Lenten Devotional, Week 6

Called – To Faith
Ephesians 6
Lent, Week 6 – Holy Week

Read Ephesians, Chapter Six.

Throughout Lent the author of Ephesians has been giving us instructions - guidelines - as to how we can live as Christians in a world filled with distractions, discouragement and struggle. Throughout the book we have been reminded over and over again that Christ has brought us together in a community that is stronger than anything that would threaten to divide us. Our unity in Christ is our strength.

So, before closing this letter, the author sends us off with one last important piece of advice:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of God’s power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (vs. 10 – 11)

“Put on the whole armor of God...”

The author knew the days ahead would be difficult and filled with struggles and doubts and fears and persecutions and betrayals and heresies. The author wanted to give them something - some tangible vision they could hang onto in the struggle that was certain to be coming. An image of strength - an image of protection - an image that would carry them through whatever lay ahead. And the armor of the Roman soldier provided the perfect illustration.

• The Belt of Truth: Truth, which holds everything together, that keeps our faith from falling apart.
• The Breastplate of Righteousness: A righteous life, which protects the most vulnerable place - the heart.
• Shoes: Which make us ready to Proclaim the Gospel of Peace to all the world.
• The Shield of Faith: Faith, that allows the flaming arrows to fall harmlessly around us.
• The Helmet of Salvation: Salvation, a protection directly from God.
• The Sword of the Spirit: Spirit, which brings new life – new vitality in God.

What more could we need as we face an uncertain and sometimes frightening world?

And then finally, listen to the closing words:

“Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.” (vs. 23 – 24)

With these words we return to the theme of the book of Ephesians. One last time we hear the plea for peace, love and grace.

All that has been said in the previous five chapters comes down to these final words … peace with each other … love in faith … and grace to all who love Christ.

As we enter into this holiest of weeks, we will walk with Christ and his disciples through trials and betrayals and torture and death. We know the cross is before us. But through Christ, we have been given all we need to not only walk the road to Jerusalem, but to walk it in the sure knowledge and hope of the resurrection that is to come.

That is our common calling – to live in the shadow and the hope of the cross.

Questions to ponder:
1. Which piece or pieces of the “whole armor” are particularly intriguing to you? Which piece do you wish you had better ownership of?

2. Do you sometimes feel as though you are in a battle for your life and faith with forces of evil? How do we finally win that battle, and what do we use to win it?

3. The word “peace” is used frequently in the Bible. How do you define that word, and what would it take for that word to become real throughout our Church and our world?

Lenten Devotional, Week 5

Called – To Imitate God
Ephesians 5
Lent, Week 5

Read Ephesians, Chapter Five plus the first nine verses of Chapter Six.

Let me share with you a children’s sermon given by one of my associate pastors.

As the children came forward and sat in a semi-circle around his feet, the pastor took out a tube of toothpaste. He took the cap off and began to squeeze toothpaste onto a toothbrush. The bristles soon were covered with paste, but he didn’t stop. He continued to squeeze even when the brush was filled… he squeezed even when it fell off the brush and onto the paper he’d placed beneath the brush… he squeezed until there was a pile of toothpaste in his hands.

Finally, he said “Oops! There’s too much here,” and asked the children to help him put it back into the tube. Of course there were cries, “We can’t get it back in!" and "That won’t work!" There were a few helpful suggestions as to how to make it happen … but they all knew (as did the congregation who was listening intently) that it would never happen.

His concluding words were something like these:

“You know hurtful words are like toothpaste. Once they’ve been said, they can’t be unsaid, and the damage is done. So think carefully about every word you say. Make sure your words and actions are what God would want you to say and do.”

I know it was just a simple children’s sermon, but obviously, its message was one I have remembered now for over twenty years.

His message is not unlike that of this fifth chapter of Ephesians.
“Be careful how you live … ”

The first part of this chapter is filled with admonitions against fornication, impurity, greed, vulgar talk, deceit, disobedience, etc. It’s quite a sobering list, and one we could probably add to with just a little more thought. It is a list of the actions that bring darkness to the world – not the light of Christ.

I like the words used by Eugene Peterson in The Message. Listen to his version of verses 4 – 5.

“Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect. … Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.”

It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But we all know how difficult it truly is.

• Nothing travels faster than a juicy bit of gossip.
• In our society wanting what everyone else has – or better - has become an art form.
• Sex sells – everything from cars to clothes to soda.
• Vulgar language has become almost so common that we barely take note of it anymore.

But, as the writer of Ephesians reminds us, these actions do not imitate God. They do not build up the Body of Christ. They are not "pleasing to the Lord."

And they do not bring the light of Christ into the world.

The last section of this chapter (5:21 – 6:9) deals with relationships – between husbands and wives, between children and parents, between masters and servants. We may be tempted to think this portion outdated and irrelevant. However, I believe the central message of these verses can be summed up in verse 21:

“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Or as we read in The Message:
“Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.”

If we believe all are chosen by God;
If we believe all are loved by God;
If we believe all have gifts worthy of building up the Body of Christ;
Then, all are to be treated with reverence and respect.

At the close of a worship service Brad and I attended, we were instructed to turn to someone we did not know and say the following: “Let the Christ in me greet the Christ in you.”

I like that.

Lent is a time when we are called to look within our hearts and souls and see how we are truly living. And if we are honest with ourselves, we may need to make a course correction in our lives, attitudes and actions.

Are we imitating the love of God? Are we living as children of the light?

“Be careful then how you live …”

A wise admonition. A Lenten challenge.

Questions to ponder:
1. Think of the word “care-ful.” Instead of it being a warning, how can we use that word in a positive way as we think about how we are to live? What would it mean for us to positively “live full of care, or caring?”

2. Paul lists things that are not pleasing to God – why does God care about those ways of living that we sometimes take on? How “careful” is God with us?

3. Think of someone that you may not have been “reverent” to in the past few days. How could you mend that relationship, and how differently would you need to act in order to show that “reverence?”

Lenten Devotional, Week 4

Called – To New Life
Ephesians 4
Lent, Week 4

Read Ephesians, Chapter Four.

In the first three chapters, the writer of Ephesians has dealt with some of the great and eternal truths of the Christian faith:

• Salvation through faith.
  
• Unity in Christ.
• The abundant power of God at work through all.
  

Now, in this fourth chapter, the writer begins to explore how those great truths affect us in our daily living.

Listen again to verses 1 through 3:
“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

I chose this passage to be our scriptural theme for the 2008 Dakotas Annual Conference, and I chose it for this reason. This chapter is the very heart of what the author of Ephesians is trying to say – to the early churches and to us. First of all, it reminds us of our common calling as disciples of Christ, and secondly, it gives us a guide for how we are to live in community with each other

As we listen to the political dialogue around the various candidates running for office, we hear a great many words used to describe those who seek the highest office in the country. Words such as: leader … visionary … competent … respected … Strong words. Good words.

And yet, what would it look like if instead we measured our candidates by this list in Ephesians?

“Humility ... gentleness ... patience ... bearing with one another in love ... unity ... peace.”

In fact, this list may be a helpful, though difficult, plumbline not just for choosing our country’s leaders, but for measuring the life we have all been called into through Christ. And what makes it so difficult is that these qualities are not necessarily the qualities that our society values.

For instance:

1. “Humility” is a difficult concept to grasp in our society, but the kind of humility the writer of Ephesians speaks of is a humility that places our lives beside the kind of life God envisions for us and honestly looks at the disparity there. True humility comes when we face ourselves and see our weaknesses, our selfishness, our failures, and know that God desires more from us. And know, as well that, with God’s help, we can move closer to that goal.

2. “Gentleness” ... The Greek word used here is “praotes,” which is defined by Aristotle as the midpoint on the continuum between being too angry too often and never being angry at all. In other words, one who is gentle is angry only at the right time, but never at the wrong time.

3. “Patience,” too, has a little different meaning here. The Greek word used is “makrothumia” which has two definitions. One: it describes someone who never gives up and who endures to the end. But it also means being patient with others, as one who has the power to take revenge, but never does.

4. “Bearing with one another in love” - how can we argue with that? But how difficult it is to really live that out!

In a political year when both sides try to tear the other down ... in a corporate world that too often worships the bottom line, and where all too often one is expected to make it to the top by climbing over anyone in the way ... when even the church itself has difficulty loving those who are different ... perhaps this is the most difficult quality of all to embrace.

You see, these are not necessarily the virtues our society sees as important. We easily understand the need for strength and assertiveness and single-mindedness and leadership. But humility ... gentleness ... patience ... love? And yet, it is this second list that brings us closer to becoming one in the body of Christ. Closer to unity.

For, listen to the next few verses of our reading today:
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." (vs. 4-6)

Anything that divides us, divides the Body … divides Christ.

Dan Moseley, Professor of Practical Parish Ministry at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, has written this about this passage:

“One of the most disorienting things for those of us in the church is to believe that somehow it all depends on us. (We) forget all the other baptized ones who have been received into the body of Christ. Sometimes, the most grounding thing is the one which connects us to the larger reality of the body.”

The work we, as Christians, have been called to do, cannot be done alone. Our common calling as Christians – baptized into the work and life of Christ – is what holds us together.

And, as we read in verses 11 – 13, it is through the many and diverse gifts given to the members of this body that the Body of Christ is strengthened, until …

“all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (vs. 13)

To live by these rules guides us to new life as the full and complete Body of Christ.

Questions to ponder:
1. Why do we tend to use “powerful” words, like vision, leadership, and independent, as the words we want to live up to, instead of words like humility, gentleness, and patience? What is it about these words that make them less desirable for people in power?

2. What does it mean, or would it mean for you in your life to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called? What is your calling?

3. What keeps us as Christ’s Church from true unity?