Churches are great places to fight! Think about all the discord and conflict that has occurred in the church from the time Jesus started to gather disciples. Who would be the greatest? Who would sit at Jesus\u2019 right hand? Who would best betray and deny him? Then, after Jesus\u2019 resurrection, the church continued to fight for its life, so to speak, both within and without. When we fight in the church, and sometimes we must, what criteria do we use to do so? St. Paul in First and Second Timothy gives some guidance:<\/p>\n
\u201cFight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses\u201d (I Timothy 6:12),<\/p>\n
and then when all is said and done, so to speak, St. Paul bows out of ministry by saying,<\/p>\n
\u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing\u201d (2 Timothy 4:7-8).<\/p>\n
Both of these examples give the impression that we are able to \u201cfight the good fight,\u201d but are we? Do we know what the \u201cgood fight\u201d is? If we might know, would we be able to fight it and win, or would we just make a good show if it, going down swinging? If we were to go down swinging, what night we swing, fists, a bat, playground equipment, or perhaps some type of big band music?<\/p>\n
Our society is full if fighting talk. We may think that we \u201cfight the good fight\u201d when we often disease, crime, injustice, pollution, and so forth. Sometimes we even give ourselves the impression that we might win some of these battles, but do we ever win the battles or not to mention the war? What has been the outcome of the \u201cwar on poverty\u201d or the \u201ccold war\u201d or the \u201cwar on drugs\u201d? According to the news, the rich have got richer, and the poor have got poorer. The once dangerous, atheistic socialist-communist threat has faded in some countries only to arrive in another guise in US politics. As to the war on drugs, how many US states have \u201clegalized\u201d marijuana, even though it is still a federal crime? Maybe we win the wars when we give up the fight and capitulate to human sin. So, what is the good fight, and what is right?<\/p>\n
From the time of our birth, we are born into a fight for our lives. For some, the fight is relatively benign, like fighting with siblings about who inherits the family fortune. For others, from birth onwards, the fight is daily, grueling, fraught with despair, desperation, and devastation. Most of us experience life in-between. For all of us, the daily fight of life ends in death. When that moment comes, will we be able to say, \u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith\u201d? Think about your daily routine. How many of us can hand on heart say, \u201cI have kept the faith\u201d every day in every way, come hell or high water or indifference or disregard? Think of something really mundane. If most of us cannot stick to a simple healthy diet as if our lives depended on it, and sometimes they do, what chance do we have of fighting a truly good fight? So, to distract ourselves, we fight the mean, petty fight of exerting our self-righteousness over against all and sundry, claiming ourselves the victors and \u201cthem\u201d to be the losers.<\/p>\n
We Lutherans have a fight song, one near and dear to our hearts. It goes like this:<\/p>\n
A mighty fortress is our God,
\nA sword and shield victorious;
\nHe breaks the cruel oppressor’s rod,
\nAnd wins salvation glorious.
\nThe old satanic foe,
\nHas sworn to work us woe.
\nWith craft and dreadful might
\nHe arms himself to fight.
\nOn earth he has no equal!<\/p>\n
No strength of ours can match his might.
\nWe would be lost, defeated.
\nBut now a champion comes to fight,
\nWhom God himself elected.
\nYou ask who this may be?
\nThe Lord of hosts is he,
\nChrist Jesus mighty Lord,
\nGod’s only son adored.
\nHe holds the field victorious.<\/p>\n
Though hordes of devils fill the land,
\nAll threatening to devour us.
\nWe tremble not, unmoved we stand,
\nThey cannot overpow’r us.
\nLet this world’s tyrant rage,
\nIn battle we’ll engage.
\nHis might is doomed to fail,
\nGod’s judgement must prevail!
\nOne little word subdues him.<\/p>\n
God’s Word forever shall abide, That translation of Martin Luther\u2019s hymn \u201cEin\u2019 feste Burg<\/em>\u201d describes the war and also each and every battle therein. It is a fight which Adam and Eve so easily and willingly lost in the Garden of Eden. Thereafter, each laborious birth bring forth a child to be another casualty of inherited sin and death. No human effort, strength, talent, wealth, intellect, and so on can put an end to human sin and death. We fight and fight and fight, but in the end we too often become too tired or ill to swing any more.<\/p>\n When they were swinging their hammers onto the nails in Jesus\u2019 hands and feet, the forces of sin and death believed that in crucifying Christ they were fighting the good fight, that they would win the race, that they were keeping the faith. When God the Father raised God the Son from the dead and then sent his word into the world by the power of God the Holy Spirit, God declared the forces of sin and death to be vanquished.<\/p>\n When you are next feeling weary of the war of our sinful world or fatigued by the battles of mundane daily life, when disease, despair, and death are knocking at your door or beating on your heart, remember the words of \u201cA Mighty Fortress,\u201d remember, \u201cNow a champion comes to fight, whom God himself elected. You ask who this may be? The Lord of hosts is he. Christ Jesus mighty Lord, God’s only son adored. He holds the field victorious.\u201d and thereby be reminded, \u201c The Kingdom’s ours forever.\u201d Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nNo thanks to foes, who fear it.
\nFor God himself fights by our side,
\nWith weapons of the Spirit.
\nWere they to take our house,
\nGoods, honour, child or spouse,
\nThough life be wrenched away,
\nThey cannot win the day.
\nThe Kingdom’s ours forever.
\n(Lutheran Service Book<\/em>, Hymn 657)<\/p>\n