Warrior God

 The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

I love how some people like to point to Jesus as the Prince of Peace and forget that he was also a warrior for God. In an article assuredly written before the recent Afghanistan and Haiti disasters, entitled “Needing a Warrior God”, Austin Crenshaw Shelley wrote about a seminarian classmate who challenged him saying, “You prefer verses about peace because you have never needed a warrior God.” Shelley responded, “I was gutted. My classmate was a Coptic Christian from Egypt whose home church had been the target of a terrorist bombing.”

Some of us refer to our friends, family members, and even strangers as “prayer warriors.” Well, now is the time to double down on that or be recruited for that kind of fight! Like the author of Ecclesiastes reminds us, there is a time for everything. And it’s time for each of us to “pray in the Spirit at all times. To persevere in our supplications” for all beloved children of God. To pray that we can speak truth to power and be bold, indeed courageous, in matters of the heart. May we pray as if everything depends upon God - to be our warrior God in these turbulent and frightening times! And, ultimately, to bring peace to this beautiful world that God created.

The prophet Isaiah once told his people, during a time of enemy occupation, to “stand firm in your faith or you will not stand at all.” Today the author of Ephesians echoes his words. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

 To be clear, I am not a pacifist. In fact, I would support military action under certain circumstances. I take various stands. I stand up for justice and stand down for violence. I stand firm for what is right and what is good and what is holy. I stand for equal human rights and honoring those who have fought for them. I will protest and resist everyone and everything that does not support this Way of Life and Love. This is not just a #MeToo movement, albeit the women and girls in Afghanistan need our unfailing support now more than ever. This is a #WeToo movement. Wee warriors are all of us.

This is not a time to “stand behind the man you voted for” tempting as that may be. Rather, it is a time for uniformity, a time to be part of any war against any kind of evil. “As shoes put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.” As you become one of God’s prayer warriors, “Take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” And pray for those warriors who bear arms and serve to protect the most vulnerable people in any country! 

Ephesians 6:10-20

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.”