Dear HBIC Family,

In high school, I participated in a tournament for schools from all around the Philadelphia region. That day, I remember seeing someone wearing a t-shirt that really jumped out at me. It wasn’t super flashy or eye catching. It was just a plain t-shirt, maybe with the school logo on the front. On the back, though, was Ephesians 6:12 written out. And of course, because we were at a wrestling tournament, the translation used stated… “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood…” 

I felt like I was in on the inside joke. We were at a wrestling tournament being reminded that we don’t really wrestle against one another. Now while this wasn’t my first teaching on the armor of God, it sticks with me because of its reminder that our struggle in the world as followers of Jesus is less about wrestling with one another and more about fighting against systems, authorities, powers, and spiritual forces that seemingly rule our physical world. 

As a child in Liberia, I was raised to be hyperaware of the spiritual realm and world we do not see. As a teen and now adult, I have been taught to so deeply focus on the physical and material, that I easily forget the spiritual and the forces we don’t see with our naked eye. In essence, this makes me very different from the Ephesians to whom Paul writes. 

Nevertheless, it is amazing that, after teaching through the letter that true spiritual power comes from God, Paul ends with reminding his audience that spiritual forces of evil are still present. He informs them how to be prepared for this lifetime battle. He reminds them of soldiers they knew and how they were prepped for warfare, and invites us all to do the same. 

This week, our passage both ends our study of Ephesians and wraps up the story Paul has decided to share. In a world of people who only sought the spiritual, Paul taught them that God is all powerful, Jesus is Lord, and the Holy Spirit works in us and in the family of God. Yet before Paul says goodbye, he warns his audience to forever remember that we are in a fight and we must always be prepared and preparing. 

As you prepare for this week’s services, I would like to invite you to read and meditate on this passage, Ephesians 6:10-20. As you reflect, please focus on the following questions:

• When was your first teaching about putting on the armor of God?
• What do you believe about spiritual warfare?
• How do you maintain the full armor of God for this war we are in?
• How has this armor protected you or others in the past?
• How has God used prayer to help sustain you and to help light shine through you?

I have been challenged to think of this armor of God that Paul describes in light of what it means to be part of the Body of Christ. It is very easy to only think individually about being prepared for spiritual warfare. However, in light of this whole Ephesian epistle (and really the entirety of Scripture), we ought to always remember that we are parts of the whole and members of one another. So, the challenge becomes this: how are we, as a body, as a family, as a church, preparing and staying prepared for the spiritual warfare we encounter every day?

Sisters and brothers, I leave you with the peace, love, and faith that comes to you through the Holy Spirit and from God and our Lord Jesus Christ. May you know God’s presence, may you feel God’s grace and mercy, and may your week be filled with God’s favor.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Hank (Eph. 6:12)