^{“The best possible thing that we can clothe ourselves in isn’t armor– it is love. Love that strengthens our backs, and opens our hearts. Love that prepares us to love others, and to be loved in return. That is the true armor of God.”}

Sermon Preached: August 25, 2024 at Trinity on the Green

Year B, Proper 16 (Track 2): Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18 | Psalm 34:15-22 | Ephesians 6:10-20 | John 6:56-69

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God.” May I speak in the name of God, who is to us Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

When I was a kid, I loved the scripture passage that we read today from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” At Christian Camp we had a song we would regularly sing about the “sword of the Spirit” and the “helmet of salvation.” It had hand motions (as any good camp song should), and I loved it. I loved the idea that we could be protected by God in a physical, tangible way.

I also liked the vision of the universe that Paul provided, in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul speaks as if Good and Evil are clear-cut things. You can either stand on the side of Good – the side of God – or the side of evil – the side of the devil. There is comfort in this either / or, black and white view of the universe.

As I have gotten older, and more mature in my faith, this image of the armor of God doesn’t sit so well with me anymore. First of all, I’ve learned to be suspicious of violent imagery –  thinking of the impacts of violence on our culture, and when thinking of Jesus who preached, in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” I’ve also become more skeptical of Paul’s seemingly black and white view of the universe. Is faith simply a matter of turning away from evil, and turning towards good? If only that were the case! More often than not “good” and “evil” are not clear cut categories. Instead, we are faced with a variety of options in our daily lives, and we have to discern how to live in the way that is most life-giving, following the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. As the disciples say in our Gospel reading today, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” And perhaps that is the point. Following in the footsteps of Jesus is difficult. It isn’t simply a matter of binary decisions. It’s a matter of becoming a part of the life of Christ, and allowing ourselves to be transformed by God’s abiding love.

So, what do we do today with the Armor of God? What do we do today with the imagery of spiritual warfare; with the imagery of God standing over and above everything as a warrior and a conqueror? How do we read this passage in light of a broader understanding of Jesus, who is the “Prince of Peace?”

I’d like to take a detour, briefly, to share a piece of wisdom that I have encountered outside of Christian scripture. This wisdom comes from the contemporary American Zen Buddhist Teacher, Roshi Joan Halifax. Halifax was born in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1942. Later in her life she was drawn to the American civil rights movement and anti-war protests, and she gravitated towards Zen Buddhism as a framework for finding meaning and belonging in the midst of great social change. I’ll skip over the other interesting details of her biography to share a piece of wisdom that Roshi Joan Halifax has offered in her writings and guided meditations. Halifax frequently talks about the importance of having a strong back, and a soft front.

Halifax writes this:

All too often our so-called strength comes from fear, not love; instead of having a strong back, many of us have a defended front shielding a weak spine. In other words, we walk around brittle and defensive, trying to conceal our lack of confidence. If we strengthen our backs, metaphorically speaking, and develop a spine that’s flexible but sturdy, then we can risk having a front that’s soft and open…. How can we give and accept care with strong-back, soft-front compassion, moving past fear into a place of genuine tenderness? I believe it comes about when we can be truly transparent, seeing the world clearly– and letting the world see into us.

I deeply resonate with this idea of a strong back, soft front; because for me that is what the armor of God actually feels like. The armor of God isn’t some hard exoskeleton, like the plate armor worn by medieval knights, or even the shield and breastplates worn by Roman centurions. The armor of God isn’t something that hardens our hearts against the world, while leaving us feeling ashamed and dangerously vulnerable on the inside.

Instead, the armor of God is something that strengthens our spine, metaphorically speaking. The armor of God is something that gives us a sense of those things that we will not budge on– things like resisting evil; things like proclaiming by word and example the Good News of God in Christ; things like loving your neighbor as yourself; things like striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being. All of those examples come from our Baptismal Covenant (BCP 304-5), the promises that make up the core of our faith and come directly from the living example of Jesus Christ. 

While the armor of God strengthens our spine, it also softens our front. The living example of Jesus Christ invites us to imagine a love that is more gracious, more expansive than any love we have ever known. Jesus’ example invites us to share that love with others, to open our hearts to strangers and people we might consider our enemies. Throughout his ministry Jesus demonstrated what it looks like to have a soft front. He asked questions, rather than rendering judgment on others. He invited children to come to him, and raised them up as examples of the highest kind of faithfulness. He accepted the hospitality of others, learning to be at home on the margins and in the center of society, from the boats of fishermen to the table of a tax collector.

Strong back. Soft font. Jesus embodied this motto more than any other person I can think of. That is what the armor of God looks like. Not an armor that protects us from the outside-in, but an armor that helps us stand firm and open to the world, vulnerable and strong in the best way.

 If Paul was writing about the armor of God today, perhaps he would have chosen his language differently. He was, after all, working with the metaphors of his time– and war and Roman soldiers were two very present realities. Nevertheless, even Paul made a careful effort to distinguish the armor of God from the armor of the powers and principalities of his day. Just think of the sword of the Spirit, as an example. The Spirit is often envisioned as breath; wind. The sword of the Spirit doesn’t sound like the kind of weapon you would use to bludgeon someone. Instead, the sword of the Spirit sounds like a much more subtle tool– something that is in our hands, but also beyond our agency and understanding. In many ways, the sword of the Spirit doesn’t sound like a weapon at all. We will also do well to remember Paul’s advice about footwear: “As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the Gospel of peace.” Again, Paul subverts the violent image of the armor of God to point us towards a God whose purpose is not violence and retribution, but a different kind of salvation. Jesus’ salvation does not come from violence. It comes from love.

I invite you to think about what it might look like for you to put on the armor of God this week, and remember these words: strong back, soft front. What a different world it would be if we lived by that motto, and by the example of Jesus Christ. All too often we approach each other armed to the teeth, ready to be right and defend ourselves at all costs. We behave as if every day of our lives is a battle to be won. But the best possible thing that we can clothe ourselves in isn’t armor– it is love. Love that strengthens our backs, and opens our hearts. Love that prepares us to love others, and to be loved in return. That is the true armor of God. May the love of God surround, inspire, and protect you, today and every day. Amen.

Works Cited:

Roshi Joan Halifax, quoted in Brene Brown, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone (New York: Random House, 2017).