Ephesians 6:1-24

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling … [and] … render service, as to the Lord, and not to people, (vv. 5, 7) Kathy H. gave me a book to read a few weeks back, Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman. The back cover notes that this book was first published in 1949 and was “an important and influential book whose message helped shape the civil rights movement and changed our nation’s history forever.” In one small section of this book Thurman recalls his grandmother (a slave at the time) telling him of their white masters occasionally holding a religious service and the minister almost always quoting these verses. Based on these few verses she swore that if she ever learned to read and write that she would never read any of Paul’s epistles. Funny how a particular context can change one’s understanding of Scripture…!

So today we end Paul’s letters to the churches. We’ll spend the next two weeks in his “pastoral epistles” – letters written to individuals, Timothy and Titus.

See also: September 13 / Ephesians 6:1-9; September 14 / Ephesians 6:10-23

Ephesians 5:1-33

…and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (v. 10) I left this verse as a question last year and still have it as a question this year: How to discern what is pleasing to the Lord? I think we all have it as a basic question in our lives. We do what we do, hoping and praying that what we do is, in fact, pleasing to the Lord. But we also have those bigger questions in mind – what more should I be doing, or what should I be doing differently, or where does God want to take me from here (metaphorically or geographically or both!)?

Look carefully then how you walk … making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (vv. 15-16) Two thoughts here… First, using our time wisely… Ben pointed out in his sermon yesterday how much he valued his time, especially his alone-morning time! I am no different; in fact, one of my greatest treasures in life is my time – I daresay, almost to the point of idolatry. And anytime someone suggests doing something that cuts into my time, my first reaction is often a defense or a rejection of that suggestion. Not good. Second, the days are indeed evil! Need I say more?

Finally, I added some numbers to what I posted below: “Look at what Paul says about Christ and His church: (1) He loved her; (2) He gave Himself up for her; (3) He sanctified her (set her apart); (4) He cleansed her; (5) He presented her to Himself in splendor; and (6) He made her holy and without blemish.” Adding those numbers makes each activity stand out from the rest all the more. Look again at what Jesus has done for His church. Then ask, what is our (global) church doing for Jesus? That’s a good question!

See also: September 9 / Ephesians 5:1-7; September 10 / Ephesians 5:8-14; September 11 / Ephesians 5:15-21; September 12 / Ephesians 5:22-33

Ephesians 4:17-32

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger… (v. 26) This verse is guidance that every marriage counselor should have in his/her repertoire, especially when counseling engaged couples. It’s a verse that Carol and I have embraced since before we were married and have held onto these 38+ years. We have certainly disagreed and been angry with each other, but early on we agreed not to speak to each other in anger, but rather to delay a disagreeable conversation until cooler heads could prevail. It helped that we both had parents who did not behave in this fashion, but both argued and held on to their anger with each other for far too long. The next verse gives a clue as to why this verse 26 guidance is good: …give no opportunity to the devil. (v. 27) Satan is looking for every opportunity to destroy both civil and Christian marriages; anger provides him with probably his best shot! Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8) Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger…

See also: September 7 / Ephesians 4:17-24; September 8 / Ephesians 4:25-32

Ephesians 4:1-16

…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (v. 14) This verse follows Paul’s speaking about unity and Christian maturity, then commenting on those items that can lead us astray. I imagine that back then he had the Gnostics and the Jewish leaders in mind – possibly even devoted Christians who were speaking un-truths – but in all of these he was speaking of confusions and deceptions within the body, not those from “the world”. So this verse carried me to today, how the church today is tossed to and fro by whatever is the latest thing. It’s Bible scholars finding new twists and re-interpretations of long-held truths. It’s media preachers building huge followings and amassing great wealth, even while preaching truth. It’s the outside world’s influence on the church today, telling us that killing babies is OK and that same-sex unions are just part of what it means to love one another. I feel like St. Andrew’s is something like an island, a safe haven from those confusions and deceptions where we draw strength from one another. But we’re not meant to just relax in that island life. That world with its confusions and deceptions needs the body of Christ to reach out, to speak those truths that we hold within ourselves. We are “in the world, but not of the world” (John 17:15-16). The world is hurting; we need to help.

See also: September 5 / Ephesians 4:1-6; September 6 / Ephesians 4:7-16

Ephesians 3:1-21

To me … grace was given to preach to the Gentiles … and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages … so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (vv. 8-10) Two items stand out in these three verses, one clear and the other unclear. First, what is clear is Paul’s phrase, “through the church”. This is a strange phrase for Paul; I don’t recall anywhere else in his writings where Paul mentions “the church” in any kind of global sense. That is, in other places he suggests individual churches, as in “the church in her house” (Colossians 4:15) and his “daily care of all the Churches” (2 Cor. 11:28), but in these instances he is referring to specific, geographical gatherings. In verse 8 above he is talking about the global church – and looking forward, that’s us, folks!! It is “through the church” (US!!) that God’s message is to go forth!

Second, the unclear: “the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”… If Paul had spoken of rulers and authorities on earth, the verse would have been clear. He, himself had already appeared before “rulers and authorities” (Festus, Felix, King Agrippa and Bernice) and the church today continues to preach to the worldly leaders. But the end of the phrase, in the heavenly places, what does Paul mean by that?? Rulers and authorities in heaven…? That’s God’s domain; Jesus has been crowned king of the universe with “all things” under his subjection (I Corinthians 15:27). So, whatever is meant by “in the heavenly places”, it’s clear that we, today, are preaching to them. An awesome responsibility…!!

See also: September 2 / Ephesians 3:1-7; September 3 / Ephesians 3:8-13; September 4 / Ephesians 3:14-21

Ephesians 2:1-22

It took a lot of reading and re-reading of different translations for me to finally understand the next two verses: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility… (vv. 13-14) Through my comments last year I came to understand that “both” referred to the two groups, Gentiles and Jews. So the Gentiles, who were “far off” have been brought “near” by Jesus’ death and He “has made us both one”. The NASB helped by translating “has made us both one” as “made both groups into one”.

But I was still hung up on this “dividing wall of hostility”. Then I looked back at how the Jewish people had truly separated themselves from the rest of the world – separate courts in the Temple where only Jews could enter; Jewish travelers bypassing Samaria on their travels between Jerusalem and Galilee; and even Jesus’ life (the woman at the well, John 3) and parables (the Good Samaritan). He Himself was breaking down this “dividing wall of hostility” even before His death.

Surprisingly, that “dividing wall of hostility” now runs the opposite direction, with anti-Semitism rampant in the Middle East, but also reflecting a long history of hostility toward the Jews. Interestingly, I looked up “anti-Semitism” online; a Wikipedia article listed some 30+ people who were regarded as anti-Semites. Hitler, of course, leads the list, along with his henchman, Joseph Goebbels. Others on that list included Henry Ford, Richard Wagner, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Charles Lindbergh.

See also: August 31 / Ephesians 2:1-10; September 1 / Ephesians 2:11-22

Ephesians 1:1-23

…even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will… (vv. 4-5) I don’t get into “predestination” discussions much. Bible scholars and preachers in other denominations have much more to say on this topic than I. But the one thing of which I am certain is that we have free will, that we are not anything like robots moving around on this Earth at God’s whim. And if we have free will, then it’s our decision to choose Jesus or how to choose Him; essentially we are choosing our own eternal destiny. I can’t believe that God has “predestined” anyone to Heaven or to Hell.

That said, however, what is my take on predestination? I guess I like to think of Paul’s use of “we” and “us” in the verses above as being a universal humanity. What are the other options? The Jewish people…? They were not very “holy and blameless”. Christians? We’re also not very “holy and blameless”. But we do fit Paul’s “adoption to Himself as sons” phrase. But then again, so would all humanity who accept Jesus as Lord.

Finally – David was always good about pointing out “so that” verses – the closest thing that I can see to “so that” is verse 10: as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. The phrase “all things” clearly includes all humanity. So my take is that any mention of predestination has to do with God’s creating us humans, with a desire that we would share with Him the love that the Trinity had known in Themselves since before the beginning of time. My thoughts…

See also: August 29 / Ephesians 1:1-14; August 30 / Ephesians 1:15-23

Colossians 4:1-18

For me, in my comments below a lot of clarification as to Paul’s location when he wrote Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians. These names are all somewhat familiar: Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Epaphras… We’ll see more of them in Ephesians.

See also: August 28 / Colossians 4:7-18

Colossians 3:1-25

Here is the verse that Archbishop Beach cited in yesterday’s AWFTL: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (v. 17) His summary message had to do with how others see us, especially how non-Christians view us. And unfortunately too many people see the harsh, judgmental, unforgiving side of many Christians. They see many Christians as hypocrites, possibly even regular church-going Christians with whom they are close. They also see the media portrayals of big-time preachers whose unholy personal lives have been revealed or the number of priests who are being charged with sexual abuse. They fail to see much of the good that is done in Jesus’ name – Baptist Health and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lexington, the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen in downtown Lexington, Avenues for Women in Frankfort. And there’s not much we can do about others’ evaluations on this larger scale. But what we can do is mirror Jesus in our everyday lives – speak of Him and serve others as if we were serving Him: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus…

See also: August 25 / Colossians 3:1-11; August 26 / Colossians 3:12-17; August 27 / Colossians 3:18-4:6