Spiritual Warfare: The Armor of God: Helmet of Salvation - Philippians 2:5-8
As I mentioned last week,
if you haven’t already figured it out, I’m a comic book nerd (as I heard a
local island resident who is the same way refer to himself). And since last week’s illustration featured
the well-known Marvel characters from Avengers, particularly Captain America
and his shield in our discussion the Shield of Faith, I figure for the Helmet
of Salvation, I would offer fair treatment in the comic world and turn to DC
comics, and one of their oldest but lesser known figures…
Dr. Fate and the Helmet
of Nabu. The helmet is both a blessing
and a curse. Among other powers, it
gives its wearer the power of flight, super-strength, invulnerability, telekinesis,
and control of lightning. However, in putting
on the helmet to confront and battle evil, the wearer also surrenders their
personality to the spirit within the helmet.
Cap and his shield, Fate
and his Helmet, equipping themselves for battle against the evil of their
fictional worlds. We have been spending
weeks talking about equipping ourselves for the battle with evil within our world…a
battle that is not with flesh and blood requiring weapons of this world, but a battle
fought in ways seen and unseen on a spiritual front. The enemy pulls out hatred, bigotry, deceit,
and violence. We have seen those attacks
this week, not only in the hallways of Douglas High School in Parkland Florida,
but in the hallways of Congress, the hallways of locals stores and businesses,
and even the hallways of our churches, as dissension erupts and blame is hurled
in every direction. We, though, as followers of Christ, are supposed to know
where the blame lies and who the real enemy is. We are called to this battle using not the weapons
of the enemy but instead we put on the Armor of God and fight not our brothers
and sisters of flesh and blood but the spiritual forces of evil and wickedness
that lead a young man into the darkness and make massacre seem like an option.
We wrap the Belt of Truth
about us—ensuring that we are surrounded by it –that Jesus is about what we are
doing, what we are saying, and what we are thinking. When we are searching for the truth about
which decision and which action is best for us, with the Belt of Truth, we let
what Jesus would do or say direct what we would do or say—for Jesus is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. In putting on
the Belt of Truth, we declare that Jesus is not only the Truth, but His way is
our way, and that in Him we find true life.
As we don the Breastplate
of Righteousness, we declare that our righteousness is completely dependent
upon God—that first, through the blood of Christ, we are declared as righteous,
based not on our work, but on the work of Christ on the cross; then, through
the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, we are moved from simply being seen as
righteous, to being made righteous, as God remakes us into His Image once
more. In wearing the Breastplate, we
declare to the world that we have come on behalf of our King, the King of
Kings, and about His work of reclaiming, redeeming, and restoring Creation to
its original state of being “good.”
The footwear we shod our
feet with differs from one of us to the other, but all for the sole purpose of
declaring the Gospel of Peace. Whether
we proclaim it through spoken word, singing, dancing, teaching, acts of mercy,
or simply the ministry of presence as we sit alongside someone in their
storm—we declare that Jesus has brought us peace with God, peace with one
another, peace in the midst of the storms of life, and called to be peacemakers
on behalf of the Prince of Peace.
We take up the Shield of
Faith with which we are able to quench all the flaming arrow that satan sends
our way. It is the faith that noting in
all of creation can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our
Lord. It is the faith that God’s design
for our future is not one of darkness and doom, but of hope and wellbeing. It is the faith that we are not condemned but
have found grace and forgiveness through Jesus.
It is the faith that God will strengthen us to help us overcome any
challenges we face. It is the faith that
God will always be with us and we will never be left alone. It is the faith that every promise of God is
true. It is the faith with which we
connect with and support one another.
This morning we hear
Paul’s call once more to put on the full armor of God…and that’s important to
remember, it is the full Armor of God that we are supposed to be putting
on. Not just one or two pieces, but all
of it…the belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield of faith, and the piece
we consider today. Today, we hear Paul’s
invitation to take up, or better yet, receive the Helmet of Salvation. This Armor, is not something we just go out
and build or forge ourselves. It all is
laid out before us as a gift from God.
If there was any doubt, it is settled today as we are told to receive
the Helmet of Salvation from God. We
could not, cannot, nor ever will be able to, save ourselves. Our salvation is completely dependent upon
the work of Jesus through the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb. Through His birth, life, death, and
resurrection, Jesus has brought salvation to all who will humbly receive the
gift He offers.
Thus, though each piece
of the Armor of God is important, this piece is the most critical. On the battlefield, especially in Jesus’ day,
but I would say it would be true on any physical battlefield today, a harsh
blow to the feet, to the legs, to the hands, to the arms, or even, sometimes,
to the torso could be endured and survived.
However, a blow to the head, whether from a sword, a spear, or some other
weapon, would often prove fatal if there was no helmet to protect the soldier. Likewise, without the life-saving grace of
God, the Salvation found in Christ Jesus, in our lives; without the Helmet of
Salvation covering our heads; we are at risk of receiving a fatal blow that
would leave us forever separated from God.
The significance of
receiving this helmet from God and putting it on is threefold.
First, as I have already
suggested, this helmet is a gift. Our
salvation is a gift. There is absolutely
nothing that we can do to earn the gift that is our salvation. The work of salvation was completely
accomplished by Christ—no action on our part, not even our offering of a
“salvation” prayer can earn us salvation.
Many of you already know that I avoid some of the traditional language
with regards to being saved. There are
many who use the language, “I got saved on February 18th of 2018
when I took Jesus as my savior.” Others
might say, “I was saved on February 18th of 2018 when I accepted
Jesus into my heart.” Some may cry
“semantics,” but I suggest that both of these traditional and well-loved
sayings run the risk of putting our
salvation back into being based on our actions—on our taking Jesus or our
accepting Jesus and not on the work of Jesus.
I still remember the
night when a young girl, about seven or eight years old, came and talked with
me after an Awanas meeting. She was
extremely upset. She said, “when I go
back next week I have to tell them when and where I got saved, and I don’t
know.” I know those leaders wanted the
time and place that she prayed “the sinner’s prayer,” and gave her life to
Jesus, however, I looked at her and said, “Go back next week, and when they ask
you, tell them that you were saved two-thousand years ago on a hill called
Golgotha.” Our salvation is a gift—it is
not a result of taking Jesus as our Savior (because He is already our Savior),
it is not a matter of accepting Jesus into our hearts (because our hearts only
beat because of Him), and it is not because of giving our lives to Jesus (for
they already belong to Him), it is about throwing up a white flag and
surrendering our lives to the fact that there is nothing that we can do to earn
salvation—Jesus completed the work and offers it to us as a gift.
The second and third
aspects of the Helmet of Salvation are tied to the fact that it is a helmet…it
is worn over the head.
The second reason being
that we have to come to understand (a function of our brain) that our salvation
is tied to God’s love for us—the fact that God so loved the world that He gave
His only Son that whosoever believes in Him may not perish but might have
everlasting life. God loves us and saves
us, and saves those around us, not because they, or we, have gotten our lives
straight or right with Him, but simply because He has chosen to love us and
save us. The helmet of salvation is
intended to protect us from attack and
drive any doubts of God’s love and acceptance of us.[i] Evil is all about psychological warfare. It will try to make us doubt that God could
ever love us. It will try to make us
question whether our sins are really forgiven.
At times where we may feel like we are the closest to God, it is going
to throw back in our face memories of the worst sins we have ever committed. The helmet of salvation is there to protect
us from those heavy blows reminding us that while all of our past may be true,
salvation came as a gift, and God has proved His love for us in this way, that
Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners…Jesus brought us the helmet of
salvation while we were still wearing that comfortable sin-labeled ball cap.
Finally, and this is the
whole reason I was drawn to Dr. Fate as an illustration. It was not because he was a superhero of
faith, but it was because of what happens when someone puts on the helmet, for
different individuals have worn that helmet over the course of DC comics
history. When anyone puts on that
helmet, who they were is no longer of significance, they become Dr. Fate—who
they were fades away.
Likewise, when we put on
the helmet of Salvation, we are called to let who we were and who we are, fade
away. Paul tells the Corinthians, “So if
anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away;
see everything has become new!”[ii]
He says to the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of
God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”[iii] Paul makes it clear what this looks like as
he tells the Philippians:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something
to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in
human likeness. And being found in human
form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death
on a cross.[iv]
Putting on the helmet of
salvation, receiving the gift of salvation from God, and using it means that
not only do we surrender to the fact that God has offered us the gift of
salvation at no price, and accepted us as we are, but that as we receive that
salvation, we are called to surrender ourselves to God, body and mind.[v]
As we surrender to God placing
this helmet of salvation on our head, God, through the Spirit, cleanses us of
all that we were before, removing that sin from us, and begins transforming us
into the image of our Savior, until every aspect of our lives is a reflection of
the One who brought us the gift of salvation.
It is not an instantaneous thing; it is walking the path of redemption
alongside Jesus. It is allowing God to
transform our lives. It is spending time
daily with Him, walking daily with Him, living each and every moment with
Him—so that eventually we won’t ever have to stop and ask the well-worn
question, “What would Jesus do?” because doing what Jesus does has become part
of who we are.
My brothers and sisters,
this transformation may be as painful for us as it appeared to be for Kent
Nelson to put on Dr. Fate’s helmet. The
transformation may call us to change our network of friends. It is not that we are not called to be
friends with those outside of the faith—that is who Jesus often went to. However, if, rather than us leading our
friends closer to Christ, they are leading us away from Him, we are called to
find a new circle of support. It may be
that this transformation calls us to change our employment. We may find ourselves in a career that, as
salvation transforms us, we discover is incompatible with our faith—whether it
is because we are asked to be dishonest or whether our employment endorses or
provides for immoral behavior—and we are have to walk away from what may be a
steady and certain income. The
transformation will call us to change what we do with our money, our time, and
even ourselves—as we realize they are not truly ours, but wholly and completely
belong to God. This transformation leads
us to giving them away, even to the point of sacrifice. As we grow into our salvation, we will find
that God is radically changing our lives, not to strip us of ourselves, but to
transform us into our true selves—who we were created to be—those created in
the Image of the Living God.
Yet as much as it may
change about our lives, we do not have to worry about our fate, our destiny,
what the future may hold for us. For
when we put on the Helmet of Salvation, as we find God transforming us, we find
that our future is redeemed and forgiven.
It is a future not filled with fear of what might come, but the
certainty that when all is said and done we will find ourselves standing
victorious in the blessed presence of God.
In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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