Body Armor and Ephesians
In preparing for a sermon on Ephesians 6:10-17 (the full armor of God), I heard a preaching podcast (Working Preacher) suggest talking to someone whose work actually involved modern day armor. So, I called --Pastor David Hullum, associate minister at First Christian Church in Eastland, Texas. Rev. David Hullum is, also Judge David Hullum. He is currently the Presiding Officer of the Commissioners' Court for Eastland County. Before that, Judge Hullum was Chief Hullum, chief of Police for Eastland, Texas. And prior to that he had been Ranger Hullum of the Texas Rangers. To give you a sense of David's personality, my number is in his caller ID and when he answered the phone he said, "Your Eminence." I was very close to telling him which ring he could kiss, but then I remembered I was asking him for a favor.
I asked him to share with me what it was like to wear the Kevlar vest used by law enforcement. He referred to it as body armor, so I will too. Several things he said felt relevant to me. Our conversation wasn't long--maybe 15 minutes--but it contained so many analogies that served as touchstones for Ephesians that I thought I'd include them together in one reflection. I'm going to put them in an order that fits the sequence of Ephesians.
Body Armor Isn’t Cheap
"Body armor isn't cheap. It's expensive. It's also not a one-time expense. Every five years the body armor has to be replaced. It has to be renewed." He said, "You're blessed to work for someone who provides you with body armor." He meant that in reference to the state of Texas or the county of Eastland, but we both understood the metaphor implications.
In many way, the book of Romans and the book of Ephesians work toward the same point of grace from different directions. God’s grace is understood as God’s gift of relationship, acceptance, and belonging that comes as a result of God’s initiative and not our actions. I believe most of Paul’s references to “righteousness” should be understood as God’s actions to be in right-relationship with us rather than any sort of moral resume-building we might do through our actions.
The argument in the book of Romans at least through the first three chapters and really recurring through the first eight chapters is that all humanity is sinful and are justified by God's grace. Ephesians stresses the greatness of God and works its way toward humanity.
The book begins with a long doxological praise of God (1:3-14 is one sentence in Greek). This single-sentence hymn contains three stanzas--one devoted to God the created, the next to the Son, and finally to the Spirit. Each of the "stanzas" ends with "To the Praise of God's Glory." The writer (whom I'll simply call Paul from now on--you can argue with me later) prays that the readers' heart-eyes will be opened to see not their sinfulness but the goodness of God. The end of chapter 3 also contains a doxology of praise. The whole letter is saturated in praise. The more I study Ephesians, the more I believe 2:9 may be the epistle's thesis statement--"not by works so that no one can boast." All good things in the book derive from our great God.
Joy J. Moore, PhD is an ordained Methodist Minister and Professor of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary. She's done particular work in the areas of the Dialogue on Race and Faith Project. While serving as pastor of an African-American Congregation, she helped create a help center at the congregation during the Flint Michigan Water Crisis. Her bio from Luther Seminary says, "She has called local congregation to recognize their vocation of glorifying God as a peaceable community--practice hope, hospitality, and honesty."
I listen to a podcast she's on callerd the Working Preacher Podcast. She and her colleagues expressed some of the concern I think many of us feel around the images of Ephesians 6--the armor of the Lord. Read from a particular light, it can feel like a baptism of militarism. As an anti-dote, she said, "We've picked up too much of the might of this metaphor and not enough of the trust.”
“The "Armor of God" text also stressed that Paul was "an Ambassador in Chains" (My New Heavy Metal Band will be call Ambassadors in Chains). Paul's ministry had been marked by severe suffering, being whipped and beaten, shipwrecked, and starved and persecuted (see 2 Corinthians 11:24-29). I imagine that this armor metaphor had something to do with contrasting Paul's observably vulnerable status in light of the soldiers that were guarding him. A sort of way of saying--you have armor, so do I. I think it was his way of saying, God meets us where we are--in prison, clinging to floatsom, in the classroom, in the hospital, in a workplace. God meets us where we are in our weakness and vulnerability. God shows up. And when God shows up, God does not come empty-handed. God brings the resources of truth, peace, righteousness born of grace and not works, salvation, God's word and God's Spirit.
They're Hot
This was actually the first thing Rev. David said. Almost involuntarily as soon as I got the question out of my mouth. I'm sure that the fact that I was calling in the middle of August made that memory particularly salient, but he said it several times. Later in the conversation he mentioned heat exhaustion and that's when I realized that "it's hot" didn't just mean discomfort; it meant wearing the body armor took its toll. Law enforcement officers have an even greater need for good hydration and heat-mitigating strategies. He went on to say that the body armor when it is put on correctly it provides 360 protection, but that a lot of times officers will not strap down the velcro side-panels because of the heat. He said When you're not wearing it right, it will not protect you as well.
While Ephesians gives all praise and glory to God, that doesn't mean we lose our agency or responsibility. Ephesians, like Romans, has an observable Indicative-Imperative structure. Chapter 3 ends a section of the letter devoted to laying the theological underpinnings and chapter 4 begins a more practical focus (the imperative). James D. G. Dunn stresses, "The 'theology followed by application' dichotomy is misleading. Paul never spoke other than as a pastor. His theology was a living theology, a practical theology through and through" (The Theology of Paul the Apostle, p. 627.) Ephesians especially shows that it seeks to link that which is theologically true to what is contextually relevant.
Princeton Theologian, Ellen Charry, in her excellent book, By the Renewing of Your Mind, explains that Paul's instructions to the Baptized is that, "They are to become those whom they have been made to be" (p. 45).
The latter part of Ephesians 4:1-16 contains a familiar list of virtues as does the Armor of God passage. Pheme Perkins, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries, Ephesians, speaks of these virtues in some detail suggesting that while humility was not seen as a positive virtue from a Hellenistic stand-point, it was lifted up in Jewish literature. Gentleness, is lifted up in Hellenistic literature as prone to forgiveness or to moderate punishment, restraint of anger. The other virtues patience, love, and peace are developed through practice. Just as the concluding passage in Ephesians also emphasizes "putting on." Putting on armor requires Christians to attend more closely to their soul--to drink deeply from the springs of living water. Putting on armor means putting it on correctly--with gentleness and patience. The armor of God is not an invitation to aggressive behavior; it is an intviation to intentional discipleship.
It Hurt
Pastor Hullum said that the body armor doesn't just protect against gun shots but also knife attacks and blunt objects. He mentioned one particular incident when he had chosen to go out without his body armor. Luckily he was not shot or stabbed but he did get hit by an assailant with a large heavy object. It hurt. After that, when he thought it might be too hot to wear it, the reminder of the pain motivated him to put it on.
Ephesians makes frequent reference to the readers' life "before." Chapter 2 begins, "You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world . . . All of us lived among them at one time . . . But God who is rich in mercy made us alive." There's a whole exploration of the "But God" moments from scripture. Psalm 73:26: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Acts 13:29-30: "And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead." Romans 5:8: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The point here, though, is that remembering our "former lives" or as David would say the consequences we experienced that one time when we didn't have our body armor and wished we did can help us focus on what it means to live in the grace God provides. Ephesians 5:8-20 stresses the move of conversion from death to life again stressing the virtues that emerge within us through our association to God--goodness, righteousness, and truth..
It's about relationship
We talked about how new officers take to wearing the body armor. He said one of the important things to do is to be able to point to more experienced officers who wear it. When they see veteran officers practicing good self-defense practices, they are more likely to follow the model they have received. Finally, and I think this might have been most important. David said to me, Body armor does give you a sense of protection. But the people who gain the most reassurance are the people closest to you. He talked about his wife and his children, especially his youngest daughter. He said that when he came out of his room dressed for patrol, his youngest daughter would ask, "Do you have your body armor?" He said if his response was, "No Darling, I don't have it on," she would say, "Daddy, please go back and put on your armor." It's next to impossible for a Dad to say no to that kind of request from a child.
Ephesians not only has the most elevated language about God and the most developed Trinitarian emphases, it also has the most elevated understanding of the Church. The roles of the "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers" are given to the Church "for equipping of the saints" (vs. 4:11-12). Just as younger officers understand about wearing body armor from veteran officers, just as veteran officers are reminded to wear body armor by their children, so too, Christians practice their Christian life within the community of faith, the congregation to whom they belong. Thus Ephesians stresses the importance speaking to one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual songs (5:19).
Again, Princeton Theologian Ellen Charry writes in her wonderful book By the Renewing of Your Mind emphasizes that in Ephesians the formative power of socialization leads to moral discernment. The practices of baptism, prayer, thanksgiving, and corporate worship are essential for experiencing theological doctrines that shape a new identity. Charry writes, “Public worship is seen as a key tool for Christian formation, reinforcing Christian dignity through community socialization and modeling virtues and moral character.” This is not just the responsibility of the preacher in their preaching. She writes, “Public prayer and thanksgiving in community draw believers into God’s call to be ‘holy and blameless before Christ in love.”
David knew I was working on a sermon. Though he wasn't necessarily trying to be sermonic. So much of what he said served as touchstones for the major themes of Ephesians--God as the beginning and end and source of all goodness, the roles of human agency in becoming what God has made us to be, the reminders of a previous life to spur us to embody God's grace more fully, and the centrality of our relationships in producing faithful discipleship. It's remarkable that so much good came of a brief conversation that started off with a tongue-in-cheek, "Your Eminance."