Sermon and Video - Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost - The Armor of God

 Video of Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer  

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9           

Ephesians 6:10-20                   

Mark 7:14-23

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. 

Right around 1000 BC, Jesse of Bethlehem sent his youngest son David to Israel’s army camp in order to deliver food to Jesse’s three eldest sons. The brothers had followed King Saul to fight the Philistines. The battle was at a lull and daily a ferocious, giant, beast of a man in the Philistine camp came out to taunt Israel. He called upon Israel to send out a man to fight him. The winner takes all. 

David heard this giant bellow and offered to fight. Even though David was not in the army, nor was he a soldier, but still very much a shepherd, Saul’s generals and King Saul defied military logic and permitted David to step into the arena and fight the giant. 

First Samuel 17:38 says, “Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.” David ultimately rejected the use of Saul’s armor because it didn’t fit, and he wasn’t used to wearing armor.  He decided to go with what was most familiar with him. And, of course, the Philistine giant is Goliath and wasn’t everyone surprised when David was victorious over the brute? 

The practice of giving one’s armor to another has a long history.  I read that in ancient legends, the weapons and armor of a hero could give certain victory to anyone who wore them. Saul’s armor had served him well up to this point, perhaps, that is why he gave his armor to David? If he was going to send the kid off to die, maybe he could offer a little help to the boy by carrying on an ancient tradition. Who knows? Maybe it will work. 

David rejected the armor not only because he wasn’t used to it, but also because he was going forward with faith in the Lord God. God will grant him the victory because he fights for the Lord Most High. 

A little over four hundred years before, on the Plains of Moab, Moses sent the new generation of Israelites into the Promised Land. The nomadic life in the wilderness was now over. Time to take possession of the Land that the Lord had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob centuries before. Before they go, Moses gives them a lengthy sermon that serves to catechize the new generation. He reminds them that their forebears were once slaves in Egypt, but that God set them free. Moses reminds them of the covenant that God established with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, the slaves that stood before Mount Sinai. God renewed that covenant and gave them a set of commands by which to live and worship. Moses reminds them, when God established his words of promise with them, they will do well as long as they remain faithful to God and trust Him. Live with faith and trust Him, Moses says. 

Israel’s history is told in the Old Testament. Israel does miraculous and marvelous things when they remember the Lord God and live and act according to His commands. But, when they don’t, life is not so good. Whenever Israel tries to be like their neighbors, or do things their way, rather than God’s way, chaos follows. It’s like Israel makes a collective decision to give back to God what God has given to them for the betterment of their life. They choose to place their faith in themselves rather than in God. 

Jesus’ argument with the Pharisees in Mark 7, has everything to do with faith and where faith is placed. The Gospel reading for today is the aftermath of the conflict from last Sunday. The Pharisees are mistaken about putting their faith in their own efforts for making themselves presentable or holy before God. The Pharisees don’t seem to recognize the complete corruption of the human condition. All the sinful thoughts and behaviors that Jesus lists come from within a person. When our condition is such that evil thoughts and behavior comes from within, how can we possibly trust our own thoughts and actions to be salvific? We simply cannot.

Holy Scripture attests that God is always the giver of faith, commands, and promises.  What God gives us is good. Problems arise when we move our faith from God to someone or something else. 

God initiates the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God sends Moses. God initiates the Sinai covenant with Israel. Now, in these last days, God sends his Son Jesus to be our salvation. In our behalf, Jesus takes up the cross. He, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, has human flesh but not corruption. Jesus initiates our salvation by dying upon the cross for our sakes. He dies so that we may receive the forgiveness that He chooses to confer upon us. God the Holy Spirit creates the faith within us so that we can receive God’s good gifts and grow into the fullness of God’s promises. 

King Saul gave David his armor in the hope that it would help him.  In faith, we receive the gift of God’s armor. God’s armor are God’s gifts, that which he has done for us. God knows these gifts are going to help us.  

The giving of armor begins with baptism. God has arranged for us to hear the Word and to be baptized. Faith is created by the Holy Spirit so that we receive the belt of truth. The truth is God’s love for us. The truth is Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection. The truth is his promise of everlasting life. 

The breastplate of righteousness is Christ’s righteousness conferred upon us. His righteousness is alien, it is foreign to us because out of the heart of man comes evil thoughts and deeds. But, with the breastplate of righteousness, the Father does not see the sin, the Father sees Christ’s righteousness, and we have peace because of Christ. The spiritual shoes upon our feet mean that we go forth with Gospel promises. We have Christ and his benefits of forgiveness, faith, hope, and love. We go forth in confidence. God gives us the shield of faith. It blocks the lies of false doctrine and Satan. The baptismal water that drenches the shield of faith extinguishes the attractiveness and lure of these spiritual lies. The helmet of salvation is the hope of Christ that guides and guards our thoughts. The sword of the Spirit is God’s Word of Law and Gospel. 

As soldiers endowed with the armor given to us by God, we follow the lead of our captain. We pray as Jesus teaches us. We walk and pray with our fellow comrades in the faith toward the everlasting kingdom. 

Salvation is a gift of God. We receive these gifts with thanksgiving. And we respond to God’s gifts with faith.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.