Gifts of Grace: In Christ

This is the 2nd part of a sermon series on the book of Ephesians. My prayer is the same as Paul’s, that your life might be for the praise of God’s glory (Eph. 1:12)

In my first sermon of 2008 ("Quit Trying, and Start Living!") I said that we get frustrated by trying to muster up a Spirit-filled life when really it’s up to the Spirit to produce that in us. If we muster it up, it’s work; if the Spirit brings it to us, it’s a gift. More than that, I quoted a much-beloved professor of mine in seminary who said that it’s not a matter of how much of the Spirit we have in us, but rather how much of us the Spirit has in him. In him. In Jesus. In the mind of God.

Therein lies the central message for today.

Ephesians 1

Commentary

These verses are a kind of Jewish praise called a berakhah, which is praise to God in the form "Praise be to God, who has done …" (e.g. Psalms 66:20, 68:19, 72:18, 124:6, and 144:1.) This is a berakhah to the Trinity; the end of each section is marked by the phrase "the praise of his glorious grace."

v3-6 Praise to the Father. These verses describe a heavenly reality outside of the world in which we live. God’s choice of us (v5) and plans for us (v6) in the heavenly realm are not constrained by worldly time. Because of God’s plans, he will bless us with holiness (v4), blamelessness (v4), and full rights as a his child (v5).

Calvin says the phrase "in Christ" (v3) is a 2nd confirmation of the freedom of election (the 1st being that it took place before creation). How is this freedom?

v7-12 Praise to the Son. The spiritual blessings continue: redemption (v7), forgiveness (v7), revelation (v9), election (v11), and objects of God’s glory (v12). If the Father has predestined us, then what sustains us is the Son, through his blood (v7) and his headship (v10).

Of all the big, fancy theological words in this passage, a simple word like mystery is the key. In the NT, the word doesn’t mean something mysterious or spooky, but rather something known to God but hidden from us until it is revealed at the proper time. How does that sense of the word fit in here? What is revealed?

v13-14 Praise to the Spirit. The spiritual blessings continue with the continual presence of the Spirit as a promise of life to come (v14). If the Father has predestined us, then the guarantee, the assurance, is the reality of the Spirit at work in us.

"In Christ"

"For if we are chosen in Christ, it is outside ourselves. It is not from the sight of our deserving, but because our heavenly Father has engrafted us, through the blessing of adoption, into the Body of Christ. In short, the name of Christ excludes all merit, and everything which men have of themselves; for when he says that we are chosen in Christ, it follows that in ourselves we are unworthy." — John Calvin

Application

Have you ever bought a gift—say a birthday or Christmas gift—for you beloved far ahead of when you planned to give the gift? Did your beloved ever do anything to sour the relationship before the gift was given? What did you do? Did you return the gift and get your money back, or did you give the gift anyway, expecting that the relationship would eventually right itself?

We can never know how a soured relationship is going to turn out; but if we could, if we could see the end from the beginning, we’d know our beloved better than they know themselves. For some, we would know everything would turn out OK in the end, and it would be easy to deal with the trials along the way. For others, we would know that the relationship would never recover, but we would be free to love the person just the same. [1]

I wonder if God’s foreknowledge and election isn’t something like this.

Election (which simply implies a free choice—just like a presidential election) and foreknowledge (i.e., preordination—determining something beforehand) are $2 theological words, and while reasonable Christians can disagree about what these words (human words that at best speak metaphorically about God) suggest, there are a few things we should be able to agree on:

God does not elect those he foreknows to be saints. That would be like betting on a fixed horserace, knowing in advance who is going to win. Rather, God elects, and (because he has elected) he preordains (foreknows) them to be saints. Truly, if God is for you, who can be against you?

God’s election of some does not prevent God from loving all. That would not be very Biblical (1 John 4:7-21) and it’s not a God any loving person would want to serve.

Most of the rest of our notions of how election & foreknowledge work are metaphors. We would do well not to push the limits of our metaphors and conclude that only our interpretation is correct. The Wikipedia article on predestination is a good overview.

The sculptor, Michelangelo, was once asked how it was that he could create such beautiful works. "It's very simple," he answered. "When I look at a block of marble, I see the sculpture inside it. All I have to do is remove what doesn't belong." Likewise, you have existed in the mind of God before the creation of the world. All of God’s spiritual blessings—and how you receive them—gradually unveil God’s mystery of who you are and who you have been called to be. [2] You are in Christ, in the mind of God. Now relax ...

Points to Ponder

Think of all the spiritual blessings in this passage—holiness, blamelessness, adoption, redemption, forgiveness, revelation, election, God’s glory, guarantee (what else am I missing?): how many of these can you manufacture on your own?

Where have you been ignoring God’s gifts while trying to manufacture your own? (Isn’t that just a little vain?)

End Notes

1 - Therein lies forgiveness. Maybe it’s an ex, or a former boyfriend/girlfriend, or a parent in poor mental health. Where have you been able to forgive the other person in a broken relationship and, consequently, been free to love them unreservedly? Where do you need to do this?

2 - Of course, this is where God’s election runs up against your free will. Strong Calvinists will infer from passages like Romans 9:10-21 that free will counts for nothing. According to Calvin, God’s chosen (the elect) he loves with perfect love, and the rest (the non-elect, or reprobates) he hates with perfect hate. Again, I think that is to take a metaphor and stretch if beyond what it was intended to do. The aforementioned verses, for example, and the Isaiah and Exodus passages they reference, have more to do with God’s timing and the types of gifts he confers (sometimes chastisement may be his choice of gifts) than unconditional election and damnation of individuals.

Our Puritan forebears were strong Calvinists; they claimed that one could live a long life without being certain of being one of the elect. Merit counted for nothing. They hoped for a moment of revelation: the assurance of saving grace. While modern evangelicalism has emphasized free will and human decision, I reiterate that both theologies—hyper-Calvinism on one hand and total free will on the other (Arminianism)—are only metaphors of what God (and we!) are doing on a spiritual, heavenly plane of existence. One last note: while you may disagree with your Puritan forebears about predestination, they claimed that it gave them great peace to know that God was in control in a turbulent, and changing, world. Maybe there is a lesson there for us.

Gifts of Grace: First Comes Peace

This is the beginning of a sermon series on the book of Ephesians. My prayer is the same as Paul’s:

... that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Eph. 1:18-19)

Those who best understand and feel the gift of grace in their own lives will be the ones best equipped to offer grace to others; my desire is that you would feel and know that you are equipped, are called to serve, and indeed are serving God every day.

So what is grace?

Is it something that is said before you eat?

Is it an abstraction—something that you know intellectually that God has done for you, but affecting nothing in your everyday life?

Is it a daily reality—something that drives you against all worldly common sense, but giving meaning to your life?

Is it something else?

Simply put, grace is a gift that we don’t deserve. The rabbis said, "Grace is what you [God] have done because there were no good works on our hands." The words "gift" and "give" appear in Ephesians 17 times in the course of six chapters. The words appear at least once in each chapter. "Grace" appears in Ephesians 11 times.

In pagan literature, grace often referred to favor, or preference, shown by a ruler or a deity. God has favored you. Do you give thanks for God’s favor, or do you take his gifts for granted?

Ephesians 1:1-2

Commentary

v1 Four words of note in this single verse:

We may think of an apostle as a church leader—and certainly Acts uses the word as a title for the 11 disciples in Jerusalem. However, the word means "one sent with a commission," e.g. Mark 3:14, where Jesus sends the disciples out on a specific errand. Paul refers to himself as the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13) and in a sense Paul’s ongoing feud with the Judaizers can be viewed as an argument over the validity of Paul’s commission: Did Jesus send Paul, or not?

Apostleship—being sent with a commission—implies a sender. One cannot send oneself. Paul steadfastly maintains that he has been sent by God—by the will of God, not by Paul’s own volition.

Saints are literally "the holy ones." We tend to view saints and the faithful as titles that we earn; however, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians will show that both terms refer to what God has done for us, not what we have done for God.

v2 "Grace and peace" is Paul’s typical greeting which he uses 10 times in his letters, in Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, here, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and Titus.

Application

In almost every one of Paul’s letters, the first words to the church is "grace and peace!" Even when he writes to scold the church in Galatia—and make no mistake, he scolds them (Gal. 1:6-9)—the scolding is preceded by grace and peace. What is the lesson for us?

We are all apostles in this sense: we have been sent by God into the world to make a difference. We are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). We are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). When we are peacemakers, we are truly in God’s image—Jesus says that is when we are truly children of God (Matthew 5:9). What kind of peace are we to bring?

For the entirety of human existence, peace has been that state of rest between the ceaseless warfare between humans. According to the Carter Center (emphasis is mine):

There were 118 major armed conflicts in 80 different locations between the end of the Cold War and 2004. The majority of these were civil wars. In 2003 alone, 19 major armed conflicts occurred in 18 locations throughout the world, only two of which were fought between states.

Apparently, most warfare is not between great nations; rather it is internal strife that threatens the unity of nations, states, communities, families, and individuals.

Is most church conflict between Christians and non-Christians, or within the church? [1]

Is most family conflict between families, or within a family?

Peace is much more than the interlude between wars. In the Old Testament, peace was shalom, which meant not only the lack of warfare, but personal and communal security, prosperity, health & healing, wholeness, and integrity. Just as the pagan concept of grace referred to favor shown by a deity or ruler, certainly in shalom we must see God’s intention (and favor!) for us.
God has graced you:

Do you see the possibility of shalom for others in the grace God has shown you?

Do you see the possibility of shalom for yourself in the grace God has shown you?

Or do you think the grace God has shown you is simply supposed to make you happy?

"You are not your own. You have been bought by Jesus at a price. You are to honor God with your life." [2] We are called to be apostles of peace, bringing peace to others: the world, our community, our church, our families, our selves.

Points to Ponder

Warning: If I am preaching on grace and peace throughout Ephesians (and I am) then you will most likely be dealing with trials, i.e. places where peace is needed in your life! Don’t be discouraged! Remember Jesus’ words (John 16:33):

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Most likely, peace is an outward sign of what’s happening internally. That is, you must be at peace before you can be effective at bringing peace to others. As you deal with family, church, and community and trials arise, ask God to show you where you still need shalom: are you feeling insecure, do you need healing from past hurts, are you struggling with character/integrity issues, do you still need assurance from God? For example:

Do family conflicts reveal insecurities that you have about yourself, or wounds that have not healed?

Do church conflicts reveal areas where you cannot make and honor commitments?

Do community conflicts reveal places where you have trouble trusting authority—either trusting God to be at work in the world, or trusting that the authorities are really ordained by God (Rom. 13:1-2)?

Often, the best way to bring shalom to others will begin by realizing shalom in your own life.

What I am not saying is wait until your life is perfect before working on shalom for others.

What I am saying is search yourself and ask God to reveal himself—his peace—where you need healing even as your are working on shalom for others.

End Notes

1 - Most conflict within the church, I think, starts with something as simple as gossip. We think that church is doing something wrong & we marshal together a group of people who think as we do. Rarely does this end well.

2 - This is a loose paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, which concludes, "Honor God with you body." But I ask you, can you honor God with your body even as you dishonor him with your mind and spirit? I doubt it. More likely your words & actions—what happens with your body—reveals what is happening internally.

3 - Earlier I asked if most conflict was between Christians & non-Christians or within the church and whether most conflict was between the family and outsiders or within the family. Here the question is, "Do the seeds of strife in your life originate within you or between you and the outside world?" Be honest!

Less is More: A Word on Debt

This is the final "Less is More" sermon.

Where in your life have you been able to effect change?

Where in your life do you still struggle with trying to do it all?

Living out your faith in the belief that "Less is More" is going to put you in opposition to how the world lives. Everyone around you is going to tell you that you’re missing out, getting behind ... losing. My prayer is that the passage today can be an ongoing encouragement to live with less (less "stuff", less busyness, less money) and yet be living with more (more freedom, more openness, more grace).

Romans 13:8-14

Commentary

Romans is frequently considered to be a very deep theological book, but the last third of the book is filled with exhortations for how to live in the world. Consider:

Rom. 12:1-8 The quality of your worship is determined by how you live with others, not by how you feel.
Rom. 12:9-21 Sincere love: repay evil with good.
Rom. 13:1-7 Submit to worldly authorities.
Rom. 13:8-14 Love, for the end is near.
Rom. 14:1-15:13 Accept those whose faith is weak.

v8 The word for debt (or being in debt) is key here. Examples of how the word is used include:

Matt. 6:12 forgive us our debts[/sins], as we forgive our debtors[those who sin against us] (The Lord’s Prayer)
Luke 13:4 were they more guilty[/sinful]?
Rom. 1:14 I’m in debt to Greeks & Gentiles
Rom. 8:12 we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it
Rom. 15:27 [other churches] owe it to the church in Jerusalem to help them
Gal. 5:3 the one circumcised is obligated to obey the whole law

v9 Paul doesn’t quote Jesus much, but he quotes him (Mark 12:31) and the OT (Lev. 19:18) here!

v11 The word translated here as "slumber" is the Greek word hypnos. What English word comes from this? Hypnos is a dreamlike state where one is detached from the real world and not quite in control. Consider where else the word is used in the NT and what happens when one is raised from slumber: Matt. 1:24; Luke 9:32; John 11:13; Acts 20:9.

What do you do when you get up in the morning? You get dressed! Re-read v12-14 as a description of what we are to do as we wake up spiritually!

Application

As a nation, we are in sinking debt. I’m not talking about our balance of trade or the national debt. Rather, I’m talking about our individual households and how we as families and individuals spend money. According to a U.S. Department of Commerce article, in 2005 and 2006, our personal savings rate was negative—on average, we spent more money than we earned. We either borrowed money or took money out of savings to make ends meet. Statistics for 2007 are not available, but the forecast is not good.

How does this happen? Many of us go into debt even as we are working. Tennessee Ernie Ford sang:

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store... (Sixteen Tons)

We might not owe money to the company store, but we may feel beholden to our employer all the same. Many people work jobs due to the benefits, the cost of private health insurance, or the time remaining before they’re vested in the employer’s retirement plan. We might not owe money to the company, but we’re in bondage to the company all the same.

For many of us, the company may be the only entity we don’t owe money to! Statistics compiled by Motley Fool claim that the average family has $8,562 in credit card debt. According to Dr. Phil, 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and 62% do not save regularly. We have no margin for error; one trip to the doctor, one automobile mishap, one broken appliance, and we are having to juggle bills, put off creditors, or skip payments. Let no debt remain outstanding? Fat chance of that! We don’t love our neighbors, because we have no money.

We have been "hypnotized" by American consumerism. In 2006, Americans were the target of $155 billion worth of advertising, meaning businesses were willing to spend $500 on you this year to try to get you to change your habits. Would businesses really commit that kind of money if they were not confident of getting results? The world is ready to help you make poor choices!

We have other debts as well. Just as we have budgeted every nickel of our paychecks, we have budgeted every minute of our day. We run from work, to school, to a 2nd job, to the store, to home, out again for something we forgot, etc., etc., etc. Again, we have no margin for error; we have no time for the unscheduled or unexpected. We don’t love our neighbors, because we have no time.

Even as Christians we have been "hypnotized" by American culture. Our culture says work, school, dating, church, clubs, etc. are services competing in the marketplace for our time and attention; i.e. they exist to serve us. We try to fill up our time with the services that give us what we need. This is a pernicious lie! First of all, it drives us to try to cram more into our schedules than we should. More importantly, this lie serves to depersonalize the activities in which we are involved, and makes us the center of our universe.

Being too broke to help or busy to help is sin; specifically, these are sins of omission. When we know the good that we are supposed to do, and don’t do it because of poor choices on our part that limit our capacity to do what is right, those poor choices are sin.

What if there was a different way?

If we read today’s verses and think they don’t apply to us because we’re not engaged in any of the vices listed in v13, we’re missing the point. Any self-centered orientation that leads us to unbalanced lives—in debt & guided by worldly voices and incapable of spontaneous acts of love—is sin.

What we need is to reorder our lives, listening to the one voice that we can trust. This voice will show us where to reprioritize our lives—to cut back, to do less. However, until we are ready to make that voice our guide, we will be easy prey for "hynoptists"—those worldly voices putting us to sleep spiritually and leaving us detached from the world.

Reprioritize! (Matt. 6:31-34)
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Points to Ponder

If you had bigger margins for error in your life, what could you do differently?

What if you lived on, say, 80% of your income instead of %100—how would that change your life? (The goal is not to reshuffle spending, but to get to a place where you can truly give God control of your money.)

What if you gave up trying to do it all—how would that change your life? (The goal is not to reshuffle your calendar, but to get to a place where you can truly give God control of your time.)

What do you need to change today?

End Notes

1 - If you guessed hypnotize or hypnosis, give yourself a gold star!

Quit Trying and Start Living!

What’s the hardest thing about being a Christian?

Is it turning the other cheek & forgiving people that you don’t want to forgive?

Is it walking away from temptations & living a life holy before God?

Is it carrying the burden of great expectations & having to live up to a certain way of living?

Is it something else?

Somewhere on the list—maybe it’s not the top of your list, but it’s probably on there somewhere—is the pressure to work to be more Spirit-filled. Maybe it’s the nagging concern that your devotional time isn’t what is should be ... or that you need a Bible study ... or that you’re doing stuff out of a sense of duty, but not really feeling good about it ... or maybe you feel your faith isn’t strong enough.
You can blame others: family, for messing up your quiet time; or work, for keeping you from a evening Bible study; or church friends, for letting you down; or the pastor, for not feeding you. You can blame God—gutsy, but isn’t that what David does in some of the psalms when he says things like, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Psalm 22)? [1] You can even blame yourself: for not working at your spirituality harder; for not doing more; for being a failure once again.

What if there was another—maybe even a more Biblical—way to spirituality?

Colossians 2

Commentary

When a passage begins with something like "therefore" or "so then" we need to check the context—are we coming in on the middle of a longer topic? In the preceding verses (v1-5) Paul reveals his motivation for writing, to wit: I want to encourage you, I want you to know the mystery of God with its hidden treasures, and I want your faith grounded so others will not lead you astray. Thus v6-7 begins of Paul’s encouragement and revelation.

v6 The two key actions in this verse—receive & continue to live—are tied together by the phrase "just as." What was special about how you received Jesus that must be continued now?

The word "received" frequently refers to the receipt of a gift; specifically it is neither taking nor earning an object.

"Continue to live" is an NIV interpretation for a word that means "to walk around." Think of a moth hovering in the vicinity of a light, and you get the idea. The moth might flit around, but you know you’ll usually find it near the light. In the same way, hover, or walk, in the vicinity of Jesus!

v7 Four key actions here: being rooted, being built up, being strengthened, & overflowing. The first three are passive—you do not root yourself, build yourself up, or strengthen yourself. The last—overflowing—is not passive, but with what exactly are we to overflow? (Hint: it’s not the Spirit; we can’t muster up the Spirit.)

The key phrase repeated in each verse is "in him." Consider the following examples of being in him:

... in him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:17)

Want more? In addition to the countless verses that talk about believing or trusting "in him", look up the following: John 6:56; 15:5; 1 Cor. 1:5; 2 Cor. 5:21; 13:4; Eph. 1:4,7,11,13; 2:21-22; 3:12; Phil. 3:9; Col. 2:11; 1 Thess 4:14; 2 Thess 1:12; 1 John 2:5-6.

In whose hands does our spiritual life rest?

Application

Pastor and professor Ray Anderson in his new book An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches says, "... it was not a matter of my having all of the Spirit, but more a matter of the Spirit having all of me" (p75). Just as we receive Christ by surrendering our lives over to him, our ongoing spiritual life is sustained by the continual and daily surrendering of our lives to him. Here’s our problem: we surrender our lives to Jesus ... and usually try to work on our Spirit-filled life on our own terms. We try to employ worldly techniques to spiritual life ... and then we’re frustrated (and surprised) when it doesn’t work. Why should it?

When we try to work out our spiritual life on our own terms, we even quote Bible verses like Phil. 2:12-13 to back us up:

continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

In doing so, we focus on the aspect of work, forgetting the remainder of the verse: it is God who works in you to will and to act!

So our ongoing spiritual life is sustained by the continual and daily surrendering of our lives to him. This is not meant to be burden and a duty, but simply giving up. We give up trying to do it ourselves, just as our salvation comes only when we give up trying to save ourselves. There is no end to giving up, of course, no end to picking up our crosses daily and following (Luke 9:23). There are days when this seems easier, or harder, than others, but our continual walk with Christ begins every day with giving up ... and accepting what comes into our lives as gifts from God.

Can we be thankful for who, what, and where we are as gifts from God? God is not asleep at the wheel, and he is at work today, right where you are, no matter how hopeless it looks.

Consider those three passive verbs from v7, being rooted, built up, and strengthened:

Just as a plant depends on the soil in order to be rooted (would you rather pull weeks out of sand, or rich soil?) so we depend on God. However, we need to depend on God in the place where he has planted us. It’s not just that we’re rooted in God—we’re rooted in God in the world. Jesus picks up his cross and goes forth into, and for the sake of, the world. He knows he will meet the Father on the cross; that is the model we are supposed to follow. It’s not sufficient to depend on God in church—that makes us hothouse plants good for little. Rather the spiritual life that God desires for us comes from giving up and depending on God to supply all we need, in his timing, in the world.

Just as a brick by itself has no steadfastness on its own and needs a mason to incorporate it into something rugged (would you rather kick a single loose brick, or a brick wall?) so we depend on God. The temptation is to see the church as that brick wall and quote verses like 1 Peter 2:4-5 to back us up. In reality, as we receive Christ, we are brought into and incorporated into the kingdom of God, of which the church is just a part (and sometimes not a very evident part!). Consider an iceberg, which is 10% visible and 90% hidden below the waterline; in the same way, the church (at best) is a visible part of the kingdom of God, but God is at work invisibly in the world. We are being built up to be an effective part of the kingdom of God in the world!

Just as a ship depends on its anchor to hold its position at times (would you ever leave a boat unsecured?) so we depend on God to give us strength as his is our anchor. A boat in dry dock or in storage doesn’t need an anchor. The boat needs an anchor when it is out on open water and is subject to wind and waves. Likewise the times when we are subject to trials is when we need God to keep us from being blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:6) Here again, our spiritual life is defined by our relationship with God as we live in the world, not in the dry dock of church.

Points to Ponder

Where have you beaten up yourself for a supposed lack of spirituality? (Worse yet, whom have you beaten up about their lack of spirituality?)

Where do you need to give up trying to fill yourself with the Spirit & let God lead you?

If you have surrendered to Christ, you are in him. Where is God is working around you in the world?

If you have surrendered to Christ, you are in him. Now, what do you have to be thankful for?

End Notes
1 - Later, Jesus echoed the same words on the cross. In her diaries, Mother Teresa revealed that she was plagued by doubts and a loss of faith for years. A London Telegraph article quotes Mother Teresa, "In my own soul, I feel the terrible pain of this loss. I feel that God does not want me, that God is not God and that he does not really exist." If Jesus, David, and Mother Teresa can suffer that degree of doubt, isn’t it OK for us to have doubts as well?
2 - I wonder ... most of the things we want overflowing in our lives are gifts of God: e.g. faith, Spirit, fruit of the Spirit. Categorically these are not things we can muster up on our own. At least according to this verse, if we’re walking in Christ what we are to try to muster up is appreciation for what he’s done!