The Imperative of the Porch
Ephesians 6:10-18
August 23, 2009
Oh, excuse me. You no doubt expected something a bit different at this point. Perhaps something that looks a bit more like worship than practicing putting down the center aisle.
Well, blame it on Paul, or, to be a bit more specific, blame it on the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he goes all Tim Gunn on them and describes the outfit appropriate to doing battle with the powers and principalities.
We’ll read it in a moment, but I seem to recall that the last time this passage came around in the lectionary I brought a bag full of accessories to augment the “whole armor of God” that Paul describes for the Ephesians. I believe I wore the steel-toed, butt-kicking boots of justice and the Hawaiian shirt of good humor for the occasion.
Naturally enough I’ve been pondering the outfit and accessories again while reading Paul this week.
Here’s what Paul says:
Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor 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 armor 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.
All of that is well and good, and I’ve not problem with it as far as it goes. But I believe Paul, like most of us, has neglected something crucial here. He’s forgotten, in fact, one of God’s commandments. In fact, one of the top 10!
To be specific, he’s left out number four, the most often neglected and rejected of them all: remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Listen to this wisdom from Barbara Brown Taylor:
“In the eyes of the world, there is no payoff for sitting on the porch.”
When you’re just sitting on the porch no work is getting done. The weeds are growing and not being pulled. The e-mail is piling up and not being answered. The homework sits in the backpack. But, as Taylor puts it continuing the thought:
“In the eyes of the true God, the porch is imperative – not every now and then but on a regular basis” (ibid.).
The porch is imperative. Taking time out simply to be, and to be at rest, is part of God’s plan for salvation. Therefore, the whole armor of God must include some additional items.
I’m starting with the sandals of salvation: shoes that allow my feet to feel the earth underneath them and remind me that I come from that earth and to it I will return, that I am a part of it not apart from it.
The Panama of patience? Well, no. How about the Fedora of faithfulness? Not exactly. Maybe the headwear of wackiness or the piece of junk of joyousness. Or, as my children call it, the drunken dad on vacation hat. In any case, we all need something to remind us to lighten up, to remind us that we are not, in fact, the center of the universe and that the world can get by just fine without our work for while when we take time to rest in the hands and heart of God.
Now, as many of you know, Cheryl and I try to respond regularly to the imperative of the porch, and there are a few additional items that you need.
The porch swing of patience is nice. The beverage of blessing is essential – whatever the nature of that beverage.
But the most important aspect of the porch most of the time is the company. It is all well and good, and even important, to spend some time in solitude in order to journey deep within ourselves, but as the creation story from Genesis underscores, it is not good for us to be alone. We are made for community.
So the most important thing about the porch is the company you keep there, and the opportunity the space creates for building, deepening and sustaining the bonds of community.
At our best, as a community of faith, we create time and space for the porch. So we’re going to spend a bit of porch time this morning. I invite you to get together, right now, with someone you’ve been meaning to connect with, someone with whom you began a conversation before worship, or someone with whom you were sharing a bit more than the peace of Christ before being cut off by the order of worship this morning. Or reach out to someone you don’t know well yet and share a little bit of yourself.
We can live deeply only as deeply as we are connected to one another, and we cannot connect deeply with the Creator if we do not connect deeply with fellow creatures. Sabbath time is time for tending to these connections. It is the imperative of the porch.
August 23, 2009
Oh, excuse me. You no doubt expected something a bit different at this point. Perhaps something that looks a bit more like worship than practicing putting down the center aisle.
Well, blame it on Paul, or, to be a bit more specific, blame it on the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he goes all Tim Gunn on them and describes the outfit appropriate to doing battle with the powers and principalities.
We’ll read it in a moment, but I seem to recall that the last time this passage came around in the lectionary I brought a bag full of accessories to augment the “whole armor of God” that Paul describes for the Ephesians. I believe I wore the steel-toed, butt-kicking boots of justice and the Hawaiian shirt of good humor for the occasion.
Naturally enough I’ve been pondering the outfit and accessories again while reading Paul this week.
Here’s what Paul says:
Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor 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 armor 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.
All of that is well and good, and I’ve not problem with it as far as it goes. But I believe Paul, like most of us, has neglected something crucial here. He’s forgotten, in fact, one of God’s commandments. In fact, one of the top 10!
To be specific, he’s left out number four, the most often neglected and rejected of them all: remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Listen to this wisdom from Barbara Brown Taylor:
“In the eyes of the world, there is no payoff for sitting on the porch.”
When you’re just sitting on the porch no work is getting done. The weeds are growing and not being pulled. The e-mail is piling up and not being answered. The homework sits in the backpack. But, as Taylor puts it continuing the thought:
“In the eyes of the true God, the porch is imperative – not every now and then but on a regular basis” (ibid.).
The porch is imperative. Taking time out simply to be, and to be at rest, is part of God’s plan for salvation. Therefore, the whole armor of God must include some additional items.
I’m starting with the sandals of salvation: shoes that allow my feet to feel the earth underneath them and remind me that I come from that earth and to it I will return, that I am a part of it not apart from it.
The Panama of patience? Well, no. How about the Fedora of faithfulness? Not exactly. Maybe the headwear of wackiness or the piece of junk of joyousness. Or, as my children call it, the drunken dad on vacation hat. In any case, we all need something to remind us to lighten up, to remind us that we are not, in fact, the center of the universe and that the world can get by just fine without our work for while when we take time to rest in the hands and heart of God.
Now, as many of you know, Cheryl and I try to respond regularly to the imperative of the porch, and there are a few additional items that you need.
The porch swing of patience is nice. The beverage of blessing is essential – whatever the nature of that beverage.
But the most important aspect of the porch most of the time is the company. It is all well and good, and even important, to spend some time in solitude in order to journey deep within ourselves, but as the creation story from Genesis underscores, it is not good for us to be alone. We are made for community.
So the most important thing about the porch is the company you keep there, and the opportunity the space creates for building, deepening and sustaining the bonds of community.
At our best, as a community of faith, we create time and space for the porch. So we’re going to spend a bit of porch time this morning. I invite you to get together, right now, with someone you’ve been meaning to connect with, someone with whom you began a conversation before worship, or someone with whom you were sharing a bit more than the peace of Christ before being cut off by the order of worship this morning. Or reach out to someone you don’t know well yet and share a little bit of yourself.
We can live deeply only as deeply as we are connected to one another, and we cannot connect deeply with the Creator if we do not connect deeply with fellow creatures. Sabbath time is time for tending to these connections. It is the imperative of the porch.
posted by David Ensign at
8:55 AM
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