We live in a rapidly changing world. That’s been true
for a long time, but it’s as true now as it ever was. You don’t need me
to tell you that, of course. All you need to do is look at news
headlines.
Some of the changes have been good and necessary, and
others not so much. That’s always true when we’re in a time of
change. And with many of these changes, we don’t yet know what the
outcome of it all is going to be. That’s always true when we’re in a time
of change, too.
You may have heard the phrase “the winds of change”.
When things are changing this rapidly, we can sometimes feel like we’re being
pushed around by strong winds. We feel like we’re constantly being
knocked off balance. The things we’ve always counted on to be there, the
things we’ve considered constants, the things we’ve thought would always be our
refuge in the wind and in the storm--a lot of those things are not there
anymore. And they’re being replaced by--what? We don’t know.
It’ll be a while before we do know.
Again, my point is not to say whether the changes are good
or bad. But what happens, in this time of change, is that sometimes feel
like we’re standing on the deck of ship that’s in the middle of a storm.
The ship is moving up and down, side to side, and we’re trying desperately to
stay on our feet. We’re trying to keep our feet planted, strong and
secure, in the face of these winds, in the face of all this upheaval.
We’re trying to find something, anything, that we can rely on, something that
will keep us standing upright and help us withstand all these winds and storms.
The Apostle Paul tells us what that thing should be.
He tells us that have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace.
This is, of course, part of a section in which the Apostle
Paul tells us about the armor of God. Oddly, unlike the other aspects of
the armor of God that we read about, we’re not given an analogy for this.
You know, we have the “belt of truth” and the “breastplate of
righteousness”. We don’t have the “shoes of the gospel” or the “boots of
the gospel” or anything like that. We don’t even have the “sandals of the
gospel” or even the “socks of the gospel”. But still, our feet are to be
fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel.
And you know, of all the things Paul talks about in
discussing the armor of God, in some ways this is the most important one.
I say that because Paul says three times about how we need to stand our ground,
to stand firm. He says the whole purpose of the armor of God is “so that,
when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.” Paul
then says it again, “and after you have done anything, to stand.” And
then one more time, “Stand firm, then”, with the armor of God. Our feet,
after all, are what we stand on. If we’re not able to stay on our feet,
the rest of the armor of God is not going to help us much at all.
What strengthens our feet, what makes us able to stand our
ground, what makes us stand firm, is the gospel. The gospel of Jesus
Christ.
In Hebrews Chapter Thirteen, Verse Eight, we read, “Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” I know some of you
have heard that before. But that is one of the most important verses in
the Bible. And in terms of standing firm in a time of change, it may be
the most important verse. No matter what else may happen, no matter how
much the world may change, Jesus Christ is the one who will never change.
And the things Jesus told us to do will never change, either.
What that means is that the storms of the world do not
affect our faith. Now, don’t take that the wrong way. I am not saying
that Christians should ignore the storms of the world. I am not saying
that Christians should have nothing to say about what’s going on in the
world. What I am saying is that our faith should not be changed by what
goes on in the world. Our faith should not change, because the one in
whom we have faith has not changed. Our faith in Jesus Christ remains the
same, regardless of what the world says, regardless of what the world does,
regardless of what happens.
We need to stand firm in our faith no matter what.
Again, remember what the armor of God is. It’s not an offensive
weapon--armor is defensive. The belt of truth, the breastplate of
righteousness--they don’t enable us to attack anyone. They protect us
from attacks. And remember whose attacks they protect us from. It’s
not the attacks of other people. Other people may be involved, but that’s
not what we’re protected from. We’re protected from the powers of the
dark world and the spiritual forces of evil.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is always our best protection
from that. And how does Paul describe that gospel? Paul describes
it as a gospel of peace.
There does not seem to be a lot of peace in the world right
now. Whatever you may think of what’s going on in the world right now,
peace is not the word any of us could use to describe it. The world is in
turmoil. We can hope that, at some point down the road, what’s going on
will ultimately result in peace, but we do not see peace right now. We
don’t even hear very many people who seem to be interested in peace. And
in fact, there are some people who argue that peace is not and should not be a
goal right now, that there are other things in the world more important than
peace.
And yet, here’s the Apostle Paul telling us that our feet
need to be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
We need to stand firm in that gospel of peace, no matter what the world is
saying or doing. How do we do that?
Well, let’s think about armor. Armor is a very
personal thing. You don’t have armor that protects a society. You
don’t have armor that protects a community. Armor protects one
person. If I put on the armor of God, it’s going to protect me. If
you put on the armor of God, it’s going to protect you. Each of us, if we
want the protection that comes from the armor of God, has to make the
individual, personal choice to put on that armor.
Another way of saying that is that the only person whose
behavior each of us can determine is our own. I cannot put on the armor
of God for you, and you cannot put on the armor of God for me. We can
attempt to persuade people to put it on, but ultimately, it’s a choice each of
us has to make for ourselves.
So, as we see what’s going on in the world, that’s what we
need to remember. We cannot control what other people do. We cannot
control what other people say. We cannot control what other people
think. But we can control what we do, what we say, and what we
think. That is true, and that will always be true. No matter how
hard other people may try to control us about those things, they cannot control
us unless we allow them to. You and I always have control over what we
do, what we say, and what we think.
And so, no matter what’s going on in the world, you and I
need to continue to follow what Jesus Christ has told us to do. What are
those things? You know them. We’ve gone through them before, but we
can never go through them too many times can we? Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as
yourself. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute
you. Treat others the way you would like them to treat you. Not the
way they actually do treat you, but the way you would like them to treat
you. And go and make disciples of Jesus Christ. Spread the gospel
of Jesus to everyone you can in whatever ways you can.
That’s the gospel of peace. That’s the gospel that,
some day, is going to bring peace to the entire world. And you know what
else? That’s the gospel that will bring you and me inner peace, too.
If you and I respond to what’s happening in the world this
way, we will have inner peace. Because we will know that those things
cannot touch us. If you and I follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, if we
follow the gospel of peace, we are completely protected from the powers of the
dark world and the spiritual forces of evil. Yes, they may affect our
lives here on earth. But they cannot affect our eternal lives. They
cannot affect our salvation. If have faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior,
if we follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of peace, we know that we
will have salvation and eternal life. And no matter what else is going on
in the world, that knowledge can give us inner peace.
The world is constantly changing. I have no idea
what’s going to happen. But God does. And God has told us how to
handle it. Stand firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Stand firm in
the gospel of peace. If we do that, we can withstand whatever the world
may throw at us.
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