Put The Toilet Roll Down! (Ephesians 6.10-20)

PANIC!

The media cries, but don’t actually panic, but panic! This thing is coming, this terrible thing, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it!

In the light of all this, it’s very easy to feel powerless, afraid and start to panic. But we’re not. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be careful, far from it, but remaining calm, keeping a clear head is vital for us to protect the most vulnerable.

The Coronavirus on average is fatal in about 2-3% of cases, putting that into perspective it means if you get it, you’re most likely to have severe flu, but you are probably not going to die.

We should listen to the advice of medical professionals, and take this seriously. I'm not for a moment saying we shouldn't. Precautions are necessary in order to safeguard the most vulnerable. 

I wonder if the writer of Ephesians was writing this today what would he say? Put on the breastplate of hand sanitiser? The shield of toilet roll? The sword of facemasks?

No actually, all these things are temporary, distractions. This is precisely the opposite of what our writer is talking about. Hand sanitiser, toilet rolls can’t and won’t save us.

The things the world says we need, the things that distract us, aren’t what matter. It’s the armour of God, our faith that matters more. Put on the armour of God, not toilet paper.

There have been scenes at supermarkets the last couple of weeks where shelves have been wiped clean. Somebody said to me the other day, he was comforted in Sainsbury’s by the middle classness of the panic buying. There were toilet rolls left, but all the hummus had gone.

Not the hummus! I hear you all cry!

The selfish hoarding of goods has been rife. It’s not only incredibly stupid (I’m not talking about hummus here) but also points to a society that is obsessed with selfishness. We’ve been fed this idea that we can buy our way out of a crisis. We can’t. 

It doesn’t work like that.

This selfishness is a fundamental problem. It leads people to do things that aren’t helpful. It means those who need things, like toilet rolls or handwash, people on smaller budgets who can’t stock up, can’t get them.

This level of selfishness is a cancer on our society. If you buy all the handwash, how are other people going to wash their hands? It makes no sense. We must work together to get out of a crisis, not compete in a race to the bottom.

“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.”

Scary stuff. I think in our time and context, this relates to our inner demons. Our struggle is against that voice that tells us to panic when a crisis comes up. The one that rises up from a place of fear and anxiety. The voice that says, ‘go on, buy all the toilet paper. Other people don’t matter. Only you matter.’

I must admit earlier this week, I had to fight a compulsion to go to the Supermarket and buy all the tins of beans, like one of those doomsday survivalists in bunkers.

But the breastplate of righteousness and the belt of truth got in the way. Wearing a suit of armour in Aldi, I would advise against it.

Of course, the armour of God isn’t a literal suit of armour like you might see on a medieval knight. It’s something all Christians should always try and carry with them.

The armour of God saves us and protects us. Not from disease, or from hardship, both can and do happen to Christians. I You’ve still got to wash your hands! That’s why God gave us handwash, when we can find some. The armour of God saves us from living lives in fear, in crisis.

When we wear our armour, truth, righteousness, faith and peace, then we can be sure of safety in how we treat others, and our relationship with God.

We are called to model something different in our lives. We are called to protect others, and to seek the common good. We have a moral duty to stand against the things that are evil in our own lives, and encourage us into evil.

Truth, means honesty and not allowing ourselves to be subverted by selfishness, or what society demands us to do, but to follow Jesus in humility.

Righteousness, is about how we treat others. We aren’t self-righteous in our actions, caring about how we look. True righteousness means treating others in the right way. Being morally accountable to God and to each other.

Faith, means our relationship with God. Nurturing that through prayer for others and ourselves. Being in touch with God, and trusting and discerning with Him in all that we try to do.

Peace, means attempting to live in harmony with one another, and on our planet. Pursuing an agenda that isn’t self-centred but cares less about our own need to dominate, to control, and more about the other.

Our armour isn’t made of cardboard, it’s not playing dress up like you might’ve done when you were a child. It’s strong, and it’s been tested down the generations. It’s got two thousand years of experience behind it.

We are in a battle, make no mistake about that. There are forces that don’t want any of us to succeed. There are things within ourselves that make us act in a selfish way. There are many voices that we shouldn’t listen to. We have the power to overcome them.

My hope and prayer is that in this time of crisis we can all calm those voices of panic that exist in our heads. Put on the armour of God and try to nurture Truth, righteousness, faith and peace in all areas of our society.

“To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.”

Pray for us all. There is hope. Do not be afraid, and leave those toilet rolls alone.

Amen.