’t think that is what is Paul is actually talking about here.

Paul says: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.” (Ephesians 6:10) The strength that we are to have is not our own strength. We are to be strong in the Lord. Our strength is not in what we bring to the spiritual battle but in the strength of God’s power.

Throughout his letters, Paul is having this ongoing conversation about the nature of strength. People, including Christians, have very specific ideas about what strength looks like. This includes our opinion of strength when it comes to an individual as well as a congregation. Someone describes a certain church as strong. You probably think of well maintained and useful facilities, a healthy budget, large congregation and multiple pastors on staff. None of that is bad but that is not the kind of strength that Paul talks about. Paul talks about strength that looks like weakness but because God infuses his power, it is far stronger than anything we can imagine. The most obvious example is that of the cross. It would seem to be the ultimate example of weakness but through the eyes of faith, it is the ultimate example of strength.

So we are to be strong in the Lord. Agreed. But how do we do that? Thankfully, Paul explains it.

Put On the Armour of God

Not surprisingly, if Paul is giving an inspirational speech to send Christians into battle, he includes something about armour. And this is the next imperative, “Put on the armour of God.” It is not a suggestion of something that might be helpful but an order to put on that armour.

When I watch movies, including modern warfare movies, very often the soldiers have very little protection so that the audience can catch a good view of the famous actor portraying the character. But that is not how it works. A few months ago, I was visiting troops who were doing live fire exercises. As they proceed through the path, firing at targets with live ammunition, I followed along. And there is no way that I was going to be allowed to do that with a helmet, a frag vest, and ear plugs. These things are essential.

But before Paul goes into the details about the armour, he gives us a valuable reminder. When we think of warfare, we think of people attacking people. And to be honest, church history has demonstrated that churches are more than happy to adopt this model. But Paul tells us that this is a spiritual battle and that it is not people that are our enemies. Instead, Paul tells us that our battle is with spiritual forces. I would love to know what images that brings to your mind? Do you see little demons? To be honest, I do not fully understand what Paul is talking about here and he does not give us details. I do not think it is helpful to try and work out a full demonology. But I do believe what Paul says. I believe it because I have experienced it. There have been numerous times that I have been convinced that I was in the middle of a spiritual war zone. Bad things were happening and it was more than unfortunate circumstances or people with quirky personalities. I cannot fully explain it but I know it is real.

With that in mind, we are told to put on the full armour of God. In this, Paul is using both the familiar Roman armour, as well as images found in Isaiah. I am not going to go into detail about these but I want to make an important point. The first thing Paul had said is to be strong in the Lord, now it is to put on the armour of God. We rely fully on God’s strength and not our own but at the same time, we have agency. There are things that we do that position us to be able to rely on God’s strength. These are the things that are described in the armour. While we do not fight in our own power, we are not passive in this process. 

Stand Therefore

This brings us to Paul’s third imperative which is to stand. What does it mean for Christians to take a stand? I think that this is something that Christians find confusing. The problem is not whether or not to take a stand but what will we take a stand for.

The great Reformer, when brought before a Roman Catholic council because of his theological teachings is reported as ending his speech with: “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.” Christians have been inspired by that courage and feel a kindred spirit when they take a stand. But a stand for what? Here I stand when it comes to my style of church music? Here I stand when it comes to my form of church governance? Here I stand when it comes to what people are allowed to do on a Sunday? I am not saying that these things are not important. But when we go through Paul’s letters, we find that there is plenty of room for compromise on secondary issues. 

I would say that the stand that Paul tells us to take is not even on a specific issue. All of this is in the context of spiritual warfare. The goal of our enemy is not to weaken the church’s influence on Canadian society. The goal of our enemy is to discourage us and make us give up on the faith. To stand is to say that I will not give up on God, no matter what life throws at us. It is not about a lack of doubts or questions but willing, at the end of the day to say that our allegiance belongs to God. There is a lot of talk about deconstruction these days with some people saying it is good and some saying that it is bad. I would say that there are unhealthy and unbiblical teachings that people have received that need to be deconstructed. Some of those people end up jumping from reconsidering what they have been taught to giving up on God. That need not be the case. We can and should question how our beliefs line up with the truth, but that can be done with a commitment to God. This is our stand.

Conclusion

Some people have some elaborate ideas about the nature of spiritual warfare and I have read some of those books and have heard some of those sermons. But these ideas, as creative as they may be, make the leap from Paul saying that it exists to speculating about the details. I think we should stick with the Bible. You do not need a book on spiritual warfare to know that life can be difficult and that we face discouragement.

Paul gives us three imperatives as his inspiration speech to keep us going. Be strong in the Lord. Find that strength by putting on the armour of God. Thus armoured, we must take our stand. Not that all of our convictions must be imposed on others but that we will remain faithful to God, even when everything else around us seems to be falling apart. We might not have all the answers, but these things we can do.