August 20, 2006: PILGRIMAGE FASHIONS
Ephesians 6:10-18, Psalm 111
Eileen Parfrey --- Springwater Presbyterian Church

Articles about back-to-school fashions and fall advertising fliers used to be much more exciting to me. "New school clothes" for the grade-school Eileen always meant a plaid dress for the first day and a pleated skirt, thus increasing my skirt collection by one each year. Back-to-school clothes are still a big deal but now, according to the Oregonian, young people pick a "look" that reflects their personality.

When clothes are mentioned in the Bible, it reflects trouble. Adam and Eve started it by whining, "Why can't we wear fig leaves? Everyone else is wearing leaves!" when the Divine Parent felt skins would cover more. Clothes got Joseph into trouble. Was it that his coat reflected too much of his personality, that his brothers got him a one-way ticket to Egypt? Maybe it was Saul's memory of holding the coat of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, while everyone else threw rocks, but the man who became the apostle Paul sees trouble in Ephesus and thinks the proper clothes would help.

Not that Paul wants a Christian Dress Code. The clothes he describes are more like the get-up imperial Roman soldiers wore. What Paul describes sounds hopelessly weird, both ugly and uncomfortable. And if you think it's hard to fit all the kids and their gear into the car now, try packing everyone in with a helmet, sword and shield! Presbyterians as a whole are skeptical of waging war against Satan, leery of talk about faith and fighting. But when the Young Marines temporarily joined our community a week ago, we welcomed them graciously. These young people didn't exactly have uniforms-just matching T-shirts for church-but they were building camaraderie, esprit de corps, and immediate, unquestioning response to orders. I don't think that's what Paul had in mind when he told the church in Ephesus to suit up in "the whole armor of God."

We pause now for a word from our sponsor, the Grammar Theologian. Paul writes in the imperative voice-do this, put on that. English doesn't do us any favors here, though, because Paul's imperative "you" is plural. He doesn't suggest a bunch of Lone Rangers going out to wage war. He is talking to a whole Body-the Church. He's not saying that each of us must possess all the characteristics of God's whole armor. Armor isn't the point. Armor is a metaphor, and each piece represents something. Together they cover the whole body. Truth as a belt, holding everything together. Righteousness protecting heart and lungs and vital organs. Shoes proclaiming the gospel of peace. Faith protective as a shield. Salvation like a helmet. The only weapon-the only thing not solely for defense-is a sword, and that is of the word of God. If back-to-school fashion now is all about "reflecting who you are," what would a get-up like that say about us?

What it says about Christian life as a military campaign is that there are no pre-emptive strikes. One scholar suggests that the apostle Paul only used the armor metaphor because he was already a prisoner, literally chained to his soldier-guard. Armor was what he say, day in and day out. A smart guy like Paul didn't use this metaphor because nothing else came to mind. He uses it intentionally, and I'm suggesting that this is a "not" text, as in act like Roman soldiers-NOT! Jesus was notorious for proclaiming "not" by his life, for turning the tables-the first will be last, the last will be first. His followers were often referred to as "the people who were turning the whole world upside down." For a world living under the absolute rule of Rome, subject to cruel and arbitrary Roman governors, an imperial soldier's gear has some appeal. If the unspeakable should happen, if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and forced to carry the army's baggage with no good-bye to the wife and kids, if you were suddenly imprisoned for late credit card payments-it would be nice to be able to fight back. But Paul doesn't advocate acting like the Roman army.

Remember Paul's grammar? His imperatives are plural. You-the whole church-protect yourselves, not to be on the offensive, to be conquerors, but to be ready. Everyone's part of the protection. And it's protection for a purpose. Go back to the shoes-whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. That's the purpose-the gospel of peace. There's no offensive. This text does not justify eliminating someone or something because we think it is evil. Paul says to be ready for peace. The peace of Christ be with you all.

I'm reminded of those Young Marines. Practicing their formations, making sure they were spaced out properly (an arm's distance apart), their alertness for potential orders-an alertness that caused them to stand up en masse in the middle of the worship service to file over to their commander. Whether you approve or not of the military, the Young Marines were practicing protection together.

As Paul ends his admonitions about the whole armor of God, he tells the Church to pray in the Spirit. Pray like crazy, be alert, keep on keeping on, for the sake of each other, because no one can go it alone. We need to protect each other. Which, of course, begs the question, what is this armor like in 21st century Springwater terms? If we, as a body, were intentional about putting on the whole armor of God, what would that be like?

We're going to form groups, and I'm going to give each group a piece of equipment to discuss. Assign one person to take notes, and I'll collect the papers at the end of the service. We will need six groups. To keep you anchored firmly in Springwater, I've put our Mission Statement on each piece of paper.