What Only Faith Can Touch Sermon by Rev. Peter Shidemantle August 26, 2018 Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69

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1 What Only Faith Can Touch Sermon by Rev. Peter Shidemantle August 26, 2018 Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69 I don t think any of us need to be reminded of the power of evil in our world, the insidious nature of it how great evils can take hold and be perpetrated by seemingly good and decent people especially when they are in groups, often in the name of God and righteousness. There is so much historical and present-day evidence. A freedom loving America can enslave an entire race of people, and in our desire to put it behind us, ignore or deny its ongoing legacy, to the detriment of all. All we need to do is see a photograph of the lynching of African American men, women and children lynched before a throng of white American men, women and children dressed in their Sunday best, in a carnival atmosphere. An enlightened and highly civilized and cultured Germany can send 6 million Jews and others to their death. And the horrors continue. So we cannot deny the reality and the power of evil in our world, but there is the tendency, especially for those of us who have not been directly or personally touched by the great evils, to think that somehow we stand above it, that we would never do what others have done. That s what we have to be careful about, because many people just as smart, just as enlightened, have fallen into evil s grasp. Scripture and the Christian faith are very realistic about that: If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1John 1:8) The Apostle Paul, probably an old man by now, writing from prison, begins the final section of his letter to the Christians in the churches of Ephesus, with what they have to do to withstand the forces, the powers of evil that wage battle within and against them. He had started his letter by informing his readers that God had already defeated the principalities and powers of this world through the death and resurrection of Jesus, so that now every sovereign and every authority, power and dominion were placed under Christ s rule. But in his conclusion it becomes clear that the defeated demonic powers have no intention of going quietly into early retirement. 1 of 2

2 As we see in many places where armed conflict is a continuous and constant reality, defeat doesn t mean that defeated forces are done fighting. Tactics may change and allegiances may shift, but their forces haven t gone away. Paul calls on Christians to arm themselves for battle as demonic forces come back to unleash their desperate and cunning attacks to capture the hearts and minds of believers. While God s ultimate victory is assured, Paul is saying, and that victory already touches the lives of Christians so we can say that we have already been raised with Christ, this doesn t mean that we are raised so far that we are above the fray. It doesn t make us immune from the forces that are allied against God and God s son. This militaristic imagery probably makes most of us a little uncomfortable today. The message of the gospel, after all, is a message of peace and love. And Paul s conception of the cosmos is certainly what we would consider to be a pre-scientific one. But he is speaking here of forces that struggle with each other in the lives and thoughts and behaviors of believers. He doesn t want his readers to forget that it is a struggle and he wants to be clear what the struggle is about, with what we are contending. What is it that actually threatens our faith, that tears at the fabric of grace, that would have us not live in trust and hope in God, and in love and solidarity with one another? What makes us cynical or bitter, what closes us up and makes us afraid? What makes us not care? There are certainly many causes or influences that people might and do offer to account for these things psychological, historical, economical, environmental, emotional. We humans are a complicated race. We know much more about these things than was known in Paul s day, and much progress has been made in understanding these complexities. But the power of sin and the reality of evil have not been diminished. So how are we to address these realities that seek to destroy the rule and the reign of love? Christ is our peace, Paul says, a peace that has been bought with a price, a peace that has already been won through the death of the son, the only begotten child of God. He is our peace, our shalom. We come to that peace through what only faith can touch the longing of our hearts for that which only God can give. As we sang in Psalm 84, My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord, my 2 of 2

3 heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God... I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness. We dare not think, Paul would remind us, that God s peace faith, joy, hope can be maintained without struggle. Ours is not the kind of faith that has as its goal the achievement or the arrival at some kind of blissful existence. It isn t our achievement at all. It is all gift, a gift we can only receive as we give ourselves in love of others and in praise of God. The way of Jesus is the way of this life, and we know from today s gospel reading, where his question that follows one of his difficult teachings, the one that speaks of the need for people to eat his flesh and drink his blood, and the difficulty involved for anyone who wanted to follow him how it proves to be just too much for many of his disciples. These aren t casual observers or hangers-on, but disciples. To those who remained he said, Will you also go away? Many of them apparently decided the struggle wasn t worth it. But just as the gift of faith isn t our own achievement, neither is the defense against the forces and the powers that challenge faith our own defense. Put on the whole armor of God, Paul writes. It s not your own armor. It s not our own resilience in the face of ongoing pain or hardship; it s not our own truth that can stand against the lies that would have you believe that you or anyone is less than a beloved child of God. It s not your own righteousness that can resist the forces that would profane your life, cheapen or degrade it, and drive holiness from the center of your life. It s not faith in your own abilities, your own intelligence, your own power but the shield of faith in God s power to bear you up and help you stand in the face of resistance, to guide your feet in the way of peace. Paul writes of these things, this ongoing struggle and battle in cosmic terms that may sound strange and foreign to us but we know it, or need to know it, in the terms that define our own life in the world. What are the battles that you are fighting, the battles that pit your life and mine against the mostly subtle, attractive, and appealing claims on our lives that do not admit that there is a struggle? For the most part, evil works its way into our lives and into our world not in large and apparent ways, 3 of 2

4 not by taking goodness and love and holiness head on. It does so more quietly, chipping away at the armor. We settle for that which does not truly satisfy our appetite for God like junk food, maybe it fills the hole, but only for a while. We may have some inkling of the joy of believing, trusting, relying on the love that will not let us go but we settle for something that approximates happiness for the moment. Do you also wish to go away? The truth is, sometimes I do. Are these teachings offensive to you? You bet they are. They offend my sense of identity as I have created it. They challenge my strengths and emphasize my weaknesses, and I forget, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, that... God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. (1:27 ff) To Jesus question, Do you also wish to go away? Peter replies in a rather striking way. He doesn t say yes but he doesn t quite say no either. He answers Jesus back in good Jesus-style, with another question: To whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. There are lots of alternatives out there, but when it comes to the eternal life business, none of them are viable. Paul knew it wasn t easy. We know it isn t easy, even when we want to make it so. But it s like Ben Patterson writes, that no soldier ever exclaimed in hurt tones during a battle, Hey, they re shooting at me! Getting shot at is more or less what you expect when you sign up. They say that truth is the first casualty of war, and it s no different with this war of which Paul speaks. It is marked by truth (and truth is truth ), and its advance is marked by salvation healing and wholeness, the good news of peace. Jim Wallace writes that when the South African government cancelled a political rally against apartheid, Desmond Tutu led a worship service in St. George s Cathedral. The walls were lined with soldiers and riot police carrying guns and bayonets, ready to close it down. Bishop Tutu began to speak of the evils of the apartheid system, how the rulers and authorities that propped it up were doomed to fail. He pointed a finger at 4 of 2

5 the police who were there to record his words: You may be powerful, very powerful, but you are not God. God cannot be mocked. You have already lost. Then, in a moment of unbearable tension that followed, Tutu seemed to soften. He came down from the pulpit and flashed that radiant smile of his and began to bounce up and down with glee. Therefore, since you already lost, we are inviting you to join the winning side. The crowd roared, the police melted away, and the people began to dance. Where is the real power? Where is the real joy? Who has the words of eternal life? Will we go away, or will we join the dance? 5 of 2