Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
One of my favorite movie scenes involved a man trying to rob Crocodile Dundee at knife point. Unphased, Crocodile Dundee says his famous line, “That’s not a knife. This is a knife.” The man scurry’s away because he realizes he is not equipped for the fight he was getting into. A similar phrase in movies is, “You don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.” We are not to be ill-equipped for the fights, arguments, and discussions we enter in this world. As Christians, what do we have as we enter the world which is turning away from God at an exponential rate? Martin Luther’s most famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, tells where are safety and defense lies. Another hymn, “Our Church’s One Foundation”, speaks of the church being built on blood of Christ. Many times we attribute the church as a place where we can come to worship God, but what do we have when we leave the church and live our day to day lives? If we stick with the battle imagery, what are we equipped with as we run William Wallace (or John Snow) style head first into the battle to spread the news of Jesus? St. Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians talking about the Armor of God (Eph 6:10-17). In it he says we have these things:
Looking at this wonderful attire (which I picture to be very shiny in my head) I cannot help but notice the thing they all have in common: God’s love shown in Jesus Christ. The truth wrapped around our waist is that God loved the world so much that he sent his Son to die for us. By dying for us we are made righteous through Jesus. This gift of love is meant for all people, therefore it is meant to be shared with all people. When people ask how we can know such things we lift up our shield of faith which points of to God’s love in Christ. We point to salvation we have received through him. By sharing this with others we are inviting the Holy Spirit to pierce their hearts and bring the love of God to their knowledge through faith. We enter the fray equipped with God’s love. Equipped with God’s love we enter the fray not only to share about Jesus, but also to speak against those who use hate and vitriol in the name of Jesus. Notice that God does not equip us with picket signs to be placed outside military funerals or to demean any person because of their gender identity and sexual orientation. God does not equip us with burning crosses to symbolize a pure race. God does not equip us with hate. God equips us with love. Jesus had all the power in the world, and yet when he was hit across the cheek he didn’t fight back with violence and hate. He presented his other cheek. He presented his unrelenting love. He offered his life over vengeance and destruction. So when someone comes to you with the knife of hate they are looking to rob you of your joy. Instead of giving in and pulling out a knife of hate we pull out the big Bowie knife of God’s love and say, “Goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness, life is stronger than death; victory is ours through God who loves us!” Or you could say, “That’s not a knife, this is a knife!” Points to Ponder:
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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