Be strong in the Lord. As an undergraduate, my brother began
competing as a weightlifter. The
coach invited him onto the team not because Chuck had some inherent strength—a
super power conveyed on him in a lab experiment gone wrong—a strength that grew
in proportion to his emotions as with Dr. Bruce Banner and his alter ego—The Incredible
Hulk. No, the coach invited Chuck
onto the team because he saw his commitment to and his potential for growth—not
growing taller and bigger but growing stronger. The coach recognized my brother would prepare and
persist. Starting with lighter
weights, he practiced the correct weightlifting postures and the proper
movements for the lifts. He practiced often—with the coach, with other team
members, and with spotters. He
persisted—adding more and more weights, practicing form, and perfecting stance. He altered his college-boy, junk-food
diet and began to eat healthy. The
coach recognized my brother would prepare and persist.He expected Chuck would grow strong and
stand firm. That’s exactly what he
did.
Grow strong in the Lord and in the strength
of his power. What is the Lord’s power? Paul calls it the armor of God: truth, justice, salvation, and faith—founded
on the word of God. Both the Living
Word of God—Jesus the Christ—and the written word of God—the Bible—through
which we meet, experience, and get to know the Living Word. The armor of God is truth,
justice, salvation, and faith—upheld by the Word of God. We “put on”—we are dressed with—God’s
power when we confidently share and proclaim the good news of God’s peace. Ahh, but there’s the rub. We can faithfully live into God’s truth
and work for God’s justice only if we know what is God’s truth and only if we recognize what is God’s justice. That
comes from ongoing experience with and knowledge of the Word of God—both the
Living Word, Jesus the Christ, and the written word, the Bible.
God’s
truth can be revealed to us, individually, in our private devotional time—through
study and prayer and in our personal relationship with Jesus the Christ. But we also learn God’s truth as we
hear Bible stories and struggle with their relevance for us—together. We also learn God’s truth as we read the
letters to the early Christians and wrestle with their meaning—together. We
also learn God’s truth as we ponder Christ’s life and grapple with the
differing gospel accounts—together. We also learn God’s truth as we share our
personal experiences with God’s word—with one another. God’s truth can be revealed to us
individually, but more likely, we learn God’s truth as we wrestle with the word
of God—in community.
I
say “wrestle with” because over the centuries, different peoples in different locations
have offered different interpretations of the word of God—both the Living Word
and the written word. Even today—in
our community of believers—we bring different denominational backgrounds,
different life experiences, and different individual bias to our understanding
of God’s word. When we wrestle
together—with one another, not against—we grow stronger in our faith; we grow stronger
in our understanding of God’s truth; we grow stronger in our desire to do God’s
justice.
Grow
strong in the Lord and the strength of his power. Stand firm. 12 For our
struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (NRSV) The Christians at Ephesus and
in the newly-formed communities of faith across Asia Minor—the Christians among
whom this letter was originally circulated—faced adversaries—not so much people
adversaries as systems adversaries.
They faced the system of Roman subjugation, the system of crippling
economic inequalities, and the system of religious oppression. These systems and the authorities who
perpetuated them seemed to have powers of cosmic proportion. 13
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand .
. . to stand firm. (NRSV) Paul encourages the readers of his letter to be
strengthened by God’s powerful strength in order to withstand these strong
forces of evil that oppose God’s justice.
What
is God’s justice? Reading what the
prophets in the Old Testament proclaim and listening to the words of Jesus the
Christ in the gospel accounts, we hear what is God’s justice—
that
the slaves are freed;
that
the hungry are fed and the sick are healed;
that
God’s children may worship God.
Paul encourages his readers—then
and now—to stand firm against those who oppose God’s justice. Paul encourages his readers—the
Ephesian Christians and us—to stand firm against the people and the powers and
the systems that separate one group of people from another—denying life or
freedom from some.
Stand
firm for God’s justice. The people of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a village in
southeast France, know about standing firm for God’s justice. They are Hugenots;
their theological roots reach all the way back to John Calvin, one of the
earliest and most influential of the Protestant Reformers. John Knox—the founder of the
Presbyterian church—was a student of John Calvin. So Hugenots are to France what Presbyterians are to
Scotland. They are our theologically
reformed “cousins”.
The day after the French
government signed armistice papers with Nazi Germany, Pastor Andre Trocme in Le
Chambon preached this: “The duty of Christians is to respond to the violence
that will be brought to bear on their consciences with the weapons of the
spirit”[1] Weapons of the spirit—the armor
of God—truth, justice, salvation, and faith—grounded in the Word of God. “We will resist whenever our
adversaries will demand of us compliance contrary to the orders of the Gospel.”[2] We will stand firm for God’s
justice. “We will do so without
fear as well as without pride and without hate.”[3] Be strong in the Lord and in his
powerful strength.
Standing
firm against Nazi atrocities aimed at the Jews, standing firm against the
forces of evil that opposed God’s justice—during World War II, the people of Le
Chambon—population 5,000 in the village and the surrounding farms (Does that
sound familiar? That’s a community the size of our community.)—the people of Le
Chambon took in between 3,000 – 5,000 Jewish refugees. Some of these Jews stayed in the
village or on neighboring farms until the war ended. Others rested, were provided counterfeit travel documents,
and were guided on to neutral Switzerland. Not one Jew who came to Le Chambon was turned away. Every Chambonnais family opened their
doors—sharing their homes, their food, their resources, and their lives with
Jewish refugees. Internalizing
Jesus’ command—to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength
and to love others as we love ourselves—the people of Le Chambon opposed
systemic evil—what seemed like cosmic powers of darkness. They stood firm.
They
stood firm for God’s justice. They
responded as Paul encourages all his readers to respond—whether they be in 1st
Century Ephesus, in 20th century France, or in 21st
century America. Stand firm for
God’s justice—that all are free—that no human rights are abridged. Stand firm for God’s justice—that the
poor can provide for their families—food when they are hungry, healthcare when
they are sick, shelter from the elements—that economic inequalities do not
cripple the lives and the welfare of anyone—especially not the powerless. Stand firm for God’s justice—that God’s
children may worship God in the places and in the traditions familiar to them
without fear of reprisal or persecution—no religious oppression. Paul encourages his readers—then and now—to
stand firm against those who oppose God’s justice. Stand firm against the people and the powers and the systems
that separate people from each other—that treat one group better than another
as if some people deserve life and health, safety and shelter, freedom and
privilege while others do not. Stand firm against that which opposes God’s
justice.
Like
the weightlifting coach did with my brother, God recognizes potential in
us. God created each one of us
with the potential to grow—to grow strong in the Lord. God created in each one
of us the potential to receive God’s truth, to seek and faithfully work for God’s
justice, to proclaim—not just with our words but with our very lives—the good
news of God’s peace.
Filled
with God’s love and redeemed by Christ’s grace, may we all live into our God-given
potential.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, strengthen us with your
truth that we may live your message of peace.
Life-giving God, empower us to stand firm
for your justice.
Faithful God, guide us in our encounters
with and responses to Your Word. Amen.
[1] Sauvage, Pierre. “A Most Persistent Haven: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon—The Story of
5,000 Who Would Not Be Bystanders and of 5,000 More” found at <http://www.chambon.org/documents_english/a_most_persistent_haven_by_pierre_sauvage_oct_1983_en.pdf> accessed 2012-08-19.
[2] Sauvage, Pierre. “A Most Persistent Haven: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon—The Story of
5,000 Who Would Not Be Bystanders and of 5,000 More” found at
<http://www.chambon.org/documents_english/a_most_persistent_haven_by_pierre_sauvage_oct_1983_en.pdf> accessed 2012-08-19.
[3] Sauvage, Pierre. “A Most Persistent Haven: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon—The Story of
5,000 Who Would Not Be Bystanders and of 5,000 More” found at
<http://www.chambon.org/documents_english/a_most_persistent_haven_by_pierre_sauvage_oct_1983_en.pdf> accessed 2012-08-19.
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