Visible and invisible

Sermon for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

Do you ever stop what you're doing and wonder whether there's something happening around you that you just can't put your finger on? Do you look at the News and think that there's something you're not being told? Do you find your Facebook feed occasionally points to some conspiracy theory that somehow makes sense? What do you make of all this?

[PAUSE]

It is true that the public have been prevented from knowing the truth before it's too late. The hunt for the Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq is not something easily forgotten, nor has it been adequately explained. There have been conspiracies which is why we always seem to be looking for then even when they aren't there.

At the moment, we are surrounded with theories about COVID that may or may not be true. Before that, however,  there were the same theories about Bird Flu, Swine Flu and Mad Cow Disease.

There are lots of theories that we are being controlled and manipulated, nudged gently into accepting something that is actually unacceptable. But this is nothing new.

[PAUSE]

St Paul looks at his world and sees the Roman forces marching through the city on some errand. He hears of fighting at the outskirts of the Empire and is probably old enough to remember some insurrections that have taken place in Israel. At the centre of it all is the Emperor whose mind is not an open book to St Paul, nor does he know of the attempts on the Emperor's life, though he may suspect that Christians will be blamed for any trouble that the Emperor hears about. The Jewish authorities have already tried to pin false charges on him just as they did to the Lord.

St Paul, like us, sits in a political, social and spiritual whirlwind not quite knowing what will happen. How can he defend himself against the confusion and fear that rush towards him? How does he deal with forces that he cannot understand?

[PAUSE]

"Put on the armour of God," he tells the Ephesians, "and remember that we are not fighting human beings." St Paul tells us that it is not what we can see that wishes us the harm. When we fell in the Garden of Eden, we let Evil into Creation. It was already there outside, knocking at the door which we opened through our disobedience to God. Evil is the by-product of our free-will and of the Devil's free-will.

The battle truly is between Good and Evil, but it is we who are the battleground, as individuals and as a society. We can't predict its spread, nor do we have power of ourselves to stop it. This is why we need the armour of God: God Himself is our armour. Look at what armour He gives us: truth, righteousness, the Gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Spirit and the word of God. All of these come directly from God. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

What we are up against are things invisible: principalities, powers and rulers of darkness. They cloud our mind, distract us from understanding what's going on and convincing us to worry about our future and fear for our lives. The lie that they spread most easily is that we are fighting people. They convince us that there are people to hate. This is not true: we are to love our neighbour. The depth of our love is most obviously shown to our worst enemy. This is where the armour of God really comes in.

The armour of God can be used at all times and especially when we cannot see the bigger picture. We don't need to know about conspiracy theories when we see the truth of God's love for us and when we simply have faith in our salvation in Him. Even if there is a New World Order seeking to bring down the Church of God, it cannot win. It doesn't matter how powerful our enemy is, the truth is that God loves us and God is saving us and God is supreme in the Universe. We need to trust Him when all is dark around us. It doesn't matter how close the virus is to us when, in Christ, we have assurance of eternal life in the Gospel of peace and from the Word of God Himself. And when we find ourselves making a decision that we can't see the outcome, we choose the way of righteousness, however painful it may be, for righteousness will always, always lead us to God Himself. 

[PAUSE]

Let the world have its conspiracies. As long as we are working God's will in the world, the machinations of evil amount to nothing. All things work for good for those who love God.