With the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left – 2 Corinthians 6:7
Flavor Flav turned 65 this year. I wonder if he ever found out what time it was? Or if it is just time to start collecting social security. Yes, that is pure corn, and you probably don’t remember Flav. He was one of the early rappers in pivotal group Public Enemy. His shtick to this day is wearing a giant clock and interjecting, “Do you know what time it is?” Which if you’ve got an apocalyptic sweet tooth is impossible not to like. Because we all should be asked if we know what time it is more often. The hour is later than you think.
But the good news of any apocalyptic is that Christ is both the Alpha and the Omega. Christ can operate with both the right hand and the left. Moses had placed “good and evil” before the gathered Israelites (Deuteronomy 30:15ff) and urged them to “choose life.” Of course Moses was talking about the law which is good and wise. Our problem is choosing it. Knowing what time it is by Moses isn’t a good thing. But Paul has a different proclamation. “We appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain…look, now is the favorable time, look, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).” What time is it? It is the day of grace. If you are still in the flesh and reading this, now is the time that grace has come to you. Now Christ helps us.
How does Christ help us? With weapons of righteousness for the right and for the left.
What the heck does that mean? I think the base picture is the ancient warrior who held an offensive weapon, a sword, in the right, and a defensive weapon, a shield, in the left. The right is the instrument of power. The left is the tricky one. It is tricky for a few reasons, but the greatest is the fact that the greatest strength of the warrior comes not from skill with the right, but from savvy formation with the left. My shield in formation protects not just me but the man to my left. The army that lost was almost always that one that broke ranks first and no longer fought as a unit. And they would do this because they trusted their own might and not their fellow’s shield.
The apostle leading up to that summary has a couple of lists. Weapons of the left: “endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger (2 Corinthians 6:4-5).” The Apostle Paul held formation through all of those things. He proclaimed Christ and our eternal life in Christ thought all of those things. He kept the faith. And paradoxically it is those weapons of the left that are much more meaningful. The grace of Christ which is seen most clearly in the cross is centered in our endurance of what this temporal world has for us. But that does not exclude weapons of the right: “purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, the power of God (2 Corinthians 6:6-7).” All of those are active things. You could call those the Sanctified life. The Saints also have weapons of righteousness that demand use and skill, not just endurance. The endurance weapons of the left are typically better, but there are times that demand action, that demand holiness and truthful speech.
Flavor Flav’s question, the apocalyptic question, is always meaningful. “Do you know what time it is?” Now is the favorable time. God acts with his grace both through the left and the right. But do you know which is called for in your life? As Luther would say, “sin boldly.” Choose your weapon, but have faith in the grace of Christ to make now the day of salvation regardless the choice.