I remember walking into a religious book/gift store many years ago (down at Rockwood – Sign of the Fish) when I was still working as a DCE. As I went in, my eyes were drawn to a mom and a young boy, maybe 3 or 4, at the checkout counter. She was paying, and he was happily opening the package and putting on a small shield, helmet, gloves, and waving a sword. I remember thinking at the time, even many years ago, “No, no, no, that is wrong. It is not biblical.” Fastforward to August 5, 2018, and I saw the news from Portland, OR, where a Prayer Patriots Rally was taking place. The camera stopped on a man clad mostly in green, with long gloves and a mask, carrying a shield, and with something, either a megaphone or a weapon, slung over his shoulder, joining the crowd chanting, “Go home! Go home!” Again, my first thought was, “No, that is just wrong. If you are prayer patriots, you must know that is not what Jesus says.” And I was reminded of the little boy in armor, so happy to wear a shield and wield a sword in God’s name.
This epistle passage uses the language of war because that was a language the people of that time would understand. The people of Ephesus may even have been in a war at the time. Soldiers of that era would wear a belt around their waist to tie up their loose robes, in order to keep them out of their way in the battle. Special belts would signify higher office. They wore breastplates of leather or metal, on their front and sometimes on their backs. They wore sturdier shoes, for their time, so that they would not lose their footing. Any good soldier would carry a shield. Many shields in ancient times were big enough to cover the whole body. They were usually made of leather or of wood, and they might be soaked in water before battle, in order to extinguish flaming arrows. Helmets were needed to protect the head. And every good solder had a sword, in this time long before guns were invented. People of the first century would know these images because they saw them all the time.
But the writer, who was possibly Paul, but more likely a disciple of Paul writing in Paul’s name, took these familiar images and turned them on their head, much as Jesus did in his teachings. Instead of a belt, he said, Christians should wear truth. And instead of a breastplate, live in righteousness, in right relationship with God and with one another. Instead of worrying about the right shoes, Christians should make sure they are grounded firmly in the Gospel message. Christians are shielded by faith, and their heads and hearts are protected by salvation. The only sword a Christian should carry is the Word of God. These are the weapons needed to fight a never ending battle, says the author, this battle against evil.
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