Not actual military!
There was a time when I wanted to be an historian (I still do a little bit) and in particular, a military historian. It’s a long story about why I wanted to do such a thing and an equally long story about why I didn’t so I will spare you the details. Suffice it to say, I am not an historian of any stripe, I am simply someone interested in history. So why am I telling you all this? Not that I’m averse to talking about myself, probably oversharing at times, but I tell you that to explain why I’m reading and listening to some of Barbara W. Tuchman’s books, in particular The Guns of August, and The March of Folly, so my mind is on military things.
Our epistle reading for this Sunday, Ephesians 6:10-20, is the famous “Armour of God” passage. I have heard several sermons about this passage, and even delivered a couple, where the thrust (sorry, I simply could not resist) of the sermon was how Paul’s description of armour is based on what a Roman soldier would wear and then frequently a digression into military history or militarism or something like that.
I can’t preach that kind of sermon anymore. I have found the so-called “Church Militant” to be destructive and unhelpful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I mentioned in the sermon, the armour of God is primarily defensive. It baffles me where we get the notion of a church armed to the teeth and on the march to crush the infidel. The popes who called for Holy War did so at the cost of abusing the Gospel or forgetting about it completely. Forgive me. I could go and perhaps one day I will.
Nevertheless, here is a sermon that very strongly denies the military nature of being in a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. I hope you find value in it.
Blessings,
