“What to Wear to School” by the Rev. Dr. Don Wahlig, August 25, 2024, Year B / Pentecost 14 (Proper 16) -  Psalm 34:15-22 / Ephesians 6:10-20 / John 6:56-69  [Blessing of Backpacks]

THEME:  Speak out and act against the forces of evil that deny Christ and his gospel of faith, hope, and love.

When I was a kid, especially in Junior High, the start of a new school year always made me a little anxious. I worried about the usual things.  What would my teachers be like? Who would be in my class? Would I make new friends? What about the class bullies? Then, as the first day of school got closer, and I was getting all my supplies ready, I began to worry about what I would wear. In particular, I always felt like I had to have a couple pairs of cool jeans. I used to get hand-me-down clothes from my brothers and my cousins. Some of those were great. The only problem was that most of the second-hand jeans I got were bell-bottoms. They might have been cool in 1967, but by 1976, bell bottoms were way out of fashion.

What I most wanted was a pair of Levi’s straight-leg corduroy jeans. They were the bomb. They were soft. They came in all sorts of great colors. So, I pleaded with my parents to buy me a pair or two. I was sure that if I wore those, I would be one of the in crowd, safe from ridicule. Maybe the school-age kids in your life are going through something similar. For girls, that might be a Billabong surfing sweatshirt, or wide-leg flair jeans, or a funky crop-top. For guys, maybe its cargo shorts, a gamer hoodie, or Tony Hawk jogger pants. Clothing styles change, but there is one outfit that is not only timeless, but universal. And this morning the apostle Paul tells us what that is. Paul is in jail. As he sits there, chained to the wall, he has plenty of opportunity to observe the Roman soldiers who are guarding his cell. He takes special notice of what they are wearing.

Romans were great innovators in all areas of life. That was true when it came to military outfitting, too. For example, when every other army was still using heavy chain mail for protection, Romans were the first to use overlapping plates of lightweight steel for body armor.  Paul gets an unusually close-up view of this military dress when he looks at his guards.  It gives him an idea. He knows that his fellow Christians throughout the Mediterranean world are facing persecution by Rome. After all, when you worship only one God, and you refuse to offer sacrifices to appease the Roman gods, you are the first people Rome punishes when things go badly. If the gods are upset, it must be the Christians’ fault, right?

For Paul, this systemic oppression is the work of the devil. He sees evil forces at work. Their objective is to actively suppress and deny the truth of Christ and his Gospel. It is nothing less than spiritual warfare. That is why Paul uses military imagery in this letter of encouragement to his fellow Christians in modern day Turkey. Faced with the threat of violence, Paul’s advice is not to respond with actual weapons of war. Instead, Christians should adopt the spiritual defenses that God has already provided.  So, for Paul, the breastplate, the shield, the helmet, the leather belt, and the military-issue marching sandals all become symbols of spiritual protection and strength for the faithful. They will enable Christians to stand firm in their faith, holding on to the truth of the Gospel, the unsurpassed righteousness of God, and the profound peace of salvation promised by Christ himself.

I have spent a lot of time this week reviewing this passage. And as I did, I noticed something. What is so striking about this list is that all of these measures are defensive. But there is one exception. The one offensive spiritual weapon Paul wants Christians to use is what he calls the sword of the Spirit. This metaphorical sword is the word of God. It is a spiritual weapon that is spoken, not swung. When we face evil, we are to respond by proclaiming the Gospel message of faith, hope and love. Paul's point is that, to resist evil, we have to be willing to speak up.  We have to be willing to act. And we have to do both boldly, confident that our words and actions are powerful because they come from God through Jesus Christ.

That reminded me of a more recent example of what this spiritual warfare looks like in action. Do you recognize the name Dietrich Bonhoeffer?  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a 19^th century German pastor. In the 1930s, he was also a renowned theologian at the University of Berlin. He became famous for resisting the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party leading up to World War II. In January of 1933, two days after Hitler was installed as Chancellor of Germany, Bonhoeffer delivered a nationwide radio address attacking Hitler. He warned his listeners that Germany was descending into an idolatrous cult of the Führer. In Bonhoeffer’s view, the leader could easily become a misleader, someone who seduces the people into doing what they know is wrong in God’s eyes. Ominously, his broadcast was abruptly cut off in mid-sentence. It was a sign of the violent repression to come. Despite Bonhoeffer’s efforts, the German national church gradually became complicit in Hitler’s violent persecution of Jews.  Bonhoeffer responded by founding a separate, underground church for those who objected to the Nazi regime. 

When the Gestapo shut it down, Bonhoeffer took the bold step of publishing what would become his most famous book, “The Cost of Discipleship.” His point was that faithfully following Jesus requires sacrifice.  Real discipleship, he said, is risky.  This he called costly grace. It stands in contrast to cheap grace, which he described as “grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” Cheap grace makes no demands of us. It is forgiveness without repentance – without changing our way of living.

In 1939, as Nazi Germany began invading the rest of Europe, triggering World War II, Bonhoeffer was forbidden to speak publicly or to publish. This did not stop him from doing what he could to resist the Nazis. As a result, he was eventually arrested and put into a concentration camp. Just days before the Allies liberated it, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed. All of that happened a long time ago, but the appeal of Naziism and the idolatrous cult of the leader is not dead. The events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, and elsewhere a few years back were proof of that. It was a sharp reminder that we Christians have to be on our guard, ready to resist evil by speaking out and acting against it. But this kind of moral and spiritual courage is not easy.  Like costly grace, it demands something from us.

We have to take Paul’s advice and swing the sword of the Spirit, by proclaiming the gospel message of faith, hope and love, in what we say and what we do.  And we do it boldly, with the courage and confidence that come from trusting in the truth of God’s word and the supremacy of Christ, the living word. Because you and I know, that in the end, love wins.

 So friends, what powers of evil do you face?  What forces in your life deny the truth of the hopeful, loving message of Christ’s gospel?  If you are a student, I suspect you are already well aware of these evil forces. Criticism for being different, body-shaming, and bullying are practically art forms in most schools. That is no doubt true today as it was in my day. The difference is that today technology and social media make this evil even easier to perpetuate. Our response is to do what Paul advises. When someone else is being treated cruelly, we refuse to join in, and we actively oppose it.  We stand up and speak out against those who are perpetrating cruelty. 

Sometimes, simply naming and condemning the bad behavior is enough to stop it. But there is more that Paul would have us do. We can comfort and support those who are being targeted. It takes courage, but compassion and kindness often have remarkable, even life-changing results. Is it risky?  Yes, but that is what the costly grace of Jesus Christ demands. And the application of Paul’s advice to put on the full armor of God goes beyond school. It applies to all areas of our lives. Sadly, adults, too, are tempted and tainted by evil forces that deny and suppress the gospel truth of faith, hope and love. In both private and public life, the lack of compassion for those who are different, disabled, or dis-enfranchised is stunning. We even hear it from some of our national leaders.

Friends, our job is to resist. Our job is to put on the armor of God and stand firm. Our job is to wield the sword of the spirit. Our job is to speak up and act. 

May it be so.