What? Armor?

 Ephesians 6:10-20

Onward Christian Soldiers, right? So often these verses have been used to exemplify fighting for God or Jesus. As if they needed to be defended, or we had something to prove about the gospel. But we have been looking into what Ephesians is written about and it has about the community of faith as a whole. Just pay attention to what you are to put on.

The mystery of the gospel. The mystery of good news. What is the good news of God in Jesus? Well, it isn't war. Jesus comes and dies, not fights. Jesus comes and engages with the enemy, right? Religious authorities, centurions, women, all the people who were unclean and you should stay away from. Jesus came and listened, healed, answered their questions, and yes criticized religious authorities. So the mystery of the gospel is all the parables of the kingdom of heaven. A pearl of greatest part, the field, the one sheep lost all these give us the clue of the mystery of good news. It is community, it is all of us, even when we are at odds, even when we don't agree and forgiveness lies at the center. All our lives long we explore what the mystery of the good news is.

Hand in hand with this is the gospel of peace. Now how do we miss this? With all the ways we are at odds with one another we miss this. We think only in terms of what is best for us. We don't pause and think of how we are called to the gospel of peace. We only think of how right we are. We forget much of Jesus' criticism is for the religious authorities, those who should be right, yes? No, rightness does not  bring us justification without the good news of peace. We tear apart one another instead of find the ways of peace. The ways of peace invite us to listen deeply, to surrender our own justification and to work for the well being of the community as a whole.

Lastly, we all need help in walking in these ways. Paul asks for prayers for himself in doing all this because he is imprisoned for walking these ways. So no one is perfect in any of these ways. It has to still be the community. Within the community of faith we are reminded that strength is in being broken, just as we break the bread in the Eucharist. Our leader was broken, forgave, and went back to give strength to those who were broken by his unjust death. Then they started communities who learned those same things.

This is not fighting to establish a Christian community, this is the example of being the servant to all. Not flashing superiority and strength in conquest, but in learning the example Jesus gave us, servant of all. How will you proclaim this gospel mystery?