Shoes On, Ready to Go

You can tell a lot about a person's day by their shoes. Work boots. Running shoes. Nurse's clogs. Dress shoes that pinch. Shoes tell you where somebody is going and what they are ready to do.

Paul says the believer's footwear is the gospel. “With your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.” A Roman legionary wore a sturdy military sandal, usually called a caliga, with a thick sole studded with iron hobnails. It was made for long marches and for keeping your footing. A soldier who slips can't hold his ground. Paul wants you sure footed and ready to move.

Notice the strange combination. Battle gear, and the word peace. That is not a mistake. The gospel is the announcement that God has made peace with sinners through Jesus. Earlier in this letter Paul wrote, “He Himself is our peace.” Because of the cross, the war between you and God is over. When you know that, you can stand steady even when the ground around you is shaking. Your footing is not your circumstances. It is your peace with God.

But shoes are also for going somewhere, and Paul makes that point in Romans 10. He starts with a promise as wide as the world. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” There is no difference between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord of all, and He gives richly to all who call on Him. No one is too far gone. No one is outside the reach of that promise. Not the addict, not the prisoner, not the proud man who has mocked God for forty years. Everyone who calls will be saved.

Then he asks a chain of questions that ought to keep us up at night. How can they call on someone they haven't believed? How can they believe in someone they haven't heard? How can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent? Follow the chain backward and it ends at somebody's feet. Somebody has to go.

That's why Paul quotes Isaiah. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” In Isaiah 52:7 the picture is a messenger coming over the mountains with news that God reigns. Feet are not usually the part of the body we call beautiful. They are dusty and tired and calloused. But to people waiting for good news, nothing looks better than the messenger coming over the hill.

You may not think of yourself as a preacher. You don't need a pulpit. You need readiness. The word Paul uses in Ephesians 6:15 means preparation. It's the posture of someone who already has their shoes on. The coworker going through a divorce. The neighbor whose husband just died. The guy at the gym who asks why you seem so calm. God may put someone in your path today, and the only question is whether your shoes are on.

Being ready doesn't mean having every answer. It means you know the story and you are willing to tell it. God made us. We rebelled. Jesus came, died for our sins, and rose again. Everyone who calls on Him will be saved. That's the good news, and it really is good. Say it simply. Say it kindly. Then trust God with the rest, because saving people is His work, and showing up is yours. Lace up this morning before you walk out the door.