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“All Dressed Up”
As usual when I am preparing to write a sermon, the first few hours involve reading the scripture over – and over – and over, reading commentaries, and reading stories or illustrations other preachers have used for the particular text. One of the stories I read this week was about Edgar Allen Poe. What I read was that when he was a cadet at West Point, he really didn’t like all the rules and training he had to go through. So one day, when all the cadets were supposed to turn out in formation on the parade grounds, and march before the generals, Edgar Allen Poe checked his rule book to find out what the dress code was for the occasion. The book said that he was supposed to wear white gloves and a white belt. So that’s what he put on: white gloves and a white belt…and NOTHING else! He was immediately discharged – which was exactly what he wanted. Now I have checked this story with two of our esteemed West Point Graduates, and while Poe did, indeed, attend West Point, (he entered in 1830 as a member of the class of 1834) and while he was indeed discharged in 1831, they are in doubt about this particular story, I couldn’t help but use it anyway! It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that many of you were uncomfortable hearing that story. It wouldn’t surprise me either to learn that many of you have had dreams where you were naked in public and that you are uncomfortable remembering those dreams, too. According to experts on dream analysis, dreams including being naked in public are some of the most common dreams people have. Also according to those experts, those dreams often reflect our feelings of vulnerability or exposure. All of us, at least in this day and age and culture would feel afraid and vulnerable without the covering of our clothes. But, you know what my friends? The Christian walk calls for us to be willing to be vulnerable. And what Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus addressed that. The words we heard from Paul’s letter this morning comprise the closing to his letter to the Ephesians. He minces no words in his warning. What Paul wants us to know is that as Christians, we live in a world where we are often vulnerable and exposed to dangers and powers beyond our abilities to fight. The imagery is quite vivid in Paul’s letter. Christians are those who are going out into the world to do battle against evil. Thus we must dress as soldiers. The soldier Paul has in mind was a first-century soldier. Their uniforms were more critical than today’s soldiers’. They didn’t have tanks and armored personnel carriers to protect them. They were out in the open. Now, Paul knew a lot about the business of soldiers, and he knew a lot about what they wore for their business. You see, while Paul was writing these words, he had a chain around his right wrist, and the other end of the chain was attached to the left wrist of a soldier. And if Paul were that close to a soldier every day – day in, and day out – he would certainly have known what soldiers wore for their jobs. And so as he calls us soldiers in God’s army, fighting evil around us every day, Paul says that we should put on six pieces of clothing. First, Paul says, there is the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. The belt that Paul is talking about here isn’t meant to hold up a soldier’s pants. Paul looked at that soldier next to him, and he saw that the man used his belt in a different way. You see, the soldier was wearing a loose floppy shirt called a tunic. And the tunic was meant to be loose, so that when the soldier was marching, or exercising or doing his daily work, he wouldn’t get too warm. But, if the soldier ever had to fight with someone else, his loose and floppy tunic could get in the way. It could give his opponent something to grab and pull him down. So the soldier wore a belt to keep his clothes trim and to keep them from blowing around, and to keep them from being used against him in battle. It isn’t too difficult to visualize a “breastplate of righteousness”. Almost all of us have watched a hockey game or baseball game. So we are used to seeing umpires and players wear vests or breastplates which protect the part top part of their bodies from hockey pucks and baseballs which might them, otherwise. Roman soldiers wore a smaller breastplate. It was usually made of metal, although it could be made of thick leather. And it was meant to protect their hearts and lungs and stomachs from injuries. Truth and righteousness; those are the belt and the breastplate of a Christian. There is no place for the sham and shoddy in Christian living. No hypocrites need apply. Living out our faith is serious business. We are soldiers of Christ. We are to talk the talk AND walk the walk. When we take seriously our task as soldiers of Christ, it shows in our business practices and in how we treat our families. It shows in how we treat people of other religions and other races. The third and fourth pieces of clothing Paul tells us are the shoes of the Gospel of peace and the shield of faith. A Roman soldier’s boots were supposed be sturdy, and they were supposed to grip well, on all kinds of surfaces. When a soldier wore his boots, he didn’t worry about keeping his footing, just as the Gospel give us firm footing as we seek to live for Christ. The Roman shield to which Paul refers isn’t just a small, personal shield. Rather, Paul uses a word which refers to the big, oblong shields that the Roman soldiers used for two purposes. On the one hand, they were big enough so that if the soldier crouched behind it, his whole body was protected from the swords and the spears which where thrown at him by his enemies. But the second thing about his shield was this: each shield had grooves at the edges to that it could be fitted with the next soldier’s shield – and his with the next soldier’s shield – and so on. And then, what you have is a whole wall of protection! Thus when the follower of Christ sets out to live the message of Christ, he or she has two sources of strength: personal faith in God and the strength of the Christian community – the Church! George MacDonald, an ordained minister from Scotland, whose writings led C.S. Lewis out of atheism into Christianity, told a story of a girl who grew up in a messy home, where everyone was always angry and mean and selfish. Her hair never got brushed, so they called her “Tangle”. Even though her clothes were of the typical fashions in her world, they were never cleaned. One day Tangle was sent away from home and was left on her own, alone and hungry in the great forest. She would have died, if she hadn’t been led by a kind bird to a house in the middle of the forest. There she met a kind woman. And the kind woman took her in. She gave Tangle a delicious meal. She gave Tangle a bath and washed and brushed her hair. She washed Tangle’s clothes and gave her a place to sleep. Then when Tangle woke up the next morning, she sent Tangle on a grand journey, with many strange experiences. Eventually Tangle came to a palace so beautiful, that she stayed there forever. But George MacDonald’s story is really not just about a little girl at all. Rather, he is writing about you and me. He is talking about the homes we have in this world, not just the homes in which we live, but the home of this world itself, which is often mean, and ugly and unkind. It can make us feel dirty and alone and helpless. But, there’s a kind lady in this world. She is the Church of Jesus Christ. And the Church bathes us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the Word of God and the Lord’s Supper. And the Church helps us to get all dressed up in the clothes that Paul talks about. Then we are sent out on many adventures, until one day we find ourselves led into the palace of God! It’s a wonderful story! And it’s happening to you and to me right now! But here’s the thing: we’re still traveling with Tangle. We haven’t yet arrived at the palace. The next two pieces of clothing Paul tells us we need are the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. I know you all know how important a helmet is. We wear helmets to protect our utmost vital organ – the brain. The helmet of salvation about which Paul tells us is also our ultimate protection. It is the sense of security we have that we are surrounded by God’s love. The sword of the Spirit, Paul tells us, is the Word of God. God’s Word to us is, of course, the Word which comes to us from scripture. Also, though, God’s Word may well be the Word God gives us to speak. The point of the armor of God is this: It is a question of identity. Who are you really? When you leave this place and go out into the world in which you live, do you just view yourself as an ordinary “Joe” or “Josephine” who comes to church for a weekly feel-good spiritual bath. If so, there is no reason for you to get all dressed up - you don’t need any armor. But, if you leave here believing that there is some importance to bearing the name of Jesus, if you are going out to make this a better world – a world of truth and justice – a world of love and kindness – a world of forgiveness and tolerance, then you need to dress appropriately. May it be so for you and for me. Amen.
“All Dressed Up” |
