Text: John 4:46-54 (Gen 1:1-2:3, Eph 6:10-17)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Wars are terrible, mainly
because people die. And typically it is
the young people who suffer the most.
Wars make widows and widowers, but most often, wars make orphans. And who is it that typically goes off to
fight in wars? Usually the young
men. They are the ones sent to the
front, to be injured, and to die.
The Lord Jesus is the Prince
of Peace. He has come to end the war
against the Creator and against creation declared by the evil one. Our Lord has come not so much to win a war,
but to win the peace. He has not come to
kill more people on the other side, but to save the world from the ravages of
sin, death, and the devil.
And as followers of Jesus
Christ, we are enlistees in this army, we are the Church Militant, we are the
ones equipped with armor to combat the “flaming darts of the evil one.”
One casualty in this ancient
war was a young man who had been attacked by the enemy and was dying on the
battlefield of life in this fallen world ruled by Satan and his minions. A man who worked for the government was
suffering because his son was “at the point of death.” For this is what war does, it kills. And this war is made on all of us whom God
created in six days. This war has waged
so long that we have forgotten what peace is actually like – which is why God’s
Word reminds us in the Genesis account of God’s creation, harking back to a time
before the war began, a golden age of peace and prosperity.
The decisive blow in this war
was dealt when the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” When God became Man, He took control over the
enemy. He enlisted His people into an unstoppable army that runs not on its
stomach but on its faith. He Himself made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation
by dying for us – and by rising again to life.
Today we await our General’s return to finally rid the universe of all death
and destruction, of remaining sin and corruption.
St. Paul reminds us of what
it means to be a Christian. The world
thinks Christians are weak. Sometimes I
think Christians think Christianity is something we dabble in on Sundays,
something that gives us suburban comfortableness, something that makes us respectable in the
eyes of society.
In fact, Christianity is the
enemy of all that is respected in the world.
The world respects money and power, while Christianity believes these to
be transitory. The world respects
positions of authority, while Christianity scoffs at the world’s self-serving pomp
and circumstance. The world glories in idleness
and selfishness, while Christianity glories in working for the kingdom and in
serving those in need.
Parents, do you really want
your children to be Christians? This
means they will love God more than you.
This means they will follow a call to their Savior even if it means
giving up a life of comfort to serve the Lord anywhere on the planet. This means they will be willing to forsake
anything and everything in order to perform the most menial tasks for the
Kingdom. To desire that your children be
Christians is to want your children to have to put on armor and do battle
against mighty “rulers” and “authorities.”
To be a Christian is not to get along with the world, fit in and not
make waves. To the contrary, Christians
are ever eager to tweak the nose of the beast – even if it means a prison cell
or a hangman’s noose. “Take up your
cross and follow me” – is this really what we want for our children? To follow Jesus means a cross. Nothing is more contrary to our culture.
The government official who
sought Jesus may not have understood all of the ramifications, but he got this
much: he did not want his son to die. He
did not want his child to be a casualty in this cosmic war between the evil one
and the Creator – with all of God’s creation, “the heavens and the earth” – caught
in the crossfire.
Our Lord criticizes the weak
state of His troops: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not
believe.” How often this describes us,
dear friends! We want a sign. We want proof. We want something other than the mere Word of
God to hold onto. We want science to
confirm what we believe. We want the
world’s approval of our faith. We want
to make sure we are on the winning side before we strap on the armor. But here is reason for hope: the official did
believe the Word of Jesus. “Sir, come
down before my child dies.” This is
faith in action, it is a prayer that Jesus has the power even over death. It is a humble petition that acknowledges the
Lord’s superiority. Jesus said: “‘Go;
your son will live.’ The man believed
the word that Jesus spoke to him.”
The man believed. The man believed!
This belief is what St. Paul
calls a “shield” – “with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the
evil one.”
And so, dear Christian
brothers and sisters, dear fellow soldiers under the orders of Christ, the
Christian life is not for those who seek clean hands and a light load. Prepare to get dirty and muddy in the
trenches, to be wounded and bloodied and to take up the battle against the
dragon. Train your children to be
warriors, for our Commander and King is also our Savior and Redeemer. He has come to liberate us from the enemy and
to steel our hands for battle.
We are in the last days, and
the stakes are high. This is no time for
cowardice and for malingering. The Lord
has achieved victory for us at the cross, and the shield that St. Paul speaks
of is emblazoned with that emblem, the sign given to us at Holy Baptism.
“For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Our Lord does not send us to
the front unequipped, to be cannon fodder in a senseless war of glory for
politicians, but rather He Himself leads from the front and calls us to charge
with Him in the expulsion of sin, death, and the devil from the creation that
the Lord made through His Word and by His will.
We are ready to fight, dear
friends! Even now when the battle is at
its hottest. We are baptized! We are redeemed! We are covered by the Lord’s body and
blood. We have the “belt of truth” and
the “breastplate of righteousness.” We
have the Gospel of peace as shoes to protect our walk. We have the “sword of the Spirit,” the only
offensive weapon in our armory, and the only weapon we need. With the sword, we can decapitate the
dragon. And that sword, dear friends, is
the Word of God!
“Go; your son will
live.” Go, dear friends, you will live,
your fathers and mothers, your grandfathers and grandmothers, your sons and
daughters, your brothers and sisters in the Church – will live. For we have been given the shield as a free
gift, the shield of faith that renders the attacks of the evil one as harmless
darts falling to the ground.
Our Lord, the Creator and
Redeemer and Sanctifier, the One into whose name we have been baptized, the One
who died and rose again, the One who fortifies us for battle by His body and
blood, the One who has forgiven us all our sins and conquered death and the
grave, the One who overcame Satan and promises us eternal life, is rallying us
to final victory!
And in this victory, dear
friends, we will see the “very good” paradise restored, the dead will be
brought to life, and the Church’s dreadful warfare shall end in glorious peace
– now and even forevermore! Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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