211024 Sermon on Ephesians 6:10-17 (Trinity 21) October 24, 2021

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

There are two common errors when it comes to fighting against the devil and other evil powers. A person can either think too highly of these enemies and have an exagerrated response against them, or a person can think too little of them as though no response were needed at all.

Those who think too highly of the devil, demons, and other evil things can get carried away. They often want to know more about these things than what the Bible tells us. The Bible doesn’t speak that much about such things, and certainly the Bible never explains how these things work. Often people can develop an intense desire to understand what has not been revealed. Doing that seems pious enough. The thought is that if we understand how these things work, we can take reasonable action against them.

It is also rather exciting to see the world as a drama where the devil and his demons take center stage. How might they be involved at the top echelons of power? What do the world leaders do behind closed doors? Knowing or learning about such secrets is very interesting and exciting. But that is the very reason why we need to have our guard up concerning such things.

Our flesh is easily bored. Grand narratives involving secret powers can attract us like a moth to the flame. But the flesh profits nothing. Being fascinated by such things doesn’t enable anybody to do anything against them. The only way to overcome evil is by the new creation in Jesus. Oddly enough, becoming fascinated with secret knowledge about spiritual evils might be part of their very own strategy. What harm does it do them if people get whipped up about them, but are completely powerless to defeat or hamper them.

So one of the errors when it comes to fighting against the devil and other evil powers is that a person gets carried away with movie-like conspiracies and explanations. This is not so common an error among Lutherans. Pentecostal-like groups are much more likely to fall into this. Among Lutherans the other, the practically opposite error, is much more common. We are prone to believe that such things do not exist. Or, perhaps we believe that they exist on paper, but we are prone to act as though such things do not matter. They have no impact on our life.

Of the two errors, this second one is worse. It betrays a rank, unbelieving, secular outlook. According to this outlook life is nothing more and nothing less than making do and trying to have a good time. God doesn’t matter. The devil doesn’t matter. What matters is me—my paycheck, my fun, my memories. To such a person Paul’s statement that we wrestle with evil spiritual powers is backward, pre-enlightenment superstition. It is as though somewhere along the line some really smart people discovered that neither God nor the devil exist. But this has never been discovered or proven. It has only been assumed. As an assumption it’s really not that impressive or original. This assumption goes all the way back to the first human beings who became convinced in their heart that there is no God, so we might as well do whatever it is that we feel like doing.

So it is no good to believe that the devil and demons do not exist or have no impact on our life. It is also bad to go overboard about these enemies of God. So if both of these alternatives are bad how should we think about them and counter them? We are given some practical and sober things to think about with our Epistle reading today, Paul’s letter to the Christians at Ephesus.

He says: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

The first thing that I’d like you to notice from these words is the very first word. He says, “Finally.” These words are a conclusion to things that he has been speaking about previously in the letter. I think this context is very important for a proper attitude concerning these evil forces. Immediately prior to where our Epistle reading picks up the apostle is speaking about the various callings in life that a Christian might have.

He speaks at length about the proper relationship between husband and wife. Husbands are to love their wives. Wives are to submit to their husbands as to the Lord. He tells children that they should be obedient to their parents. Those who honor their parents will enjoy long life, full of good things. Employees should be submissive and helpful to their employers. They should work, not as though they were just trying to earn a buck, but as though they were serving the Lord. Employers should act similarly towards their employees. They should not be abusive. They are cut from the same cloth as their workers, and God is not a respecter of persons.

Think about the realms of life that Paul is talking about here. What could be more practical and immediately relevant? Whom do you associate with from one day to the next? Is it not all these relationships that Paul lays out here? He is talking about the people who live in your house that you see every day. He is talking about the people whom you see at work. These are the people who make up the vast majority of our life. We, as Christians, are to fill these callings with submission towards one another, with love, and with honor. It is after saying all these things that Paul says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Fight against the devil and all the evil spirits.”

So where do the devil and the evil spirits do their work? They work within these ordinary callings. They do not want us to be loving towards the people who live with us. They do not want us to be cheerful and helpful at work. They want us to grumble and complain. They want us to treat each other badly, so that we isolate from one another. They want us to heap up sins in our daily walk of life so that we bring down God’s wrath upon ourselves and upon our nation.

In order to combat this we must put on the full armor of God. Notice that all these pieces of armor come from God. They do not come from us. It won’t work just to try harder. We must receive what God gives in order to be at all effective. Gird your loins with the belt of truth. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. Shod your feet with the gospel of peace, that is, being forgiven, forgiving and moving forward. Take up shield of faith. Paul is not talking about one of those little circular shields here. He’s talking about one of those great big ones, shaped like a door, covering the whole body. The devil can do nothing against the one who continues to believe. Have your mind encased on salvation like a helmet. The only offensive weapon here is a dagger, which is the Word of God.

Armor brings to nothing the efforts the enemies undertake to bring about your demise. The devil and the evil spirits want to destroy your faith, hope, and love. Generally speaking, they do not go at us with visions, apparitions, dramatic possessions, and so on. Can they do such things? Certainly! But it is far more effective for them to sow hatred wherever they can. People do not think that hatred comes from evil spirits. They think that it comes from the other person being such an despicable specimen of the human race! It is within our homes and within our workplaces—those places in life where we spend 90% of our time—that is where we must be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might.

The focus, therefore, with the devil and the demons is not against some grand or vast conspiracy. It is not on the skull and bones society, the illuminati, or other secret clubs. Can these things be full of occult and evil activity? Certainly! And I believe that they are evil and occult. Furthermore, can the devil and the demons be active at the top positions of power? Certainly! If I were preaching to senators and presidents, that might be something worthwhile taking up. But I don’t see any presidents here today. What I do see are people who have families, jobs, and other important relationships. We all have enough to handle with looking after ourselves. We don’t need to get involved in grand narratives, where the villain is always black as coal, and always someone else, and never myself.

In our callings in life we must take seriously the schemes of the devil, the principalities, the cosmic forces at work in this present age of darkness. We must not think, for example, that everything can be explained simply by brain chemicals or hormones. Nor is it a purely natural, sociological matter of getting along or not getting along. The front lines of your battle as a Christian are in your living room, at your kitchen table, and in your bedroom. They are on your work floor and in the breakroom. In these places we are to be salt and light. Those around us should see the good works that God works in us by his Holy Spirit, and glorify God for them.

It is very easy to be misled into thinking that only the big stuff matters. Only the people sitting in the halls of power matter. But it’s actually the other way around. The only reason a government exists is for the sake of the lives that we live every day. The government is God’s gift so that our daily life may continue to go on in relative peace. Life is not for the purpose of having a government. The government exists for the sake of everybody’s homelife. It is our homelife that is primary. Furthermore, when God judges and punishes, it is not just for the serial murderers, devil worshippers, and other monsters. It is for the sharp words, the sharp looks, the hatreds, the little disobediences that have the power to make a homelife miserable.

So when you think of the devil and the demons do not think that they are somewhere else with séances, baby’s blood, or other esoteric practices. Are the devil and the demons involved in such things? I have no doubt about that, and you should have absolutely nothing do with such things! But the devil and the demons are closer than you think. The enemy is in your daily life. Your daily life matters a great deal.

There is more than one way to skin a cat. The devil knows that too. Our faith can be attacked through the front door, through the back door, or through the window. The evil forces do not act the way that people expect them to, with dramatic fanfares and blood-soaked rituals. They know how important our daily life is. What they’d like is for us to leave our armor in the closet, thinking that our enemies are far away in Washington or wherever.

So fight the good fight in your daily life. Be strengthened in the knowledge of God’s love toward us in Christ. Put on God’s truth, God’s righteousness, God’s salvation. The closer these things are fastened upon you, the better. They are your life. They are your destiny. Stand against the devil in the evil day when you are tempted to be angry, disobedient, lazy, and selfish. Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil, and there is no more important place for the devil’s works to be destroyed than in our daily life.