Starting this Sunday, we’re going to do a new thing.
It feels a little risky to me, but I’m going to give it a shot. For the next seven
weeks, I’m going to preach from the appointed texts from the letter to the
Ephesians. This letter is sometimes called the “Queen of the Epistles” because
it gives a concise explanation for the gospel message in one brief package.
Maybe it feels funny to have a sermon series in the middle of the summer, given
that we are coming and going as travel opens back up. The good news is that
these sermons will be connected, but not serial… if you miss a week, it’s OK.
Each one will have its own singular theme. And they will be posted on our
Facebook page, so you can always catch up there if you miss out on Sunday
morning.
So. Ephesians: The book of Ephesians is attributed to
Paul. Scholars are divided on the question of his authorship. It is possible
that he did write these thoughts to the church in Ephesus while he was
imprisoned in Rome in 60-62AD. It’s also possible that his own disciples
compiled his teachings into a concise document after his death. Whichever is
the case, the writings certainly fit the style and theological teachings of
Paul in his other pastoral letters and early church leaders would not have
been concerned so much that Paul actually wrote down the words himself.
Early church councils felt strongly that Paul had
enough of a hand in its development that they were comfortable assigning
authorship to him. For our purposes in these next weeks, I will refer to this
as Paul’s letter because it though it lacks the personal touches that early
Pauline letters contain, like addressing or thanking specific leaders in the
church, and uses language and terms that Paul does not use in any other
letters, it certainly fits into the standard of other letters written by him.
If we look closely at its contents, we see two
connected messages. Chapters 1-3 provide a theological underpinning for faith
in Jesus Christ. Many of our most basic understandings come from Paul’s
explanations here – here we define belief. They contain some of Paul’s most
beautiful and poetic language. Chapters 4-6 go on to explain the ethical
dimensions of the faith journey. In these verses, Paul shows us how to apply
our faith. Being on this journey is not just about believing. It must be
followed by living out our faith. This book not only teaches us the WHAT of
faith but also answers the question SO WHAT?
So where do we start? At the beginning is a good
place. And that’s exactly what our writer does. Beginning in verse 3, our
writer takes us back to the beginning of the world.
Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He
destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ … (Eph. 1:3-5,
NRSV).
From the beginning, God gives us good news. Christ was
chosen for us before the foundation of the whole world. And we were chosen to
be members of his family – adopted in love before we even existed. Being chosen
may not seem like much, but it gives us things we often don’t recognize we need
– grace, redemption, and forgiveness, to name a few. And because God made this
choice at the start, the boundaries that we set up to decide who are in and out
of God’s purview – they are all artificial as far as God is concerned. Jesus
came for everyone – for the whole world. All are invited to be a part of the
beloved community.
The hope and will of God is that all will be included
in the covenant. Our job is not to build fences and walls to keep people out,
but bridges and bigger tables to draw God’s people together. This is God’s good
pleasure, that as we receive the mystery of Christ to our realities, we also
share it beyond our walls, beyond our own needs and wants. We who are included
become the includers. We who are blessed become the blessers. This was the
purpose for Christ coming at all, and now it is our purpose as well. Like the
impact of a pebble dropped in a still pond or puddle, the ripples peel off from
the center bringing transformation to a world so in need of the grace and love
of Christ.
And on this journey, we are promised sustenance. We
are not alone.
In him you also, when you
had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in
him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge
of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his
glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14 NRSV)
The journey of following Christ is one of discipleship
– learning to be a disciple of Jesus. It is a life-long journey, one only
completed as we are united with Christ in glory. This message is sometimes hard
to accept. We want to get it right. We are depressed and disappointed when we
make mistakes or stray from the life Jesus calls us to follow. The good news is
that you don’t have to read very far in any of the gospel accounts to know that
the disciples, the very ones Jesus called himself, were just like us. They
didn’t get it right all the time – we could even say they spent more time
confused than convicted. Hear this: Jesus isn’t asking us for perfection in our
journeys. He is asking us for faithfulness. When we make a mistake, we admit to
it and ask for forgiveness. When we make bad choices, we put those aside and
choose something better. And to demonstrate that he believed in us, we are
given the gift of the Holy Spirit – sealing the promises made to us in the
covenant of our faith.
When we celebrate a baptism in church, we give thanks
over the water, and perform a ritual where water is used to symbolize at least
three things: the cleansing power of God’s grace, the refreshing of our souls
like gardens thirsty for afternoon rain, and as if we are being rescued from
drowning, we are taking
our next breath in a new life, forgiven of and free from
the power that sin holds over us.
But we also do something else in that baptismal
celebration. After the words of baptism in the name of the Triune God, we
invoke the Holy Spirit, promising the baptized person the power to live
faithfully the kind of life that water baptism signifies – a life committed to
Jesus Christ, and striving to live out the love of God and neighbor in all we do.
As the service ends, we recommit ourselves to the promises made at our baptisms,
promising to be there for one another.
In her book, Searching for Sunday, Rachel Held
Evans writes about the historic sacraments of the church as she moves from her
conservative evangelical roots to a more emerging, liturgical expression of
faith. As she begins to close out the book, she ponders what it means to be
ecclesia – church. She reminds us that we are a gathering of citizens,
called out from our individuality, our sins, from the way things have always
been to participate in God’s new creation and in community with each other. She
says this:
I’m not exactly sure how
all this works, but I think, ultimately, it means I can’t be a Christian on my
own. Like it or not, following Jesus is a group activity, something we’re
supposed to do together. We might not always do it within the walls of the church
or even in organized religion, but if we are to go about making disciples,
confessing our sins, breaking bread, paying attention, and preaching the Word,
we’re going to need one another. We’re going to need each other’s help.[i]
These next few weeks we will continue thinking about
the lessons that this letter has to teach us. Here’s a hint: It is a call to
make sure that we have the tools we need as we prepare to live faithfully. As
much as anything, we are reminded that our faith is not an intellectual
exercise or only about our personal relationship with Jesus. It’s also about
living out that faith, day by day, in every situation and every relationship.
Even so, we are blessed with the days that living out our faith begins with the celebration of the foundational belief that we are blessed no matter what our
circumstances because we are adopted into the family of God. We belong – we all
belong. And even better, we are not alone. We are a part of something bigger
than ourselves. Even when we can’t see the whole picture, we are standing on
hope.
I couldn’t have written a better hymn to sing after
the sermon today than this one by Brian Wren (1973 – ELW #358). As you sing,
really hear these words:
as we, by love, for love were made.
Your living likeness still we bear,
though marred, dishonored, disobeyed.
We come, with all our heart and mind
your call to hear, your love to find.
Great God, in Christ you call our name
and then receive us as your own,
not through some merit, right, or claim,
but by your gracious love alone.
We strain to glimpse your mercy seat
and find you kneeling at our feet.
Great God, in Christ you set us free
your life to live, your joy to share.
Give us your Spirit's liberty
turn from guilt and dull despair,
and offer all that faith can do
while love is making all things new. (
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Peace, Deb
(c) Deb Luther Teagan July 2021
Sermon prepared
using resources from UMC Discipleship Resources – Sermon series on Ephesians,
Geared Up For Life, by Derek Weber www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/geared-up-for-life
[i] Evans, Rachel Held. Searching for
Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church (p. 273). Thomas Nelson. Kindle
Edition.
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