First Lutheran Corner: Taking a bullet

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One of the last scenes in the movie “Dave” was a bodyguard telling this imposter of the president of the United States that “he would take a bullet for him.”

This was a movie where a man, played by Kevin Kline, was the absolute ringer for the president and he had to assume, in a covert way, the role of president when the real president had a stroke and was in a coma.

He did such a great job as president that the bodyguard, knowing the scam, told Dave he would have given his life for this man. That is how much of an impact Dave made on the body guard.

I will give my life so that you might live. Now, who, in their right mind would do something that silly, that absurd, that sacrificial? How could anyone in their right mind take a bullet for someone else, die for someone else, take upon themselves the burden of another?

It is called the armor of God! And the armor of God isn’t made of metal or ceramic as the armor of old, it is made of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. And He is the one who will take the bullet for you and for me because He is the one who exhibits love for His children that cannot be duplicated.

Ephesians 6:10-20 tells us to put on the armor of God. When we read this passage, we may think of the knights of old. Jolly old England it was … dragons and damsels in distress, knights in shining armor defending the poor and weak and the hopeless … doing everything that was right, protecting their own selves with steel armor, literally! Steel helmet, steel vest, steel gloves, steel shoes, even a steel sword! That’s the image we see with this analogy of putting on the armor of God.

It is interesting to note that that kind of armor didn’t exist at the time of Paul’s writing. But Paul knew what armor was and what it could do to protect the warrior.

And so he likens the protection we need from sin to armor in an effort for people to recognize that the bullets that come at us from the sin of this world are ones that are going to penetrate even the best worldly armor yet the armor of God cannot be penetrated no matter how many bullets are fired, no matter how many sins are committed, no matter how intense the sin may be.

The armor of God will protect the sinful from the onslaught of temptation to sin and the sin that results from armor that is not sufficient to stop it.

The armor of Christ will stop it all. And why is that? The armor of Christ is made not with steel or ceramic, you can’t slip it on and buckle it up, you can’t even see it! The armor of Jesus is made with flesh and blood. He was not wearing armor at all as we understand it.

My friends in Christ, Jesus took the bullet for us and for our sin so what the Father sees when he looks at us is Jesus’ purity. That is the good news of love so profound, a bullet in the form of a cross, would be taken upon His back so that we might live for eternity.

As we recover from the recent fire disaster, the challenges will be numerous, and we will have to do our best to serve our community while not taking advantage of the resources we have at our fingertips. That would be sinful. We need to put on the armor of God right now!

Please join us to hear more about God’s protective shield this Sunday at First Lutheran Church in Lucerne.

This Sunday we will celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Worship is at 11 a.m. followed by lunch. All are welcome so come as you are and bring your friends and relatives. They will be happy they came.

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..