Excursions in Ephesians: Discovering who we are in Christ
Part One
Here we are, smack dab in the middle of summer. With things opening up somewhat, people are
starting to travel again or at least to take little excursions for the weekend.
Well we’re about to embark on an excursion this morning, theologically speaking, and it’s one
you don’t have to leave home for. This Sunday, and for the next six Sundays, we’re going to take
An Excursion through Ephesians – Discovering who we are in Christ.
Now, I want to be up front, studying Ephesians is not going to be a “beach book read.” It’s not
light and fluffy and predictable. Our excursion is going to require that you exercise more brain
power because we are dealing with precepts and theology as outlined by the apostle Paul, as
opposed to entering the narrative world of stories that we often find in the Gospels. In the Gospel
stories these same weeks, we will hear about John the Baptist and Herod and stories from both
the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John about Jesus’ multiplying loaves and fishes and what
it means that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Good stuff, and maybe a little easier to comprehend and
apply its meaning. Heck, I imagine the story of John the Baptist we just heard, with some extra
details, could be easily expanded into a beach book.
On the other hand, I know Paul’s writing is not always the easiest to dissect, but there is good
reason to do so.
Our lectionary doesn’t always give us 7 weeks to talk about a short 6 chapter book of the bible,
but that’s what we have this summer, so let’s take advantage of that and dig in a bit, while giving
ourselves bit of a structure and sense of anticipation from week to week during these summer
days.
But a much better reason to take on this intellectually stimulating and spiritually fulfilling
excursion, is because Ephesians is a wonderful book expounding God’s person and purpose, and
who we are as God’s Chosen ones. Paul outlines the important role of the Church in
accomplishing God’s purposes. It’s a high and lofty view that helps us Celebrate God’s Beauty.
As I heard one preacher say, “It’s like the Grand Canyon of the Bible... it can make you gasp
with wonder when you finally take in the view.”
Our mission here at St. Michael’s is to “Celebrate God’s Beauty, Love God’s People, and Serve
God’s World,” and Paul’s letter to the people and the church he started in Ephesus can help us
see even more clearly how our mission fits within God’s bigger mission, and how each of us has
a part of God’s larger purposes.
So, for our series, I’m going to invite you to do something we Episcopalians rarely do – Bring
your bibles to church and take notes. You may wish to follow along in your own bible, see how
your translation adds nuance and meaning. I suggest you read the book of Ephesians at home...
first, all at once for an overall picture, and then one chapter each week before Sunday. In my
bible, the whole book is only 10 pages. We’ve even made a little gift for you by printing the
Letter to the Ephesians into its own little booklet, using the New Revised Common Version in
the left-hand column, the translation we use in church, along with the Message Translation of
The Message in the right hand column. The Message is actually a contemporary paraphrase, but
it is based on solid scholarship of the original languages and brings a fresh and accessible
meaning to the text.
All right, let’s get started. Here are the first 2 verses of the book, that are left out of our reading
today.
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are
faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
That’s a pretty typical opening for one of Paul’s letters. You see, Paul, travelled around the
Mediterranean essentially starting new churches, and then later, would write letters to the people
there, to encourage them in their walk, or to correct them when he heard that they had gotten off
track. Then these letters were circulated among other Christian communities and eventually
gathered together to make up a large part of what we call the New Testament today.
You can read about how Paul started the church in Ephesus, a city in current day Turkey, in the
book of Acts, Chapter 19. He was there for over 2 years, between the years 50 – 52, and he
dedicated a lot of time to teaching those who were interested in the way of Jesus.
There is some scholarly argument that Paul, himself, may not have been the actual author of this
letter, but rather, a leader in the Pauline community after him, who, per the custom of the time,
would have used the founder’s name to carry on his work. Essentially it doesn’t matter. This
letter has held authority in the church since it was first written, and is included in the very first
lists of New Testament scripture we have dating back to about the year 130.
But for argument’s sake, I’ll be referring to Paul as the author, since certainly those who
followed him would know Paul’s connection to this area well. It was likely written around the
year 62 of the common era, and if by Paul, while he was in prison in Rome.
Paul cared a lot for the Ephesians. You see, Ephesus, like many big cities of our day, was a city
brimming with many cultures and religious philosophies. The Temple to the Greek Goddess
Artimus, or Diana, was a major religious site in the town. In fact, there were many people who
made their living off the cult of Artimus... selling gold or silver statues, selling sacrifices, and so
on. It was a port city at the time, and the excellent road system connected it to many other places
in the Roman empire. It was strategic for Paul to spend time teaching these Christians, because
they were likely to be in contact with people from all over the known world and through
interactions with these folk the Gospel of Jesus spread quickly along the Roman road system into
urban areas across the Roman empire.
He wrote, not to correct any division or heresy, but to continue his teaching and to encourage
them. This letter was likely meant not only for the Ephesians, but meant as a circular letter, that
would have been copied and read aloud in the other Christian communities and house churches
wherever Christians met together. And well, here we are today, the latest Christians to have this
letter read in our assembly.
So what does Paul say? He says a lot in this first chapter that we won’t have time to get into in
the short amount of time I have left for our message this morning, but it’s all good stuff.
Basically, in Chapter One, Paul is saying, that
We, the church, are a planned people.
People with a purpose.
People given power.
First of all, Paul is very excited and enthusiastic. In the Greek, the passage we read today, verses
3-14, are all One Sentence! One Run on Sentence full of excitement and praise to God.
So, let’s savor this exuberant praise. I’ll read from The Message version, stopping to expound
myself here and there, and you can follow along in that little booklet, or in your bulletin for the
NRSV version. There’s even New International Version translations of the bibles at the end of
each pew. which itself does a good job of expounding what Paul says,
3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ,
and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations,
he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his
love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure
he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by
the hand of his beloved Son.”
In other words. We are a planned people. None of us is here by mistake. Humanity is God’s plan,
a people God created out of love, for love. More than that, God plans that all should be adopted
into his family through the life and sacrifice of Jesus. God took great pleasure in gifting us with
the opportunity to be his children. You know how sometimes you can be so delighted to give a
special gift to someone? You delight in their smile or surprise. I know this happens a lot to us
parents. Even more so with God. It is through Jesus that we can come before God as blameless
innocent children. The next verses go on to explain...
7-10 “Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're
a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just
barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could
possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us
in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in
him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.”
You see, everything in history is moving to a time when all things will be brought together in
Christ, where heaven and earth will be reconciled once again together. Jesus, through his life,
death and resurrection, overcame the power of death – death on many different levels... physical
death, meaning that even though our bodies die, someday in a renewed world, we will get
resurrection bodies – what that will be like, I have no clue. Even more important is the Jesus
overcame our Spiritual death, so that even though our bodies go into the ground, our souls live
forever with God, knowing and enjoying Jesus’ presence. And Jesus resurrection has power over
the smaller spiritual deaths we experience on this side of life. All the places where we wound our
souls through sin, all the hurts we absorb from other people, all the negative, accusatory words
lied into our hearts by the enemy... all those can be dealt with by knowing who we are in Christ.
Jesus has made us free, brought us out of debt, which prepares us to take part in the Cosmic plan
God has in store for us. We go on to verse 11.
11-12 “It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first
heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living,
part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
We are a planned people and God has plans for us. In other words, We are a people with a
purpose.
I read a simple summary of this section of Ephesians this week that went “I am Blessed, Chosen,
Adopted, Accepted, Redeemed and Forgiven.”
I once attended a baby shower for a young couple. At one point in the evening, the mother to
be’s brothers and friends lit Asian Prayer laterns, Asian Prayer laterns, paper balloons with a
small flame inside that rises up into the sky, symbolizing the prayers and good wishes the people
gathered had for this new life God is bringing into the world. That little baby, yet unborn, had so
much potential. At that point no one knew what life would hold for her. But it is a beautiful thing
to realize that she, and every other person in the world, already has a purpose.... To be a child of
God, to be part of god’s family through Jesus, let the love of God that is given to her, flow
through her to help her take her place in reconciling to world to God.
God has a purpose for us, but that purpose of being one with God can be lived out in so many
ways.... God reveals our particular purpose to us as we discover our gifts and live into our lives,
fully enjoying our inheritance as God’s children.
Paul concludes his long sentence in verses 13-14:
13-14 “It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your
salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This
signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything
God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.”
The rest of Chapter 1 expounds on this work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives us the
Power to live into the plans and purposes God has for us as a people. The Holy Spirit, which
came at Pentecost, and fills each believer, is like a deposit, a down payment, on the fullness of
the spirit that we will someday experience with God.
We are a planned people. People with a purpose. People given power by the Spirit.
Paul goes on to pray for the believers in Ephesus, that they have wisdom and can see what God is
calling them to do. Paul prays that the Ephesians, and we, understand the greatness of God’s
power which rules everything, including the church.
In the last verses of Chapter 1, Paul explains that Christ rules all, including being head of his
body here on earth, the church. We, the body of Christ, are to be the primary agents through
which God wishes to act to bring all of creation into a loving reconciled relationship with God.
That’s what we at St. Michael’s are to be about. That was God’s plan from the beginning. That is
God’s purpose for us now. And God has given us the power through his Spirit, both individually,
and corporately as his church, to engage this great destiny. What a wonderful excursion this will
be, as, over the next few weeks, we discover more fully the plans, purposes and power God has
for us, and how we, practically, can experience them in our own place and time. Amen.