2nd 3rd or 4th
Michaelmas
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19 (adapted from Madsen)
What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that
streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful
regency of his pure spiritual strength.
Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor,
so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our
struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but against
spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,
against spirit beings powerful in the molding of
earth substance,
against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the
present time,
against spirits who carry evil into the realms of
the spiritual world.
Therefore take up the full armor of God, that you
may be able to stand your ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest
strength and victoriously withstand it.
Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a
warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified
in the spiritual world, and this connection with the spirit will protect you
like a strong breastplate.
And may Peace stream through you, down to your
feet, so that on your path you spread peace, as the message that comes from the
realm of the angels.
In all your deeds have trust in God. This trust
will be like a mighty shield; with it, you can quench all the flaming arrows
of the evil one.
Take into your thinking
the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a
helmet.
And the spirit, which has become living in you, you
shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the spirit is the working
of the Word of God.
May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and supplications so that in the right moment you
raise yourself in prayer to the spirit, and at the same time practice
wakefulness in inner loyalty.
Feel yourself united in prayer with all other
bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be
given to me when I am to courageously and openly bring the knowledge of that
holy mystery which lives in the message of the gospel.
2nd Michaelmas
October 11,
2015
October 6,
2019
Paul’s Letter
to the Ephesians, 6:10-19
When we ship
out a package containing something valuable, we know to pack it well. We give
it layers of protection so that it can withstand the shocks and drops and
weight of the shipping process.
In this
reading, called The Armor of God, it is clear that we are being sent out in the
midst of a battle against spiritual adversaries. And like the valuable beings
we are, we are to be wrapped in layers of protection. We are to receive and
bear protective armor. We are to put on the firm protection of truth; shielded
by trust in God, and of the knowledge that Christ heals. The only weapon we
hold is the sword of spiritual discernment, using the weapon of discernment according
to Christ’s Word. Yet we are not being
called upon to attack the adversaries, nor to destroy them. Our part in the
battle is a defensive one. We are to endure, deflect their attacks, and remain
standing, inwardly upright.
Through
the wearing of this armor of truth, trust, and discernment, we are called upon,
not to thrash about and flail with our weapons. We are called upon to become
protected vessels that contain and pour out peace, a peace that reaches down
into the way we walk in the world. It is a peace that streams out from us so
that we ourselves become messengers of the good news from the realm of the
angels. As Adam Bittleston says:
 |
| Rosenkrantz |
We
need in the strife of our day
The
eternal Peace of the Word of God.
Seeking
this Peace with our whole being
On
the path which leads from the nightmare
Of
endless chaos,
Into
the order of heaven
And
to the Father of all things—
We
shall meet Michael
Who
reveals how Christ
Awakens
Man
That
he may serve God.[1]
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