Tri God s Power. Ephesians 6:10 20, Isaiah 40: Do you ever feel like the world is out of control and we re powerless?

Transcription

1 Tri God s Power Ephesians 6:10 20, Isaiah 40: Do you ever feel like the world is out of control and we re powerless? When we open the newspaper to read about preschool children Who were killed in the fire in Osage County Or we turn on the evening news and see the latest Terrorist outburst in the Middle East Or we hear the inflammatory rhetoric of hate groups right here In our own country that threatens to undo the progress We thought we had made in race relations Or we find ourselves run ragged caring for aging parents Or young children or grandchildren who are struggling Physically, emotionally, economically and spiritually. It is enough to wear a person out. We re ready to shine the Bat Beacon and call for Batman; Or ask Clark Kent to send Superman to rescue us; Or we yearn for the Avengers and Captain America To give us hope in a world of despair. Actually Captain America was created to that very purpose. In the midst of World War II, Captain America was a symbol of hope.

2 And so when I read the Ephesians passage Put on the Armor of God I thought about those Avenger characters like Iron Man who Can put on a uniform and be transformed from an ordinary Person to a superhero. Wouldn t that be great?! If we could just put on the belt of truth..the breastplate of righteousness the shield of faith the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit We just might be ready to take on the evils and terrors of the world That seem to be all around us. And yet we know that super heroes are just in comic books. So we are tempted to think that in real life, we are left in our own. We are tempted to think that it s all up to us. Those comic book heroes that we grew up reading Are nowhere to be found, except in movie theaters Making money on the dreams of our childhood. But there is one line by Captain America in the first Avengers film That brings us back to where we need to be. Captain America has just met Thor, has been told that he is A Norse God from Asgard and Captain America replies: There s only one God ma am and I m pretty sure he doesn t dress like that.

3 My favorite line in all the Avengers movies and it sends us back To the real and true savior of the world and it s not Thor or Batman Or Superman or even Captain America it is Jesus Christ. So why is it so hard to accept the saving work of God in Jesus Christ attested to in the very scriptures that we read and study each week. It is because God s saving work is very different from The world s image of a savior. The world s image of savior is one who swoops in at the very last moment And saves the world from certain destruction with an act of power And instead the actual savior of the world lived 2000 years ago And saved the world by an act of weakness and was crucified on the cross by those who thought they were more powerful than God only to discover that God could not be contained or defeated by death. So when Ephesians says: Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. They are not talking about fighting power with power but Rather defeating power with weakness, hatred with love, Death with resurrection, despair with hope.

4 The Greek word for strong here is endynamousthe which actually means to empower and the Greek word for strength is ischous which actually means to have the ability or capacity. You see God never takes the world out of our hands. He never swoops in and takes over the controls. What God does in Jesus Christ is to become one of us So that God can empower, equip and enable us To battle the powers of darkness and evil. God doesn t want to create dependent creatures who think that The only way to fight evil is with evil or darkness with darkness Or power with bigger and badder power. Notice that the armor of God is really truth righteousness peace Faith salvation (healing and wholeness) and the Word of God. This passage is not about building a bigger bomb to destroy The enemy but rather about building up each person So that our witness is standing firm in the faith. For me, the real hero in World War ll was not Captain America but Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who stood firm in his faith and against the Nazis, was imprisoned and yet prayed for his captors and was killed as the Allies drew close to liberating his concentration camp.

5 For me a real hero in the War on Terror is the 16 year old Muslim girl From Pakistan, Malala Yousefzai who was shot & beaten by the Taliban Because she was a girl who wanted to go to school. She survived and won the Nobel Peace prize for her witness on behalf Of girls and children s rights around the world. In her Nobel speech She talked about being encouraged in her witness and She encouraged children of the world to be strong. And she vowed to continue working for peace and reconciliation. Malala is not a Christian and yet her witness mirrors today s message From the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians and to us. Paul is saying that the power of God is not like the powers and Principalities of the world. The power of God is not the power to destroy life And to make people into puppets. The power of God is a triune Power. It is always the power to create and build up life as seen in God the creator. It is the power to triumph over evil not with more evil but with goodness, And compassion and sacrificial love it is the power of the cross. Remember Jesus when he was talking with Pilot about power:

6 Pilate said, Do you not know that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you? And Jesus answered him, You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above. Pilot was talking about physical, corporate, political power with all its limits. Jesus was talking about the Triune God s Power that is at once Unlimited and eternal, sacrificial, empowering and decisive. And finally, the power of the Triune God is power that empowers. Have you ever noticed that worldly power is selfish power. What can we do to keep the power, build our power? Whereas the power of the Holy Spirit empowers others. God s power is about enabling and equipping the saints To do the work and be the people of God. God s power is power that is given away or shared, and so Paul talks About putting on the Armor of God, he is talking about putting on The power of peace, faith, truth, righteousness, salvation, And sharing the power of God s word and Spirit. So the sermon title in the bulletin is not a typo Tri God s Power Because it is talking about the power of the Triune God which reminds us that God s power as great as it is, is life giving and life affirming; it is shown in the weakness of the cross that triumphs over death and it is shared power, always empowering of God s people by God s Spirit. Tri God s Power! Amen