Ephesians 6:10-20
Year B
How do you feel when you hear Ephesians’ imperative to put on the whole armor of God? If you’re like me, you might balk at the presence of such militaristic imagery in the Bible, or at the idea of spiritual warfare. Isn’t the gospel supposed to be a gospel of peace?
While we may be uncomfortable with the idea of taking up arms in the spiritual battle, there’s no denying we live in a world of violence. This summer, we’ve witnessed an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, another viral story of police violence against an innocent Black person, and wars in Israel/Palestine and Ukraine with no end in sight. As we wish it were otherwise, we live in a world that regularly attempts to solve its conflicts with physical violence.
Ephesians 6 cautions us that the battle the Christian believer is called to fight is not against flesh and blood (our fellow human beings). Rather, our battle is against what the author calls “the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (v.12). Our struggle is with evil in all its forms. And it is indeed an active conflict. We cannot stand idly by and assume things will work out. We must be dressed and ready for the fight, armored with all the gifts of grace that come from God: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Spirit speaking the word of God.
It is worth noting that all but one of the items Ephesians urges us to be ready with are defensive or practical: belt, breastplate, shoes, shield and helmet. There is only one weapon, and that is the Spirit, which the author identifies with the word of God. After all, scholars believe the Christians who received this letter in the late first century were mostly pacifists. And yet they understood that there was a battle being waged between the “spiritual forces of evil” and God, made known to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. The author of Ephesians (perhaps Paul writing near the end of his life, more likely a devotee writing in his name) makes clear in the opening of the letter that the ultimate battle is already won: God has already “raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:20-21). But the early believers who received this letter were living in the “already/not yet” of God’s kingdom — though victory in Christ was assured, there were still battles to be fought.
And we, too, live in the already/not yet. We are still waiting for the final triumph of God’s love over all the spiritual forces of evil. And so we, too, are called to fight. But Ephesians reminds us that we must take care to fight the correct enemy. Our enemies are not our fellow human beings. Rather we should all stand united against the common enemy of evil as it manifests itself in the world, evil that leads to injustice, oppression, hatred and violence.
Throughout his ministry, the Martin Luther King Jr. taught and lived four principles of nonviolence as he sought to confront the evils of racism, segregation, poverty and inequality. In “Nonviolence and Racial Justice,” a 1957 essay published in the Christian Century, he outlined them succinctly. First, he asserts that nonviolence was not the same as passivity. “The nonviolent resister,” King says, “is just as strongly opposed to the evil against which he protests as is the person who uses violence. His method is passive or nonaggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent. But his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken.” This leads to the second principle, that nonviolent direct action is not about defeating opponents, but rather winning their friendship and understanding to make way for redemption, reconciliation and ultimately, beloved community. Going along with that, King reminds us that “the attack is directed against the forces of evil rather than against persons who are caught in those forces. It is evil we are seeking to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil.” And the final principle is that nonviolent resistance avoids violence both in action and in spirit. At the very center of nonviolence “stands the principle of love,” King writes. Hate begets hate, just as violence begets violence, so we must “project the ethics of love to the center of our lives.”
Whenever I read or listen to King, I am struck by how relevant his words are for us today, how much of the battle is still to be fought against the evils of racism, militarism, inequality and poverty. King is still speaking to us, still calling us to join the fight — not to go to war against our siblings in the human family, but to join together as one in the battle against everything that prevents us from living in the true peace of beloved community.
The fight is active, so we’re going to need the right equipment: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and yes, even the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And don’t forget to pray, Ephesians says. We’re going to need God’s strength working in us if we’re going to stand firm in the battle. So lace up those sandals. We’ve got work to do.
Questions for reflection:
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Is there a particular manifestation of evil your faith community is called to fight? How are you already engaged in that work? How could you be more actively engaged in that work?
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Which of the pieces of “armor” has God given your faith community a particular gift for (truth, righteousness, peace, faith, etc.)? Are there muscles you need to stretch to put on the “whole armor of God?”
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The author of Ephesians urges his readers to keep alert and persevere in prayer. What spiritual disciplines do your faith community practice together? How could those practices strengthen you for the work of shared ministry?
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