Start:Stop-The Whole Armour of God

Don Quixote by Pablo Picasso (1955)

Start:Stop at St Stephen Walbrook offers busy commuters the chance to start their day by stopping to reflect for ten minutes, every Tuesday morning. This is a transcript of my reflection from July 2nd 2019. Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a bible reading, which today comes from the final chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians. If you want to follow along the passage is on page 209 of the New Testament.

Bible Reading – Ephesians 6.10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour 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 armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on 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.

Reflection

In a somewhat exotic move, last Wednesday we celebrated the life of our patron Saint, St Stephen, six months to the day after his feast in the liturgical calendar. On the front of the order of service Reverend Stephen selected an image of St Stephen from a fifteenth century Spanish altarpiece. At first glance he appears to be wearing a helmet and pauldron on his shoulders, until closer inspection reveals this is not armour at all, but the stones that killed him. The only armour Stephen holds in his hand is the Gospel he preached. 

St Stephen is known as a protomartyr - not just the first but the martyr of all martyrs - someone who imitated Christ in life and death - even quoting the words of Jesus at his last : “Lord, do not hold this sin against them." This Christ-likeness is probably the reason why St Stephen is usually remembered the day after we celebrate the birth of Christ.

St Stephen's martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus - who became Paul the Apostle after his conversion. In the closing passages of his letter to the Ephesians that we have just read, Paul, or perhaps an author strongly influenced by the writing of Paul, calls us to follow St Stephen in imitating Christ's sacrifice, as we fulfil the promises we made at our baptism to fight valiantly against sin, the world and the devil.

Written at a time when the Roman Army occupied Ephesus, now in modern day Turkey, the author draws on elements of a soldiers uniform as metaphors for the divine grace we have received to use as armour in our valiant fight. This is clothing which we are instructed to put on "in full"; a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit - the Word of God.

We are reminded that as disciples of Christ we are not to fight each other - our own blood and flesh - but to struggle against "the cosmic powers of…… darkness, [and] ….the spiritual forces of evil."

A friend who works at the English National Opera has just finished conducting a cast led by Kelsey Grammar performing The Man of La Mancha – a musical based on Don Quixote. In the epic novel, bedecked in his own self-styled armour, the eponymous hero travels around La Mancha fighting battles on his quest to rid the world of the dark forces of evil; famously attacking windmills he believes to be giants about to destroy a nearby town.

Whilst acknowledging Don Quixote is the epitome of a comic figure, the Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard suggested that the ideal Christian today – perhaps a modern day St Stephen - might be seen as a type of Don Quixote. Writing in 1849 he explains: "…..someone [that] literally renounces this life in earnest; that….voluntarily gives up the happiness of love that was offered to him; …..endures all sorts of earthly hardships……[and] then submits to being mistreated for having done so....such a life would seem absolutely comical to everything in our age. It is a Don Quixote.”

Don Quixote undertook his chivalrous escapades in the face of a society which only honoured knights on the pages of mythological texts. Kierkegaard felt that a similar disconnection existed between the ceremonies and concerns of the established church and daily life - even suggesting that if Christ and the apostles were to enter modern Christendom they would appear just as idealistic and unworldly to us as Don Quixote.

Kierkegaard described true ‘Knights of Faith’ as those who placed complete faith in themselves and in God and act freely and independently from the world. Those who act without certainty - such as Abraham at the point of lifting the knife to kill his son Isaac or the Virgin Mary’s “yes” at the annunciation. These are people who challenge the doubt of their rational minds by embracing belief for-and-of-itself. Perhaps we might all need to be a bit more quixotic in that sense?

Kierkegaard was critical of the conclusion of Don Quixote in which the gallant knight awakes as if from a dream, hangs up his armour and repents for his actions. When it came to the crunch, he stopped seeking to conquer uncertainty and at that moment became a subject of the subjectivity of others – neither free or independent of himself or the world. It is at these points of trial - what C.S.Lewis described as the highest points of reality - that our courage is revealed - something which is "not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." The root of the word courage - cor - is the Latin word for heart. In its earliest meaning courage meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart." It is here in our hearts, we are told earlier in the letter to the Ephesians, that Christ dwells in the Spirit, rooting and grounding us in love.

How then do we make sure we are fighting the good fight, not tilting at windmills? By embracing that uncertainty, by listening to our cri de coeur - the cry of our heart which is the Spirit of God alive within us - through the gift of prayer – the final and crucial piece of God’s armour which Paul encourages us to put on. Only then are we truly ‘clothed in Christ’.

Before a time of silence, a few lines from the principal song of The Man of La Mancha, Don Quixote’s “Impossible Dream”.

This is my Quest to follow that star,

No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,

To fight for the right

Without question or pause,

To be willing to march into hell

For a heavenly cause!

And I know, if I'll only be true

To this glorious Quest,

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,

That one man, scorned and covered with scars,

Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,

To reach the unreachable stars!

Meditation

Prayers

In the spirit of being quixotic after a reflection on a Spanish hero, our prayers this morning are based on a text attributed to Sir Francis Drake.

The response to Disturb us, Lord is to dare more boldly.

When we are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord
to dare more boldly

When, with the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord
to dare more boldly

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love

Disturb us, Lord
to dare more boldly


Blessing

God of power,

may the boldness of your Spirit transform us,

may the gentleness of your Spirit lead us,

may the gifts of your Spirit be our goal and strength

now and always.

Amen.
Let us boldly go into the day ahead! Thank you for joining us for Start Stop this morning. I hope you have a wonderful week. The next reflection will begin in a few minutes.