I don’t often talk about the devil and spiritual warfare. From memory, I don’t think I’ve often preached on the topics, bar a fleeting reference or a small segue before coming back to the main sermon trajectory.

It’s probably a failing on my part as a church leader that I don’t. But I so often feel more drawn to preaching on God’s all embracing love, God’s unwavering grace, God’s transforming hope. Bad and evil don’t feel quite so attractive!

But this past week, when I sat down to read the lectionary passages for this Sunday (25th August 2024), I was immediately certain that God was asking me to preach on Ephesians 6:10-20 – the armour of God.

“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.”

Ephesians 6:10-11

Day by day, as I came to reflect on the passage a bit more, and listen for God’s voice as I discern what God is willing me to say – there was silence.

When I’m doing sermon prep, there’s often a point where I’ve got more ideas that I can handle and I have to stop praying and thinking and start praying and thinning down! But this time, just getting something onto the page wasn’t happening.

It was like there was a brick wall between me and God. Between me and inspiration, Between me and hearing the voice of Spirit. I still knew this was the passage I needed to preach on – despite multiple little voices in my head saying; ‘I’ve got it wrong’, ‘dig out an old sermon instead’, ‘maybe this isn’t the right passage’.

Those voices were strengthening, but at the same time, the voice of personal experience – that when a sermon feels hard to bring to birth, sticking at it and continuing to wait on God always reaps results.

In many ways, my experience tells me that the harder I find a sermon is to craft – the more right it is for me to craft it and preach it.

By Thursday morning, I had reached the last bit of time I had to craft a sermon due to then having a couple days of leave. I was trying desperately to remain faithful and trust God – at the same time as beginning to feel a sense of panic – ‘what if I don’t get this sermon crafted today?’. ‘God I ain’t going to preach on spiritual warfare on Sunday without a plan – come on and help me here!’.

I turned to some commentaries and as I opened up Tom Wright’s ‘for everyone’ commentary notes on this passage everything began to make sense.

Tom writes about his own experience with this passage, and multiple barriers he experienced. My experience was no different. The reality is that preparing to preach on spiritual warfare was itself spiritual warfare.

As soon as I came to name that truth – inspiration struck, and the words flowed. Amazing really, that my writing was unlocked by simply recognising that my seeking to craft a sermon was being hampered by the spiritual battle between good and evil. It was like a doorway was suddenly added to my wall. A door was unlocked. A barrier removed.

And then since that moment of writing, I’ve come against multiple things in life that have been personal discouragements. Hurting me. Getting me down. Knocking my confidence. Tiring me out.

But as I come back to reflect on this sermon on the armour of God – I’ve come to realise that those personal discouragements and knocks are evil at work – trying to push back against the work of God and the flourishing of goodness in the world.

Once again, as so often happens for me, before I can preach on a passage, that passage needs to speak to me.

So today, as I put on the armour of God, and I preach on Ephesians 6:10-20, I will preach with all I have, heart on sleeve. Evil will not win, because good is stronger than evil. God is more powerful that any other. The good of God, when we seek it and strive for it – will always come out on top.

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Featured Image: the path up Box Hill, Surrey. The journey up can be hard work – but the view’s that are revealed once you’re there are breath-taking. Hard work, diligence and ‘sticking at it’ pay off!