August 26, 2012
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Ephesians 6:10-20
“Armor?”
I have never said this before, and it might
come as a surprise coming out of my mouth, but here it is, “There is a
fundamental moral failure in our society.”
This is not all that shocking of a statement really. All we have to do is begin to list the
troubles in our time - or even for the last few weeks. The epidemic of unreported black on black
crime is astounding. And as soon as we
do that the natural tendency is to figure out who is to blame . . . mental
illness, poor parenting, poverty, lack of jobs, or just bad people. And then begins the litany of things we must
do. What we need is to figure out a way
to create right action. The reaction of
the church is to talk - without actually using these words - about finding a
better moral theology. What I mean by
this is that if we can teach right then people will act right. But the truth is that this type of moral
theology is an abysmal failure.
It is a failure because at the end of the
day we have a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem. And if we cannot name the problem, any
solution will miss the mark. The symptoms
of the problem we know well. So we
address the symptoms and wonder why things do not get better. We are taught that there is a formula for
every problem. So when our formulas do
not get better we begin to scapegoat.
The problem is poor people, rich people, white people, black people, gay
people, Muslim people, atheists, liberals, conservatives . . . and then once
the problem is identified we simply plug in the formula. But from the programs of the Great Society,
to ending all corporate regulations, nothing seems to work. We hunger for the next great savior who
promises jobs with no specifics or law and order at the price of freedom - or
at least some people’s freedom. But each
of these fails because we have missed the root of the problem.
As Christians we have language to address
this problem but we have not done a good job of expressing it. Instead we have been drawn into partisan
battles and too often have led the charge of scapegoating. The problem with our public face is that we
have forgotten a simple but basic doctrine of the church. Yes, it really is about bad theology. There is really only one problem and that
problem is what we call the doctrine of the Fall. Yes we are all sinful.
The issue can seem outdated, but the real
problem is with how we have taught this doctrine. We have said that human beings are inherently
evil. We do not like to say this because
we like to think of ourselves as basically good people. But at times like this it is important to
remember that behavioral psychology and evolutionary biology have shown that
given the right circumstance and opportunity we will act in horrific ways. But the church has stopped short with
this. We have forgotten that the
doctrine extends to anything and everything that human beings have created or
will create. In other words, our
institutions, our governments, our schools, our communities, and even our
nations are affected by the power of the Fall, and are at their core – sinful.
So what does this mean? It means we cannot join the calls for
scapegoating. The trouble with society,
the trouble with our country, the trouble with our world, the trouble in our
neighborhoods, our churches, and our schools is not something “out there” but
something inside all of us. And the
language of bad guys and good guys sounds ridiculous and ignorant after about third
grade. It also means we shouldn’t be
surprised when all our best efforts or hopes for a new day are undermined. We shouldn’t be surprised that advances in women's
health are under a full-on assault or that the voting rights act is in danger
of extinction. It does mean we better
stand up against these assaults, but we should not be surprised or fall into despair. And this is where Paul comes in.
The language of Powers and Principalities
may seem strange but it is all a matter of interpretation. Some of us are quite comfortable imaging
embodied demons walking around out to get us or trip us up. For others this may seem to be nonsense. The good news is that Paul is not talking
about embodied demons or spirits but something more. Modern lay Episcopal theologian William
Stringfellow addressed this in amazing fresh ways. The powers of this world are explained
as: institutions, systems, ideologies,
political and social powers. Whether we
give them mythic or spiritual power these things have a power that goes beyond
the simple gathering of people.
Think of it as mob mentality. People caught up in the mob often talk about
being almost outside themselves doing things they might not otherwise have
done. Moving beyond the mob for a few
moments, think about institutions or political systems or governments. The power of each of these or the goal of
each of these is self-preservation. And
self-preservation, selfishness, is the basic mark of a toddler. Add to this the greatest military might the
world had ever seen and you have the mix of holy terror.
Now we can begin to understand the plight
of the Christians at Ephesus. They lived
as a religious minority in a Roman and pagan place. They were under the thumb of military
occupation. Rome understood how to keep
order and how to keep the empire running smoothly. In the end the empire had two faces. The first face was one of seduction and the
other was pain. Rome was generous to its
friends and allies. It would heap lavish
power and wealth to those willing to follow.
But, for those who refused, came crucifixion, taxation, military
conscription and other forms of slavery.
This is how the fallen powers of this world work. But despite their many ways of functioning
they ultimately work in one realm, death.
The legacy we are left from the Christians
of Ephesus is the reminder that all of our institutions, our countries, our
best efforts and even our best people are fallen. Despite our belief in the goodness of people,
we must admit that inside each of us is the power of death and
destruction. We might not have blood on
our hands but we are all part of the war machine. We are part of the systems that have created
the violence on our streets and the violence in the board rooms. The problem is not out there or with other
people but part of us.
There are symptoms with which we must
wrestle. It does not mean that we
overlook when young men pull guns out in a crowded Colorado theatre or in Heman
Park last Friday. Those men are responsible
for their crimes. But they are not
animals, they are not evil, and they are not unlike you and me. It does not mean that we stand idly by when
making more people hungry as the solution to our deficit problem. It does not mean that those who propose it
are the spawn of Satan.
Our battle is not against flesh and blood. This language reminds us that the struggle
will not go away when this group or that group is gone. If we elect the right politician or enact the
right policies everything will not be alright - it might be better but it will
never be perfect. And anyone who tells
you otherwise has forgotten the lessons of utopian thinking and the doctrine of
Sin. Instead, we are called to figure
out how we can live out our faith and hope in a world drenched in death.
The language of the armor might be a bit
much or maybe too militaristic for our modern liberal ears. But what Paul is doing is undermining the
very militaristic culture in which they lived.
Each piece of this outfit is not about going on the attack but preparing
oneself for attack. It was intended to
remind the hearers of the need for spiritual preparation. And though this passage has been twisted and
distorted for evil in the name of Christianity – it is intended to take the
very implements of war and use them for non-violent, uplifting and peace
seeking tools. In the end the image is
intended to give Christians a sense of hope and support in difficult
times. And we live in difficult
times. The easy thing to do is to see
people, our enemies, as inherently evil.
But the call for Christians is to work for justice and remember our
struggle is not against flesh and blood.
Amen. 
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