Bold Proclamations - August 27, 2006

Ephesians 6: 10-20

My friend Suellen has an Easy Button in her office. Maybe you've seen one of these in a television commercial for a certain office supply store. If you are stuck in a rut ,or in a bind and you need a fast answer, “ Just press the easy button—, goes the thinking behind the ad campaign. I thought it kind of peculiar that a pastor would have such a thing in her office, since we are trained to believe that there are no easy answers to most of life's problems. Then she told me that a parishioner gave it to her, which I found to be a little more peculiar. But maybe the parishioner just wanted Suellen to know that she wished a lighter load for her pastor.

When I am in my friend's office, about once a month when a group of us meet for a clergy lunch, sometimes I think of a problem I'm trying to solve, then I push the easy button, just for fun. It is, for me, kind of like making a wish when blowing out a candle, or rubbing Buddha's belly when leaving a Chinese restaurant, or knocking on wood. A talismanic ritual that makes me feel as though I have positively aligned myself with the universe for a moment.

I don't really expect my problem to get solved instantly when I press the easy button, any more than I expect my wish to come through after I blow out an increasing number of candles each year, or than I think rubbing a statue's belly will bring me luck, or that knocking on wood makes a thing true. In fact, I think that as a Christian, I don't even really believe in luck.

I think if we believed in good luck, we'd have to believe in bad luck as well. And who wants to believe that the bad things that happen to us are just random, luck-of-the-draw, unfortunate incidents?

There is a photograph of a pair of child's pajamas—two pairs, actually, one for girls and one for boys—that is circulating on the web amongst my internet friends and e-mail pals. The pajamas are based on our text for today, “The Whole Armor of God—.

The caption for the photograph of the children wearing the pajamas reads: “The Armor of God PJs were inspired by a mother reading Ephesians 6:10-20 every night to her daughter to give her a safe and secure feeling in the dark. God gave me the idea how wonderful it would be if all children could have the opportunity to put on a pair of pajamas that symbolized the Armor of God for the same purpose—that the belief in Jesus and his protection they will feel safe and secure during the night as they sleep.— This safety and security is available for the low price of $39.95 plus tax and shipping. The boy's set comes with a helmet, and the girl's set comes with a bridal veil. I'm not kidding.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was some thing we could say or do—or put on— to make us bold when we feel afraid or weak or inadequate? Who wouldn't want their very own easy button when life gets to be too much?

The other night I saw the new movie “Little Miss Sunshine—, which is the story of a family on a journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Redondo Beach, CA. That's the premise of the movie, but that's not the real journey that the members of the Hoover family are on, of course. The Hoovers are not people to whom life has been kind or for whom things have been easy. Like most families I know, they put the “fun in dysfunction—. It seems that for them, life has been one squashed dream, one broken promise, one unfortunate choice after another. They don't persevere because of some lofty ideals, but as a matter of survival.

The Hoovers, in the 90 minutes of the film, find that to survive, to get through the ordeals that happen in the 48 hours the film depicts, they must lean on each other. Sometimes when they lean on each other, the results are less than successful. In fact, some of the things they provide or do for one another are wildly and hilariously inappropriate, as the last 30 minutes of the film show. There is no outrageously happy ending to this movie—I don't think that it is giving away too much of the plot to tell you that. In fact, the film leaves many questions unanswered, and many problems unsolved.

But still, if you go see this film, you will find yourself rooting for the family, even when they screw up. You will especially find yourself rooting for the main character of this film: nine-year-old Olive. Olive represents what is the very best of humanity: honesty, curiosity, innocence, trust, faithfulness, loyalty, and tenacity. At nine years old, she has more self-esteem and more self worth than the jaded adults she lives with. It turns out that Olive represents for the Hoover family, all the good things, the bravery, the boldness, the authenticity that by the end credits tell the audience that even though the family's problems are not completely solved, they will be okay. In many ways, this character represents what is good and faithful and true—the best things about a congregation.

In the paraphrase of the New Testament written by Eugene Peterson, (who our guest preacher last week talked about), he interprets part of our epistle lesson for today this way:

“Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.—

The whole armor of God, that which gives us boldness to proclaim the mystery of the gospel into a jaded world where the prevailing thought is that seeing is believing—or should be, anyway—is not an Easy Button. It is not something we can put on or take off like some handy holy pj's you could purchase on the internet.

It is, instead, something that, although very real, is often intangible, invisible, indescribable. I can't always tell you exactly what it is, but I often know where to find it. It is found in the strength to honestly and unflinchingly grieve when someone we love is hurt or killed. It is found in the support we offer each other--the prayer we knit together to uphold each other when one of us, or several of us, is facing hardship, an illness, a dramatic life change. It is found in boldly supporting a group of women halfway around the world who are raising their own grandchildren because a preventable disease has torn their families asunder. It is found in the willingness to travel hundreds of miles to muck out somebody else's rotting carpet and drywall. It is found in sharing the good news of new life and of resurrection anf of fre and undeserved grace in a world that still believes that the best things—the things worth having—can be bought or sold.

Brothers and sisters, the whole armor of God is only found in each other and in our bold proclamations of love and caring for one another because God has gifted us with what it takes to do these things. As the writer of Ephesians reminds us: we are up against something bigger than we are, something far more than we can handle on our own.

Ergo, we are called to do this together. And not just together in the sense that we can bind together a group of ordinary humans and accomplish the gospel in a hurting world, but in that we are called to do these things armored with the strength that is spoken into being by Holy Spirit, the righteousness that is our gift of grace from the God who created us, the faith that we have found through following Jesus Christ, our redeemer. Because we have been given what we need from our loving God, we are more together than we are apart. We are stronger, more resilient, more authentic, when we are in this together. And in a world that declares “Every person for him or herself!— that is a bold proclamation indeed.

Thanks be to God.