DON'T TUG ON SOPERMAN'S CAPE

 

DON’T TUG ON SUPERMAN’S CAPE!

 

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape.  You don’t spit into the wind, You don’t pull the mask off of the old Lone Ranger… and you don’t mess with Jim! Do you remember that song? You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t pull the mask off of the old Lone Ranger, you don’t play with fire… and you don’t mess with Sin, which will always cost you more than you wanted to pay and keep you longer than you wanted to stay. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, you  don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger… and you don’t mess with him, meaning the devil, diabolos, the tempter, the manipulator, the deceiver, the liar… because he will make a mess of your life! 

         You see, in the beginning Christians were persecuted because they didn’t “fit in.” They marched to a different drummer. They held different values and they measured “worth” in a different way.  When Paul planted the first churches, the word "Christian" (first used in Antioch) was a noun. Rather than being a "Christian merchant" or a "Christian mechanic," Christians were men and women who dedicated their lives to Christ. They weren’t people who attended church more frequently, or were a "bit nicer," to strangers. or more likely to attend church. They were intentional about worshiping Christ and they showed their love for him in the way they lived their lives.

In Paul’s time Christians were in a distinct and unwanted minority. They worshiped and served a little known Galilean who had been crucified for sedition… and they insisted that he was God! They refused to worship the Roman emperors and and their gods. They simply didn’t ‘fit in’… and they were under attack from local authorities, synagogue leaders, angry family members, and in Paul’s view, they were also being attacked by forces of evil and the Devil himself! They were not able to serve Jesus and blend in with those who didn’t at the same time. They weren’t able to compromise and they were persecuted in the ways that people who are “different” always are: their friends kept their distance, invitations to community events dropped off, and people made a point of belittling their commitment to Jesus. They were hauled before courts and pressured to deny Christ… and the Devil marshalled a constant attack of temptation, doubt, and ridicule!

When Jesus began his ministry- after he was baptized and heard his “Father’s” voice of approval, he was pushed into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. He was tired, hungry, and disoriented, and the Devil kept telling Jesus that his suffering was not necessary… and that there were easier and softer ways of reaching his goals. Your Father doesn’t want you to go hungry, so turn these stones into bread and eat your fill. Your Father doesn’t want you to labor anonymously, so make a name for yourself by jumping from the highest point of the temple! If you want to help a world of suffering people, worship me, Satan said, and I will give all of them to you. Jesus was on the most important journey ever taken, and he overcame the temptations to pursue his Father’s needs on his own terms… by claiming God’s word.

Well, if follows that, if the Devil would attack God’s Son, he will most surely attack us! So, Paul warned the Christians at Ephesus and the Christians in Illinois… that they are under attack. He wanted to remind us that this attack will be like the one that Jesus experienced. We would be tempted to abandon our walk with Christ, or to make it about ourselves, or to settle for an easier way, to compromise our work for Jesus or denounce if altogether. This will surely happen because we don’t want to be an outcast.

Well, it turns out that we can defeat our enemy… if we are intentional about serving our Lord, if we KNOW that we are in God’s hands, and if we start each day by putting on the armor of God, which includes: 1) the belt of truth, because it is the truth that sets us free and it is “truth on which we stand!” Speaking the truth in love is the language we speak.

Our strength is lodged in our minds and in our hearts. So we put on the breastplate of righteousness… which Billy Graham described as a bullet proof vest for our soul! If we wrap ourselves in Christ’s righteousness, the arrows that threaten our resolve will simply bounce away. In a time when many believers were coerced to deny Christ, Paul noted that we need to buckle our shoes of peace, because they will give us firm and unshakeable footing! The helmet of salvation is knowing that we are saved, in Christ, forgiven and redeemed. The shield of faith provides sure protection because faith cannot be shattered. It endures all things… and the sword of the Spirit- the word of God, is the same weapon that Jesus used three times when he was tempted by the Devil.

         As we go into the world, we will walk in confidence if we are clothed in Christ. And knowing this, we will be able to

1. Speak the truth in love;
2. Distance ourselves from temptation;
3. Forgive and love others as God has forgiven and loved us; and
4. See and respond to Christ when he appears in the least among us, or at the family table.  Amen.