The Breastplate of Righteousness

What Are You Hungry For?

Let me start this morning by asking a question: what are you hungry for this summer?

Maybe it's ice cream or chips at the beach. Maybe it's a special meal out, delicious ripe strawberries, juicy nectarines, or a tasty barbecue. If you've recently broken up from school, maybe you're hungry for fun, for a holiday, or for more quality time with your Lego, your Xbox, your friends, or getting lost in a good book.

Or maybe, if you're a bit older, you're longing for a break from work — from the feeling that you don't have enough time for your kids, from the torrent of emails and constant demands. What you're longing for is a sofa, a garden, a snooze, a campsite by the beach, or a holiday house in the countryside.

Those are all good things. But we should also be longing for something better — something deeper, something longer lasting. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encouraged His followers to hunger and thirst for righteousness — to seek it first, even if pursuing it brings persecution.

The Armor of God: A Quick Recap

Last week we began our series on the armor of God, and there was good news and bad news.

• Bad news: Christians are in a fight — against Satan (the devil) and his forces of evil. They're real.
• Good news: God is more powerful than Satan, and He fights for us.
• More good news: Jesus defeated Satan and all his forces fully and finally on the cross.
• Even more good news: God shares that victory with us and gives us His strength, like armor, so that instead of being flattened by our spiritual enemies, we can stand firm and resist.

Last week we looked at the belt of truth — the foundation for everything else. We worship one true God, trust in the truth of His words and promises, and depend on the truth of the gospel: that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection actually happened. That truth gives us power to live lives that reflect God's truth, to resist temptation, and to speak truth to one another.

This week, we come to a large and vital piece of protective equipment — the breastplate.

Why the Breastplate Matters

If you happened to bump into a Roman soldier, you could ask them why the breastplate is so important. Failing that, just think about all the vital organs it protects — heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, stomach. You definitely don't want to get stabbed in any of those places.

Paul says that we are going into battle in the Christian life too — but it's a spiritual battle, not a physical one. So we need a spiritual breastplate.

Our passage for today is Ephesians 6:14:

From Darkness to Light

When people turn to faith in Jesus, they change from darkness to light. But that transformation isn't the end of the story — now they need to live as children of light. As the passage reminds us, this new life will produce good fruit, like a good tree produces good fruit. That fruit is described as goodness, righteousness, and truth.

As we put on the armor that Jesus freely gives us, it begins to shape us by His Spirit. God works in us to change us, to make us more like Jesus. Last week we considered what it looks like to be people of truth day to day. Today the question is: what does it look like for us to be righteous people?

What Does Righteousness Mean?

Being righteous means living God's way — worshiping Him, serving Him, obeying Him, looking at the world His way, loving what He loves, caring about what He cares about, even hating what He hates. Jesus wants us to be passionate about these things, to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Do you long to live God's way so much that it feels like a hunger or a thirst?

It's a challenging question. So let's make it more concrete with a couple of practical applications of righteousness — I'm sure there are plenty more that could be chosen.

Righteousness in How We See People

Do you look at people the way Jesus looks at them — not as objects there for our benefit or to serve our needs, but as creatures gloriously created in God's image, as sinners in desperate need of a Savior, and as sheep in need of a Shepherd?

Adults — is that how we see our annoying neighbours? Is that how we see the person in the car behind who's driving much too close, or any of the people we encounter online every day?

Children — how do you see your parents? Do you thank God for them and their care for you? What about your siblings, or that kid at school who's always mean to you? He or she is still made in the image of God, and probably desperately needs Jesus too.

Let's learn to look at people the way God does.

Righteousness and Justice

In the Old Testament, righteousness is often connected to justice — to caring about other people, particularly those in need. How much do you care about injustice? Do you have a righteous hatred of unfairness, discrimination, and oppression?

Adults — maybe in one sense we can learn a thing or two from our kids here. We're often resigned to the fact that life is unfair, and can become passive about it. But children often still have that simple, fresh hatred of unfairness — "it's unfair!"

As we grow in righteousness, what might God be calling us to do to stand against discrimination? Maybe we could ask God to help us see more, and care more, about injustice — to hate unfairness and oppression, and to give us opportunities and strength to stand against those things.

Kids, it's easy to say "not fair" when it's you who's suffering. But will you speak out and stand up against unfairness when it's someone else who's being treated badly?

Putting on the Breastplate

Those are just two areas in our lives where we could grow in righteousness. Christ's breastplate of righteousness wonderfully protects us from Satan, but let's pray that it would also shape the way we see the world and the way we live in it.

Father God, we thank you so much that you are righteous. Thank you that when we look at our heavenly Father we see one who is altogether good, altogether right in everything he does. We thank you for Jesus, that he came to earth and showed us what it's like to live in a righteous way. Thank you that he died to give us his righteousness. I pray that we would heed that call to righteousness, that we would follow in Jesus' footsteps — if we've trusted in him, if we are wearing his breastplate, we would live out that righteousness, maybe in the way that we see other people, maybe in the way that we think about justice and fairness. Father God, please be at work in us by the Lord Jesus, and make us not just people who enjoy your righteousness, but also help us to live righteous lives. Amen.