We talked about Ephesus being one of the first Christian communities. The language of the letter seems a little strange for Paul, though it is Pauline in its theology. Paul usually addressed specific issues that were impacting the churches that were receiving his letters. Ephesians is more general, though the points are significant. Paul talks about putting on the whole armor of God. This language sounds a little strange to modern ears, but the group felt that the imagery was very powerful to the community that received this letter. The power of darkness can be overwhelming. For the early church, they certainly felt that power. They had no army, no political clout, no social standing, no great wealth. How could one stand against the powers of the world? The imagery of armor had significance.
We then talked about doing battle against evil, the darkness of this world. Left to ourselves, we will fall short. It is only with the power of God that we can stand. We talked about experiences where God (the Holy Spirit) helped us to stand. As an example, my father walked into a riot that had broken out in the prison he was serving as chaplain. In the cafeteria, black inmates were on one side and white inmates were on the other. It was a tinder box ready to explode. My father was warned by the guards not to go into the cafeteria alone. My father's answer was that he was not entering alone. God was going with him. He walked into that situation with the armor of faith and that armor made all the difference. My father does not remember what he said, but the situation was defused. My father gives all the credit that day to God. He was just an instrument of God's grace. It is that kind of empowerment that Paul lifts up in his letter. An empowerment than can come to all of us through the Holy Spirit. An empowerment that can have us face the evil of this world.
The Book of Faith will be taking a vacation during the summer and return in the fall. I hope you have been following the blogs so far. I hope you will join us again in September.
Pastor Summer
