Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Ephesians
6:10-20)
Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour
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
armour 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, praying at all times in the
Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all
perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that
words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of
the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it
boldly, as I ought to speak.
Prayer: May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
For our sermon today, it might seem strange that I have
chose to meditate on a passage which doesn’t actually mention baptism. And in
this sermon today, I won’t attempt to explain every detail of this passage.
This passage is a very famous passage amongst Christians,
and for some people, it is one of their favourite bible passages. Most people
who have been to Sunday School have been taught this reading at some point, drawing
a picture of a Roman soldier with all his different pieces of armour,
representing different things.
We have the belt of truth, the breastplate of
righteousness, the readiness given by the gospel of peace as shoes for your
feet. We have the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming
darts of the evil one. We have the helmet of salvation, the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.
And St Paul in our reading calls each person to put this
armour on.
Now, if you can imagine the picture that St Paul is
describing, he is speaking about all these different things—truth,
righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, and the word of God—as if they were
parts of a suit of armour, and weapons.
But the question we need to ask is how exactly are we
called to use them?
St Paul depicts for us a Roman soldier. Now, the Romans
were among the most brilliant when it came to warfare in the ancient world.
St Paul himself who wrote this letter lived under Roman
rule. In fact, he was a Roman citizen by birth. At Christmas, we often hear
about how Joseph and Mary had to travel because Caesar Augustus had called for
a census. This passage of the bible was written under Roman occupation, and the
picture of a Roman soldier was a familiar one to many people.
Now what was it that made the Romans so great? Well, there
are two aspects to warfare. The first one is attacking a place and invading it.
This is the easiest part of warfare. But there is an aspect of warfare that is
much more difficult, and that is keeping and holding the territory.
As we can see in our present day situation, the Americans
easily invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. But keeping peace in Afghanistan and
maintaining civil order is much more difficult. It’s much more frustrating.
In the Ancient Roman times, there were different kinds of
troops—there were offensive troops. They went in and took over a particular
city. But then there were also the sentries. They were called to stand at the
borders and to keep watch. A Roman soldier would be put to death if he deserted
his post or fell asleep at his post.
And so the Ancient Romans managed to hold such large
territory for centuries because they had such a highly structured border patrol
with sentries. Sometimes these sentries would go for years and never see a
single thing at their post, but they contributed to what became known as the
“Peace of Rome” – the Pax Romana.
Now what does this have to do with Siena and her baptism?
Well, when we are baptised, Jesus Christ himself pours out
on us all his gifts through the Holy Spirit. We are given the forgiveness of
sins, life, salvation, and made into one of God’s own children.
It is Jesus Christ himself who suffered and died for us on
the cross and rose again on the third day. And then he applies all the
blessings of his death and his resurrection to us, even today, in the church,
through means of Holy Baptism.
So St Paul says in Romans 6: All of us who were baptised
into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. We were buried therefore with
him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the
dead, we too might walk in the newness of life.
It’s a wonderful miracle that is brought about in baptism
here today! Siena is doing nothing today, but God is doing something great.
God is the one who is working. In fact, Jesus Christ himself is the one who
comes today and baptises with his own Holy Spirit.
In our three readings today from John and Titus and
Ezekiel, we read that baptism gives a new heart, that it is a new birth by
water and the Spirit, that we are born again, that God saves us through this
water.
In fact, in Galatians it says, For as many of you as were
baptised into Christ have put on Christ.
Now back to the armour and the ancient Romans.
Our spiritual warfare as Christians: what are being called
to do? Are we called to invade new territory, or simply watch at the border?
We are simply called to watch. Jesus is the one who has
won the battle. He has invaded the devil’s territory and conquered it. He has
won the great victory of all time
through his death and resurrection. And when we need help, we don’t fight for
ourselves, we just call in Jesus. He is even stronger that death itself!
Today, Siena enters onto holy ground. She becomes a holy
person. She becomes a Christian, and is made one of God’s children, part of
Jesus’ own family and shares in Jesus’ everlasting inheritance. Siena is now
holy ground.
And now, for the rest of her life, she is called simply to
guard, with the help of the Holy Spirit, what she has been given. The belt of
truth, the breastplate of righteousness has already been given to her.
St Paul now calls us every day to simply put it on.
And then what? Charge into battle?
Listen to what St Paul says: Therefore take up the whole armour
of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore,
having fastenedd on the belt of truth…
Listen to the words: withstand, stand firm, stand. St Paul
is not saying: charge, charge, charge. And sometimes many people find these
warlike images in the bible bad taste, because many Christians have made the
mistake of going on crusades, big ones and little ones. But instead, St Paul
says: Stand, stand, stand. Guard your post, guard the holy ground, pray for
those who have been given to you. Keep watch, stand firm, guard your post.
Today, through baptism, Siena will declare war on the
devil. The first baptismal vow is: “Do you reject the devil and all his works
and all his ways?”
All God’s gifts will be given to her. Jesus Christ himself
will pour out all his holiness upon her, all his forgiveness, and will take
upon himself all her sin, in the past, present and future. The task now is to
stand firm and guard the post. As St Paul says: Be strong in the Lord and in
the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able
to stand against the schemes of the devil.
And so, let’s celebrate this wonderful occasion today of
Siena’s baptism, let’s pray for her and commend her into the hands of her
Maker and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And together with our Lord Jesus, let’s clothe
ourselves together with Siena in God’s strong armour of baptism. As St Paul
says in Galatians: As many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on
Christ.
Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your
hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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