Ephesians 6:10-20 "It's A War Out There"

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                “It’s a war out there!”  This is a phrase that has often been used to prepare people in one setting for the reality that they are about to be faced with in a soon-to-be setting.  A football coach may recite these words to his players in a pregame speech.  A commanding officer would undoubtedly tell his troops of the vast difference that exists between the transport and the battlefield using these words.  Students are given similar words during their training, prior to entering the workplace.  All of these examples carry with them various levels of severity when it comes to interpreting the term “war”.  However, there is perhaps no more right or immediate usage of that phrase than had Paul used it here in our text.  You see, he was preparing the Ephesian Christians for a war.  But unlike most other wars, this war had been ongoing since almost the beginning of the earth, and will continue until the establishment of the new heaven and new earth that we read about in Revelation 21.  This war, while being played out physically, is really a war that is being waged within the hearts and minds of every human being.  Paul was preparing these Christians for what is known as spiritual warfare.  He wanted them to know just how real it was and is and exactly how they should prepare for battle.

                If you remember, he’s been telling them about the Church and about their relationship with God.  He began by telling them about their being chosen by God and kept in Him through faith in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.  He told them of the great unity and togetherness that we as Christians are to have in being united in Christ.  He’s talked about how the truths that all Christians are made to understand are some of the greatest treasures that we could ever hope to have.  Paul has talked about how God not only calls us to a new way of life, but He actually delivers us to that new way.  God not only tells us that we ought to be better, but He shows us exactly how we are to be better.  God works in our hearts and causes us to want to shed the old self and put on this new life that is found in Jesus.  If you recall, I summed up the last few Sundays last week by saying that what we really need in order to grow closer to God is to just submit and understand that it is God and God alone who is rightly in control of our lives.  Well, lest someone get the idea that what I’m calling for (or more importantly what Paul is calling for) is some “Jesus take the wheel” type of approach to life, where all we have to do is just sit back and wait for Jesus to take care of everything, our text for today tells us otherwise.  Our text for today is the words of preparation that we need to hear and take to heart if we are going to lives as Christians in this fallen world.

                Paul doesn’t want either the original audience or futures audiences (us) to read the first 5½ chapters of this letter and think that everything about the Christian faith is easy.  He doesn’t want us to get the impression that once we have Jesus in our lives, once we take off the old self and put on the new, once we submit fully to Christ, that things are going to be easy.  Paul doesn’t want us to mistakenly think that because we have done exactly what he has called us to do that our days will be filled with nothing but sunny skies and calm weather.  Paul knows that it’s going to be hard, and he’s trying to prepare us as best he can for that reality.  He tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”  You don’t need armor for just walking around during times of peace.  You only need armor when you are in the midst of a battle, and Paul is telling us to be sure and have the full armor of God on at all times.

                Now, we’ll look at the armor itself in just a moment, but I want to take a minute and talk about the most important thing in any battle:  the enemy.  Verse 12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  Now, don’t be confused and think that Paul is saying that we are at war with governments here.  What Paul is doing is he’s building an escalating list of enemies.  He’s starting with things of the lowest magnitude (our own flesh and earthly forces) and going all the way up to spiritual forces of evil.  Are we going to struggle with our own flesh, corrupt rulers, and unjust authorities?  Absolutely; but the struggle against them is nothing but an offshoot of the real struggle that we have against our primary enemy of Satan.  Yes, we struggle with sin, but sin is ultimately just a tool used by Satan to find us at our weakest moments or in our most vulnerable places so that he may work at driving us farther away from God.  So, we’re not fighting against some unknown enemy, but an enemy that is quite well known.  Sure, we may be able to physically see evil sometimes, but not always.  We need not mistake unseen for unknown.

                The question then becomes, “how do we go about fighting this unseen enemy?”  The answer is that we fight him using the armor of God.  “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”  There are two things I want to point out very quickly before looking individually at the pieces of God’s armor.  The first is that we are to put on the WHOLE armor of God.  We can’t just place importance upon one area of our faith, but have to be concerned with the entirety of it.  This point will become clearer after we look at the pieces of God’s armor.  The second thing that I want to point out is that even though we are going out into war, the majority of this armor is defensive.  In fact, 5 of the 6 pieces of the armor of God are more defensive than offensive.  Plus, just look at some of the reasons that we just saw for putting on this whole armor:  to withstand, to stand firm.  These are more indicative of standing one’s ground than moving forward.

                Now, as quickly as I can, I want to cover the pieces of the armor of God.  And I want you to notice that each of the pieces described here by Paul correlates to a piece of armor worn by a typical Roman soldier of the day.  First, we have the belt of truth.  A soldier’s belt would have supported and protected his lower abdomen, gathered his tunic together, and held his sword, giving him confidence.  We could draw a connecting line to the confidence that comes from having a certainty about the truthfulness of God’s Word.  Next, there is the breastplate of righteousness, which allows us to be able to withstand accusations of the devil and gives us a certain level of protection against Satan.  A righteous life will go a long way to protecting our hearts from being pierced by Satan.  We’re then told of shoes for the readiness of the gospel.  A Roman soldier’s sandals gave him stability and protection during battle.  The shoes in God’s armor protect and prepare us for the battle that is at hand.  Then there’s the shield of faith, protection from the darts of Satan.  The shield of a Roman was quite sturdy and made to cover his entire body during an onslaught of arrows.  Our faith in Christ is what covers us completely and protects us from falling victim to a fiery arrow from Satan.  The fifth piece of the armor of God is the helmet of salvation.  For Paul, salvation is a present experience as well as a future hope.  The believer’s final ground of confidence is the faithfulness of God to complete the salvation He has already begun.   Finally, we come to the only purely offensive weapon in the armor of God, “the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”  We see Jesus use God’s Word as a weapon at various points in his earthly ministry.  We see Paul do the same during his missionary travels as well.  You see, it takes the Word of God for a heart to truly be changed.  It takes the seed being planted by the Word.  The only hope that we have of combating the forces of evil in this world is to rightly wield the sword of the armor of God, the sword of the Spirit, His Word.

                It’s pretty easy to understand that if a soldier went out into battle without having all of his pieces of armor that he would be quite vulnerable.  Neglecting any area of protection for the body would leave him open to an increased chance of being injured from an attack leveled by the enemy.  For us to neglect any one area of the armor of God would leave us increasingly vulnerable to an onslaught of sin from the evil one.  So, we can’t place importance upon one piece of armor over any other.  However, I ran across this quote this week that I have read before, but in preparation for this sermon I found it quite meaningful.  Of God’s Word, Dr. R.C. Sproul says, “I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His power in the Bible.”  Now, there’s more to Dr. Sproul’s quote, but this part speaks to just how neglected the Word of God is in our modern Christian worldview.  Can you imagine a soldier going out into the midst of a battle without a sword?  Even if he has all the other pieces of armor, the best he can hope for is merely survival without making really any impact.  When we go out into the world without the Word of God, then the best that we can hope for is survival without any impact for the sake of the gospel.  Does that sound like what we’re called to do?  Are we merely called to survive the onslaught of attacks, or are we called to go out and have an impact upon the world?

                I think that all we have to do is look at Paul’s further instructions to see that our calling is much more than mere survival.  He gives instructions to pray at all times, the keep alert, to persevere, and to proclaim “the mystery of the gospel.”  Our goal is to weather the attacks that are going to come our way, but to also seek to push forward.  I know that it’s a shame when we compare modern-day athletics to warfare, but there are some good analogies that can be found there.  Think if you will about the offensive line in football.  The number one job of an offensive line is to protect, they are to prevent an opposing team from entering your backfield so that you can attack them offensively.  When an o-line does their job (providing proper defense), then it allows for those offensive “weapons” to progress and move the ball down the field.  So, we see from this that there is a certain amount of defense that goes into an offensive strategy.  For us, in our Christian faiths and our daily living, we are adorned with the armor of God to protect us so that we may go on the offensive with the Word of God; so that we may take the Gospel outward and into the world and fulfill the Great Commission.

                So, why is Paul using this analogy of armor in his epistle about the Church?  Well, where do you think that we are fitted with this armor?  Where do you think it is that we are trained in how to use this armor to its utmost effectiveness?  You could give me the latest in combat gear, but unless someone trains me on how to use it, then it’s pretty much just a lot of bulky clothing that might protect me from some attacks, but not all that it was designed to do.  If we look back at what I said is the central verse of this epistle, Ephesians 4:12, we find these words, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up the body of Christ.”  That’s why we exist as a church, to equip the saints for the work of ministry.  And the way that we equip them is by adorning them with the armor of God and training them to rightly use this armor.

                We serve no greater purpose as a church than to prepare Christians for what awaits them in this world.  We serve no greater purpose than to equip Christians for spiritual warfare.  We serve no greater purpose than to teach and instruct and train each and every person who walks through those doors about how to anchor themselves to Christ as a means of overcoming the evil that exists in this world.  It’s not just enough to make sure that we know how to use the armor of God, but to make sure that everyone is rightly equipped and adorned with this armor.  This world is tough and seems to be getting tougher each and every day.  The only hope we have of remaining in Christ, of keeping off the old clothes and adorned with the new armor of God, is to rightly prepare for what’s at hand.  Let this day be the day that you pledge either for the first time or pledge anew that you will rightly wield the armor of God and seek for all others to be adorned in it as well; that we may go out into this world and not only weather the storms, but fight for the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 6:5-9 "Submitting to the Master"

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                Today we come to the third and final earthly relationship that Paul used to convey our relationship with God and what right submission ought to like to the Ephesian church.  We’ve seen Paul’s examples flow from the marital relationship that exists between husband and wife to the parent/child relationship and now to work relationships.  And the question that we’ve been asking each week is:  what is Paul trying to teach us in each example?  What is Paul teaching us about our relationship with God from this example of masters and slaves?  Now, I need to address the elephant in the room before we really get started on this text.  Don’t mistake these verses as a biblical endorsement of slavery.  There are opponents of the Christian faith who will say how heinous these verses are because Paul not only doesn’t condemn slavery, but he seemingly has no problem with it.  Now, we know from looking at the entirety of Scripture that Paul does have issue with it, but he simply chooses not to address it here.  In other places he most certainly condemns it, just not here.  I have a theological issue with homosexuality; however, I don’t walk up to every person that I know is a homosexual and condemn them right there on the spot.  I don’t encourage them, but I don’t harshly condemn either.  And my lack of condemnation at a given moment ought not to be misinterpreted as my endorsing such behavior.  The reality of slavery in Paul’s time was that it existed.  Despite what we may think and know of it today, it was a common practice in Paul’s time.  That doesn’t make it right, but its commonality does make it a fairly universally understood teaching illustration.  Also, I would remind you that slavery at that time wasn’t racially driven like what comes to mind today when we think of slavery.  It was more national or cultural than anything else.  Think if you will of the Hebrews in Egypt.  Paul uses slavery here as an example simply because it was one of the predominate work relationships of his day, and a third avenue for teaching right submission and obedience.

                We have to keep in mind that all three of these relationships are calls to submission (wives, children, slaves).  That’s what Paul’s trying to teach here.  Remember, we’re in the midst of talking about how to put off the old self and put on the new.  The only way that that can be done is not by the sweat of our brow or our most valiant efforts, but by our complete and total submission to God.  Paul is using these three different examples to teach submission because everyone could relate to at least one of these three relationships, if not all three.  And even though slavery doesn’t still exist in our world today (at least not in our society), I think that these words from our text today are just as true for us today as they were during Paul’s time.  However, instead of slaves and masters, we must think in terms of employees and bosses.  So, I’m probably going to jump back and forth saying slaves one minute and employees the next.  Just bear with me and know that when I say slaves I’m referring to modern-day employees.  Paul says that slaves are to obey their masters “with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as [they] would Christ.”  Now, to me this is a hard word both in the historical and modern context.  Historically, Paul is saying that those who are enduring the harsh conditions of slavery should serve their masters with a sincere heart; no doubt something that would be quite difficult and against one’s natural inclination.  The modern context or application of these words would be that we are to work for our bosses with all that we have; treating our jobs with the same level of care and importance that our bosses do.  I’m fortunate in that I love my job.  However, not everyone has that luxury.  I’ve worked in some jobs where it was a struggle to get up and go each morning.  So, I know that the reality of this statement in our modern context is quite difficult as well; maybe not to the same level as slavery, but still difficult.

                Paul continues by saying, “not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ.”  There’s that “of Christ” again; similar to “as the Lord” or “in the Lord” that we’ve seen the past few weeks, but we’ll deal with that in a minute.  As I was reading the words eye-service and people-pleasers, I thought back to the summer of 2004.  I was working at Starkville Country Club in Starkville, MS on the grounds crew trying to save up enough money to buy an engagement ring while Amy was in a town about an hour north of Baltimore, MD working at a horse farm.  I got up every morning at 4 am to go cut grass until about 3 or 4 pm.  My first day there, the head of the grounds crew told me that I always needed to be busy.  If you finished what you were doing, then go weed eat a ditch or wash carts or something.  Well, one of the guys that had worked there for a while was lying under a tractor one day.  I thought that it might have broken down on him, so I stopped to ask him if he needed any help.  After finishing my question, I could then hear that he was snoring.  I woke him up and he got mad at me.  “Don’t you know how this job works?  You’re just supposed to look busy.  You don’t have to actually be busy all the time.  That’s only for when any of the bosses are around.”

                Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first or last coworker that I have had who felt the need to simply look busy (i.e. do actual work only when someone important was looking).  Paul is calling us to constant work.  If you recall the account of creation in Genesis, God called Adam and Eve to constant work as well, with the Sabbath rest coming on the seventh day.  It wasn’t that God told Adam and Eve to simply look busy, but to work and care or God’s creation.  Basically, God was commanding them to submit to Him and to work and care for His creation just as if it was their own.  I want you to just hear the rest of the words that Paul gives to the Ephesians here:  “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.”  Do you hear the words of care that slaves or workers are to have?  Working from the heart; earnestly working.  And we’re not working to please man, but to please God.  I don’t care if you’re a pastor like me or a teacher or a welder or a ditch-digger; whatever your occupation is, you are to do it as a servant of God.  No matter your vocation, you are to seek to bring honor and glory to God’s kingdom through the right working of your job.  I’m not going to call out any companies specifically, but we’ve seen different restaurants and merchants operate in a manner that honors God while still providing equal or better service than those who don’t.  We’ve seen individual people who work in the same job (and sometimes for the same company) as someone else, but yet God is honored and proclaimed through one of them and not the other.  Paul is calling all people to submit to their work (i.e. their employers), but to do so while honoring God.

                Before moving on to the masters, Paul tells slaves of their reward.  He says, “knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”  Paul is saying that the blessing in all of this is that through our submission we will receive something much greater back in return.  We don’t just submit in order to get the reward, but because we submit we are rewarded.  Because we submit, because we honor God in our vocation, God is going to give us something so much greater.  In fact, he’s already given us this great gift in the person of Jesus Christ, and he’s going to continue to give us this great gift through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our hearts, shaping us more and more in the image of Christ.  Now, I do need to say before moving on that submitting to our masters is similar to that of wives submitting to husbands and children submitting to parents.  It’s similar in that all of these are not simply blind submissions, but are submissions in so far as the respective heads are in line with the will of God.  If a boss tells you to be dishonest, to steal, to do shotty work that might endanger the occupants of a building, then we as Christians are not compelled to obey them.  We are compelled to obey God first and foremost.

                Paul makes this point very clear in his only comment aimed directly at masters (or employers) when he says, “masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.”  Masters do the same.  In other words, bosses are to be held to the same standard as their employees.  I can remember growing up; my father owned a paint manufacturing business.  If he ever asked his employees to work late in order to complete a big job, then it was just understood that he was going to be right there with them.  There was never a sense of “I’m the boss.  I’m above that.  That’s what I pay you people to do.”  Anything that he expected his employees to do was something that he was completely willing to do himself.  I can’t count the number of times when I would go and see him and arrive to find his clothes were twice as filthy as anyone else that worked for him.  Employers are to hold themselves to the same standards as they would employees.  Doesn’t this sound almost identical to the relationships that we’ve seen the last few weeks?  Doesn’t setting realistic standards and having mutual respect for the other party in a relationship sound just like what we said about the relationships that exist between husbands and wives and parents and children?

                Now, I want take some time and pull not only this text, but all three of our examples together with the few minutes I have remaining.  For starters, I love the part that Paul puts in there about both slaves and masters having the same Master (notice the capitalization of the “M” in this usage) in heaven.  It’s worth noting that the Greek word that is translated master throughout this passage is the word kurios, which is translated in most other passages as Lord.  I don’t think it can be lost that Paul could have used a different word for master, but specifically used this particular word in this passage.  Paul’s reminding us that no matter slave or free, employee or employer, that we ultimately serve the same Master, the same Lord.  The same could be said of the other two relationships as well. 

                Whether we are the designed head of these relationships (husband, parent, or master) or the ones who are called to be in submission (wives, children, or slaves), our status with Christ is unmoved.  In Paul’s words, “there is not partiality with [God].”  Yes, we have different roles to play on this earth and yes we are called to different responsibilities within those different roles, but our service is ultimately to God.  Look at it like this, in the overall scope of a company, the job of everyone is to create a quality product.  There are undoubtedly different roles held by different people, but the task of creating a quality product remains the overall unified theme.  As we’ve been talking about these relationships and the overarching theme of submission, we have to remember the context.  As we’ve already said, they are given to us on the heels of Paul’s teaching about putting off the old self and putting on the new.  We are able to put on the new and shed the old only by submitting to Christ.  But don’t forget that this is part of an epistle that Paul wrote about the Church.  Doesn’t this talk about all serving the same Master and all working towards the same goal just scream out to you about how the Church (by that I mean both universal and local) should operate.

                No matter what role we have in the Church, the bride of Christ, we are to fulfill our role.  We are to do our job not matter what that job is.  Sometimes we’re not going to like our job.  Sometimes we’re not going to like giving what we are called to give, doing what we’re called to do, or giving up what we have to give up in order to serve the Lord.  However, that is what we are called to do.  In other words, we are to submit ourselves to the will of God.  We aren’t to say, “Lord, I’m willing to do whatever it is that you are calling me to do as long as it is located where I want, giving me what I want, and not making me uncomfortable.”  No!  Instead, we are to simply say to the Lord, “I submit.  Use me however you see fit; even if that means to my personal detriment.”    The bottom line is that we must understand who we are in our earthly relationships, while also understanding who we are in our relationship with God.  We are to always serve God, be in submission to Him, and obey His will for our lives.

Ephesians 6:1-4 "But I Want to Obey"

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                Today we are focusing our attention on the second example that the Apostle Paul gave as a means of teaching proper obedience and submission to Christ.  Last week, we looked at the relationship between husbands and wives, and we connected that with Christ’s relationship with the Church.  As wives are to be submissive to husbands (reminder, not in an inferior way but in a loving way), so husbands are to love and lead their wives (also, not in a tyrannical or superior manner, but in a way of love).  The wife is to lovingly submit, while the husband is to lovingly lead, even if that means harm coming to him.  It’s sort of like the captain going down with the ship.  Well, that’s exactly how Christ loves the Church.  Christ gave up his life for the Church.  He loves the Church so much, that despite obvious faults and failures, he laid down his life on her behalf.  Well, Paul turns his attention to another relationship, that of parents and children.  As I said last Sunday, this is really a natural progression from spouses to children to work relationships.  And we’re going to approach it much the same way as we did last Sunday, by looking first at the earthly relationship between parents and children, and then connecting that to God’s relationship with and love for His children, the Church, Christians.

                One of the greatest pieces of advice that I have ever received came from my father when I was just a little kid.  It wasn’t something that he set out to intentionally bestow upon me, but it was something that I learned through the way that I was raised.  One time, I had just done something to get myself in trouble (shocker), and my father was going to be the one coming up with my punishment.  Typically my mom was the disciplinarian, and I had grown virtually immune to her forms of punishment.  However, my dad knew exactly the things that really got to me.  This particular time, he made me not only miss my baseball game, but he made me go to the park and sit and watch my team play in a game.  After we got in his truck after the game, he asked me how it felt.  I told him that he wasn’t my friend anymore.  Expecting my father to be crushed by the weight of that statement, his reply was simple, “Well, good thing my job isn’t to be your friend, it’s to be your dad.”  I was stunned to the point of silence by those words that that ended the conversation right then and there.

                Years have passed since all of that happened.  We’ve never really spoken about it, but it has been one of the most impactful moments of my life, not just in how I go about raising my kids, but how I see the world.  When I look out into the world, I see a place where parents are seemingly striving to be their children’s best friends.  I see a place where the role of parent has somehow become secondary to the role of friend and confidant.  Don’t mistake me, I’m not telling you that my father and I aren’t friends.  Until the time that I met my wife, my father was my best and closest friend.  He was the best man at my wedding.  However, during the time that he and my mother were raising me (and even beyond), there has always been a clear authority structure in place.  It’s just like what we saw last week with marriage, God has a created structure for marriage and a created structure for parents and children as well.  In fact, both of these things put together comprise God’s intended order for the family unit as a whole.  The husband is the head with the wife lovingly taking her cues from him and the children in submission to them both.  I know that some will hear these words and think that they are archaic, and I will acknowledge that indeed they are as old as time itself; that’s because they are the order that God created.  However, I will quickly remind you that simply because something is old doesn’t necessarily mean that it is outdated or obsolete.  I know that we live in a world that places modernity and newness as priorities, but newer isn’t always better.  After all, it isn’t as if God needs to be updated to fit our context.  The problem isn’t with God, it’s with us.

                 “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”  Much the same way that I said last Sunday that so many see “Wives submit to your husbands” without seeing “as to the Lord”, we do the same thing with this verse.  We simply focus on the call for children to obey their parents without ever seeing the words “in the Lord.”  Yes, children are to obey their parents.  Children are to honor and respect their parents as well.  Verses 2 and 3 of our text are simply a repetition of Exodus 20:12, the fifth commandment.  However, they are not to do so blindly, but are to do so “in the Lord.”  Well, what does “in the Lord” mean?  Without going into too long of a rant, it simply means that they are to obey their parents as far as their parents’ expectations and commands do not interfere with or contradict those given by God.  For example, if a father where to forbid his child from attending church and worship, then that would not be a command that is keeping with the things of God.  For that child to disobey his/her parent and attend worship would not be a violation of the fifth commandment or the obedience command that we see here from Paul.  And you could easily apply this principle further out and see that this doesn’t give parents free reign to compel their children to steal, murder, commit fraud, lie, or any other activity that is strictly forbidden by Scripture. 

                Now, it needs to be said here that even though the majority of the verses in this text seem to be commands towards children, much of the focus here is actually on the parents.  You see, as parents, we have to set good examples for our children to follow.  If we are to expect the obedience of our children, then we must ourselves be obedient to the Lord so that our requirements for them are in keeping with God as well.  Also, in order for them to honor us as parents, we must be someone worthy of honoring.  Now, this can be a bit of a slippery slope here.  Do I think that any person is worthy of the type of honor that we should show Christ?  Absolutely not!  However, I do think that there is a sense of honor and respect that is appropriate to be shown by children to their parents.  They can honor and respect things like showing love, nurturing, being hard-working, providing for them, being noble and upright, and there are numerous other things that we could add to this list.  Children cannot honor immorality, deceitfulness, drunkenness, being untrustworthy, or any other corrupt traits.  As parents the bulk of the responsibility is on us, as it rightly should be, to set the right example.  I mean, when we come right down to it, shouldn’t the parents be the ones with the bulk of the responsibility.  I know that there have been times in my own home when I’m frustrated with one of my children and my words or my actions teeter a little too far, bordering on dishonorable.  Amy often times will call me out on it.  After I protest, she will remind me that I’m the parent and that the other party is a child, ages 2, 5, or 6.

                Paul concludes this example of obedience and proper relationships by saying, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”  Now, even though Paul specifically uses the word for fathers here, this isn’t just a statement for fathers.  It’s just as much for mothers; similar to how brethren can be interpreted to mean a group of both males and females.  “Fathers” was most likely used to drive home again the point of the husband as the head of the household.  Paul says that parents aren’t to provoke their children to anger.  Some other words that would fit here are exacerbate or aggravate.  Don’t irritate your kids.  Some of you are saying, “The whole reason I have kids is to irritate them.”  Well, what Paul’s talking about is to not be unreasonably severe in your parenting.  My parents often like to remind me during times when I’m frustrated with some of my children’s outbursts that they are indeed my children.  Basically, Paul is encouraging parents to not view their relationships with their children to be that of a tyrant, but more like that of a loving head (much like husbands and wives).

                Now I want you to pay attention to two specific words used here by Paul:  discipline and instruction.  Paul warns parents against taking verses like Proverbs 13:24 (Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him) out of context.  Paul’s calling for a balance.  Martin Luther famously once said, “Spare the rod and spoil the child—that is true.  But beside the rod keep an apple to give him when he has done well.”  Luther’s humor aside, what he’s saying here is keeping right in line with Paul’s teaching.  As parents we are to be wise in the raising of children.  We are to show discipline where it is needed and instruction where it is needed.  All of this talk about not provoking our children but still using discipline and instruction is Paul’s call for balance in our parenting.  Much like I said about my father previously, he is a dear friend, but he was also responsible for teaching me right and wrong.  I want my children to love me as a friend, but I want them to love me as a father even more, and sometimes that means making a difficult choice.

                So, what are we to take from this relationship between parents and children and apply to our relationship with Christ?  As I’ve pondered just how to sum all of this up over this past week, the concept of fearing the Lord has kept coming up in my mind.  What does it mean to fear the Lord?  Well, in essence, it is something that comes out of a right understanding of who God is.  Knowing that all it takes is for God to say one word and the wrath that I am rightly owed descend upon my head is a terrifying thing.  In fact, it is a frightening thing.  However, does that mean that I’m to be afraid of God?  No!  Being afraid of God and fearing the Lord are not the same thing.  I had a fear of my father growing up, but I was never afraid of him.  I knew that he loved me and that he would never do anything to hurt me.  However, I knew that if I were ever disobedient to his will, that there were consequences.  I knew that when I missed my curfew, when I spoke back, when I carelessly broke something around the house, that there were consequences.  I guess what I’m saying here is that I knew that my father loved me and that’s really where the reason to discipline came from.  He didn’t discipline me to be mean, but he did it to refine me sort of, to make me into a better person.  And lest I ever forget and think that we were equals in the relationship, he was quick to remind me that we most certainly were not.

                I think that that is somewhat Paul’s central message here.  We, as children, need to be obedient to our Father.  We need to be obedient to God.  We need to show him the honor, reverence, and respect that are due to Him.  While we may have to decide whether or not our earthly parents are setting Godly goals for us, we don’t have to make that decision when it comes to following Christ.  Everything that Jesus calls us to do is completely in line with the will of the Father.  We also don’t have to worry about God provoking us needlessly to anger.  We don’t have to worry about God setting unrealistic standards for us.  Sure, we may not be able to keep them now, but we could in the persons of our first parents Adam and Eve.  And not only that, after our first parents lost the ability for all of mankind to keep fully the statutes and commands of God, God sent His Son into the world as our substitute to endure the punishment that was owed. 

Now, that doesn’t mean that no further discipline will ever be needed.  Don’t hear what I’m saying and take away that all hardships and trials are over and that there is nothing but sunny skies and calm seas ahead.  Jesus’ sacrifice was an act that is aimed at our being freed from a salvific perspective.  His death makes it possible for us to dwell for all eternity with God, not a guarantee that we will never endure any difficulties in life again.  Are there times when we will fail?  Sure.  Are there times when God will have to discipline us and instruct us?  Absolutely!  However, we must never be deterred in our failures, but constantly seek to obey.

When our kids get in trouble, Amy and I sit them down and talk to them and we make sure that they understand what they did, why it’s wrong, and how they need to change their behavior moving forward.  Can you imagine if they ever said, “Well, I’ve already messed up this once, so why try anymore?”  That would be absurd.  Instead, they keep trying to obey us and meet our expectations.  Do they mess up and fall short again?  Sure they do, but the desire to obey never leaves them.  It may seem hidden at times, but in their hearts we know that they are still working at fulfilling the expectations that we have set for them as parents.  Shouldn’t our desire be to fulfill the expectations that our Father has set for us?  Regardless of the fact that we’re probably going to mess up and that we’re probably not going to live up to those standards fully, our hope and our desire to meet them shouldn’t change.  As children of God, we must long for nothing else than to obey our Father in heaven.

Ephesians 5:22-33 "Submit and Love"

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                This is one of those texts that I found quite humorous as I prepared throughout the week.  It’s not humorous because of its content, but because I know that there are some very interested people sitting here waiting to hear what I have to say about these words.  In particular, many of the female persuasion, and one in particular, who happens to live under the same roof as I do.  Well, I can assure all of you that we’re not tackling my opinions today, but we’re wrestling with God’s word in the truest way we can, and we’re relying upon the Holy Spirit for a right interpretation of that word.  So, rest assured that what we’re pulling out of this text is not my opinion, but God’s word as He inspired the Apostle Paul to record it all those years ago.  If you don’t like what you hear, well then that’s simply a matter of you not agreeing with God, which is fine.  I guess you’re entitled to do so; however, one of you is fallible and the other isn’t.

                With all of that being said, I want to remind you that we’re in the application portion of Paul’s letter about the Church, the bride of Christ.  We’ve just finished a section that told us that being filled with the Spirit and remaining in the light of Christ are the only hope that we have for putting off the old self and putting on the new.  In other words, the only hope we have of truly changing and following Christ is to submit and be led and guided by God through the work of the Holy Spirit.  With that in mind, Paul chooses to give the Ephesians three different relationship examples as a means of explaining right relationships and right submission and obedience to his audience.  He gives them the relationship between husbands and wives that we’re going to look at today.  And over the next few weeks, we will look at the relationship between parents and children, and between masters and slaves (bosses and employees).  And if we really think about it, this is a perfectly logical order going from most foundational to least.  Now, that’s not to say that any one relationship is less important than another, but if we’re speaking in terms of God, then we’re moving from the one that He instituted first to the one He instituted last.  Marriage is the original relationship institution created by God.  It’s the only one (other than our relationship with Him) that was created before the fall.  Yes, bearing children was commanded and working was as well (although not in a master/slave capacity), but marriage happened prior to the fall.  It is the institution above all other earthly relationships.  And I think that Paul focuses on all of these relationships because he wants us to understand that our faiths are not simply personal matters, but are to be lived out amongst other people, to be shared within a community.

                Now, there is a two-fold aspect to this passage.  On the one hand, it is a passage that describes our relationship with Christ.  On the other hand, it is a biblical passage on how earthly marriage ought to look.  And the way that we’re going to approach this text today is by examining it from an earthly marriage perspective first; and then we’ll conclude by relating that understanding to our relationship with Christ.  Now, the problem for many comes in with the first few words, “Wives, submit to you husbands.”  Part of the problem is that we don’t like the word submit.  It leaves a bad taste in our mouths.  When we think of submission we think of something or someone being the weaker of two parties.  If someone submits in an athletic competition, then we think of them as being weaker or less worthy or valuable than their counterpart.  What’s interesting about this phrasing here is that the verb “to submit” isn’t anywhere in this text.  The concept of submission is taken from the previous verse (21) when we are called to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”  Now, I’m not saying that this first verse is wrong; I’m just saying that the command to submit to Christ is then carried over into marriage.  I know that the language here rubs some the wrong way.  Just look at what Paul continues to write.  “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”  Now, I’m going to save the linking of all of this to Christ for a minute, because I want to point out what I think we often do with this verse.  People read this verse and see nothing of the words about Christ, but instead see only the words of a perceived superiority of husbands over wives.

                Look, I’m not saying that Paul’s writing indicates that men are better than women.  I’m not going to stand up here and say that the fact that Adam was created before Eve shows that women are inferior to men.  I don’t believe either of those things to be true, nor do I find sufficient biblical evidence to make those claims.  However, I do think that there has to be some acknowledgement that the role of the husband is as the head of the household.  I know that we live in a different situation today, but I’m talking about how we see it given to us in Scripture.  One cannot refute (at least not with any information) that that seems to be the family structure as God gives it.  Again, if we disagree with God then let’s just remember which one of us is the fallible one in the disagreement. 

However, beginning in verse 25, the picture begins to get a little bit clearer when Paul turns his attention to the husbands.  “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.”  Some people read this and say, “Wives are called to total submission and husbands are only called to love?”  Well, isn’t love submission in a sense?  I think that James Boice does as good of a job of summing up this balance between husbands and wives as anyone else that I’ve found.  Boice says, “But just because the wife is to submit to her husband does not give the husband a right to act like a petty tyrant around the house.  In fact, he is not to be a tyrant at all.  If the wife’s standard in the marriage is the very high standard of her love for and submission to Jesus, the man’s standard is to be even higher.  He is to love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.  No woman will have much trouble submitting to a man who loves like that.  No good woman will struggle hard against a man who is willing to die for her.”  In other words, marriage is a two-way street.

                Marriage is hard.  The other two relationships that we are going to look at (parenting and having employees) are hard as well.  However, marriage seems to be the one that we struggle with the most today.  Part of that has to do with the fact that we’ve created this out-clause in marriage.  Whether it’s the habitual divorcee, the couple who go into marriage with divorce as a completely viable option, the single person who has just seen divorce happen way to often so they don’t even bother, the marriage that ended because of an affair, or any other marital casualty that we could name.  I stand here before y’all a guy who’s only been married for 10 years.  Some of you have forgotten more of your marriage than I’ve had of mine.  You don’t need me to tell you that it’s hard.  The question that we’re all left asking ourselves is why in the world the institution of marriage has crumbled so much in recent years (and when I say recent I mean much more than the last 10 or 20 years)?  To put it bluntly, no one bothers to read the instruction manual any more.  A bunch of y’all are wondering what in the heck I’m talking about.  Well, I’ll tell you exactly what I mean by that statement.

                If you go buy a car, what’s the first thing that you are recommended to do before using it?  If you buy anything, what is there usually a big warning sticker telling you to do before operating it?  You’re supposed to read the instruction manual.  You’re supposed to look at the thing that tells you how something works, what it is supposed to do, and what it wasn’t made to do.  Well, do you know what the instruction manual for marriage is?  Oh, it’s on the NY Times bestseller list, but it doesn’t have the word marriage anywhere in the title.  As we’ve said, marriage was created by God; it was instituted and ordained by God.  Therefore, the right instructions for marriage are to be found in God, and they are revealed to us by His Word.  We can’t look at therapists, financial advisors, or “love” experts to tell us how marriage is to work.  For that kind of information we have to look to God and God alone.  Without the proper care and maintenance that our marriage needs, it’s going to break down just like our cars would if left without maintenance.  Without the proper usage and treatment, it’s going to break down just like our cars would.  Marriage was designed by God, not for our enjoyment, but to honor and glorify God.  I truly believe that a strong Christian marriage is the greatest witness that we can have.

                Also, it wasn’t ordained just for God’s glory, but also to mirror our relationships with Christ.  That’s what Paul is teaching his audience here.  Our being able to see what marriage is about allows us to see our relationship with Christ in a much clearer light.  If we were to look back at this text and really focus in on the way in which Christ relates to the Church (as a husband should a wife), then we see Christ’s sacrifice, his giving himself up for her.  We see Christ’s want and desire to keep the Church pure and unblemished and holy (which means set apart).  Because of Christ’s leading and guiding the Church and because of his deep longing for her continued health and growth and betterment, the Church (i.e. Christians) are to willingly and lovingly submit to Christ in all things.  However, it isn’t some indentured servant type of submission, but a loving and completely willing submission.

                Let me make these remarks as a way of bundling up all that we’ve said thus far (and I know that there’s a lot I haven’t said).  Wives being submissive to their husbands isn’t a bad thing.  A husband being the head of the household is an order commanded by God.  However, simply because one is called to be the head and one is called to submit doesn’t mean any type of dominion exists in the relationship.  In fact, as I’ve pointed out, the call for the husband to love the wife is actually greater than the call for the wife to love the husband.  Don’t mistake me and say that men love deeper than women, that’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about the command and call that God places upon individuals who enter into the covenant bond of marriage.

                As far as Paul teaching this in conjunction with our putting on the new self and remaining in the light of Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit, the point is really quite simple.  Jesus is the husband of the Church, the bride of Christ.  He is the bridegroom.  Jesus’ love for the Church is so great that not only was he willing to die for it, but he did die for it.  I hear people say all the time that God is good and great and all that, but the Church is terrible.  I hear people say things like “you know the church is the problem with Christianity.  No one has a problem with God, it’s just with the church.”  But the question that I keep asking when I hear this is if the Church is so awful and not keeping with the commands of God, then why did Jesus die for her?

                The answer is simple…because he loves the Church.  Despite all of our faults and failures, Christ loves the Church.  I love my wife.  I don’t love everything about her though.  Her “pile” system drives me crazy.  Her mindset that being a few minutes late is perfectly acceptable is maddening.  And the fact that making plans is foolish with her because they’re going to change is quite irritating at times.  However, there is not one hesitation within my being that I would endure whatever punishment on her behalf.  It’s not even a choice in my mind; I would give up my life in a second for her to live.  I’m not trying to boast about my marriage, it’s just the only one that I have experience with.

                That’s how much Christ loves us, his Church.  He loves us so much that despite our sinful natures, despite our selfish desires, and our flawed hearts, he still died for us.  He endured the pain of death, yet even death on a cross for us.  He asked his Father three times to remove the cup from before him, but said that if it was God’s will then so be it.  Jesus Christ loves the Church so much that he gave his life for it.  The husband (Jesus) gave his life for his bride (the Church).  Now, we must submit to his loving authority out of reverence and complete and total affectionate obedience.  It’s not about us getting what we want, but about us submitting, yielding our lives to our Savior.  In the words of Oswald Chambers, “I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye.”

Ephesians 5:1-21 "Walking in the Light and Being Filled with the Spirit"

                Before we get into our text for today I want to remind you exactly where we are in this letter written by the Apostle Paul.  His audience was the church in Ephesus who, as we’ve said, was a pretty healthy church.  There was no particular problem that he had to address or resolve, so Paul was writing to them about the blessing of the church.  The first half of the epistle (1-3) was the doctrinal portion about what the church is and who is part of it.  Then, beginning in chapter four, Paul moved on to the practical portion of his letter, the application of all that he had previously said.  A few weeks ago we saw Paul call for unity in the church and reminding the congregation that everyone has a role to play.  He told them that the church only worked as she was intended to when everyone, all her parts, worked together.  Last Sunday, Paul talked about the main thing that the church does, and that is to assist the saints with the putting off of the old self and the putting on of the new.  If you recall, I said last Sunday that this was going to be the main focus of Paul for the remainder of this letter.  In fact, I could have almost given this sermon the same title as last weeks and just added “Part 2” onto the end.

                As a matter of fact, the first few verses of chapter 5 are actually part of the same paragraph as the final verses in chapter 4 in the original Greek.  If we just look at the flow of things from the end of four to the beginning of five it’s hard to see a difference.  “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  So, in Paul’s calling us to shed the old life of one who is not found in Christ and put on this new life in Christ, he reminds us repeatedly of the sacrifice of Christ and calls us to be imitators of God.  Now, maybe you just glossed over it, but think about how impossible imitating God truly is.  Look, I’m not very musically inclined.  I’m trying to learn, but it’s a struggle.  Telling me to imitate God is kind of like handing me a guitar and telling me to just go do what Eric Clapton or John Mayer or Jimmy Page can do.  Sure, I can do something, but it’s not going to look much like an imitation.  And the truth of it is that I’ve got a better chance of playing guitar like Clapton than I do imitating God.  Although, Paul does make it a bit easier on us by only picking one attribute of God to imitate, His love.  Now, it’s still impossible to adequately imitate God’s love, but at least it’s only in one area.  And Paul is going to spend a great deal of time talking about how our imitating, or our trying to imitate, God’s love helps us in the putting off the old self and putting on the new.  We’re going to see two things today that Paul mentions in this letter.  We’re going to see what it means to walk in the light, and what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

                Have you ever tried to walk in the dark?  I don’t mean outside where there’s a little moonlight to lead you and guide you, I mean the pitch black dark.  I get up at 5:00 am each day so that I can go run before it gets too hot.  The first thing I grab each morning is my phone, not just because it’s my alarm clock or because I want to check my email, but because it’s my only source of light (at least the only source that won’t wake up Amy).  Even the small amount of light that comes off of my phone is enough to give me the ability to navigate my way around the house and avoid the dog and his toys as he circles around me.  When we’re in a dark place, the greatest piece of advice or wisdom that we can make use of is the simple warning to stay in the light.  If we walk off into the dark, then it’s easy for us to get lost, hurt, or something even worse.  Well, this world is a dark place.  No, it wasn’t created that way, but because of sin, there is a danger that awaits us seemingly around every corner.  Just because we don’t see it or recognize it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there.

                Paul points out a few areas of darkness as he perceives things to be in Ephesus.  He points out sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthy and foolish speech, and crude joking.  Paul says that these things can’t exist amongst Christians.  He says that they’re out of place amongst those whom he has previously referred to as saints.  He’s trying to get them to understand the severity of these things.  Honestly, when we read this list we think that it’s not all that bad.  After all, there’s no murdering or stealing on there.  The worst thing on there is sexual immorality and that is something that our world seems to be growing less and less cognizant of or concerned with every day.  However, these are dark things, and once we stray from the light (i.e. Christ), then it can become very easy to get lost in the darkness.  Instead, Paul tells us to “let there be thanksgiving.”  In other words, there is to be a sense of thankfulness for what we do have instead of a lusting or longing for what we don’t have.  One of the fathers of the Reformation John Calvin interprets this verse to read “let there be grace.”  His expounding of it goes on to say that by all we do and all that we say, that we might show abundant grace instead of the selfish and sinful motives mentioned previously by Paul.

                Paul goes on to make the connection of light and dark with new and old selves.  He says that the old self walked in the darkness and that the new self is found in the light.  He exhorts his audience to “walk as children of the light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)…Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them…Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.”  Basically, Paul is trying to get across to his audience that they are responsible for their actions.  They are responsible for the actions of those in their community.  They owe it to God, to themselves, and to each other to conduct themselves in such a manner that is keeping with the new selves that the Holy Spirit has given to each of them.  And we owe it to God, ourselves, and each other to do the very same thing.

                After telling his audience the wonderful privilege that it is to be found in the light and exhorting them to imitate the love of God by remaining in the light and following Christ, Paul then moves on and gives them some information about the Holy Spirit and what it means to be filled with Him.  I love the subtle pattern of the Trinity used here (imitate God, Christ’s sacrifice and our being found in him as the light, and now being filled with the Holy Spirit).  “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”  Now, this verse is often used to condemn drinking alcohol.  However, it doesn’t condemn strong drink categorically, but only drunkenness and debauchery.  Two things could be Paul’s focus here.  The first being the drunkenness that we see today where someone drinks in order to fill a hole that exists inside of them (a hole which only God can properly fill).  The second is the pagan worship of Dionysus, the god of wine.  The worship of this god involved rampant drunkenness and would classify as debauchery.  However we wish to interpret Paul’s words here, the point remains that he exalts being filled with the Spirit.  Now, this is different than being baptized by or sealed in the Spirit.  The latter is a one-for-all, life-changing event, whereas the former is something that Paul is clearly teaching should be striven for regularly.  In fact, being filled with the Spirit has more to do with being under the control of the Holy Spirit.  Although when I say under control here I am not referring to a speaking in tongues, prophesying, or performing miracles type of control, but a being led by Him type of control. 

Have you ever just had that urge to do something and you didn’t know why?  I’m sure it’s happened to us all and it’s not always God calling us to do something.  But have you ever just felt like God was pushing you or leading you to do something that was maybe a little bit outside of your ordinary?  Several years ago I got a letter from a guy that was in my youth group in Mississippi when I worked in youth ministry.  It was a simple note that he wrote and mailed to me and it basically said that for some reason he felt like he needed to write to me and thank me and Amy for exemplifying Christ in his life and for the impact that it has had on him and his faith.  Now, the interesting part about all of that is that it came at a time when I needed it.  I was in a place where I wasn’t seeing much fruit in ministry and there was seemingly a lot of stress and work with very little results.  Reading that note reminded me that all I’m supposed to do is make sure that the seeds get planted and get enough water and nourishment.  God’s going to take care of the growing.  Whether it’s today, tomorrow, or years from now, God’s in control of the seed taking root, not me.  You see, that student who has become a friend of mine allowed himself to be led by the Holy Spirit to carry out God’s work; he was filled with the Spirit.  Was it something simple?  Yes, but it had a huge impact upon my life and my ministry.  Maybe you’re being filled with the Spirit to do something similar.  Maybe you’re being filled with the Spirit to do something much bigger, much more global.  Either way, we are to seek to be filled with the Spirit so that it is God who is leading our lives and not ourselves.  However, we don’t like that because we’re all control freaks and we don’t want anyone else in control of our lives, even God.  We think we know what’s best for us and we say we’re willing to follow God but what we really mean is that we’re willing to follow Him as long as His plan seems to coincide with our plan and what we want for our lives.  We must decrease so that He can increase in us.  We must step out of the way; get out of the way of what God is doing in our lives.  Yes, we’re the ones who are living, but our purpose isn’t to enjoy life or to have fun but instead to glorify God and enjoy God.  It’s not about us, but it’s about him.

Do we want to be imitators of God?  Absolutely!  Do we want to be imitators of God’s love?  Absolutely!  Do we want to continue the putting off of the old self and the putting on of the new self?  Absolutely!  Well, walking in the light of Christ and being filled and led by the Holy Spirit are great ways to ensure that we are carrying out the will of the Father.  Do you see the work of the Triune God there?  The will of the Father, the light of the Son, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  In this epistle about the Church, the instrument and institution by which we worship God and grow in our faith, Paul is continuing to stress the importance of remaining closely affixed to Him.  Over the last several decades, we’ve seen a number of individual church congregations change denominations (especially in our Presbyterian circles), and the main reason that is listed for churches moving from one group to another is that the Bible-believing, Christ-centered churches will not tolerate any straying from God, from Scripture, or from Christ as our only hope of salvation.  God has given us the map.  It’s up to us to follow that map.  We have to stay closely fixed to Jesus, both collectively and individually.  If we stray from the path, it’s as if we’re wanting to put on those same grave clothes again.

We have to continue to strive to put away our former life that was apart from Christ and put on the new life that is found in Christ.  Two of the ways that we do that are by walking in the light of Christ and being led by the Holy Spirit.  This is the only hope that we have of remaining in the light and not stumbling into the darkness.  Are there going to be times where we drift into the darkness?  Probably, but we have to recognize those time quickly and return to the light.  The only place where was can safely dwell is closely tied to Christ, and we have to do everything in our power (and rely upon God as well) to keep ourselves and those around us close to Christ. 

Ephesians 4:17-32 "Putting Off the Old and Putting On the New"

                I can very vividly remember sitting on the back porch of my friend’s cabin at Lake Pickwick in McNairy Country Tennessee during Labor Day weekend of 2006.  We were sitting out back all talking and catching up while waiting for the fireworks to come towering over the treetops.  Amy and I had recently made the decision for me to attend seminary and decided that that was as good of a time as any to tell our friends.  Most were excited for us, but there was one friend that was just in shock.  She wasn’t really upset, she just didn’t understand; mainly because she was raised Catholic.  Did this mean that Amy and I were getting a divorce?  Did this mean that we were going to be those “no fun” Christians that everyone thinks about?  Did this mean that we couldn’t be friends anymore?  Amy and I assured all of them that while it did mean that we would have to make some minor changes to the way we lived (mainly due to public perception), it wasn’t going to change who we were and who we are.  We explained to all of our friends that that change had taken place many years ago, before we had even met any of them.

                You see, there is a change that takes place when one comes to know Christ.  It’s not just a little tweak here and a minor adjustment there, but it’s a wholesale and complete change.  Christ changes everything.  We are made new creations in Christ, and that’s something that Paul is trying to get across to the Ephesians here.  He doesn’t want them to think that being a Christian is about simply bettering yourself a little bit in certain areas.  Instead, he wants them to understand that the life of the person who doesn’t profess Christ is completely different from that of the person who does.  And this difference, or the change from one to the other, involves two stages (both of which are carried out by God through the work of the Holy Spirit in us).  First, there is the putting off of the old self.  Then, there is the putting on of the new self.  Logically, if you take something off then you must be putting something else on.

                What does it mean to put off the old self?  The first half of our text (vv.17-22) gives us some understanding as to what this means.  Now, Paul begins here with what upon first reading it sounds like an odd statement.  Paul tells these Ephesian Christians to, “no longer walk as the Gentiles do…” and then he lists a lot of bad characteristics.  And we’re left asking ourselves, “didn’t Paul spend a good portion of chapter 3 (nearly all of it) talking about how the gospel was just as much for the Gentiles as it was for the Jews?”  Yes, but here when he uses the word Gentiles, he’s speaking more about actions than nationality.  These descriptors about these Gentiles:  alienated from God, hardness of heart, greedy, and impure.  All of these things are speaking about not a nationality, but someone (or in this case a group of people) who does not follow Christ.  As we’ve said, this very same church that he’s writing to is made up of a mixture Jews and Gentiles.  Obviously he wouldn’t right to this congregation and tell them that they didn’t need to be like half of them.  It would be like me writing to a church that was multicultural and telling them not to walk in the way of one of the particular cultures represented within the church.  It’s about not following sinful desires and instead following Christ, not a nationality.

                Paul is reminding these Christians that they are to be in the world but not of the world.  He is reminding them that they can’t both follow Christ and be citizens of the world.  They can’t live according to worldly desires and seek first God’s desires.  To put it bluntly, you cannot have two number ones in your life.  This isn’t like having multiple children and loving them equally.  This is like having two spouses (not encouraged) and trying to love them equally.  You cannot serve two masters.  We either serve Christ or we serve the world.  We either serve the Creator or the creation.  Paul knows that the Ephesian church has heard this message and heard it properly because he’s the one that delivered it to them in the first place.  When I taught high school, my students would often try and tell me that something on a test wasn’t covered in class.  I would always have to tell them that indeed it was covered, because I remembered covering it.  Paul knows that they have heard this, and he is making sure that they have rightly applied it.  Paul must make sure that the Ephesian Christians aren’t just calling themselves followers of Christ but still living according to the world.  And it’s up to us to make sure of the same things when it comes to ourselves and other Christians today as well.  “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.”  In Christ, we are to be new creations, but first we must lay aside the old in order to put on the new.  The language here has to do with the taking off of clothes.  Without Christ, we’re dead in our sins.  Without Christ, we’re literally wearing dead man’s clothes, we’re wearing grave clothes.

                Paul continues on, “and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Now, some of the language here can cause us to get a bit bogged down if we let it.  What is “the spirit of you minds”?  If we’re putting on something new, then should we really say renewed?  Setting aside these linguistic challenges that can be explained easily, but would take up too much time here, Paul’s point is really quite simple.  He is calling us as Christians to make a complete change.  He’s telling us that following Christ is a complete change from a life that doesn’t follow him.  We’re taking off those grave clothes and we’re putting on Christ.  The mind was one of the parts of a human body that was used when referring to something on the inside.  In other words, don’t just be changed on the outside and don’t just start showing the world only good things, but truly be changed in every fiber of your being.  Truly be changed in your emotions, your desires, and your motivations.  And in changing all of these things, what will happen is that in essence an entirely new person is being created.  Now, Paul’s going to spend really the rest of this epistle dealing with aspects of what this new man is to look like.  However, before moving to different examples of what this ought to look like in our lives, Paul gives us some ways in which we should be able to visibly see that we have taken off these grave clothes of the old man and put on the new clothes of the new man that is found in Christ Jesus.  We’re not going to have time to go into these fully, but we’ll just him them really quick.

                The first thing that Paul tells us is that we need to “put away falsehood” and “speak the truth”.  In other words, speak honestly with one another.  Some of your translations may say to put off lying.  Unfortunately, lying has become part of our world.  I’ve got a friend of mine who’s a lobbyist and he jokingly says that he lies, cheats, and steals for a living.  Now, he says that jokingly; however, it brings up an interesting point; should the Christian lie?  I want you to simply think about two titles that are given in Scripture.  One of which is the famous I Am statement of John 14:6 (I am the way and the truth and the life).  The other is the title that comes a bit earlier in chapter 8 of John’s gospel when the devil is known as the father of lies.  Now, you tell me that lying isn’t a big deal.  Christ calls himself the truth, while he refers to Satan as the father of all lies.

                The next thing Paul gives us about the change from old self to new self is about anger.  He says, “Be angry and do not sin.”  Now, we might expect to see “don’t be angry” here.  However, the Greek word used here doesn’t mean the type of momentary anger or temporary rage that some of you may have experienced before.  The word used here means a deep-seated, determined, and settled conviction.  Paul is calling for the Ephesians to not only not sin, but to hate sin as well.  This anger is good, but that momentary, fleeting anger (and even the built up anger over the wrong things) can become, as Paul says, “an opportunity to the devil.”  As we put on this new self, we have to change our hearts so that we become angry only over the right things.

                Then, Paul says to put off stealing and put on working.  This should go without saying.  After all, this is virtually a repetition of the eighth commandment.  However, this statement could pertain to more than just material possessions.  We could also say, bringing last Sunday’s text back into play, that when we don’t use the gifts that God has given us in service of Him that we are stealing from Him.  God commanded Adam to work in the Garden, and that was before the fall.  So two of the commands that God gave to us in a perfect world were to work and worship, and I don’t think that those things are to be mutually exclusive of one another.  All that being said, we can deduce from the words, “so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” that Paul is probably talking about theft of physical possessions.  I’ll be honest with you, working hard so that I can give more to others is something that I struggle with.  However, I know without a doubt that Scripture calls us to care for those less fortunate, and so we must do so.  This is part of putting off the old self and putting on the new.

                Next, we find Paul saying, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up…”  This is the biblical statement of “if you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.”  I was riding in the car with Amy the other day and we were talking about a kid in her class that was being picked on by some boys.  Now, I will readily admit that the worst people in the world are teenage boys.  They’re mean, they’re vicious, and they we jump on any imperfection within a person.  I shared with Amy how I realized years after the fact that many of my friendships were built on just insulting one another.  I realized one day that friendships like that weren’t adding anything to my life.  Those friendships that were valuable were the ones that I could share my emotions with without being made fun of.  Our talk, as well as our actions, ought not to be those that seek to insult or bring down a person, but seek to encourage them and build them up in Christ.

                The final statement serves as somewhat of a catch-all.  “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”  We are to put off all of those things mentioned in v. 31, and to put on all of those things mentioned in v. 32.  Now, there is some repetition there from earlier calls given by Paul.  However, I want to you remember one thing as we look at these characteristics that are to differentiate Christians from non-Christians…our natural tendency, as fallen human beings, is to sin.  I have to confession just like all of you, that far too often I fall on the wrong side of this equation when it comes to my actions.  The late 1800s and early 1900s American theologian G.K. Chesterton was once mailed something by the NY Times asking for his response as to what was wrong with the world today.  His response:  “Dear Sir.  I am.  Yours, G.K. Chesterton.”   We’re what’s wrong.  We’re the problem.  However, through Christ, we have hope.  Through the sacrifice that is represented on the table before us we have hope.  Because of Christ’s death and his atoning sacrifice, we can put off the old self and put on the new self.  We can take off the grave clothes and put on clothes of new life in Christ.

                Look, I’ve never been a huge fan of change.  I know that many of you feel the same way.  Change is difficult, it’s hard.  Change often comes with setbacks and mistakes and feelings of success not coming like we had imagined.  However, change is necessary, and especially when it comes to our faith.  We cannot think that our living apart from Christ could in any way resemble our being found in him.  If your life looks the same with or without Christ, then you have some hard questions to ask yourself as you look in the mirror.  We have to shed what is comfortable and do what is commanded.  We have to set aside what is easy and take up the difficult task.  We have to put our desires second and place God’s desires above our own.  We have to shed those dead, grave clothes and put on the new life that we have in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:1-16 "Whole Body Unity"

                Do y’all know what a ropes course is?  It’s a series of outdoor activities, usually involving ropes, that is designed for either personal development or building team unity.  I’ve been on numerous retreats and done several different ropes courses in my life with groups in an effort to build unity.  When I was growing up and playing sports, one thing that my coaches usually did was to get us to do something together that didn’t involve practice, like a ropes course.  When I coached, we did the same thing.  For example, we used to take our kids to do a community service project that required them to all work together.  Why did we do this?  It’s simple really; in order for a team to work most effectively and efficiently, they have to work together, in unity.  There has to be a sense of cohesiveness amongst the group, and a church is no different.  As Paul begins this application portion to his letter about the church to the Christians in Ephesus, he really emphasizes unity.  If one group is worried about this and another that and still another something else entirely, then nothing will be accomplished.  The unity of the body of Christ is of the utmost importance for having an impact for the gospel.  And we see Paul lay this argument out in his calling for unity, his explaining just what unity is, how this unity is achieved through gifts, and why these gifts are important in the life of the church.

                First, the call for unity; Paul urges them to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [they] have been called.”  Notice the use of called here.  It ought to remind us of the very first part of this epistle.  He doesn’t say that you have to fulfill what you chose or what you signed up for, but do what it is that you were called to do.  And we are to do it with a variety of characteristics:  humility, gentleness, patience, love, and peace.  In other words, we are to actually work together.  Thomas’ soccer team has been pretty unstoppable this year.  Mainly it’s because they have one kid who quite honestly is just better than everyone else.  The kid is four and he would probably be a tough match for me to keep up with.  However, there will come a point in time when sheer individual talent won’t be enough.  Eventually, maybe years from now, he is going to have to rely upon teammates.  His coach and his parents know that, so they really work with him on learning to pass and play defense, the less glamorous things.  They are teaching him to work as part of a group and not to just take control of every situation.  If we, as the body of Christ, are going to work effectively, then it must be a whole body effort and not just a few of the parts leading the way and dragging the rest along.

                Secondly, Paul’s explanation of unity.  In this brief section from vv.4-6, the word “one” is used seven times.  That’s over two times per verse.  There are three uses of the word that pertain to the Triune God and four that pertain to mankind.  Now, there are some interesting things that we could try and interpret into the total number of uses of the number one; however, I want to stick more of the substance of what Paul says here.  “There is one body” (i.e one Church, one way) “and one Spirit” meaning that we all became part of this one body through the work of the same Holy Spirit.  “Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.”  Well, what is our one hope?  Paul answers that by saying, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.”  In other words, Paul is saying that we’re all part of the same body, the body of Christ.  We’re all called to saving faith the same way, made new creations the same way, and brought to the same understanding of who God is.  Yes, it may look different in your life than in someone else’s, but that doesn’t change it into something different.  We all learn differently don’t we?  If you show Amy evidence and facts that say that something isn’t going to work then she is typically pretty understanding and doesn’t attempt it.  I, however, don’t believe any information until I see it will my own eyes.  Don’t just tell me that the couch won’t fit through the door, but show me that it won’t fit.  We both arrive at the same conclusion, it just takes some of us a little more to get there.  We both are left with a couch that does fit through a door.  All those who God calls to Himself get to the same point, some of us just require a little more patience and a little more effort than others.  Paul closes this section with a rapid-fire repetition of the word “all” in reference to God.  He tells us that this one body that we are to be a part of is completely and totally a work of God in our lives.  This is the unity that Paul is talking about, our unity of being found in Christ.

                Paul continues on this theme of unity by talking about how this unity comes about through the different gifts of others.  In other words, unity happens because of differences between people.  Now, that’s a confusing concept when we first hear those words.  However, it really isn’t if we think about it.  I’ve often said that the one job that I could never do in this world is food service; I could never be a waiter.  The reason for that is that the first time someone chose to take their frustrations out on me for the quality of the food; I might throw the food back at them and tell them to get out of the restaurant.  All that being said, I do understand that those who work in the food service industry are a vital part of our society.  Thank God that He gives some people the patience to do that job.  Within the church, God gives people different talents.  Paul lists out here for us prophets, apostles, shepherds, and teachers.  To some of you, what I am called to do each Sunday terrifies you.  The thought of public speaking is enough to cause a panic attack.  For me, some of the things that you do in service of God cause a similar reaction for me.  I don’t like hospitals.  I go to them, but they’re not my thing.  For those of you who go and visit friends, family, and even strangers in hospitals in order to witness to them and sit for hours, I am in amazement of you.  I go, I visit, and it’s like I’ve got a timer on myself to make sure I get out of there.  Now, it is important to note that because Christ is the one who gives us our gifts that we are to use them in service of God.  God didn’t give you the gift of being good with numbers so that you could make a comfortable living gambling.  God didn’t make you a good conversationalist so that your life could be filled with swindling and lying your way through it.  Your gifts were given specifically to you to be used in the service of bringing greater glory to God’s kingdom.  It’s up to you to use them in the proper way.

                The reason for Christ’s giving each of us our gifts finds a fuller explanation beginning in v. 12.  “To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…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.  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”  Now, the truth is that I could preach an entire sermon series about these words here, but I’ve got to condense them into a few sentences.  Our job, as a church (both locally and universally), as one unified body, is to equip others for ministry.  It’s not just the responsibility of the pastor, or the Session, or the leadership, or those who are really involved, but it’s the job of the entirety of the body.  If you are truly a Christian and truly part of the body of Christ, then there ought to be a desire for both your own personal growth and the growth of others.  Having faith like a child is great in terms of adoring God the way that a child adores their parents; however, having the understanding of a child when it comes to our faith is a different matter altogether.  My children are bright kids, but I’m not going to let them handle the family finances.  We would have the market covered on Legos and superhero toys.  We’re not going to let them buy the groceries because I can’t eat hotdogs 3 times a day every day.  Now when they get a little older and more mature in their understanding, we’ll let them pick out more of the food and we’ll entrust them with more of the daily responsibilities in our family.  However, until then, it is my job and Amy’s job to train them.  We have to train them and prepare them for one day going out into the world and not needing us.  I know that some of y’all don’t believe me when I say this, but I hope that there comes a day when my kids don’t need me.  I hope that there comes a day that Amy and I have so prepared them for the world that they can live and work and function without any help from us.  That’s our goal as parents.  Well, our goal as Christians ought to be to see other Christians get to that point.  Obviously there will always be a reliance upon Christ, but the goal is to help others get to a point where someone can assume ownership of their own faith.

                Paul concludes by saying, “Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”  In other words, for the church to function properly, the entire body must be doing its part.  If you go out to run and your entire body is functioning properly and your arm doesn’t work can you run properly?  Sure, you can still move, but you’re not working properly.  Our response many times as Christians is to shy away from our responsibilities.  Oh, I’m not knowledgeable enough to lead that study.  I don’t really have the time to commit to that like I would need to.  I’m not really that good of a public speaker; I think that’s best left up to someone else.  I’m not the best person to lead that effort.  I’ve just got so much on my plate right now that I don’t really have time.  I’ve got so many other commitments that I just can’t.  Things are really tight right now so I really can’t.  Where’s the priority in all of those excuses?  Where’s the willingness to allow yourself to be strengthened by God? Where’s the chance for God’s greatness to be shown through your weakness?  Christ has brought all of us together to be part of this body, and he has done so for a purpose.  He doesn’t bring us together so that a handful of people can work and drag everyone else with them.  He joins together the whole body so that it (we) may work together which will make “the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”  We’re all part of the body of Christ.  There is not one part more important than another; Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 12, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…For the body does not consist of one member but of many…that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together…Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

                To sum all of this up, we have to understand that we’re all together in this.  We cannot be simply concerned for ourselves, but we must be concerned with the whole body functioning properly.  And we are only functioning properly when the entirety of the body of Christ, the Church, is seeking first the righteousness of the kingdom of God.  We’re not seeking bigger buildings or more comfortable experiences, but we’re seeking the proclamation of the Gospel.  We only truly fulfill our purpose when we seek not our own way, but the will of God.  And this must be the unified desire of the Church, to know Christ, and to make Him known to others.