Texts: 1 KINGS 8:(1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43; PSALM 84; EPHESIANS 6:10-20; JOHN 6:56-69

I have recently taken up cycling as a fitness activity. Each morning around sunrise I ride my bike for 15-20 minutes. My bike helmet has taken up a permanent place by the back door, reminding me to put it on before going out to unlock the bike.

Of course, I hope the helmet never gets put to the test, but if a mishap should happen, I have to trust that this piece of plastic and foam will protect my head from serious injury. It’s the closest thing to armour that I own.

Our soldiers in Afghanistan wear their own kind of armor—military helmets, and sometimes Kevlar vests, and they travel in armoured vehicles. We are all too aware that their armour has its limitations, just as my bike helmet will not protect me against the worst possible accident.

Nonetheless, whether it’s a bike helmet or a Kevlar vest, wearing it is an act of trust.

Paul tells us to put on "the whole armour of God," listing the various parts of a Roman soldier’s armament:

Paul may well have been thinking of this passage from the Wisdom of Solomon (in the Apocrypha):

Just like the writer of Wisdom, Paul is clear that the purpose of the armour of God is to help us stand firm against the foe. The armour we are to put on is the same as God’s own armour.

We are to put our trust in God alone, and in the armour he provides.

All too often, we misplace our trust. We rely on things of our own devising, which will ultimately fail. The Gospel and the Old Testament lesson point us in this direction.

Some of the people who deserted Jesus did so because he would not be the kind of Messiah they wanted. They wanted a king, a miraculous benefactor—"Keep those loaves and fishes coming, Jesus!" Jesus would not be—he could not be—that kind of Messiah, but rather the Messiah who would give his flesh—his very life—for the life of the whole world. He would be the Messiah who came to die. Many left, but those who stayed did so because they heard God speaking through Jesus. "You have the words of eternal life.

The first parish I served had been without resident clergy for 20 years. They had developed a "Messiah complex" around having their own priest again, and some were deeply disappointed when the church did not suddenly fill up again, as it had in the ‘50’s. They had very clear and very misplaced expectations about their new Rector.

Solomon prayed his great prayer of dedication for the Temple. His prayer acknowledges the Temple’s limitations, a house which "cannot contain you." The temple is not God, but the place of which God has said; "My name shall be there."

The second parish I served had never had its own building. When I arrived there, they had become obsessed with the need to have their own home. I heard many people say, "When we get our own building, everything will be great." Just another "Messiah complex." We got our new building, which didn’t solve all of the parish’s problems, but brought with it all sorts of new issues.

We have missed the point when we put our trust in an individual or in a building—we have a Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the one who "has the words of eternal life." We put on the whole armour of God when we place our trust in him and him alone.

The church is not about individuals, whether lay or ordained. The great prayer at the heart of the Eucharist, although said by the priest, is not a prayer by and for the priest, but a prayer on behalf of the people of God, led by the priest. It is all in the plural!

The church is about God, and about putting our trust in his Son.

He is our strength and our shield.

Thanks be to God.