August 23, 2009

Did you know that Roman armor, or Lorica Segmentata, is one of the most recognizable pieces of historical armor? Roman soldiers starting wearing this particular armor in the 1^st century before Christ. You can buy a replica for about $500 to engage in combat reenactments, or "just to impress your friends," says Armor Venue.com

By contrast, Medieval Armor is considered to be the "epitome of armor technology." (Ibid) Armor technology was rudimentary at first - starting with leather and evolving into full plated suits of armor. In fact, "armor production was a cause of the development of many important technologies of the Ancient World, including wood, metal, leather, and decorative metal work (Wikipedia) I don't have a lot of personal experience with armor but when I watch it in film, it often seems clunky and difficult to walk in. Those wearing full armor are loud and their visibility is limited. And yet, it did provide protection for many years to soldiers? until our weaponry eclipsed our ability to defend one ?self. Our propensity to engage in war and destroy has made personal armor an archaic relic of the past. We only tend to see it in period pieces, Monty Python sketches and episodes of Scooby Doo.

And yet, here it shows up in our Bible reading for the day. Paul, presumably writing from prison to the church in Ephesus, closes his letter with imagery of God's armor; Paul landed in prison by inciting an angry mob of Jews who questioned his adherence to the Law and his inclusion of Gentiles into the faith. Yet Paul was a Roman citizen and appealed to the emperor to spare his life; subsequently he was shipped to Rome where he lived under house arrest for two years. During this time he wrote the captivity letters, as they are called. So Paul's experience is of being mobbed and arrested, imprisoned and ultimately killed for his faith. No wonder Paul writes of armor whose express purpose is protection. Paul could have used a little more protection toward the end of his life. The early Christian faith and churches that he planted always seemed to be at war with the culture around them. Safety and protection must have been on Paul's mind throughout his life and ministry and particularly now in prison.

In Ephesians, Paul writes about the struggle against one's enemies - both mortal and cosmic ones -and how taking up the whole armor of God is necessary to "withstand the evil day." In Ephesians 6 Paul exhorts us to fasten our belts and put on our breastplates, to lift up our shields and ready our swords. And yet, when Paul actually describes the armor of God, listen to the description:

Belt of truth

Breastplate of righteousness

Shoes that will make you ready to proclaim the Gospel of peace

Shield of faith

Helmet of salvation

Sword of the spirit

Paul has taken the armor of a Roman soldier and re-worked it with qualities of faithfulness. Paul embodies the knowledge that we cannot spread the word of God with weapons and literal armor, but instead with faith and salvation and God's Truth. He winds it all up with a reminder to pray at all times. Paul transforms the values of his day with the values of God, even as he sits imprisoned and stripped of his own power.

We all need protection, if not actual metal breastplates. There are powers that require us to approach the world with a defensive and cautious posture. One example of this that I encountered this week was of an older woman who almost had her house taken away by a dishonest niece and a slick mortgage lender. Described in an article by Daniel Lindsey of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, he outlines the story of a woman, whom we will call Mabel, who almost had her home taken from her by a greedy niece and the skills of a sub-prime mortgage broker. Mabel owned this home since the 40's with her husband and it was a "plain, Chicago-style brick bungalow." After her husband died, Mabel didn't have the means to keep up with the taxes and insurance that kept increasing on her social security payments. Mabel didn't have her armor on when she trusted her niece and the nice young man who came to her house with loan documents and a plan to keep her in her house. Only when the niece took off with the $50,000 that they pulled out of the house in the re-finance and Mabel could not pay her new mortgage, did she realize that she had been taken by both her niece and the loan officer. Luckily she called the number of free legal assistance and they got involved to forge a settlement on her behalf and save her house. Mabel's case was one of many predatory lending practices that caused many trusting folks to take loans that they shouldn't have. Mabel, like many others, was caught off guard by the forces of greed that presented themselves to her as friends and trustworthy persons. Mabel could have used some armor. Christian Century Aug.11, 2009 pages 39f)

A second story that caught my attention this week was a story by Bradley Davidson who traveled to Bangkok and was inundated with the offers he received to arrange liaisons with women on the street. Davidson, who works for Humanitarian International Services Group, was offered again and again the opportunity to have company for the evening, the afternoon, an hour. He writes that according to U.N. estimates, 70% of the male tourists flying to Bangkok intend to engage in the sex trade (Ibid. p. 22) the 80,000 Taxi drivers know where the bars, brothels and massage parlors are located and frequently offer to drive men to these places. On the four taxi rides that he took on that trip, every cabbie made the same offer and even drove down certain streets pointing out the beautiful women who were available for his pleasure. Yet, tourism only accounts for 10% of Thailand's sex industry. The "vast majority of consumers are Thai men. In Thailand sex is considered a man's right. Polygamy is common? providing sexual favors is part of the business culture? it's estimated that 60% of 16 year old Thai boys have [visited a prostitute as a rite of passage] "(Ibid. p. 22) As you can imagine, HIV infection is one of the leading causes of health problems with Thai men and 40% of new HIV infections are Thai wives. Why don't these girls and women make different choices? Because 25% of the Thai population lives below the World Bank poverty level of $2 per day and many girls are tricked and sold into slavery and cannot escape. Furthermore, social obligations and economic necessity oftentimes push "rescued" girls and women back into the sex trade. There are organizations which are addressing this and advocating for awareness and a solution to this exploitation (Human Rights Watch, Not for Sale Campaign, Free the Slaves and Shared Hope International to name a few), but again this is an extreme example of people who are being hunted down by the evil in our world - the powers that Paul describes as the "rulers, ? the authorities...the cosmic powers of this present evil age." (Ephesians)

In both of these cases, armor and a good defense is needed to stay safe and sometimes even alive. In both of these cases there is a sense that there is a war going on that threatens the safety and well being of individuals. But who can live 24/7 in a defensive posture? Who can approach the world with their guard up and weapons in their hands at all times? Sometimes a lot of weapons and a defense system just result in a lot of casualties and death. So, we need to discern when we need armor and when we need openness. Christianity offers a middle way. Our Christian faith compels us to discern when we need to act and put up our shields and when we need to open our hearts in compassion. Jesus modeled that for us and we are called to emulate his life and teachings. We don't have the luxury of looking away. He modeled for us a life of noticing and acting and protecting the most vulnerable around us.

Sometimes we are called to actually engage in a battle against something. At other times we are called to use the tools of love and compassion and anger to draw limits to behavior that is harmful or evil.

Jesus taught us again and again not to circle our wagons and simply take care of our own. He taught us repeatedly by example and through teaching to broaden our care, notice the other, and take action against injustice. We need to discern which piece of the world we are called to advocate in - it might be locally with your community, your staff at work, or your local organization. It might be an international emphasis in another country such as Mexico or Thailand or Haiti. If we all put on our Christian armor of faith and truth, compassion and peace, of perseverance and hope, we would be the peaceful warriors that Christ commissioned long ago.

I hope and pray that our Christian faith compels us outward beyond our own needs and beyond a defensive posture in our world to an offensive attitude of love and commitment to shalom for all. Amen.