Lutheran Church of
the Good Shepherd, Moorhead
Installation of
Pr. Mary Suomala Folkerds as Lead Pastor
October 14 &
17, 2018
Ephesians 6:10-20
In the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Whenever I hear these words from Ephesians six I see
in my mind’s eye a t-shirt that was popular among kids at an ELCA Youth
Gathering some years ago.
On the front of the t-shirt it read: DON’T FIGHT NAKED—a phrase guaranteed to get
your attention…
…and on reverse side of that t-shirt it read: “Put on the whole armor of God…”
Don’t
fight naked….put on the whole armor of God!
There’s a word for us here this morning….a word for all
of us…and a word especially for you, Pastor Mary, as you’re installed into the
office of Lead Pastor.
Don’t
fight naked…put on the whole armor God.
But really now (you may be asking) is “fighting” the
best verb to describe what it means to follow Jesus? Isn’t all this warlike language and suit-of-armor
talk sort of old-fashioned….OK maybe if you’re at a Renaissance Fair but not in
a living, vital faith community like Good Shepherd?
For good reason many Christians nowadays chafe at using
military language to describe the Christian life. We shun words like “crusade” or “battle” or
“war”—sanitizing old hymns, stripping them of even a hint of Christian
militancy.
The last thing we need, some might say, is to conceive
of the mission of God as some kind of warfare or conquest. Such violent language flies in the face of the
grace, mercy and peace we know in Jesus Christ who, warned his followers not
to take up weapons to defend him, declaring instead that “all who take the
sword will perish by the sword.”
(Matthew 26:52)
So what about it?
Should we simply ditch all language of Christian militancy? Or would we be wiser to dig down deeper into
this language to figure out what’s underneath it?
A while back Professor David Lose, who was then
teaching at Luther Seminary in St Paul, addressed that very topic, and here’s
what he had to say:
In recent years, the presence and influence of the
Christian story in contemporary culture has shrunk considerably. The
proliferation of different and competing stories about reality—some of which
are religious, while many more are about material wealth, nationalism, or
ethnicity—has occupied more and more of our attention. We may see these stories
proclaimed on the front covers of magazines or more subtly hidden in the logo
of a powerhouse brand, but they are all around us, each inviting us to
subscribe to a particular understanding and worldview about what is good,
beautiful, and true. Taken as a whole, the proliferation of all these different
worldviews has crowded out the biblical story as the narrative
by which to make sense of all others and rendered it just one among a multitude
of stories.[1]
Dr. Lose is right.
Whenever we share the Good News about Jesus with others--we’re always stepping
out onto a crowded playing field. The second
we open our mouths we find ourselves competing with other values, alternative
stories, and a host of different ways of making sense of reality.
When our Lord Jesus entered this world, he set foot on
“occupied territory.” The good news
Jesus brought to us, was always bumping up against other “gospels” and that’s just
as true for you and me, today!
As the writer of Ephesians makes clear, we’re in a
contest with “the rulers…the authorities….the cosmic powers of this present darkness
and the spiritual forces of evil.” (Ephesians 6:12)
Before we even try speak or live in line with Jesus
and his utterly unique good news, we must remember that other gospels, other
“takes” on what matters most have already entrenched themselves, already embedded
themselves in our world….dressed up in slogans like
“Dreams don’t work unless you do!”
OR: “The glass
is always half full.”
OR: “My country, right or wrong!”
OR: “Whoever
ends up with the most toys wins.”
Slogans like those all have one thing in common: they’re all about you and me and what we can, should and must
accomplish.
What sets apart the real, authentic Good News about
Jesus is that it’s all about God, and what God has done, what God
is doing and what God will continue to do to make you and me and all
things new in Christ Jesus.
Because that’s such an alien notion in this “make your
own bliss” world, we’ll come up against “pushback”….we’ll encounter resistance….and
we need to be ready for that if the real Good News, the only Good News, will ever
gain a hearing.
That’s where all this “whole armor of God” stuff comes
in….not in order to force the gospel down other folks’ throats!
Rather: it’s about coming onto the field, equipped to
bring an alternative word to a messed up world.
Think of this whole armor of God stuff not about “mounting an attack” as much as it is about
taking a stand---resisting
the resistance of the world.
So we notice how nearly all the pieces of armor named here
are defensive, not offensive in nature.
Rather than sallying forth “naked,” we come on the
field dressed for the occasion: wearing
all the great protective gear that God has already bestowed on us:
truth
that
holds us together,
God’s gift of
righteousness covering our hearts,
peacemakers’
shoes on our feet,
sturdy faith
to shield us,
the
cross we received in baptism, on our foreheads, like a helmet.
In this whole array of “armor,” there’s only one offensive
weapon: God’s promise-keeping,
barrier-breaking, sin-forgiving, future-opening Word.
What rich irony there is here, as God’s Word is
likened to a kind of sword.
For this is anything but a destroying, devouring
sword…
It is, rather, a word, a sword that “cuts to the
chase” and gets right to the heart of the matter….pointing us and everyone to
the weakness of the Cross, the uncanny power of a rescuer who recuses by emptying
himself out for us, giving himself utterly for us, finally dying for us, so
that death itself dies and new life flows forth.
Pastor Mary, God gives these astounding gifts to all
of these folks, who call Good Shepherd their faith community….and God gives
these same gifts to you, in full measure, so that you might carry out your
daunting, daring call to be their lead pastor.
But there’s more.
The image that’s painted for us here in Ephesians 6 isn’t of a solitary
soldier, putting on God’s armor, to launch a daring solo campaign….
No, the pronouns here (in the original Greek) are all plural,
not singular, so that we might better translate this text this way: Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so
that you all together may be able to withstand on that evil day, and
having done everything, to stand firm. All of you, stand therefore….”
(Ephesians 6:13-14a)
You already know this, Pastor Mary, but let me say it
once again: you do not do any of this alone!
You’ve been called to be not the senior pastor here—as if your ministry was rooted in your age or
wisdom or experience….
No, you’ve been called to be the lead pastor here….because these people are going some place…always,
and forever moving together toward God’s promised future in Jesus Christ.
Thank God we never head out into this world naked. Thank God the Spirit sees to it that we’re
always truly “dressed for the occasion.”
Thank God we have everything we need—and then some!
In the name of Jesus.
Amen.
[1]
David Lose, “Stewardship In An Age of Digital Pluralism,” Word and World (Supplement Series 6, October
2010), p. 112.