Superheroes
“Superheroes” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden
Good morning! Today I want to talk about superheroes, and what that might mean for those of us who trust in the power of God. Despite the costume, you have no doubt noticed that I bear very little resemblance to Wonder Woman – [slide 1] either to actress Gal Gadot [slide 2] or her predecessor Lynda Carter. True, I am female and dark-haired — but I get some chemical assistance for one of those. I’ll let you speculate as to which one that is.
Despite the lack of physical resemblance, there are times when I think of myself as Wonder Woman. Years ago, when Ron Nicodemus was Board chair, he presented me with a Wonder Woman costume, which hung in my office for a while since it was a size I haven’t worn since I was about 10 years old. Still, even without the costume, it’s a role I have inhabited occasionally, particularly at Mission and Ministry Board meetings, where I often think to myself, “I wonder what they’re talking about?” “I wonder why I didn’t get that email that everyone else is looking at?” This kind of wondering is humbling, and occasionally embarrassing, but it’s part of being stretched and learning how organizations work. I am much more comfortable with a different kind of wondering; the kind the hymn “How Great Thou Art” references when the lyricist begins, “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder . . .” This kind of wonder happens to me most often in nature, but also with the miracle of children and grandchildren, and the wonder of how much work it takes to be a good parent. I wonder how my daughters got to be so much better at that than I was.
Like many children, maybe even some of you, I had aspirations to super-powers. Frankly, I still do. I have a bit more insight now than I did 50 years ago about why I wished for the powers I did. I’ll tell you in a few minutes what super-power I wished for, but first I want us to consider this passage from Ephesians 6. You have likely heard of the armor of God before. If you Google it, as Irene and Terry Rassi did when they were preparing for the children’s story today, you can find story books and activity books and even your own set of plastic armor which includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. You cannot purchase these items from Brethren Press, because frankly, the idea of getting kitted out like a Roman soldier to go to war against the cosmic powers of darkness is a little bit uncomfortable for many of us who lean pacifist or preach non-violence. Paul was, of course, describing the armory and weaponry of his time, but for most of us, I hope that wearing the Kevlar vest of righteousness and carrying the AK-47 of the Spirit is not a comfortable image. There are some Christians who would be great with this, I know, but I think it misses the point of the passage.
Before we get all caught up in the weaponry, I think it’s important to go back to the controlling idea in verse 10: Be strong in the Lord and the strength of his power. When I was a kid, I didn’t want to be Wonder Woman, I wanted to be Word Woman. The superpower I wished for was fluency in any language, wherever I went. I grew up in a diverse community in Southern California; I had friends whose parents spoke only Spanish. You might think, given that wish for facility with language, that I devoted a lot of time and effort to learning Spanish at school, or from my friends who were bilingual. I didn’t. I was like someone who wanted to be super-strong, but never spent a single day at the gym lifting weights. Because what I really wanted was to fit in any place I went. I wanted to belong, without doing the hard work of investing in learning a second or third language. I just hoped language acquisition could magically happen. It took me a long time to realize that belonging is more about an understanding of myself than it is about other people being able to understand what I say. Sadly, although self-awareness, identity and maturity may be super-powers, but they don’t happen by magic, they come with experience and hard work. Darn it.
It’s evident why this passage from Ephesians 6 is appealing, especially to children who want to be more powerful than they are, or ought to be. But if our power isn’t our power, but is rather the power of God, that changes the message. Paul mentions the tools — the belt, the helmet, the sword, the whatnot — that Christians need to equip themselves to demonstrate the power of God. But of course these tools are metaphors for truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God which we need to function in the world and to defend ourselves from the powers of evil. Are these superpowers? Maybe not — they certainly don’t happen magically, without any effort on our part — but they are not as common as we might hope.
This may be news to you, but 2024 is a national election year. November 5. There are plenty of politicians playing offense and claiming their opponent is evil, but not so much reliance on righteousness or truth. I believe American democracy is a better form of government than a lot of the others out there, and that we should not let cynicism keep us from participating in our democracy, but if we make politics our religion or vice versa, we are in trouble. Political power and God’s power are very different things — and they’re not always playing for the same team. If we are going to use the shield of faith, we’d better be putting our faith in the right things. That is not in human leaders. Like them, support them, work for their campaigns, vote for them — do not look to them for salvation. Our salvation is in Christ and Christ alone.
This passage from Ephesians is not about being a hero, it’s about being a Christian. Those two things may not be mutually exclusive, but they are not the same thing. I never did receive the superpower of fluency in every language, but I actually have put some time and effort into being Word Woman. I wield words a lot — written and spoken — in a variety of contexts. You may not think that my powers are superlative, or even above-average, but by the grace of God and the goodness of folks here at Creekside, I get to use my passion for words in the service of Christ and the kingdom all the time. Well, maybe not all the time, but in daily conversations about work at Creekside, regular writing, and study and sharing from the Bible. Words are one of the ways in which I express, and I hope to embody, the power of God. Not because of how skilled I am, but because of how amazing God is.
I want to share a proverb which I think is appropriate, and I hope you’ll give it serious consideration — at least as seriously as you manage to take anything coming from a woman wearing a cape and a tiara. Trust me, I’m Word Woman. Here’s the proverb:
The greatest thing in the world is the alphabet, as all wisdom is contained therein, except the understanding putting it together.
I believe that God has given us the things we need to be strong in the Lord and the strength of God’s power. Those things are truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. But we still have to put them together — try them on and see how they fit, and put some effort into learning to use them. Not everyone’s gifts are going to be the same, or be expressed in the same way, but Paul cautions that we need to put on the whole armor of God. Righteousness without truth is just self-righteousness, and that won’t protect us from much of anything — not even ourselves. Even the understanding of putting it together comes from God, but it still takes effort on our part. After Paul lists all the elements of the armor of God he says, “Pray in the Spirit at all times.” And that is the secret of putting the armor together, of making sure that everything is functioning properly; to be sure that we are operating out of the strength of God’s power, and not some fantasy of our own power.
Take it from Word Woman, prayer has a power even greater than words. Prayer is not about what we say as much as it is about getting ourselves properly aligned. What does God want from me? What do I need from God? Were am I being called to step out, and where is God’s strength made visible in my weakness?May God equip us with truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the words of the gospel and the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ; and may we find the grace and the grit to put it together. Amen.