Be strong. Stand firm. Ephesians 6: 10 – 20

            Be strong in the Lord.  As an undergraduate, my brother began competing as a weightlifter.  The coach invited him onto the team not because Chuck had some inherent strength—a super power conveyed on him in a lab experiment gone wrong—a strength that grew in proportion to his emotions as with Dr. Bruce Banner and his alter ego—The Incredible Hulk.  No, the coach invited Chuck onto the team because he saw his commitment to and his potential for growth—not growing taller and bigger but growing stronger.  The coach recognized my brother would prepare and persist.  Starting with lighter weights, he practiced the correct weightlifting postures and the proper movements for the lifts. He practiced often—with the coach, with other team members, and with spotters.  He persisted—adding more and more weights, practicing form, and perfecting stance.  He altered his college-boy, junk-food diet and began to eat healthy.  The coach recognized my brother would prepare and persist.He expected Chuck would grow strong and stand firm.  That’s exactly what he did.  

            Grow strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.  What is the Lord’s power?  Paul calls it the armor of God:  truth, justice, salvation, and faith—founded on the word of God.  Both the Living Word of God—Jesus the Christ—and the written word of God—the Bible—through which we meet, experience, and get to know the Living Word.   The armor of God is truth, justice, salvation, and faith—upheld by the Word of God.  We “put on”—we are dressed with—God’s power when we confidently share and proclaim the good news of God’s peace.  Ahh, but there’s the rub.  We can faithfully live into God’s truth and work for God’s justice only if we know what is God’s truth and only if we recognize what is God’s justice.  That comes from ongoing experience with and knowledge of the Word of God—both the Living Word, Jesus the Christ, and the written word, the Bible.             

            God’s truth can be revealed to us, individually, in our private devotional time—through study and prayer and in our personal relationship with Jesus the Christ.  But we also learn God’s truth as we hear Bible stories and struggle with their relevance for us—together.  We also learn God’s truth as we read the letters to the early Christians and wrestle with their meaning—together. We also learn God’s truth as we ponder Christ’s life and grapple with the differing gospel accounts—together. We also learn God’s truth as we share our personal experiences with God’s word—with one another.  God’s truth can be revealed to us individually, but more likely, we learn God’s truth as we wrestle with the word of God—in community. 

            I say “wrestle with” because over the centuries, different peoples in different locations have offered different interpretations of the word of God—both the Living Word and the written word.  Even today—in our community of believers—we bring different denominational backgrounds, different life experiences, and different individual bias to our understanding of God’s word.  When we wrestle together—with one another, not against—we grow stronger in our faith; we grow stronger in our understanding of God’s truth; we grow stronger in our desire to do God’s justice.

            Grow strong in the Lord and the strength of his power. Stand firm.  12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (NRSV) The Christians at Ephesus and in the newly-formed communities of faith across Asia Minor—the Christians among whom this letter was originally circulated—faced adversaries—not so much people adversaries as systems adversaries.  They faced the system of Roman subjugation, the system of crippling economic inequalities, and the system of religious oppression.  These systems and the authorities who perpetuated them seemed to have powers of cosmic proportion. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand . . .  to stand firm.  (NRSV) Paul encourages the readers of his letter to be strengthened by God’s powerful strength in order to withstand these strong forces of evil that oppose God’s justice. 

            What is God’s justice?  Reading what the prophets in the Old Testament proclaim and listening to the words of Jesus the Christ in the gospel accounts, we hear what is God’s justice—

                        that the slaves are freed;

                        that the hungry are fed and the sick are healed;

                        that God’s children may worship God. 

Paul encourages his readers—then and now—to stand firm against those who oppose God’s justice.  Paul encourages his readers—the Ephesian Christians and us—to stand firm against the people and the powers and the systems that separate one group of people from another—denying life or freedom from some.

            Stand firm for God’s justice. The people of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a village in southeast France, know about standing firm for God’s justice. They are Hugenots; their theological roots reach all the way back to John Calvin, one of the earliest and most influential of the Protestant Reformers.  John Knox—the founder of the Presbyterian church—was a student of John Calvin.  So Hugenots are to France what Presbyterians are to Scotland.  They are our theologically reformed “cousins”.

            The day after the French government signed armistice papers with Nazi Germany, Pastor Andre Trocme in Le Chambon preached this: “The duty of Christians is to respond to the violence that will be brought to bear on their consciences with the weapons of the spirit”[1]   Weapons of the spirit—the armor of God—truth, justice, salvation, and faith—grounded in the Word of God.  “We will resist whenever our adversaries will demand of us compliance contrary to the orders of the Gospel.”[2]  We will stand firm for God’s justice.  “We will do so without fear as well as without pride and without hate.”[3]  Be strong in the Lord and in his powerful strength. 

            Standing firm against Nazi atrocities aimed at the Jews, standing firm against the forces of evil that opposed God’s justice—during World War II, the people of Le Chambon—population 5,000 in the village and the surrounding farms (Does that sound familiar? That’s a community the size of our community.)—the people of Le Chambon took in between 3,000 – 5,000 Jewish refugees.  Some of these Jews stayed in the village or on neighboring farms until the war ended.  Others rested, were provided counterfeit travel documents, and were guided on to neutral Switzerland.  Not one Jew who came to Le Chambon was turned away.  Every Chambonnais family opened their doors—sharing their homes, their food, their resources, and their lives with Jewish refugees.  Internalizing Jesus’ command—to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love others as we love ourselves—the people of Le Chambon opposed systemic evil—what seemed like cosmic powers of darkness.  They stood firm.

            They stood firm for God’s justice.  They responded as Paul encourages all his readers to respond—whether they be in 1^st Century Ephesus, in 20^th century France, or in 21^st century America.  Stand firm for God’s justice—that all are free—that no human rights are abridged.  Stand firm for God’s justice—that the poor can provide for their families—food when they are hungry, healthcare when they are sick, shelter from the elements—that economic inequalities do not cripple the lives and the welfare of anyone—especially not the powerless.  Stand firm for God’s justice—that God’s children may worship God in the places and in the traditions familiar to them without fear of reprisal or persecution—no religious oppression.  Paul encourages his readers—then and now—to stand firm against those who oppose God’s justice.  Stand firm against the people and the powers and the systems that separate people from each other—that treat one group better than another as if some people deserve life and health, safety and shelter, freedom and privilege while others do not. Stand firm against that which opposes God’s justice.

            Like the weightlifting coach did with my brother, God recognizes potential in us.  God created each one of us with the potential to grow—to grow strong in the Lord. God created in each one of us the potential to receive God’s truth, to seek and faithfully work for God’s justice, to proclaim—not just with our words but with our very lives—the good news of God’s peace.             

            Filled with God’s love and redeemed by Christ’s grace, may we all live into our God-given potential.

Let us pray. 

Almighty God, strengthen us with your truth that we may live your message of peace. 

Life-giving God, empower us to stand firm for your justice. 

Faithful God, guide us in our encounters with and responses to Your Word.  Amen.

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[1] Sauvage, Pierre.  “A Most Persistent Haven:  Le Chambon-sur-Lignon—The Story of 5,000 Who Would Not Be Bystanders and of 5,000 More” found at <http://www.chambon.org/documents_english/a_most_persistent_haven_by_pierre_sauvage_oct_1983_en.pdf>  accessed 2012-08-19.

[2] Sauvage, Pierre.  “A Most Persistent Haven:  Le Chambon-sur-Lignon—The Story of 5,000 Who Would Not Be Bystanders and of 5,000 More” found at <http://www.chambon.org/documents_english/a_most_persistent_haven_by_pierre_sauvage_oct_1983_en.pdf>  accessed 2012-08-19.

[3] Sauvage, Pierre.  “A Most Persistent Haven:  Le Chambon-sur-Lignon—The Story of 5,000 Who Would Not Be Bystanders and of 5,000 More” found at <http://www.chambon.org/documents_english/a_most_persistent_haven_by_pierre_sauvage_oct_1983_en.pdf>  accessed 2012-08-19.

Being in God's family--Cultivating a life of gratitude Ephesians 5: 15 - 20

            Since mid-July, we’ve been pondering the book of Ephesians, and we’ve framed our reflections within “being in God’s family.”  In chapter 1, we heard the beautiful, inclusive promise that through God’s love and Christ’s grace, we are adopted into the God’s family.  In chapter 2, we considered the different ways we separate ourselves from God and from one another.  Calling them walls, we recognized that Christ’s peace tears down these “dividing walls of hostility” in order to draw us closer together in God’s family.  Reading chapter 3, we focused on the image of a tree and considered what it means to be rooted and grounded in God’s love. God’s family tree is our family tree.  Last week, we considered how God’s love is the ligaments connecting all of us bones who make up the body of Christ, the church.  We are one in Christ because God’s love holds us—God’s family—together.  Today, we continue. 

            I have found this study of Ephesians to be both refreshing and laborious.  The language is rich, the theology is reformed, and the subject—being the church—is relevant.  Rich language is also condensed language, and as I open Ephesians each week, it’s as if I am mixing water, and egg, flour, yeast, salt, and a little sugar.  As I read and study, I’m stirring and kneading thicker and thicker dough—dough that will rise and bake into tasty, rich, filling bread.  But it’s a lot of work to end up with that bread.  I hope you’re willing to knead another loaf with me today as we explore Ephesians chapter 5.

            “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time.”[1] The Greek word translated here as time is kairos. In the New Testament, kairos is used to talk about the time when God acts, the time appointed for God’s purposes, not the time on a clock.  That’s a different Greek word.   We readers of Ephesians are urged to recognize the days we live in as God’s time, days when God’s purpose can and will be fulfilled.  Making the most of the kairos time, means making ourselves available—open—to whatever God may put before us.  Making the most of the kairos time means opening our senses—sight, sound, taste, touch, smell—opening our thoughts, and opening our lives to what God sets before us. Making the most of the kairos time, we prepare ourselves to receive.

            How do we prepare ourselves to receive?  We give “thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”[2]  We cultivate a life of gratitude in ourselves, in our family, and in our community of faith. On Tuesday morning, one of my conversations began with “I’m so glad to be alive on this beautiful day. I’m looking forward to today.”  It wasn’t until later in the conversation that I learned my friend had been ill and would be going to the doctor to find out what the problem might be.  I would have to say this person is cultivating a life of gratitude.  For the 1^st words out of her mouth were words of joy and thanks—beautiful day, glad to be alive, looking forward to.  I have another friend here in Paola who says she looks for “Thank you, God” moments.  Every time we talk, she shares a “thank you, God” either from her past or in the present.  We cultivate a life of gratitude by perceiving life as a gift and looking for God’s blessings within this gift.

            Another way to cultivate a life of gratitude is through movement—using our bodies to act out our thanks  Dancing with joy, clapping with excitement, stomping with energy—these are all postures of gratitude. The term “postures” reminds me of yoga. I began practicing yoga to relieve stress and heal from an injury.  Over the years I have found that clearing my mind of all distractions, focusing on breath and movement, each time I plant my feet like roots, lift my arms, raise my head—I am reminded of the God whose love sustains me.  My yoga postures have become postures of gratitude. My yoga practice has become a practice of thankfulness.  When we cultivate a life of gratitude, our minds, hearts, and bodies work together to form us into thankful people. 

            We cultivate a life of gratitude in our family.  Just this week, one of our parents was sharing an evening ritual with me.  She said at the dinner table, each person is allowed to share one disappointing experience from the day.  Then everyone is encouraged to share as many positive experiences from the day as they want. Their table fellowship acknowledges that “life is not fair” while encouraging each other to persist in joyful, affirming, constructive activities and relationships.

            We cultivate a life of gratitude in our community of faith.  Our worship is our response to God’s love for us, God’s grace given to us, and God’s power to re-deem, re-claim, and re-create our lives for God’s good purposes.  Coming together to read and proclaim God’s timeless truths and responding corporately with the Apostles’ Creed or the Lord’s Prayer or some other unison response, our worship taps into springs that run deep within our shared and individual histories. Extending the peace of Christ softens our tough hides and allows us to feel the cool, soft, slippery satin of forgiveness.  Paul says, “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.”[3] Music speaks to our hearts rather than our minds.  Melody and tempo can energize and renew us. Melody and tempo can calm and heal us.  

Music reaches deep into the inarticulate space where words cannot quite reach[4].  Participating in worship helps us cultivate a life of gratitude.

            “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”[5]  In his Bible paraphrase, The Message, Eugene Peterson calls the days desperate.  It is possible to cultivate a life of gratitude even during desperate days, even in desperate situations.  Each year our daughters were in high school, members of our church—youth and adults—traveled to the border between Texas and Mexico.   Partnering with Ministerio de Fey (Ministries of Faith), they built houses for people living in Reynosa and Miguel Alemon.  Our “away” team—that’s what we called those who traveled to the border—worked with the family receiving the house and with other families who would receive houses later.  Together they built a 12 by 24 concrete block house—which was larger and sturdier and safer than the cardboard, tin, or scavenged wood lean-tos that the families were currently living in. Each day families and away teams would stop their work at noon and travel to the church—the “command” center for all the house-building in the area.  There, away teams from all over the US—our church group was only one among many serving with Ministerio de Fey—and the families involved in the building would gather for a shared home-cooked meal and for worship.  Regardless of the work yet to be done on the house—the threat of rain when you needed to pour the concrete floor or just being behind schedule—everyone stopped work each day at noon and gathered at the church for a shared meal and for worship.  Breaking language barriers using halting Spanish and English, gesturing a lot, and infrequently relying on the few translators, people shared stories and laughter.  In worship, the Mexican people offered exuberant singing, responsive prayers, and heartfelt reflection on scripture. Every worship service began with “This is the Day,”  Esta es el dia.  Each year, our adults and youth would return to Round Rock with this common reflection:  “I left here thinking I was giving a gift to these people, but I return recognizing I have received a gift—the gift of new eyes from which to view the world.  The people we worked with have so much less than I have, yet they are thankful and joyful.”  Each year, our adults and youth returned telling us they had met people who cultivate a life of gratitude—even in desperate situations. 

            As members of God’s family, we are expected to live wisely—cultivating a life of gratitude.  Seeking “thank you, God” moments, we plant seeds of gratitude in our daily lives.  Sharing those experiences with others, we water those seeds.  Participating in corporate worship, we tend the shoots as they push through the soil of even desperate days.  Cultivating a life of gratitude is more than looking for the silver lining behind the cloud.  It is living with the sure and certain knowledge that God is ever present with us.  It is living with the strong and persistent hope that God will use us to achieve God’s good purposes in God’s kairos—in God’s appointed time.  Amen.

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[1] Ephesians 5: 15 – 16 (New Revised Standard Version)

[2] Ephesians 5: 20

[3] Ephesians 5: 19 (New Revised Standard Version)

[4] Jaime Clark-Soles, “Ephesians 5: 15 – 20:  Exegetical Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word, Year B, vol. 3.  Edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, 353.

[5] Ephesisans 5: 15 – 16 (New Revised Standard Version)

Being in the Family of God: Unity Ephesians 4: 1 - 16

            I’m about to take you back to my high school days:   2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits a dollar all for the Wildcats, stand up and holler!  I participated in that cheer every fall Friday afternoon during each of my 4 years of high school.  In the gym, with a large picture of the Angleton High School wildcat mascot prominently displayed above the door and spirit signs decorating all the walls, we held a pep rally for the football game that night.  At “stand up and holler” everyone would stand and yell at the top of their lungs.  Unity—we showed our unity with voice and body—with sound and movement!

            My Papa told me about another example of unity.  Showing me his garden—Ken, it was about as big as yours, though he did not grow as many tomatoes as you—showing me his garden, my Papa would tell me how he 1^st started gardening during World War II.  Just about everyone in Angleton had a victory garden, he said. 

You fed yourself and your family as best you could from your garden, then more of the produce from large farms could feed the men and women serving our country in the war. Back then, my Papa said, he picked up many a hitchhiker on the road.  People walked and thumbed rides because there was the limited gasoline, and they wanted most of it to be used for the war effort.  4 F’d by the draft board supervisor, my Papa was told, Roy, we need you here—driving your dump truck, collecting metal, rubber, and glass for the war.  During World War II, Americans showed their unity in the sacrificial changes they made to their lifestyles.

            Unity—that’s what today’s scripture is about.  Here, Paul talks about unity for the purpose of building up the church—not this building of bricks and mortar.  The 1^st century Christians like those in Ephesus worshiped in each others’ homes.  They had no concept of a building specifically for worship.  Paul talks about unity for the purpose of building up the church, the community of faith, unity for the purpose of equipping the church to be Christ’s hands and feet, unity in which both voice and action play important roles.

            Today’s scripture starts with love, ends with love and has unity in the middle. Accept each other with love, 3 and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together . . . Speaking the truth in with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ.[1]  For many years I equated preserving unity with “keeping the peace.”  That meant “don’t rock the boat.”  Every time we visited west Texas, there would be at least one big Jones family get-together—with Kevin’s Mamaw and Granddad, his parents and brothers and their families, his Uncle Bill and Aunt Shirley and their children and their families—lots of people, lots of eating, lots of talking, lots of laughing.  But sometime during the visit, Uncle Bill would start talking politics. 

A strong supporter of one of our country’s 2 main political parties, he would espouse the party line and offer the party examples of what’s wrong and how to fix it.  Now, it so happens that I identified with the other political party, and I disagreed with much of what he said.  But, in the spirit of keeping the peace, of preserving unity, I said nothing.  I smiled or nodded and ultimately found a way to excuse myself from the conversation and the room.

While that may have been appropriate for that particular situation and the few short years Mamaw and Granddad and Uncle Bill were living after I married into the Jones family, the problem is—I practiced “keeping the peace, not rocking the boat” in most of my other interactions in all aspects of my life—even in Bible studies and Sunday School classes. 

            I really needed to be focusing on Paul’s words at the end of today’s text: 

speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ.[2]  Years later, when I finally realized I could no longer be quiet and be faithful to Christ, it was difficult to break my habit of silence.  I had to speak the truth in love—even when it opposed what had already been said, what was hanging out there in the conversation.  How uncomfortable but necessary it was for me, to speak up in the neighborhood women’s Bible study.  This study was led by and mostly attended by women whose denominational backgrounds were different from mine.  Their denominations offered a more conservative interpretation of the Bible.  It was uncomfortable but necessary for me to finally give voice to my convictions and beliefs.  Responding to statements written by the author of the study and affirmed by the leader, I heard myself saying “that’s not how I understand . . .  salvation.  I don’t believe it’s a matter of our doing anything to earn God’s love.  I believe it’s a gift, a freely given gift, a gift we sometimes close our eyes to, a gift we sometimes refuse to accept, but it’s a gift.  I believe it’s a gift offered to every single person, and here is the Biblical witness on which I base my beliefs.”  You’ll notice I did not just say, “Here is what I believe.” But I also included the scriptures guiding me to those beliefs.  Using scripture as a basis for conviction in a Bible study is appropriate.

            Today’s scripture starts with love, ends with love and has unity in the middle.

Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love. [3] I used to understand humility, gentleness, and patience to be quiet, passive traits. But that’s not what Paul is talking about here. The New Revised Standard Version might help shed some light: “Bearing with one another in love.”[4]  Paul is calling his readers not to feel warmly towards each other but to help carry each other’s burdens, to do love.[5] This kind of active love is the glue[6] that holds the community of faith together.  This kind of love “knits the body together”[7] like the ligaments that connect bone to bone—the ligaments that enable our bodies to move, to be active.  This kind of love knits the community of faith—often called the body of Christ—together enabling the church to do God’s work.

            Today’s scripture starts with love, ends with love, and has unity in the middle.  Pointing out what his readers share in common, Paul describes the unity that binds them—that binds us—together. 4 You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.[8]   Although we are many individuals, we come together as the church (one body) in this place and time.  We, the church, are empowered by the one Holy Spirit.  Our unity is based in the one calling we all share—the call to be disciples of Christ—to live our lives through the model Christ provides.  Our unity is based in the one hope we all respond to—that God’s love offers us abundant, new life.  Our unity is based on the one faith we share—faith that Christ’s grace extends to and covers us, even us.  We look to the same one God—in family language our loving parent—in whose guidance we trust.

            Today’s scripture starts with love, ends with love, and has unity in the middle.  The purpose of our unity is to build up the church. Here is what our Presbyterian constitution says about the church:

The church is the body of Christ.  The church is to be a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of losing its life. The church is to be a community of hope—rejoicing in the sure and certain knowledge that in Christ, God is making a new creation.  What does that mean? God is making each of us a new creation by transforming our lives.  God is making the world a new creation by transforming the structures within which we live and work.  God is making a new creation to ultimately align with God’s good purposes. The church is to be a community of love where sin is forgiven, reconciliation is accomplished, and the dividing walls of hostility are torn down.  

The church is to be a community of witness, pointing beyond itself through word and work to the good news of God’s transforming grace in Christ Jesus its Lord.[9]

            Today’s scripture starts with love—God’s love supporting our works of love.  Today’s scripture ends with love—God’s love empowering us to grow into Christ’s image.  And today’s scripture has unity in the middle—unity for the purpose of equipping us to serve God.  Together we many threads are knit by God’s loving hands into one tapestry.  Today’s scripture is about unity—our response to God’s love through our voice and our actions.  Today’s scripture is the cheer of love that supports that unity. 

            Rather than a 2 bits, 4 bits yell, we can say the Apostles’ Creed together as our cheer of unity.This is a confession first used to teach those converting to Christianity in the 1^st century AD.  It continues to be used in worship services in many different Christian denominations today.  The Apostles’ Creed is an affirmation of what the “catholic” with a little c church—the church universal—believes.  The phrase “communion of saints” refers to the inter-connectedness of Christians—from the past, in the present, and into the future.  So, “saints” does not mean perfect people.  None of us is perfect.

            As a sign of our unity in Christ, let us stand—offering movement—and say—giving voice to—what we, the one body of Christ, believe. 

            I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth,

            And in Jesus Christ God’s only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.  On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father; and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

            I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  Amen. [10]

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[1] Ephesians 4: 3, 16 (Common English Bible)

[2] Ephesians 4: 15  (Common English Bible)

[3] Ephesians 4: 2 (Common English Bible)

[4] Ephesians 4: 2 (NRSV)

[5] G. Porter Taylor, “Ephesians 4: 1 – 16 Theological Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word, Year B, vol. 3.  Edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, p. 306.

[6] Taylor, 306.

[7] Taylor, 306.

[8] Ephesians 4: 4 – 6 (Common English Bible)

[9] The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.) Part II:  The Book of Order 2011 – 2013   Louisville:  Office of the General Assembly, 2011.  F-1.0301.   The italicized parts are my paraphrase.

[10] “Apostles’ Creed, (Ecumenical Version)” from The Presbyterian Hymnal:  Hymns, Songs, and Spiritual Songs.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 1990, p. 14.