Ephesians 6: 10-20
Cartoon.
Points for preaching!
Joke : eats shoots and leaves
Can look at the same thing in different
ways. This passage is asking us to look
at the world through two sets of eyes, one of which can see the reality of spiritual
conflict.
Robert Louis Stevenson once said, "You
know the Caledonian Railway Station in Edinburgh? One cold, east windy morning, I met Satan there." Fergal Keane has written of his experience
of evil in Rwanda which is spiritually damaging. Some of us might find it difficult to believe in the reality of
evil powers in the world, but Keane, who as far as I can tell is not a
Christian, feels as if he has been overwhelmed by them. He writes, " Although I had covered other acts of evil, I had managed to
retain belief in a world where the triumph of evil was prevented by an ultimate
force for good. That belief has
disappeared."
I want us to contemplate the reality of the
spiritual battle we are in as Christians, and I'm going to read some excerpts
from his account of what he found in Rwanda.
I hope these are not too disturbing.
(Read p144/5, Letter to Daniel)
For me these passages describe the existence of
something which is a greater evil than the sum of human actions. One theologian writes that "behind
every inexplicable, unaccountable human malice there is a visible spiritual
power of evil which disastrously envelops human will and human
history." Yet we in Stapleton are,
thank God, never likely to meet the forces of evil in such a horrific way.
Nevertheless, the reality is that there is a
battle on even here against an enemy that seeks to break down what God is
building up and to sap the faith out of believers. (OHP - battle on) We
all wish we could pass our lives in undisturbed peace, with our loved ones at
home and in the fellowship of people at church. But as John Stott says, "The way of the escapist has been
effectively blocked." We have
peace through Christ's death, victory over evil will become a reality. But in our lifetime the peace which God has
made through Christ's cross will only be found in the context of spiritual
struggle. So the passage we examine
this evening calls us not only to "have faith", but to nurture and
protect it against all the forces we encounter that try to destroy our
relationship with God.
So along what lines is our spiritual battle
drawn? CS Lewis argues that the devil's
tactics against us are subtle ones. Can
you identify with any of these spiritual struggles?
- finding the Bible the hardest book to open,
for some inexplicable reason?
- not finding the time to pray today...this
week...this month?
- feeling continually guilty for something you
confessed to God ages ago?
- knowing watching this film on TV isn't doing
you much good, but not being able to find the remote control?
- feeling that you'll never be a "good
Christian" and/or that other Christians are "better" than you?
- feeling that actually you've got this
Christianity thing sussed?
If you feel like you do struggle, then be
encouraged! Struggle is a sign of
health. (OHP - if you struggle) We are being fought over like medieval
princes duelled for a beautiful princess.
If you know that so often you are being pulled in two directions as a
Christian, it's because you are beautiful enough a Christian to be worth the
effort. Noone wants to fight over a
plain and boring princess. Lewis makes
it clear to us that the devil would love it if we never felt we have no
struggle at all! He would love us to
believe that we don't have to be vigilant, that we can just drift along and
everything will be just fine. If a fly
wants to settle on a lion the best thing he can do is lull him to sleep. Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote, "I am
certain that one of the main causes of the ill state of the church today is the
fact that the devil has been forgotten.
All is attributed to us."
If we are following Christ, we are not going to
escape spiritual attack, whether that attack comes in the form of blatant evil,
distraction from God or self-condemnation.
So the question is not "Do you have faith?" or "Do you
believe?" but, in verse 10, "Are you building up your
strength?", "Are you putting on the armour that God gives you?",
"How fast is your spiritual heart beating?", "Are you standing
firm so that you can resist the devices by which the heart of your relationship
with God can be worn away?" If you
do nothing to keep yourself spiritually fit, you will grow flabby and lethargic
in your faith, kept only by routine, and when the first real push comes, you
will topple over. Ruth and I spent two
years in China without the close fellowship of Christians, and at times our
spiritual disciplines became routine, or even non-existent. I know I experienced in that time a loss of
intimacy with God which made me vulnerable to guilt and doubt, and which made
worshipping God difficult.
Notice that Paul tells us to "build up our
strength by means of his mighty power." (OHP - by the grace)
We are not being told to perpetually go around convincing ourselves of
our spiritual strength, but we are to tap into the grace of God that he longs
to give to us. We are co-operating with
him in this.
There are many pieces of the armour we could talk
about, but I want to focus on what he says undergirds all these things in verse
18: "Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit
leads." I have an image of a
sponge in John's bath. If it's left for
a few days, it becomes dried out and a bit smelly. It is still a sponge, but it is not refreshing, it doesn't do
it's job, and it becomes less and less appealing as the days go by. We need to be like sponges that don't dry
out, and a sponge will dry out quickly if it is taken out of the water. And if we are squeezed we need to be dipped
once again. Prayer is the tap we need
to turn on. (OHP - by soaking)
Paul asks us to pray on all occasions. Does this mean that we have to always be
framing the words in our heads to say to God?
Brother Lawrence refers to practising the presence of God. It is a lifting up of the heart to God as
often as we can:
"A little lifting up of the heart is
enough; a short remembrance of God, an interior act of worship, made in haste
and sword in hand, are prayers which, short as they may be, are nevertheless
most pleasing to God; and far from lessening a soldier's courage in moments of
danger, they increase it."
We simply do whatever we can to make his
presence real to us - repeating simple phrases.
The other day I was using this principle by
trying to pray through my actions as I got dressed. As I put my watch on I prayed," Lord, be Master of my time
today.", when I put my shoes on, "Guide me to the places where you
want me to go". As I washed my
face, "Make me clean inside as well as out." In this way we can use the simple actions of
everyday to practise God's presence, and I have a final exercise here. In what ways could we turn these everyday
actions into prayer? (OHP)
-washing up
-driving
-cleaning our teeth
-cooking
-climbing the stairs
-making our beds
There is a real battle on, and it is often when we are
least aware of it that we are in the most danger. But none of us can opt out of it. There's a Bob Dylan song in
which he sings "You've got to serve somebody - it may be the devil, or it
may be the Lord, but you've got to serve somebody." (OHP) God longs for us to be in his kingdom and
enjoy it. Let's not pretend it's easy
but ask ourselves if we are going to be Christians who strive to know the
presence of God in our lives. Because
it is only by doing so that we will be sure of being able to stand firm in his
kingdom, in the place he made each one of us to be. In heaven we'll have no need of armour, but don't walk around in
spiritual underwear just yet.