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I
am determined to get a blessing today. I hope that you will too.
I struggled with this scripture
passage. The image of Jacob wrestling with the angel until he received a
blessing kept coming to me. I imagine there were moments when he wanted nothing
more than to quit but something inside of him wouldn’t be quiet.
I
am determined to get a blessing today. I hope that you will too.
I read the letter to Ephesus or Ephesians several
times. Thank God I wasn’t stuck on a Psalm or I would still be in my office
reading. There are a number of themes that I want to talk about today.
Like any self-respecting “Bible nerd” I first feel
obligated to make a few statements about the letter.
1)
It
appears to be written by Paul but most scholars agree that a group of followers
of Paul wrote the letter and used Paul’s name to give themselves credibility.
It was a common practice in the ancient world of rhetoric to “borrow” a well
-known writer’s name.
2) The purpose of the letter is to impress upon the
church at Ephesus that Gentiles CAN become Christians. Since all of the
earliest Christians were Jews, it was a common controversy among the earliest
churches.
Thank God, there are no
issues in the church
today, I am talking about the universal church,
about who can be a Christian and who cannot. Ephesians has good news for
us…belief and faith in Christ as Savior is what makes a Christian.
When I argue with biblical
literalists, I
often cite John 3:16: “For God so loved the world
that God gave God’s only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not
perish but have everlasting life.”
If you are a literalist, you
take the words literally. Therefore, tell me where it says that God’s G/L/B/T
children are not saved. I am a “Whosoever.”
Ephesians repeats a number of interesting themes.
If
I had a dime for every time the writer uses the phrase “riches of Christ or
inheritance of God,” I would be in Boca Raton right now.
The
notion of God’s grace being bestowed upon us, a priceless treasure given freely
by a loving and ever-present Spirit, is a theme that Paul and so, the later
followers really try to drive home.
Ephesians 1: 11 & 12 says, “In Christ we have
obtained an inheritance, according to the purposes of him who accomplishes all
things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set
our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of Christ’s glory.”
An absolute reliance on God to show us the way to
salvation, peace, love and harmony is the point. An inheritance is shared among
people who are close to the giver of the inheritance. An inheritance provides
resources for our future. All believers share in the inheritance through
Christ. There are no divisions, no conditions, no exceptions.
In order to know Christ’s counsel and will, we must
have a relationship with Christ through prayer. I consider prayer to be like a
spiritual direct deposit of grace. I make a conscious investment of time,
intention and self-examination. In return, I have new energy, insights, and
resolve to deal with whatever challenges life brings me.
We cannot interact with God without being changed.
We see ourselves differently, we see situations in a new way; we come face to
face with who we are and who we want to be. Steps toward God are revealed to us
and we are granted the grace to move.
As many of you know I am a recovering alcoholic.
Through God’s grace I haven’t had a drink in sixteen plus years. Someone
recently asked me how it is that I came to the realization that I needed to
stop drinking. My life was completely out of control.
I
lived in central Illinois in an apartment with no heat.I slept in two sweat
suits, wool socks, and ear muffs or a hat.
Obviously, something was not right. This is not how
most college students live…a hockey stick as a bed -fellow. I lived in a bad
neighborhood and I had to be prepared for anything.
How is it that I stand before you today a person
with a strong sense of purpose, an owner of a nice home, surrounded by people
who love and care about me? Words escape me… God’s amazing and unexplainable
grace intervened in my life. I remember a moment of clarity in the midst of my
drunken fog, a moment in which I recognized my spiritual emptiness. Never have
I felt that way since because I had a spiritual awakening that day. I stood staring
at myself in the mirror and thinking to myself “you are gone, there is nothing
but empty eyes looking back at you.Where did you go? How do you find yourself
again?” That was my first prayer of, simultaneously, desperation and hope.
Those angst -filled moments were an encounter with
God. The experience of sheer emotional pain has become a foundation upon which
God has built a useful life. I echo the words of the writer when in Ephesians
3: 7 it is said, “ Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift
of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of God’s power.”
It is difficult to put into words such a profound
and life changing experience. Resurrection is not theoretical…it happens every
day through God’s amazing love and grace. Christ’s riches work in our lives by
providing us power to do things we thought were impossible. We discover, buried
within us, the strength to face who we are and to speak that truth to those we
love.
Each of us has experienced a time of being
spiritually lost, a crisis or tragedy that shook our very center. The irony is
that in order to experience God’s strength and grace we must be willing to face
our own weakness and inadequacy.
Understanding the mystery of Christ is about being
willing to explore new terrain within ourselves, walking through our fears and
pains to glean from them messages of hope brought to us by God. Prayer is the
light that will lead us to God’s will. The mystery of Christ is that out of
tremendous pain and injustice comes the message of hope. Within every wound
there is the essential ingredients for healing.
The boundless riches of Christ are open to everyone.
“Boundless” means that there are no parameters, no barriers, no limits to the
love of God shown to us through Christ. The tough part of life is to recognize
our own vulnerability, our own weakness and to not turn away, but instead, turn
to God.
When I lived in New York City I used to collect
clothes for the homeless because every year several homeless people freeze to
death in the harsh winter temperatures. I thought often of the lonely,
depressed drunken kid lying in cold apartment in Central Illinois. I honestly
don’t know why I was spared homelessness and hardship it brings. I can stand
here and tell you that the only thing that has kept me from such a life are
“the boundless riches of Christ.” The grace that would not let me go, the God who never gave up on me, that is why
I am here.
I passed out sweaters, coats and hats in hopes that
the physical bodies would be alive so that the spirit residing within could
have the life changing moment that I was granted all those years ago. I praise
God every day that I have experienced everything that I have. It makes me who I
am today.
After hours of wrestling I came to this about today’s
scripture:
I,
Sue, friend of Jesus, for the sake of my own soul and that of my neighbor,
pledge to act in hope, love and peace as a celebration of God’s grace given
freely to me through the life of Christ. I will proclaim until my dying day the
boundless riches of Christ to all.
For you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray
that the Spirit of God will transform you and fill your hearts and homes with
joy and peace. God knows you better than you know yourself. Trust in God, pour
your heart out to God. Know God will always extend the grace that can and will
save you.
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