St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Pentecost 15 September 18 and 21, 2003

Ephesians 6:10-20 excerpts.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…

People of God—first taught by your mother and father to love the Good Shepherd who gave up his life for his sheep:

There is a hospital in Iraq. An army surgical hospital where they treat soldiers wounded in Iraq. There are soldiers who are shot. Soldiers who were riding in vehicles that ran over mines. Soldiers who are wounded by rocket propelled grenades. Soldiers who are burned. Soldiers who are crushed when a suicide truck bomb explodes outside a building—and that whole building comes crashing down on them. They say the doctors and nurses in that hospital sometimes work 100 hours in a week. Do you know how many hours that is? It’s a 40 hour week times two and then some! That’s more than ten hours a day—every day of the week! They say there was a soldier—a patient the other day who was crying. He wasn’t crying because his wounds were so painful. He was crying because he couldn’t believe they were taking such good care of him. You see—this soldier was a Syrian. He had come to Iraq to kill Americans. And now these same American soldiers—instead of killing him—where working to save his life and heal his wounds. How wonderful is that? How much more wonderful still—that while we were yet sinners Jesus died for us? While we were still enemies of God—Jesus gave up his life to save us. Jesus died and rose again—so that we should be called children of God—and that is what we are! This Christian Education Sunday—this Recruitment Sunday—God’s Word encourages us to study the Scriptures—and to share that faith! Today God’s Word says:

Be Strong In The Lord!

1. Put on the full armor of God

2. Understand the enemy

3. Know the ultimate victory is certain

Today is the last of 8 Sundays in a row when the epistle reading is from the apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus. Part of Christian Education is studying and knowing God’s Word. Remember the background information about Ephesians? Paul’s 3rd missionary journey—according to the flawless gracious timing of our Heavenly Father. Ephesus—a 3 year ministry—the longest stay by Paul in any one place to preach law and gospel. Six chapters of the letter to the Ephesians. The first 3 talk about all that Jesus did to save us from our sins. On our own—by ourselves we were doomed to eternal destruction. God’s Word says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts, like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:1-5 Chapters 4,5,6 talk about living your faith—bearing the sweet juicy fruits of faith that give glory to your Heavenly Father. God’s Word says, “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking…Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” Ephesians 4:17-19 Having lost all sensitivity—a conscience so calloused it doesn’t feel the guilt and shame it once did. When that happens people indulge themselves—in every kind of impurity—in the mud and the filth of sin—with a continual lust for more. As a person’s conscience becomes more and more dulled—it takes greater and grosser evil—and even that doesn’t satisfy their sinful cravings. Just think about the radio. Back in the late 1960s—a disc jockey in Chicago told a dirty joke at 2:00 a.m. and was promptly fired—lost his job—for doing something considered so obscene. Today there are far worse things said all over the radio—all day long. Once upon a time—married people on TV had twin beds. When I Love Lucy—Lucille Ball was expecting a baby they would say she was “in the family way” because anything else would have been considered too rude and crude. What has happened today—that we all seem so used to impurity and sin? It is the letter to the Ephesians that contains those words we read as part of the marriage ceremony, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…in this same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own body…” When husbands begin to love their wife like Christ love the church—then there is little trouble for wives to submit to their husbands as to the Lord. Husbands who are quick to quote that verse—misuse it—if they use it as an excuse to order their wives on Sunday afternoon to bring me a beer, bring me the remote, bring me a sandwich—then give me peace and quiet so I can watch my football game! Husbands who misuse this Scripture as an excuse for sinful selfish self-indulgence need to remember the verse right before that which simply says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ!” It is just a few verses before the ones we are concentrating on where God’s Word says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother—which is the first commandment with a promise” that it may go well wit h you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” That means children will respect and obey their parents and teachers. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ…serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men…” When you work—whatever your job—you are really working for Jesus! So work hard—work very hard—to give glory to your Savior!

Finally—remember all these things and more—finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. We need to be strong spiritually. That means being strong in every way—disciplined in everything. That strength doesn’t just come from the Lord—our strength is the Lord! Paul talked about his weakness and God’s strength in his second letter to the Corinthians. Remember when Paul asked his Heavenly Father to take away his thorn in the flesh—that painful messenger from Satan to torment him? Paul prayed again and again for Jesus to take that thorn away—so he could serve his Savior better. But God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9,10 There is a very famous American who has won the Tour De France bicycle race what—the last 6 times in a row? He is without doubt one of the most physically strong—physically disciplined people in the world. And yet it was painful to hear him say the other day—he gave us the adulation—the loving respect of his wife and child—sacrificed that loving respect for the loving respect of every one else! How sad is that? No amount of earthly glory dare ever tempt us away from our first love and our first obligation—to our Savior—and then to the spouse and children that Jesus has given us! Only Jesus can be our strength. Only Jesus can make us strong—to forgive the painful hurts anyone has inflicted on us—so that we are strong to forgive—to love and to serve! Christian Education means learning these precious lessons all the time!

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. The devil’s schemes are sometimes very clever—very tricky. They did a survey the other day—asking people if they cheated on their taxes—filed false insurance claims—paid in cash to avoid paying taxes—claimed refunds they didn’t deserve—wore clothes—hiding the tags—then returned them for a full refund. Half the people asked said sure they did! They said that they had been ripped off—cheated—taken advantage of by companies—and so they were getting even. They were winning one for the little guy! When asked if they thought of themselves as criminals—crooks—robbers and thieves—taking home from work things that didn’t belong to them—they said no! When they were told their fraud—their thievery was costing their country more than 6 times what was stolen by armed robbers and professional thieves—they still didn’t get it. This doesn’t begin to talk about the survey of children—what they would surely do—if they could be assured—positively—ahead of time—that there was no possibility of their being caught! They would do things that were unspeakably wicked and hurtful and wrong—if they were supremely confident they would not be caught and punished! What about us? Do we constantly calculate the odds—figuring—what we will and what we won’t do—according to the risk—the calculated risk of being caught—the probability of being punished? We need the full armor of God—so that we will be strong when the devil attacks. Christian Education means learning how to use our armor all the time!

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our struggle is not against—literally in the Greek—blood and flesh. There is terrible danger from blood and flesh. There is danger in a little community—where people who are famous for their humble gentle ways—think this is the time of year to hide in corn fields and pelt passing cars with tomatoes. They must not have considered the possibility of doing somebody terrible harm—causing a car accident—when suddenly and unexpectedly—going 65 miles an hour—a tomato splatters all over your windshield. That would be bad enough. The other day—some young men—old enough to know better—were throwing tomatoes and hit a car—that pulled over. The driver screamed at them—threatened them—then drove off. Not much later he drove by again. And when they pelted him again with tomatoes—he stopped—pulled out a shotgun—and took the life of one of the tomato throwers. How horrible and dangerous is that? That is only physical danger. The most terrible danger of all—is spiritual. The most terrible danger is from Satan and demons—the horrible spiritual forces of evil—loose in this world. There is safety and sanctuary only in Jesus’ nail marked hands. There is strength against every temptation to do horrible hurtful harm to our neighbor—in Jesus’ nail marked hands. We have won the ultimate victory over sin and death—because Jesus won that victory for us. Christian Education means learning to love one another all the time!

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then… Stand…stand…stand. That seems to imply the very real possibility of getting knocked down. That you stand up again—get back up off the ground—stand firm! It is a dangerous world out there. There is a mommy in Wales who has invented this pendant—this thing you can hang around the neck of a child. If somebody tries to snatch that child—they squeeze this little pendant—and it squirts this permanent—it will not wash off—no matter how hard you scrub—kind of paint and dye. And at the same time—it sets off this alarm at the nearest police station. Cost? $60! Pretty cool—don’t you think? Squirt the bad guy—stain him with a stain he can’t wash away! We were stained with the guilt of ten thousand times ten thousand sins. Jesus washed us clean. He washed away all our guilt with his innocent blood. Jesus washed us clean—so that we will stand before him on Judgment Day—forgiven—adopted—heirs of eternal life. Amen!