Sermon for January 23rd (The Belt of Truth)

The Roman Empire at its height of power amassed a very large area of influence. It was made up of most of what we call Europe today as well as the country known today as Turkey. It also covered areas at the northernmost tip of Africa. But in order to protect these lands, and in order to conquer them in the first place, the Roman Empire needed a very large and very well trained army. A soldier in the Roman army was called a legionary and was expected not only to defend Rome but to go to battle on Rome’s behalf, to conquer more and more people and land in order to expand the Empire. Roman legionaries came from all kinds of backgrounds, but once they had enrolled in the army, they would be a part of it for the next twenty-five years.

When the apostle Paul wrote his letters, such as the letter to the Ephesians we are currently studying, he was writing to people who lived in the Roman Empire. In fact, Paul himself was a Roman citizen which gave him a great deal of influence and respect. As we read and learn about the Armor of God, it’s important to understand why Paul used this analogy. People would have had dealings with Roman legionaries on a regular basis and understood what they wore and why they used the armor the way they did. You might know THAT a soldier wears armor, but, unlike people back in Paul’s time, you might not know WHY or HOW they used their armor. In order to understand why putting on a “belt of truth” is important for a Christian, which is the topic today, you need to understand why putting on a “belt” was important to Roman solider.

The belt that a legionary wore was made of leather and it would have had bronze plates of various sizes dangling from it. The more expensive the belt, the more ornate the leather decoration and the larger the plates. The larger the plates, the louder the soldier would be as they approached. A belt was called a “balteus” or sword belt because its primary purpose was to hold equipment, most importantly weapons, in place.

When getting dressed for battle, a legionary would first put on his tunic, a large piece of linen fabric with short sleeves, followed by his belt. The belt held the flowing tunic in place so that it was not hanging out loosely from the sides. Belts had lots of loops to hold weapons or other gear. It kept things where they needed to be, held everything together and made it easier to reach the necessary equipment for a battle. Ephesians 6 says that we need to put on the full armor of God so that we can take our stand, fight our battle, against the devil and his schemes. Just like a Roman legionary, the first step to prepare for this battle is to put on your belt—Paul calls it the belt of truth.

I want you to imagine a worker for a business who is supposed to work from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday-40 hours a week. Let’s say that he is getting tired of his job and decides to not go in for the entire week and stays home to catch up on his daytime soaps. His boss calls him up at the end of the week and asks him a simple question, “Were you at work this last week? How many hours did you work?” I want you to decide which of the following answers are true and which ones are lies? I’ll make this multiple choice:

A. Yes, I was at work all week. 40 hours sir. B. Yes, I was at work all week. But I only worked half of the day each day. 20 hours. C. Yes, I did come to work on Monday, but I only worked 1 only and left for the rest of the week. Or D. No, I didn’t come to work at all last week. I worked 0 hours. Which of those answers were true? Well, only the last one, letter D—he didn’t work at all. He worked 0 hours. Does it make a difference if he lied completely and said he worked 40 hours or whether he lies just a little and said he worked one hour? No. A 99.999 percent truth is still a lie.

When I was in high school, I was really good at math. I was two years ahead of my class. One thing that my dad pointed out that has always stuck with me is that in math, unlike English or Social Studies, or Music, there is only one right answer. 2 plus 2 equals 4. Every time. Most other subjects are subjective. You can get partial credit. But in math, if you say that 2 plus 2 equals 3, you don’t get half credit, you either get it right or wrong.

One of the basic tenants of the Christian faith is that there is such a thing as truth. It’s the foundation upon which everything else stands. Jesus is the Son of God—that’s either true or false. You either trust in him completely for your salvation or you don’t . . . there is not any partial credit for good behavior. In the gospel of John today, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth is that no matter what you’ve done in the past, you are made right with God by faith alone. But just as true, no matter how good you’ve been all your life, you can’t be saved apart from Jesus Christ alone.

Paul takes the stand that a Christian must begin with truth and that everything else must be based on that. Why? Because if we take our stand on anything else we are susceptible to the devil’s schemes. The devil is the Father of lies. He can smell em a mile away and he will use them to hurt you. You can be fully protected in every other way, but if you go out without your belt of truth on, the devil can still find a way underneath your armor. Kristy and I joke that when one of our children drop a little choking hazard on the ground and can’t find it, Micah will be sure to find it. The devil looks for little lies, or half-truths, or hidden skeletons in your life with as much excitement as my nine-month old does for tiny beads and miniature animals. Every single time that you lie, whether it is out of fear, or cruelty, or even laziness, the devil has an opportunity to gain a foothold into your life.

Remember how I told you that before the belt was put on, a Roman legionary would put on a tunic. A tunic is this long piece of linen cloth that would have been a little more flowing than our t-shirts today. Well, the belt wasn’t just put on to hold weapons, it was also put on to kinda pull the loose tunic in—to keep it in place even when a battle demanded lots of movement. I remember my football coaches always demanding that we cut our hair for the season because he didn’t want people to grab onto our hair in order to tackle us. You might notice that football players keep their jerseys very tight to their pads in order to keep people from being able to grab that. Some equipment has warnings to keep you from wearing loose clothing around it so that you don’t get a sleeve or a tie caught and risk your life trying to get back out! The same was true for the Roman legionaries in battle. The belt held everything in and close.

In the Christian life, we might call this loose clothing, loose morals. You know, those little behaviors that we know aren’t good, but might not seem like a big deal. When the Devil gets ahold of them, these little loose ends can create huge issues. For instance, have you ever wondered why the Bible calls drunkenness a sin? I mean, drinking alcohol isn’t a sin. Jesus made a whole truckload of wine at the wedding at Cana. So, who should care about getting drunk? I don’t know about you, but how many GOOD things happen to people who are drunk? They lose their inhibitions, right? They get loose with their words, their anger, their boundaries and their bodies. They open up the door and let the devil come in and destroy their lives, just because they took off their belts and let it all hang out for a little while. When you are drunk, you do things that you would not have done sober.

Our loose lips also let the devil into our lives in ways we’d never suspect. The more and more I hear stories from peoples’ lives, the more and more I see how subtly the devil uses gossip to kill and destroy. I mean, it’s so easy to talk to someone else about the troubles someone else is having and you think, “I’m doing this because I care about that other person. I want others to know what’s happening in their life.” But even then, before you know it, everyone in town has heard, everyone has an opinion and some of them aren’t so nice. James 3 says, “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Wow! What a statement! What if we were committed to only speaking the truth instead of guessing at it?

Without truth, things fall apart. Once again this week, you should each have received a card. You’ve been given this card to remind you of the importance of committing to truth each day of your life as a Christian. You are encouraged once again to write a commitment for the following week on the back. Here are two suggestions.

First, if you have decided to pray for protection each morning against the devil and his schemes. Make sure that you mentally put on the belt of truth each morning. Make a commitment to tell the truth in every situation. I’m not encouraging you to be cruel to others by saying, “Well, to tell you the truth, yes those pants DO make your thighs look big.” That’s not God’s truth, that may simply be your opinion. Commit to following Jesus Christ and the truth that is written in the word of God. Pray for the strength to be faithful to your faith convictions even in the face of fear and the risk of persecution. Sometimes in the Bible, the belt of truth is called the belt of faithfulness. I believe that married couples might be helped a lot by putting on that belt of faithfulness each day. That belt is conveniently placed to remind you of the importance in being ready and resisting temptation on a daily basis.

Finally, the belt of truth may be an opportunity for you to recommit to your faith. There are many religions out there and many ideas to learn about and discover, but Jesus says that truth, real truth, can only be found in him. “I am the way, the truth and the life” he says, “No one comes to the Father except through me. Perhaps, you have accepted 99 percent Christianity and 1 percent something else or you have accepted most of what the Bible teaches, but have thrown out the parts that are too difficult or not socially acceptable. Perhaps today is the day that you wrap around your waist the belt of truth and lay the foundation of your life on Jesus alone.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to shine his light on each of us, to expose the lies we tell and hear, and to expose our darkness. But His light also shines to lead us in the truth so that we can follow him and never fear the darkness of the devil again. The devil may prowl for you like a hungry lion, but with your belt of truth fastened around your waist, he won’t have anything to grab onto. Thanks be to Jesus for setting us free! Amen!