It’s hard to be a Christian
Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, year B
Bible reading: Ephesians 6:10-20
It’s hard to be a Christian, so hard that many turn away. Jesus begins John 6 with the 5000 enthusiastic followers he has fed. By the end of the chapter he is left with just the twelve, and even one of them is a devil, and was going to betray him
.
It’s hard to be a Christian. Joshua speaks to the people of Israel after they have entered the Promised Land, and calls them to choose this day whom you will serve
, and makes his own confession before them: as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord
.
When Joshua reminds the people how hard it is to follow the Lord, the people declare they will faithfully follow the Lord. But the history of Israel was a history of unfaithfulness to God.
It’s hard to be a Christian.
It’s hard to follow one Lord, in an age of pluralism.
It’s hard to speak up for Jesus, in a time his name is ridiculed.
It’s hard to go to worship Jesus, when the traffic is heading the opposite way.
It’s hard to honour your parents, in an age of family abuse and disintegration.
It’s hard to be pro-life in all its forms, when people choose death for young & old.
It’s hard to be faithful before and after marriage, when promiscuity is the rage.
It’s hard to be honest and generous, when greed and selfishness reign.
It’s hard to talk up people’s reputation, when there’s money in tearing them down.
It’s hard to be content with what you have, when we’ve being driven to have more.
It’s hard to be a Christian, and follow in the ways of the Lord, when the bulk of society is marching to a different drum, following different gods, holding an opposing view of life which confronts us, and beckons us at every turn.
Why is it so hard to be a Christian? Above all because we live in a world that is not Christian, that has rebelled against God, that ridicules those who seek to follow Jesus.
We too are part of that world. Though we seek to follow God, we find within us a drive to follow the world. As St Paul says: I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do
. How often have you found that to be so? We are like the man who prayed: I thank you God, that so far today I haven’t done too bad. I haven’t lied or cheated, or stolen, or committed adultery. But soon I’ll have to get up, and then I’ll need all the help I can get.
We don’t get far into the day before we get angry with our family, or the traffic, or the supermarket, or the bank. We begin the day willing to do what is right, but we can’t seem to do it
. And in the midst of it all we suddenly realize we’ve forgotten all about God. What has gone wrong? Why is it so hard to be a Christian?
Because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places
. Behind the ungodly influences all around us, and behind the ungodly impulses within us, is an avalanche of satanic evil that seeks to take over every institution, every form of Government, every corporation, the internet, the money system. So we see people enslaved to materialism, prostitution, drugs, violence, terror, even demonised religion.
It is not only hard to be a Christian … it is impossible, except for one thing: Jesus Christ has already won the victory over sin, death and the devil. God disarmed the rulers and authorities … by his victory over them on the cross
, says Paul, and Peter says that Christ has gone to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers made subject to him.
The devil and his evil powers have no right to control the affairs of this world, or of your life, because God has defeated them on the cross of Christ, and in the resurrection.
Many years ago Watchman Nee, the great Chinese Christian, took a little group of Christians to a Chinese Island to bring the Gospel to the inhabitants. However they had no success. Finally one of the team said: Why won’t any of you believe?
They answered that they had a god they believed in, and he took care of them, and they were about to celebrate his special day, and for the 286 years they had celebrated it, there had never been rain. It will rain this year
, prophesied the young Christian man. They replied that if it rained this year they would know that the God of the Christians was the true God.
The little group of Christians turned to prayer, asking God to show that he was the true God. Every day the weather was fine, including the morning of the celebration. They kept praying in faith as they ate their breakfast. Suddenly they heard drops of rain. By the time of the festal procession there was torrential rain. People slipped and fell as they carried the statue of the god in the deluged streets. The statue of the god fell and broke. The people said they must have miscalculated the day and set it for three days later. Once again there was perfect weather until the procession began, and the deluge returned. Finally the chains of evil were broken and people turned to Jesus Christ as their Lord.
Today we asked infants, who were about to be to be baptised, to renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways, and to believe in the Triune God. This might seem odd to many of us. But we believe that Jesus has won the victory over the powers of evil, and in Baptism we join him in that victory.
It will still be hard to be a Christian, and many baptised people fall back under the power of the devil. But God’s Word calls us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might
. In other words: stick with the Christ of your Baptism, and believe in him, and follow him.
You are his child. You share his victory. When you sin, he forgives you. When you fall, he picks you up. Nothing can snatch you out of his hands.
It won’t be easy. It will be a battle. So put on the whole armour of God
.
Fasten the belt of truth around your waist
. Be absolutely sure that you are a loved and forgiven child of God, and that you share Christ’s victory, and then live truthfully. The devil, who is the father of all lies, loves nothing better than when people run each other down. Through such untruth and hate, the devil is at work destroying the church from within. But the devil has to retreat when God’s followers tell the truth in love, and live righteous and faithful lives that give Satan nothing to accuse them of. Then the work of spreading the ‘Gospel of peace’ can continue with success, and the word of God will be like a ‘Sword’ by which the Spirit penetrates the hearts of unbelievers and leads them to repent and be saved.
This is what St Paul calls us all to pray for. It might be hard to be a Christian, but God wants all people to believe and live forever. Amen.