Sermonette: August 16, 2021

Greetings to you dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

I love sports. I can watch almost any sport at any level. Whenever possible, I enjoy watching our students here play. Particularly, I enjoy going to the volleyball matches and basketball games, girls and boys. I try to get there for the very first game and I stay until the last game is over. It is fun to watch the growth of these young athletes and see the progression of the kids’ abilities of each succeeding game to the next higher level, from 5th graders all the way up to the seniors in high school. I will admit by the time the evening is over I’m pretty tired of sitting in the bleachers, but the enjoyment of watching the games makes it worthwhile. What is especially great is to see the effort these young people have on the court. For the most part, they are not playing for college scholarships, they are playing because they want to and they like it. Whether winning or losing, makes no difference, the effort is there.

One of my favorite sports is college football. When I lived Colorado, I had season tickets to the University of Colorado football. Never missed a game. If there was no home game, I watched them on television. To be honest, I watched college football on Saturday starting with the east coast games in the morning and watched all the way to late at night with the west coast games. I didn’t really care who was playing, I just enjoyed the game. I still do now, but not quite to that extent.

By now you may have checked the heading to see if you are reading the sermon section or the sports pages, and most likely don’t care what sports I like to watch. Not to worry. You are on the right page. I was doing some shopping the other day and I noticed the football magazines are starting to come out. The national Football League recently had their Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Plus, I think our local high schools have started practice already. I think of the protection the players wear for the game. Helmet, shoulder pads, hip pads, knee pads, all there for their protection. Yet, injuries are still happening. They are part of the game. It seems that no matter how many pads the players wear, no matter the improvements in the design and manufacture of the helmets and pads, players still get hurt. It is part of the game and we accept the inherent risks of playing.

Oh, how different is the protection we get from God. The Apostle Paul wrote to the new Christians in Ephesus to be “strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power.” He gives them some advice on how to do just that. Paul tells them to “put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” He explains further that their struggle isn’t against the flesh and blood of the day, but is against the spiritual forces of evil. He continues on with the “whole armor of God” metaphor by telling them to “fasten the belt of truth” and put on the “breastplate of righteousness.” In addition to these, Paul writes that they should then “take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Paul ends the metaphor with “take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”

What a great way to explain the difference between human protection and God’s protection. We might have the best protection equipment money can buy, but it is fallible. However, with the armor of God, with our shield of faith, with the power of his Holy Spirit, we have protection to ward off anything, even the best that the evil one can throw at us. Let us pray to God thanking him for giving us all we need for eternal protection. Protection that will not fail. Amen. Blessings to you all.