SPECIAL BONUS! Ephesians 5:15-20 (Alternative Fuels)

We are skipping over this paragraph in our worship gathering (for the sake of time). But I wanted to give you some of my thoughts. So for all you two-cents-ers, here's a special bonus blog entry. Bon appetite!

This paragraph really serves as a conclusion and cap on the end of the section we discussed last week. Last week we talked about the kinds of behaviors that build up community and the ones that break it down. Paul calls Christians to stop following the patterns of the wider Gentile world, and to live consistent with the new identity they’ve received from Christ: the people of God. Instead of imitating the damaging and self-seeking behavior of the world, Christians should imitate God.

Here, Paul sums that up by saying, “Don’t live like fools.” “Don’t act thoughtlessly.” “Don’t get drunk on wine.” In other words, stop being passive participants in your own lives! Don’t treat your life as if it was something cheap, something to let flow along with the current of the world. You are so valuable. So live “like those who are wise.” “Make the most of every opportunity.” “Be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

He’s not saying to not have any fun or do anything enjoyable (a common misinterpretation of Paul). He’s saying to live life to the full! Live full of joy! Celebrate! Sing songs of praise to God! And instead of filling your life with wine to dull your senses and pass the time, fill yourself with the Holy Spirit, with celebration, songs, and loving gratitude to God.

This reminds me of all the alternative fuels we’re trying to create: biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen-fuel-cells, solar, etc. There are many fuel options for our lives. What drives you? What octane are you using? Do you fuel your life with alcohol (Paul’s example) or drugs? Are you fueling it with work? With romance? With sex? With religion? With morality? Well (says Paul) what about fueling your life with gratitude? What if loving gratitude to God was the driving force in your life? Do you think that would make a difference?

Poverty Awareness

Hi all, just thought I'd let you know I'm speaking on Friday (3/20) for WMU's Poverty Awareness Day on a Biblical perspective of poverty and justice. I speak at the 6pm gathering, probably at Kanley Chapel (they're still finalizing the location).

-Tim

Ephesians 4:17-5:14 (Vices & Virtues)

Well, this week we had a whopper of a text, and it sparked some great questions and discussion!

Paul urges his readers to shed their former way of life, their old nature, and to put on their new nature, created to be like God. And he illustrates this change in terms of vices to avoid and virtues to pursue. Such lists were common in letters of this type (inside the Bible and elsewhere in the Greek/Roman world). In this case, the lists serve to illustrate practically the kind of life described by Paul up to this point: what it looks like to live as the people of God.

The behaviors and attitudes to avoid are: controlling anger, harmful speech, sexual immorality, greed, and anything that would induce unnecessary division. The attitudes and behaviors to substitute in their place are kindness, forgiveness, helpful speech, etc.

One of the points we talked about the most was the off-putting nature of a list of do's and don'ts like this. We commented that our friends who aren't Christians would be nonplussed by a list like this (and maybe we are too)--that it would confirm their suspicion that Christianity is, after all, all about what you can and can't do.

But it's important to see this list (and the ones like it) in the context of the rest of the letter, and the rest of the Bible. When you look at the big picture like that, one of the things that immediately sheds light on this issue is that these commands are "back-end" commands, not "front-end" commands. They are not the behaviors we must conform to in order to be accepted by God, or to earn a spot in heaven, or to achieve the status of "good people". They just aren't! God accepts us by grace while we are still embroiled in rebellious behavior. It's only AFTER he saves us, and AFTER he gives us a whole new identity as his own children, making us heirs of his kingdom, that he says: "Now here's how to live consistently with your new identity." So the whole appeal here is for Christians to live and behave consistently with who they really are. It's a call to stop living a hypocritical life!

So the people we are afraid will be offended by the existence of such a list of do's and don'ts, often find themselves on Paul's side, saying to Christians: "Stop being hypocrites!"

The fear, of course, is that Christians will use such lists to point at non-believers and say, "You need to do these things to become like us!" But that's an abuse of the principle, because it turns them into "front-end" expectations. No, our message to "outsiders" is that God has shown grace to the world, and that they can enter into that grace by embracing Jesus as their Savior and the leader of their lives. Only after they have been welcomed into the community of faith, and have themselves entered into lives of following Jesus, do these commands apply directly.

I gave a few thoughts for reflection:

1. Where do you recognize inconsistency in your life between what you say you believe and what your actions reflect? Did one of the areas Paul mentioned (deception, dishonesty, anger, impurity, greed) highlight something you struggle with? These things show us how we haven’t taken to heart our true identity in Jesus. How can we strengthen our grasp of that identity? Or maybe we’ve never received that identity. Maybe a response for some of us is to receive Jesus as the undisputed leader of our lives. Where are you at?

2. What do you think about “doing good”? Is it worth it in light of our mixed motives? Is it possible to do good out of gratitude to Jesus, living in light of the identity he’s given us, and not end up with holier-than-thou attitudes, etc? How do we sort these motives out?

Okay, two-cents-ers. Pile on the pennies! Your thoughts? Your questions?

Ephesians 4:1-16 (Unity and Community)

We turned the corner in Ephesians today, from Paul's description of who we have been made in Christ, to his plea for us to "lead a life worthing of our calling." The big idea in this section was about living in the unity Christ has forged for us. We noted that the way in is the way on: we got into this life by God's sovereign grace in Christ, and we live it out by means of that same grace, through the same Christ. Christ teaches us to live as a unified community by giving us diverse gifts, causing us to depend on each other if we want to do any real good in his name. As we do the work of God together, building up the church together, we become more and more like Christ himself, and through us he fills the whole world with himself. There's a lot more going on in this passage, but that's the nutshell!

We took these thoughts into some discussion at the end of our gathering, and some really good thoughts emerged about how we foster unity, and deeper community, among the church. From simple things like being intentional about personally greeting and getting to know newcomers, to ideas about meeting the special needs of someone or a family in your community group... I liked the direction of the conversation.

So let's keep it going. I'm still interested to hear more ideas about how much a church like ours ought to voluntarily limit our individuality in order to "do life" with each other. How much do we get into each other's lives, and how much do we give people space? What about boundaries? How do we include families in community who have young kids (and therefore little free time)? How do we take intentional steps to get to know each other deeply, but still feel like relationships are organic and not contrived?

What are your questions about "unity" and about "community"? What are your thoughts about these questions, or about what we've seen in Ephesians, or about just about anything else?

Ephesians 3

In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul says more about this "mystery" that has been revealed to him. The secret is that Jews and non-Jews (that's all humanity) are the "chosen people". They are together, in Christ, heirs of the blessings, treasures, riches of being God's special people. And Paul marvels that he has been given the privilege of being a herald of this Good News. He tells his readers not to worry about the fact that he has been jailed for this message--he's under the impression that his suffering will not hinder the outworking of God's purposes for the world one iota. The fact that we are reading his words today is a good sign that his hunch was right! Paul rounds out this section by getting back to the prayer he had started earlier. And in reference to those "riches, blessings, and treasures" he prays that his readers would be given the power to grasp the unlimited dimensions of God's love that comes to us in Christ. And he praises God for his power to do more in and through us than we could ever ask or imagine...

We took some time on Sunday to talk about all this, and raised more questions than we had time or resources to answer. So let's work on some of that this week. Some lingering questions (feel free to add your own):

- What exactly are the blessings Paul keeps referring to?
- How does the "church" display the "wisdom of God in all its variety"?
- Who are the unseen rulers and authorities who are seeing God's wisdom in the church?

We had some questions for personal reflection too:

- In light of God’s unfolding plan for all of history, and our place in that plan as exhibit A, what situation, problem, conflict, or need can you entrust to God? Boldly enter God’s presence and ask him for the inner strength you need to endure or overcome.
- How real to you is the love of God? Do you need power from God to understand and experience its dimensions? Ask him.
- Imagine what the fullness of life and power that comes from God could empower you and us to do! Jot down some ideas, remembering that God can do infinitely more than we can ask or think!

So chime in with your two cents! Ask more questions. Take a crack at answering some. Let's see what comes of it...