Joshua 24:14-28; John 6:60-71; Ephesians 6:10-20
In Matthew 16, there is a simple exchange between Jesus and Peter, which ends with Jesus asking, “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter answering, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Yet, at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, in the hands of the ancient church fathers, Peter’s answer is slightly adapted to help us understand who Jesus is and his position in the Trinity.
Jesus said, “Who do men say that I am?” And his disciples answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead; others say Elijah, or others say of the old prophets.”
Jesus asked, "But who do you say that I am?"
Peter answered, "Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple."
And to that answer, Jesus said, "Huh?"
So now that we understand how the three members of the Trinity relate to each other, let’s look at today’s three passages of scripture and examine how they relate to each other. I will focus on these three things: choices, witnessing, and faith.
The tribes make their emphatic choice to worship and serve Yahweh, even though Joshua defiantly goads their proclamation over and over again. “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God” (v 19). In the repartee, what happens? The people become louder and more emphatic in their witness to the covenant with Yahweh, “YES! WE WILL SERVE THE LORD! Then they confidently departed each tribe to their own land.
The crowds of disciples who have followed Jesus from the feeding of five thousand on the mount, across the sea of Galilee and then back again, the ones who begged Jesus to “give them this bread always” have been brought to the peak of faithfulness only to fall off the edge, trading faith’s fervor for great grumbling. “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” (v 60). They had a choice to make.
Most chose to leave; they departed, each back to their own land, their regular life. Only the twelve remained with the Holy One of God—and one of them would deny him three times, another would betray him with a kiss into the “sworded” (and sordid) hands of Roman soldiers.
· The fledgling churches to which Paul wrote were persecuted
relentlessly. They lived in the midst of people who hated them and a government that hunted them. They were shunned for
choosing to follow that radical blasphemer, Jesus Christ; for their rejection of the letter of the law for the spirit of the law; for their strange (cannibalistic!) practices and offensive teachings. They must have been afraid at times, insecure and vulnerable at times, so Paul reminds them that the strength of the Lord God is with them at all times. Easier said than done, many would say, but Paul knows what he is talking about.
We do not need complicated dogma when we are in crisis; Paul tells us simply, with imagery we can understand, what we need to do: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (vv 10-11).
I wanted to talk to you this morning about the shield and the helmet and breastplate, etc, probably because that would have been easier to do. However, I feel that God wants me to share with you instead how the armor of God makes us strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. How it makes us able to stand in the face of what would destroy us and brings us triumphantly through to the other side.
In June, in one day, I received two envelopes in the mail, and the contents of each caught me with my armor down. One letter was from the IRS and the other was from the Pheasant Hill Property Board. One said that I still owed them several hundred dollars after the several thousand I already paid them; the other said the condo owners were each being assessed $4000--$1000 each year for this year and the next three years and the first $500 was due July 1, just a few weeks away.
I didn’t have on my armor, I hadn’t suited up for Christ before I opened my mail, so I was not prepared to fight the good fight, physical, spiritual or otherwise. I began to cry and pace around my house. I was ready to give up. I began to succumb; I began repeating words I seemed to be hearing in my head, “You can’t do this; just give up. It’s impossible! Give up, give up, give up.” Over and over again, I heard the words—and I hated them but I was almost ready to believe them.
Then I heard a new voice, some new words, “He’s trying to trick you.” And I stopped in my tracks. Something came over me—was it the armor of God, the spirit of truth, the light of Jesus, the word of God, shining in my present darkness? Just when I was about to succumb to the wiles of evil, God spoke a stronger word to me. “Don’t believe it.” The Lord became strong in me.
I stood up straight, stretched out my arms toward the ceiling, the bad-news papers still clenched in my fist, and out loud I proclaimed (I even think I was gritting my teeth), “OK, God, then you do this!” And a sense of calm came over me. I stopped crying; I put the papers down; and I took a nap. Fighting the devil wears you out, you know!
You see, what I realized was that voice in my head, the one that was so cunning and devious, was trying to get me to believe that I was lost and alone, weak and vulnerable. I believe that voice, that deceitful cunning, is what Paul is warning all believers about when he speaks of the wiles of the devil. Only the whole armor of God can protect us when it comes to spiritual warfare.
All those bills have been paid now, God provided for me and God will provide for you, too. God provides because God loves. When clothed in the armor of God, no devil shall be able to prevail against us. Neither shall it overcome Christ’s church. True light will shine blindingly bright in this present darkness.
This is the good news today, God provides and God prevails. Why? Because the Lord our God is a jealous God and he never lets go of those who belong to him. God is so possessive of us that he sent his only son not because Jesus art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation,” but because he loves us beyond this world into the next.
So when Jesus asks you, “Do you also wish to go away?” give him not long laundry list of excuses, simply confess, as Peter did, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” The only answer left then is to follow him when we hear him call our names. Amen.
August 23, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of south Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
