Friends in Christ,
This Lenten season, I am inviting all of us in the Dakotas Conference to read together the great book of Ephesians. Each of the six weeks of Lent, we will focus on one of the chapters in this wonderful little book. The accompanying devotionals are meant to stimulate our thinking as we ponder the meaning of these holy words.
I would encourage you to find a prayer partner or a group with which you can discuss your thoughts and insights around the weekly chapter. You may also wish to share your words of wisdom or questions on this blog.
It is my hope that during this Lenten season we can all grow in our faith and togetherness as we seek God’s wisdom through these holy words.
Bishop Deb
=====================
Called – by God
Ephesians 1
Lent, Week 1
Read Ephesians, Chapter One.
How many of you can relate to this experience?
You are standing in line in physical education class in school. The teacher has chosen two persons to be ‘captains’ and they are in the process of choosing teams for whatever game is planned. As each captain says a name, you hope it will be you … but no. One by one the class is being divided up and you are still standing there, waiting. Finally, when your name is called you breathe a sigh of relief and happily take your place with the rest of the team.
Sound familiar?
How wonderful when we are chosen. And how devastating when we are not.
Listen to these words from the first chapter of Ephesians.
“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.” (vs. 3-4)
The book of Ephesians is generally believed to be a circular letter to be shared with all churches and written not specifically for the congregation in Ephesus. It doesn’t address specific concerns that might be found in one, unique setting. Rather its theme is one that is of utmost importance to all the congregations in Asia Minor: unity in Christ.
Even with these opening words we hear the writer of Ephesians reminding us that God has chosen us – God has sought us to be God’s own children – a part of God’s family. That is the foundation upon which our faith is built … a love so deep and so far-reaching that we cannot escape it. God has chosen us.
But notice the rest of that phrase in verse 4. “Just as he chose us in Christ.”
The term “in Christ” (or “in him”) is used over thirty times in this short book. The number of times that phrase is used gives us an indication of the importance the writer of Ephesians places in the vital concept that in Christ - we find our community, we find our one-ness, we live “in love” as God intends.
This opening chapter is a wonderful reminder of who we are and Whose we are. We are chosen by God. We are chosen to live in the community of Christ. We are chosen to live in the community of Christ – in love. As we read in verses 17 -19:
“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”
That is my prayer as well – through our unity in Christ, our hearts will be enlightened and our lives be filled with hope, knowing we are chosen, loved and redeemed.
Questions to ponder:
1. How differently might we live if we were able to keep “chosen by God” in front of our minds in everything we do?
2. What does it mean for you to consider that everyone else is also “chosen of God?”
3. What do you understand to be the “immeasurable greatness of [God’s] power for us who believe?” What is possible in your life with that type of power entrusted to you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Chosen by God - what a blissful reminder that I am not out here on my own. I have a purpose because God has chosen me for this time and place.
Lord, help me to be sensitive to the ways you are choosing others. Help me to get a glimpse and share a glimpse with others of the “immeasurable greatness of [Your] power for us who believe.” Thanks, God.
While it's quite an honor to be chosen by God, it's also quite a responsibility, too. We hold one view of ourselvesas God's people, while at the same time holding others up to a different view because of their perceived "noncompliance". This is where the responsibility must be kept; to see with the view that only God can enable. In this Lenten season we should all be under the microscope of compliance and obedience. Because we have been blessed with the power of "immeasurable greatness", we also have the privilege of knowing that it is God's view and God's will that are responsible for our being God's people. May God grant us the humility to look at ourselves as we do others.
Although we know we are chosen by God, it is more comforting knowing we are all chosen by God to be followers of Christ. For those of us who are aware, it is a great responsibility to share a little bit of Christ's Love with everyone we meet.
Post a Comment