Body Building:
Fighting the Real Fight

PASTOR BURCHAM'S SERMON

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

You know life must be particularly tough for the troops who are over in Iraq . Particularly tough because, as they wander around the streets, they really have no clue as to who is friendly towards them and supportive and who is against them. It's unlike any kind of traditional battle you would think. There is no battle line that has been drawn. There is no opposing army that has a different uniform than the uniform you are wearing, so there is no way of identifying those who are out to get you or trap you or even kill you. So, as they wander around the streets, people can pass by on one side and they can duck around the corner and grab a rifle and really, until the shooting starts, they don't know who the enemy is. It's almost impossible to fight a battle when you don't know who the enemy is.

St. Paul was making a similar point as he finishes up his letter to the Church at Ephesus . His final remarks to them of being strong in the Lord and, being strong in the Lord, they need to know who the real enemy is, who the true enemy is, and what kind of battle they really have to fight. So that there's no confusion, he says, the battle we fight is not a physical battle and the person we fight against is not a person at all. Instead, we're engaged in a spiritual warfare and our enemies are spiritual enemies. They are the devil who is scheming and evil ones who follow after him, and that's the true enemy. We need to know who the true enemy is, less we get confused and we lose the battle.

You see, if we don't know who the enemy is, then we've lost the fight before it ever began. You see, the devil would like nothing better than for us to sort of dismiss him, to really not give him a second thought. To think about spiritual forces, to think about evil in the world, that all sounds kind of medieval, doesn't it? Something that came out of the dark ages where they were afraid of anything and everything. Around every corner, there was an evil spirit ready to snatch them away. And so when we talk about evil forces and we talk about spiritual forces, well that just seems pretty antiquated for us in our modern type of thinking, our modern world. And the devil loves that. He likes nothing better than for us to sort of dismiss him and say, “Well, yes we know he's real.” I think we'd all agree with that, there is a devil and he is working against God. But how serious do you take it really? How much thought do you put into it? How much preparation do you put into fighting him off? Don't you just sort of not think about it at all? Any talk about spiritual warfare? Spiritual forces at work? Kind of sounds like a conspiracy theory? That's part of the deception of the devil is to divert our attention and to deceive us into missing the point of who the real enemy is. So if he's not the enemy, we end up directing our assaults and directing our fights in any number of different directions, whether it's at people or whether it's at situations but never, ever hitting the mark and never coming head to head with who it is we really need to be battling.

So this morning I think it's important for us to take at least a few moments and understand who the enemy is not but then understand who the real enemy is. You see, the enemy is not the person sitting next to you even if you got into an argument with them last night. The enemy is not the person sitting across the aisle. The enemy is not the person that's across the world. The enemy is not the person who refuses to believe in God nor is the enemy the person who works to get God removed from our society, because the real enemy is not flesh and blood. The real enemy is not a person. That means the enemy is not the guy who runs the local strip club. The enemy is not the guy who's trying to build an adult bookstore in your neighborhood. The enemy is not a person nor is the enemy a group of people because the enemy is not flesh and blood. That means the enemy is not the Mormons or the Muslims. The enemy is not the Hindu or the Harry Krishna. The enemy is not the inmate on death row or the prisoner sitting in jail. The enemy is not the person who removed prayer from our public school nor is it the guy who is marching for gay rights. The enemy is not flesh and blood. The enemy is not a person or a group of people.

Did you catch what St. Paul said? If not, take a look again. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The enemy is not someone, and it's not a group of people. The enemy is the spiritual forces, the evil one, the devil. Now the devil can use people, and he can use groups of people. He can even use religion to pull people away from God. But the enemy is not the group of people. The enemy is not the person who's involved there. That's all the smoke and mirrors the devil uses to divert our energy so we never see what's behind that, what's behind all the movements to remove God from our society, what's behind all the world religions that want to take us away from Christ. What's behind that is the devil working to take us away from Christ and as many other people as he can. The real enemy is a spiritual enemy, and it's an evil force and it's centered in the devil. That's who we fight against. And if we lose sight of that, if we allow him to deceive us, then we've lost the battle.

We need to know the devil is real, and he is waging a battle. And every day of your life, whether you know it or not, he's waging a battle against you. It may be in subtle ways, and it may be in more direct ways. But each time we confuse the enemy with someone else, then we direct our efforts at fighting a person or a group of people or even an event that's taking place, then we've lost sight and we've lost the battle. Our battle is a spiritual battle. Our fight is a spiritual fight, and that's why God has equipped us spiritually.

St. Paul says we are to equip ourselves, and he uses the analogy of the armor of God. So he has the picture of a soldier, of course back in his time, putting on his armor to fight off and defend against the devil and his attacks and his evil scheming as he works against us. He starts off by saying the most important defensive weapon we have is the truth. He says, “Strap on the belt of truth.” Truth wards off the devil better than anything else. Jesus said of the devil that he's a liar and he's the father of all lies. But then Jesus also said, “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth will set you free from the father of lies. The truth will set you free from the lies and the deceptions the devil has planned for you, and the devil does want to deceive you. He wants to deceive you in two ways. In fact, what he wants to do is deceive you on both sides of the coin. So the first thing the devil does is he comes to you and he says,” You're missing out on life. There's a whole world of adventure out there for you. Now why are you being so straight and so snobbish about everything? Go out and enjoy yourself. That's why this is here. That's why creation is here. Go out and live as you want to live.” And then he'll help you justify that, rationalize it in your mind. Even if you know God says we're not to lie to people. “Well, but I don't want to hurt their feelings. So it's all right if I stretch the truth. It's okay if I say a little white lie.” God knows we're not supposed to cheat people. “But, after all, this is business, you know, God. And you know they're out there trying to do it to me. And I'm not really trying to cheat them, but I am trying to land the sale.” God knows we're not supposed to slander people. We're not supposed to be a false witness. “But do you know what they did to me? Well, let me tell you what they did to me.” You can rationalize and justify any action you want. And the devil is going to walk right along side of you the whole way, helping you out, telling you it's no big deal. He wants to deceive you. He wants to trick you so you stop following God. And the moment you fall, he jumps to the other side of the coin and now he starts accusing you. Now he starts pointing out all those sins he tempted you into. He starts pointing out all of your fallacies, all of your failures, all of the things you've done against God. And then he starts whispering in your ear. “How could God love you? Look at all you've done. Take a look at your life. Take a look at your past. He could excuse some things but not that.” He wants to make you believe there's a limit to God's love, there's conditions on His forgiveness. He wants to deceive you on both sides of the coin.

It is the truth. It is the truth that will set you free. It is the truth that tells you when Jesus Christ died, he died for all of your sins, that God's love for you is an unconditional love, that no matter what you've done in the past, no matter what you do in the future, there is no power on earth or outside of this earth that can take God's love away from you in Jesus Christ. That is the truth of the matter, and the truth of the matter is if you want to live life to the fullest, then you live life in line with God's purposes for you, you live lives worked out so you're following Christ and He is your example. That's how you enjoy life to the fullest. That is the truth of the matter, and that is the truth that destroys the devil. That is the truth that wipes them out, and you can't do anything against the truth. It is that truth then that St. Paul follows up with and he says, “Then be fitted the shoes of peace.”

The truth is the gospel message that all of us fall short of the glory of God, that all of us have been justified freely by His grace. It brings peace to our lives. It brings peace to us as a family of God and know we have one faith, one baptism, one spirit, one God that leads us to the righteousness. Let's put on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate covers the heart and guards the heart to let us know we're right with God, to know our heart is right with God. That's why, in every worship service, we come together and we bow our heads and we confess our sins to God. And then we hear God declaring us holy, God declaring us righteous, God saying we're forgiven so we have a pure heart, so the devil can't accuse us, can't point things out to us. We won't fall for his lies because the truth of the gospel, the truth of God's righteousness being given to you, that's what sets us free. That's what guards us against the devil.

And then it's faith. It's the faith God gave us at our baptism or the faith God gave us as He called us through the power of His Word. But it's that faith which shields us from the arrows the devil wants to sink at us. It is faith that tells us God is still in charge, even when we think our whole life is out of control, that God is in charge and God is in control. That's what our faith does for us. There are those times when we think we're out of control, and we are. Usually when we lose a job, some sort of financial crisis, our health is taken away from us, a loved one is taken away from us, and we think we've lost control and we have. And that gives way to worry. And worry gives way to anxiety and stress. And worry and anxiety is an open door for the devil. He just waltzes right in. Because then he starts needling you. “Well, if God loves you so much, then why did He let this happen? If God is in charge, then why is there so much evil in the world? If God is doing such great things for you, then why are you in such pain right now? Are you sure God cares?” And he'll start asking the questions and just sort of try to pick away at you and your faith. It's your faith then that comes in and wards off the arrows and all questions he says in your ear. It's faith that says God is in charge, God is taking care of me. It's faith that reminds you of Romans 8 which said, “If God the Father was willing to sacrifice His Son for you, then how much more is He willing to give you all things?” Or remind you of the very words of Jesus saying, “Your Father in heaven knows exactly what you need, and He's going to take care of you.” He says, “Take a look at the sparrows of the air. God takes care of them. You think He won't take care of you?” It is that faith God has given you that wards off all the attacks Satan wants to launch at you.

And finally, it's the helmet of salvation. We know a helmet really is meant to protect our head. In this instance, for the analogy, it's to protect our mind. And it is the salvation, the knowledge of salvation, the certainty of salvation that guards our minds. You see, the knowledge of salvation is this: Although we may be engaged in battle, spiritual warfare, the war has already been won. The final battle has already been waged, and the enemy has been defeated. The final battle was set on a hill called Calvary . As Jesus hung upon a cross, as eternity hangs in the balance, as the devil was hoping beyond hope the Son of God would indeed be killed, it's all of humanity who was hung between heaven and hell. When Jesus cried out, “Why have you forsaken me?” that moment, the sins of mankind, were placed upon Him. And God the Father turned His back on His Son instead of turning His back on you. And when Jesus says, “It is finished,” it is the devil who is finished. It was the final blow. It was the final battle. And Satan was defeated. He is a defeated enemy. But between now and when Christ returns, he wants to cause as much trouble as he can. But we need to know with certainty in our mind the salvation God has won for us, with certainty in our mind that we fight against the defeated enemy.

I read an illustration of that this week. It talked about a missionary who came back to his house, and he walked into his living room and there was a rather large python. This would be at least one example of why I am not a missionary in a foreign country. Maybe this is normal for them, I don't know. He went and got his gun. He came back to the giant snake, took aim, and planted one right in the head of the snake. It was a fatal shot. But the moment the bullet hit the head of the snake, the snake began to jerk. It swung its tail wildly, it's whole body thrashing around in the room, knocked over end tables, crashed lamps, moved furniture, until finally it died. On Calvary , the fatal wound was inflicted upon the devil. But until Christ returns, he is going to thrash about and try to cause as much trouble as he can. The helmet of salvation says he can't touch you. He can't do anything to you, because he's already defeated.

We have a spiritual warfare that we're engaged in. We dare not dismiss it. We dare not think it's not really happening and come up with all kinds of other explanations. But we take seriously the war we're engaged in. And we know we don't fight against people or groups of people or events. It's not flesh and blood. We fight against the devil and all of his scheming. More than anything, we know he was a defeated enemy. Amen.

Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church