Put on the Full Armor of God

 Read Ephesians 6

It’s Memorial Day weekend.  It’s the time to remember those who gave their last full measure of devotion for their country.  These days we take time to remember others who serve—firefighters, first responders, and law enforcement. That’s fine, but the day itself was set aside to remember those who said, I will fight for you, and who never came home to a parade or welcome of any sort.

So, Tom gets to talk a little bit about war and combat and some memorable phrases that go with these things. We will start in World War I.

The Marines joined in the battle later than other allied combatants of World War I.  Up to that point, they had been used in small wars special missions.  Now they had just arrived at the front as the Germans were mounting a three-pronged offensive.

The Marines had barely gotten into position, digging shallow individual trenches they called “foxholes,” when the German army renewed its offensive on June 2. Demoralized French troops in the forest began falling back. One French officer, as he passed through the Marine lines, advised the Americans to join in the retreat. Capt. Lloyd Williams responded, “Retreat, hell! We just got here!” The French officer and the other French troops continued on. Soon the Marines were alone.

What the world did not know was that the Marines could hit a target at 600 yards and beyond with the new 03 Springfield rifles.  The rest of the world’s soldiers were good up to about 250 yards.  The Marines turned the battle around, and General John J. Pershing who didn’t really care for the Marines, but knew that he had a winner, ordered the Expeditionary Force to the offensive.

Again, In World War I while fighting with the 6^th Marines in France against heavily fortified German positions, First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates sent this report to his commanding officer.

I have only two men out of my company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try and get it here as we are swept by machine-gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I WILL HOLD.

Ok, Tom’s not just going to talk about Marine Corps battles and words to remember, but he will keep us in the country of France, though at a time before our nation was conceived.

On 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin’s Day), King Henry V of England defeated a numerically superior French force near the down of Agincourt, France. William Shakespeare would immortalize the victory in the words of the playwright attributed to King Henry.

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition;

And gentlemen in England now-a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

For he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother

This section is about putting on the Full Armor of God.  It’s about battle.  It’s about combat, but you can’t draw the battle lines on a map.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Before we get into the armor itself, let’s affirm where our strength in battle comes from—it is from the Lord.  Think to David when he faced Goliath.  Saul’s armor didn’t fit him.  He couldn’t more—he couldn’t fight in it.

David already knew what was going to happen. The battle belonged to the Lord.  He had his part but the battle belonged to the Lord. David did not understand the armies of Israel shaking in fear.

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

David’s strength was not in the armor of men.  It was in the Lord.

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

You know the story.  David fell Goliath with one, well-aimed smooth stone.  Then, he rushed to the fallen body, drew the giant’s sword, and cut his head off with his own sword.

David might be what today we would call light infantry.  Modern combat has lost that concept.  Today, an infantryman carries 60 pounds on a light day and upwards of 100 pounds on most days.  It’s more if you have to dress for extreme cold weather or chemical warfare.

The armor that you are called to wear doesn’t weigh nearly so much. We are battling the forces of evil and we should be equipped much like David.  Paul uses the metaphor of the armor of his day, but our victory lies in the strength of the Lord.

But, let’s put on the armor-all of it.

The belt of truth

The breastplate of righteousness

Feet fitted—these are your combat boots—with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace

The shield of faith that extinguishes the arrows of the enemy

The helmet of salvation

The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

We are equipped with truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the word of God.  We are well equipped for the fight—for the battles ahead.

We are not armored to fight flesh and blood but the spiritual forces of the Evil One that work both on earth and in the heavenly realms.  These forces want to fight in the battlefield of our minds.  They want to engage our sinful human nature.

In the examples of earthly combat, did you note where they took place?  They were all in France.  That’s over there for the American World War I examples and across the Channel for the King of England.  That’s where we like to fight our battles—over there.

Think how gut-wrenching the 9-11 attacks were to those of you who were alive then.  They were perhaps more devastating than Pearl Harbor was to our grandparents.  Our enemies had struck the mainland on that September day.

We want to fight our enemies on their territory.  We don’t want them here, where we are on the defensive. But in our battle against evil, the enemy has penetrated our lines.  They're in the wire. The enemy is within our minds. 

Elsewhere, Paul counseled us to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ Jesus.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

On most days, I charge you to love your neighbor.  Let everyone know that you follow Jesus, not by the VBS or camp tee shirt that your wear, but by your love.  They will know that we are his disciples by our love.

But on every day, we are to suit up for combat with evil.  We may not engage any form of evil for the entire day but we are ready.  It’s too late to go put on your gear once you are under attack.  You must show up ready.

There are no time-outs in combat.  Sure, truces are called from time to time but consider how many combatants are still killed during a truce.  There are no time-outs. You must come prepared to fight.  We are not fighting the axis forces or a Philistine giant, but the forces of evil that exist in the spiritual realm.  Sometimes, we have to fight them on our home turf—in our minds.

We must be able to make our stand where the enemy brings the fight to us.  We must be able to say, I will hold.

So, we must be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Our part is to put on the full armor of God.

We are to be equipped with truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the word of God.  We are well equipped for the fight—for the battles ahead.

And Paul adds that we are to pray for each other.  We have our individual battles, but battles are won by mutual support.  I pray for you and you pray for me.

Suit up and fight not only for yourself but for one another.  The victory is already won in the blood of Christ Jesus, but we still have battles to fight.

Gear up.

Amen.

Parents and Children

 Read Ephesians 6

Paul begins this section with the fifth commandment.  Honor your father and mother.  He focuses on the central part of honoring your parents—obedience.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Obey!  That’s a tough word in 2022.  It’s a really tough word for a two-year-old in 2022 when they suddenly develop a propensity for the word, “No.”

Children, obey your parents. Oooooh. I thought God was so cool.  I thought Jesus was my friend, but now they tell me to obey my parents.

Yes, that’s the instruction.  There is a guide for the parents in this directive.  The children are told to obey their parents in the Lord.  That last part is a reminder to the parents to bring up a child in the way he should go.

The directives that we give our children should be godly instructions.  Those do include clean your room, make your bed, do your chores, say your prayers, and of course, read your assigned chapter in the Bible each day.

Parents, make sure that the instruction that we give our children is from God.  It’s not just the fruit of momentary anger with them.  Yes, our kids will do some stuff that will anger us or perplex us or just leave us wondering whose kid are you?  But our response is always to give godly direction and correction.

Sometimes, godly instruction comes in words like, get me a switch! Some of you younger folks don’t know what that is.  It’s twentieth-century speak for God disciplines those he loves and sometimes that discipline came with the words get me a switch.

Parents have other counsel from Paul.  We need to pay close attention.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

What does it mean to exasperate?  It’s to push too far.  It’s to frustrate.  It’s to irritate.

Parents, you may be frustrated.  You may think your kids have pushed you to far, but remind yourself that you are the parent.  This is not a competition.  You have life experience and your kid is just beginning to explore life.

That means, when your child is pushing the limits, you stay with the limits.  You are the adult. You have been trusted with this precious gift of a child—which at the moment is pushing all of your buttons—but you are the one trusted to bring your child up in the way he should go, in the way she should go.

Is there even a time for exasperation?  Absolutely, but not for you.  The Marines have drill instructors for that.  They want to see if you can handle more than you think you can handle. As you bring up your children, you don’t want to give them more than they can handle.  You are the safeguard.

Next comes some guidance that might seem outdated in this modern century.  You decide.  Slaves obey your earthly masters.

Yes, there is still some slavery in the world.  In the western world, we would think it repugnant.  In our modern society, I preach more about the self-inflicted slavery of debt than the traditional forms of slavery.

Paul speaks of slavery in which one person is owned or indebted to another person.  It was a part of life at that time, perhaps much more so than today, but the principle involved speaks to us today.

Whomever you work for—an earthly master, a boss, a company foreman, or any other supervisor—remember that you ultimately work for the Lord and not an earthly master.  We will see that again when we get to the letter to the Colossians.

And to the masters of earthly servants, Paul provides this counsel.  Remember, there is one Master and he is Master of all.  In relationships that really count, you are brothers and sisters who serve the same Master.

Masters, serve as an earthly master as if you are serving the Lord, not yourself.  You know who is really the Master.

Some are disappointed that Paul did not decree that all slaves should be set free. I think that was his desire, but not his mission.  His mission was to instruct us on how to live a life worthy of the calling that we have received.

So, children, obey your parents. That’s what God expects from you.

Parents, bring up your kids the right way.  Remember, you are the parent, not the ruthless ruler of the universe.

Adults, as you go about your livelihoods, whether boss or work hand, remember that you are working for the Lord and not for a paycheck or another person.  You will have a supervisor or boss and surely hope to get a paycheck, but what drives you is that your work pleases the Lord.

Amen.

 

Make the Most of Every Opportunity

 Read Ephesians 5

Paul used the first part of this chapter to remind his readers that there is God’s way and there is everything else.  Walk in the light, not in darkness. Walk in love not apathy. 

It’s a continuation of what he said earlier.  Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  You have heard it from me many times.  Live in grateful response to your salvation.

So, we get more of that from Paul, but before transitioning to his next topic, he says WAKE UP!  Don’t just drift through life.  Don’t just exist.  Live!

Every day we choose to live in the light or sneak around in the darkness.  We live a life pleasing to God or we grieve the Holy Spirit by our choices. We live God’s way or we live in the everything else.

Wake up!  Your life is full of moment-to-moment choices.  It’s not just getting up in the morning saying I am bringing glory to God today.  That would be a good start, but soon something will happen or nothing will happen and our minds are distracted or adrift.

We can find ourselves heading down the wrong path or just drifting through the day.  We must be awake.  I didn’t say woke.  We are to awaken.  We are to make conscious choices as to how we will live.

Wake up!

Then Paul gives us words that I used all through our journey through the Proverbs.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

When we concluded the Proverbs, I used these words from Paul to bring us to something of a conclusion, at least a wrap up.  I used the New King James Version at that time.

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Following counsel to awaken, we are told to take care in our next steps.  There is a minefield out there.  There is a narrow path that leads to God and to living in the right standing that he gave us in the blood of Jesus. 

Wake up!  Stay on course.  Press on towards the goal, don’t be distracted.  Don’t start drifting.  Make good choices moment-to-moment.

If you are in the middle of an algebra test for which you did not study, you might think that hour will never end, but in life, we are counseled that we are but a mist.  We are here for only a moment.

In the context of eternity, the time that we give to making good choices in the here and now is so brief but so important.  Wake up.  Stop and think. Take your next steps with care that they keep you on the path directed by the Lord.

Paul next ventures into marital counseling.  How does a man that we don’t think was ever married counsel married couples?

He bases his guidance upon the relationship between Christ and his church.

Let me cut to the heart of the matter.  Ladies, how would you feel is your husband said that I will love you when you earn it?  I will love her when she earns my love.  How would that make you feel?

How would you husbands feel if your wives said, I will respect you when you earn it? 

Both love and respect fall under the umbrella of love, but for the man, unconditional respect is as important as unconditional love is to the woman.

Both men and women in a marital relationship need love.  Both need respect but unconditional love is the greater need of the woman and unconditional respect is the greater need of the man.

If you don’t like it that way, talk to the One who designed us.  If you will set your sights on meeting your partner’s greater need, you will understand what it is to submit to one another in Christ.

Wives are to present themselves as radiant and unblemished with the husband as the head of the wife.  We may have protesters outside of the building next week.

Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church.  What does that mean?  Christ died for the church.  He died for all of us, but the counsel to husbands is that you love your wives as Christ loved the church.

Ladies, in the sacrament of Christian Marriage, your husbands have said they would die for you. To which the ladies reply, yeah, but he never does it.

Ok gals, the next time you are giving your guy the look because his body makes strange noises, remember that he said he would die for you.

Unconditional love and unconditional respect will get us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Our first opportunity comes when we wake up.  We wake up in the morning and set our sights on pleasing the Lord, and when we wake up to the life that is before us.  We choose wisely.

Our next opportunity comes when men choose to love their wives unconditionally and women respect their husbands unconditionally. Husbands and wives submit to each other in the Lord.

Our next opportunity comes with our own children.  We know about bringing them up in the way they should go.  Paul adds a little counsel about our children in the next chapter.

Our next opportunities come outside the walls of our homes.  When we get to the letter to the Colossians, Paul will instruct us to do our jobs—work as if we were working for the Lord, not men.

We have a standing directive to love one another.  That thought should govern in our moment-to-moment decisions.

We have a commission to take the gospel to the world.  That mission entrusted to us helps us take care in our choices.  What choice will best let me share the love of God with someone who is lost?

But, but, but… There is evil all around us.  The days are classified as evil. Yes, you are surrounded by minefields.  Don’t step on the mines.

Realize you are also surrounded by opportunities.  Make the most of your opportunities.  You can’t do this if you are asleep.  Awaken.  See the world as a series of wise choices to be made.  In so doing, Christ will keep you in the light.

He will direct your steps.  You can live wisely in the age of evil. That’s individuals, families, and communities.

Let’s put this in the first person.  I can live wisely in an age that is evil.

Amen.

Hit the target. Please God!

 Read Ephesians 5

I am the Lord your God.  Be holy because I am holy.  We read this in Leviticus. It was very much the theme of the entire book.

We see the same thought in Peter’s letters.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;  for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.

God has always set us apart, made us special just for him, and taken a special interest in his children.  He started with the Hebrew people but his love is for all of his children.  Be the special creation that God has designed you to be. He made a way for you to be that person in the sacrifice made by God himself.

Paul puts it this way.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul spent a good part of his letter to the church in Ephesus telling them—and us—just how much we are blessed in Christ.  Now it’s time for the how do we live part. Remember the general guidance from the previous chapter.

 I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

In this chapter, Paul gives some specifics.  You remember that orgy you were invited to attend next weekend.  Send your regrets or just don’t go without regret.

Remember those raunchy jokes you heard at work.  Don’t repeat them.  In fact, don’t even remember them.

And this whole greed thing, it doesn’t go with your wardrobe.  It clashes with the new clothes that you are now wearing as a new creation.  Did you forget how blessed you are?  Why must we covet more and spend our lives in pursuit of that which can never really satisfy?

There is nothing wrong with having nice things and not having to check the balance in your checking account every two hours to make sure nothing bounced, but greed is an indicator that we are not seeking God, his kingdom, or his righteousness.  We cannot serve two masters.

If the things of this world have become your god—a false god for sure but one that has taken the place of the one true God—then we are not trusting the one and only God to deliver on his promises.  We are disobedient and have disdain for God.

Earlier Paul might have called this grieving the Spirit.

Enough for specifics.  Paul tells us to figure out what pleases God and do that.  Paul is preaching one body but we have our individual roles.  We have our set of gifts and talents.  Figure out what it is that God equipped you to do and do that!

It’s light and darkness.  It’s God’s way and everything else.  Live in the light.  Live God’s way.  Why these broad terms for a narrow path?

Leviticus is a laundry list of many things but it includes a whole bunch of don’ts.  Do not do this.  Do not do that.

Paul noted in his letter to the Romans that he didn’t know what sin was until the law said don’t do that. Until someone said don’t kick the cat, I didn’t even think about kicking the cat.

Paul is saying that instead of making a list of landmines to avoid, it’s better to focus on the target to be hit.  Live in the light.  Do what pleases God.  Love one another.  Help carry someone’s burden.  Speak the truth in love.

Sin—transgression—is missing the mark.  It’s missing the target.  If I had a Marine that was having trouble hitting the target, I first looked to his sight alignment and sight picture.

OK, we are not at the range, so what’s the point?  Make sure you have the things that please God in your sights.  You can’t hit the target if you keep glancing at the things in the everything else.

Focus on what pleases God. Be holy as God is holy. Live in the light as he is in the light. There is God’s way and there is everything else.  Focus on God’s way.

Where is your focus?

What is your target?

If you are adrift, asleep, or thinking of the everything else, wake up and focus on the target.  Do what pleases God.

Amen.

 

One body, one spirit, one hope...

 Read Ephesians 4

You belong to the Lord.  He is your Master, Savior, and Friend.  By his blood we have been made right with God.  That should bring out an amen, hallelujah, or praise the Lord, but how will we respond. Paul has something to say about that.

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

We have been called to be a disciple of Christ Jesus.  How do we respond to this call? Are we ready to live up to this call?

What are some possible responses to this wonderful gift of mercy and grace? Paul gives us some.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

So what’s all this unity business?  We all have different gifts and talents and abilities.  Doesn’t that mean we are all on separate courses?  We might be, but we have much in common.  Again, consider Paul’s counsel.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

How can we be unified as one?

·       One body

·       One Spirit

·       One hope

·       One Lord

·       One faith

·       One baptism

·       One God and Father of all who is over all and in all

Consider also that grace has been apportioned to each of us as Christ deemed appropriate.

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

What else has Christ given to us as he deemed appropriate?  Faith and gifts.  There are extended discussions on those in Paul’s other letters.

We are not all given the same.  There is no equal rights distribution.  Christ gives us what he knows that we need.  In the context of grace, some may have ventured farther from God than others, but he knows what we need to come home.

Our apportionments are different, but we are to be one body with one Spirit and one hope and one Lord.  We are of one faith and one baptism and know that God is our Father and over all, and our Father put Christ over all of us.  How do we get to this oneness?

We have talked before that the work of this age has been entrusted to the church.  Within the church, there are some specific assignments but all are called to something and all are called to unity.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The goal is unity in the faith and in the knowledge of Christ the Son and all that he is and all that we are in him.  Remember, that’s how Paul started this letter telling his readers who we are in Christ.

Paul also uses a unique term—the fullness of Christ.  Christ lived, loved, healed, taught, rebuked, died for our sins, and rose from the dead.  We know these things but do we know him.  In the fulness of living a life given to Christ, we will come to know Christ more and more.

Paul is talking about maturing—growing in our faith and hope and as the body of Christ.  Too often churches dwell in infancy as believers.  We should grow and mature in our faith.  We are blessed that we grow in grace—that God will never disown us.  He loves us and will keep on loving us.

One indicator—and I spent more time on this in our First Light Service—is that we can speak the truth in love.  It’s easy to speak the truth in condemnation, but it is a sign of Christian maturity to speak the truth in a spirit of love.  It takes courage and a genuine desire to help others as God wants us to help them.  Sometimes speaking the truth is essential, but delivering the truth in a spirit of love is effective.

Remember this lesson from Paul’s letter to the Galatians .  We should all carry our own load but if someone who is trying is also struggling, we should help lift part of his burden.

If someone gets off course in her race of faith, we should gently call him home.  We are about invitation not condemnation.

Paul reminds all that we are saved by grace through faith.  It’s not by abiding by the law.  It’s not by circumcision.  There is no Jesus Plus salvation formula.  It’s all by the love of God so don’t try to earn salvation by means of the law.

That might be a dead horse as far as we are concerned, especially as we didn’t grow up in the synagogues. Perhaps Paul’s warning to believers not to return to their pagan ways is closer to our history.

Don’t go back to being your old self.  You are a new person.  Live as the new creation that God made you to be in Christ Jesus.

Paul got a little didactic and directive here.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

We are not people of falsehood but of truth.

Anger does not control us.  Love does.  Giving anger a foothold can lead to sin.

We don’t steal.  We work.

We don’t curse.  We encourage.

We don’t make God’s Spirit who lives within sad by our ungrateful choices.  We live by the Spirit.  We produce the fruit of the Spirit.

We are not brawlers.  We live by kindness and compassion. 

We are no longer the old person.  We have taken off the old self and put on the new. We are a new creation.  Lord, help us to live as this new person you made us to be.

Amen.

 

Speaking the Truth in Love

 Read Ephesians 4

 

The Redbuds are budding, the sun is shining more each day, and it’s baseball season.  What more could we want?  How about some counsel for the Apostle Paul.

 

Let’s look at some words that you know, but let’s understand them fully.  What words?

 

Speaking the truth in love.

 

These words and this thought are good thoughts and perhaps should be applied beyond their original context, but let’s understand this context first.

Paul writes to the church in Ephesus.  He was not liked much in the community as his teaching cut into the business and profits of the makers of idols.  Ephesus had a fantastic temple to the goddess Diana or as she was known in Greek, Artemis.

 

Paul’s preaching here on his second and third missionary journeys accomplished much for the Lord but stirred up those who did not believe and were losing business when their false gods were labeled as false gods.

 

So, Paul is writing to a church that he knows well from whatever abode he has as a prisoner in Rome.  Paul begins encouraging this church by reminding them how blessed they are in Christ.

 

In Christ we have been given every spiritual blessing.

 

We are chosen to be holy and blameless.

 

In Christ we are God’s adopted children.

 

In his blood we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

Our hope is in him.

 

We are sealed by him in the Holy Spirit.  We are his.

 

We are made alive in Christ.

 

We are raised up with Christ into the heavenly realm.

 

In Christ, we are God’s handiwork—his workmanship—prepared in advance to do good things.

 

We are joined together in Christ.

 

In him, Jew and Gentile alike become one body and share his promises.

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

 

We are called to be strong in him and in his mighty power.

 

Paul is writing to a church that he knows well.  He knows their struggles and the ungodly surroundings in which he planted this church.  So he does his best to remind them of the blessings that they have received in Christ Jesus.

 

But, he can’t leave them there.  There is counsel to follow on how to live being so blessed in an environment that opposes you.  So before the counsel begins, Paul includes a prayer.

 

 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith… Amen.

 

Paul precedes his counsel with prayer, but here comes the counsel. The first challenge is very general.  Live a life worthy of the calling that you have received.

 

Then he adds some specifics.  Be humble, gentle, patient, and bear with one another.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.

 

We are people of one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is all, and through all, and in all.

 

Don’t you get it?  We are one family—God’s family—in Christ.  We have different gifts but we are one.  Elsewhere Paul discussed gifts in the body and how one part of the body can’t say it’s better than another or that another is not needed.

 

But as he writes to the Ephesians, unity in the body is central to his message.  And so we come to this very familiar passage.

 

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 

Speaking the truth in love is about our own growth.  We talked before about speaking the truth to each other.  That is essential to the Christian life.  It is essential to following Jesus, but Jesus said that we who follow him will be known by our love.

 

So we who have professed Jesus as Lord must speak the truth in a spirit of love.  We don’t sugar coat anything but we are not motivated by anything but love.

 

Hey, Tom, you’ve been picking your clothes out by yourself lately haven’t you?

 

I guess that was in a spirit of love, or not.

 

We must speak the truth to each other and do it in a spirit of love.  What this means is that we can speak truthfully to each other even with subjects that are difficult to talk about.  We can do this because we are becoming mature in Christ.

 

It’s easy to say, you had better quit smoking.  Those things will kill you.  That’s a true statement but there’s not much love attached.  Perhaps we first address how important the person is to us and that we don’t want to lose them.

 

I am sometimes referred to as the mean guy when a family with four unemployed adults in the household comes to see me about helping with the water bill.  Sometimes we help and sometimes we don’t but once I say that somebody in the house needs to get a job, then I get labeled the mean guy.

Sometimes, I tell people that they don’t need the most modern smartphone when they can’t pay their electric bill or make their $700 a month car payment.  Maybe, you should trade down until you get an income that will support these things.

 

People start looking for the exit from my office and the church building quickly when I bring up the word budget.  But how can we truly practice love if we won’t address the obvious in people’s situations?

 

Among Christians, we must not permit an Elephant in the Room.  We can’t say we are going to help and ignore the problems.  Speaking the truth in love is about our maturity.  We can talk about real things openly and truthfully in a spirit of love.

 

When we can speak the truth with a spirit of love, we know that we are growing in his grace.  When we speak the truth without the spirit of love, we are often condescending or mean.

 

Too often we back off from the truth because we do not want to be accused of being judgmental, but we must understand that the judgment with which we are counseled to abstain is a condemning judgment.  We are being equipped to jump into the middle of difficult issues and problems.  We can really sort things out instead of dancing around issues out of fear.  Fear gets no purchase when we speak the truth in love.

 

Speaking the truth in love is a measure of how far we have come.

 

Paul continues the chapter with not living in our old ways, taking off the old self, and putting on the new self.  It’s all good counsel for all of us, but it’s hard to follow.  One indicator of whether we are living as this new creation is whether we can speak the truth in love.

 

If we haven’t gotten there already, let’s work on speaking the truth in love.  It’s about our growth and maturity in the body of Christ.

 

Now, you won’t find this in this letter, or maybe anywhere else, but consider this provocation.  If we speak the truth to one another as we are counseled to do and if we speak the truth in love, then we had better be prepared to hear the truth.  We don’t speak the truth in condemnation but in love, but we must be ready to hear the truth and let the Spirit and God’s holy word work on us after we have listened to those speaking to us in love.

 

We need to hear the truth in love from other believers and from God’s holy word.  We must allow God’s word to judge the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.

Amen. 

What's in a Name?

 Read Ephesians 3

Paul is not illiterate.  He is skilled in the written word.  He uses literary tools.  He could write in a terse voice as he did to the Galatians or with pleasant, grateful prose as was the case in much of his letter to the church in Ephesus. 

He wraps up this section with something of a prayer, but it begins with some food for thought.

Every family in heaven and on earth derives its name from God.

It could just be that everything created came from God to include our names or we could consider our the nature of our names.  When someone asks, “What is your name,” or “How are you to be called,” we would answer, “I am and our name.”

I am is the name that God told Moses to tell his people when Moses asked what if they want to know who sent me. When we answer with our name, we precede it with the name of God.

Paul’s prayer petitions God and encourages the Ephesian believers.  How so?

That out of his glorious riches, God strengthens you with power through his Holy Spirit. Why? So that Christ may dwell in your hearts.

Do you remember I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.

What’s the preexisting condition?  Why, the glorious riches of God are that condition.  What’s the outflow? Strength and power and Christ living in us.

How about another preexisting condition, this time in the Ephesian believers?  Try this on for size:  Being rooted and established in love.

What’s that mean.  It means that love is the whole deal.  Your life is rooted in love.  Your lifestyle is established by love.  Your geography is love.  Your destination is love.  

What proceeds from this love is knowing how great God’s love for us is? How wide and long, high and deep God’s love for us is.

Paul says that this love surpasses knowledge.  It’s more than we can understand.  Yes, it’s like the peace that surpasses all understanding. It should be comforting to us to know that there are aspects of our God that we just can’t comprehend.

If we could fully comprehend God, we might try to make ourselves gods.  That dog don’t hunt.

Paul said that there was some mystery here and that mystery is revealed in Christ and his church. The church must be at work in the world today being God’s love.  The world is lost without God’s love.  The church seems to have a knack for condemnation, but if Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, then we should stick to our assigned mission:  Love and good news.

We can be spectators and armchair quarterbacks or we can be the church.  I coined the term Christian Tourist a few years ago.  It’s someone who checks out the sights of Christianity but decides that discipleship doesn’t fit into their comfort zone.

We can point fingers or we can reach out with our hands and arms.  We can’t do both and we are called to be the church and take God’s love to the world.

I will conclude this short message as Paul concluded the chapter.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Amen.