From Helen
The belt of truth is our middle, it literally holds everything together. Roman soldiers wore a very wide belt which protected the lower part of their bodies and held everything together. The belt of truth means that the truth we know of Jesus should underscore everything we do and are. The truth holds us together and it is this truth which we must proclaim. Without Jesus at the centre everything will fall apart and we must remain true to what we have heard not twisting things to suit ourselves as this will loosen the belt and we all know what happens when a belt is too loose !
The next piece of clothing is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protected the soldier's heart. The heart is our lifeline and so righteousness must come from our hearts and is protected in this way. Our hearts may be a small part of our bodies but they control so much of the way we feel. Again as we keep Jesus at the centre and everything is held together so Jesus protects us and helps us to be more like Him.
From the breastplate of righteousness we move to the shoes. Paul wrote of the need for footwear which would help us to proclaim the gospel of peace. Basically he was advising people to ensure that they were looking to be peaceful to be mediators and supporters not looking to step into a situation with size nine steel toe capped boots but with something more gentle. We are not to go guns blazing into situations but rather to offer peace as we tell people about the prince of peace Jesus whom we try to be more like.
Next we come to the shield of faith. We have two grandsons and they have swords and shields. I always enjoy the moment when they decide it is time to attack grandad but nanny is given a shield so she doesn’t get hurt – very sensible boys !!
Shields do protect, they attach to your arm so you can easily hold a shield up in front of your body. Paul points out that the shield of faith will stop the flaming arrows. Faith is our shield because it stops all that by which we are assaulted, it protects us as individuals in our belief and it also protects other Christians. Our faith binds us together in the family of God and so the shield of faith protects us and helps us to encourage and support other believers.
The next item is the helmet of salvation. Our heads do our thinking, it is our heads which make decisions. Yes the decisions will be based on what we feel but our heads help us to think through a decision first rather than simply go with how we feel.
It is the head which thinks. In the letter to the Romans Paul warned people not to become conformed to the world around them. As believers we are different, we follow a different set of rules and this is where the helmet of salvation is so important. J.B.Phillips wrote, "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed."
The last item is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. The sword, as Paul knew well, is an offensive weapon, not just a method of defence. The sword of the Spirit is the most offensive weapon the Christian has, in every way. It is offensive because of the challenge it presents to the listener, and it is offensive to those who don’t want to listen to it. The Bible is the word of God.
With all of this we are now kitted up and ready to go out to battle. This makes our faith sound very strange and not quite like the God we worship. The problem is that the world around us does want to mould and change us, faith isn’t easy there are times when we lose focus but when we think of these words we remember the important things.
We need the belt of truth – Jesus at the centre, we need the breastplate of righteousness – Jesus at our heart at our very core, the feet of the gospel of peace as we model ourselves on Jesus the prince of peace and so bring peace to others, we need the shield of faith – to protect our belief in Jesus and to encourage and support others to feel the same, we need the helmet of salvation – to help us to keep our minds fixed on Jesus and we need the sword of the spirit, the word of God – to remind us of how to be more like Jesus and to remind us of what we want others to know.
This is how we are to live, this is how we are to be, this is what being a follower of Jesus is all about. We won’t always get it right but with this set of armour we can keep checking that it is all in order. May we be ready to put on the whole armour of God and to help those around us to do likewise. AMEN
I have to
confess that I love girlie things. I love pink, I like flowers, I adore
chocolate, and I like to buy new clothes. The idea of a new wardrobe to me is
appealing and not because I need the space to hang my clothes in. You can
imagine how much our epistle reading excited me this morning as Paul spoke of
new clothes – or rather a new set of armour !
This morning
I want us to think about these items of clothing and consider what they mean
for us.
The
first is the belt of truth. Truth is never easy. The belt of truth is our middle, it literally holds everything together. Roman soldiers wore a very wide belt which protected the lower part of their bodies and held everything together. The belt of truth means that the truth we know of Jesus should underscore everything we do and are. The truth holds us together and it is this truth which we must proclaim. Without Jesus at the centre everything will fall apart and we must remain true to what we have heard not twisting things to suit ourselves as this will loosen the belt and we all know what happens when a belt is too loose !
The next piece of clothing is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protected the soldier's heart. The heart is our lifeline and so righteousness must come from our hearts and is protected in this way. Our hearts may be a small part of our bodies but they control so much of the way we feel. Again as we keep Jesus at the centre and everything is held together so Jesus protects us and helps us to be more like Him.
From the breastplate of righteousness we move to the shoes. Paul wrote of the need for footwear which would help us to proclaim the gospel of peace. Basically he was advising people to ensure that they were looking to be peaceful to be mediators and supporters not looking to step into a situation with size nine steel toe capped boots but with something more gentle. We are not to go guns blazing into situations but rather to offer peace as we tell people about the prince of peace Jesus whom we try to be more like.
Next we come to the shield of faith. We have two grandsons and they have swords and shields. I always enjoy the moment when they decide it is time to attack grandad but nanny is given a shield so she doesn’t get hurt – very sensible boys !!
Shields do protect, they attach to your arm so you can easily hold a shield up in front of your body. Paul points out that the shield of faith will stop the flaming arrows. Faith is our shield because it stops all that by which we are assaulted, it protects us as individuals in our belief and it also protects other Christians. Our faith binds us together in the family of God and so the shield of faith protects us and helps us to encourage and support other believers.
The next item is the helmet of salvation. Our heads do our thinking, it is our heads which make decisions. Yes the decisions will be based on what we feel but our heads help us to think through a decision first rather than simply go with how we feel.
It is the head which thinks. In the letter to the Romans Paul warned people not to become conformed to the world around them. As believers we are different, we follow a different set of rules and this is where the helmet of salvation is so important. J.B.Phillips wrote, "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed."
The last item is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. The sword, as Paul knew well, is an offensive weapon, not just a method of defence. The sword of the Spirit is the most offensive weapon the Christian has, in every way. It is offensive because of the challenge it presents to the listener, and it is offensive to those who don’t want to listen to it. The Bible is the word of God.
With all of this we are now kitted up and ready to go out to battle. This makes our faith sound very strange and not quite like the God we worship. The problem is that the world around us does want to mould and change us, faith isn’t easy there are times when we lose focus but when we think of these words we remember the important things.
We need the belt of truth – Jesus at the centre, we need the breastplate of righteousness – Jesus at our heart at our very core, the feet of the gospel of peace as we model ourselves on Jesus the prince of peace and so bring peace to others, we need the shield of faith – to protect our belief in Jesus and to encourage and support others to feel the same, we need the helmet of salvation – to help us to keep our minds fixed on Jesus and we need the sword of the spirit, the word of God – to remind us of how to be more like Jesus and to remind us of what we want others to know.
This is how we are to live, this is how we are to be, this is what being a follower of Jesus is all about. We won’t always get it right but with this set of armour we can keep checking that it is all in order. May we be ready to put on the whole armour of God and to help those around us to do likewise. AMEN
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