Among all of the other wonderful elements in The Lord of the Rings, it is perhaps a story more about fellowship than anything else. In fact, the second volume of the trilogy is called The Fellowship of the Ring. In that story, great fellowship takes place among many different kinds of creatures. If you know the story, you know that good wizards, men of old, elves, dwarves - and of course, the stay-at-home Hobbits – are all drawn together into one great fellowship to save Middle Earth.
Even the most unlikely of creatures find friendship and fellowship because this one common good has bound them together forever, and that common good transcends all of their differences.
But there is an even greater fellowship that takes place in God’s kingdom, one which could therefore be called not the “Fellowship of the Ring,” but “The Fellowship of the King.”
It’s this fellowship that St. Paul shows us this morning in Philippians 1.
As Christians, we’re supposed to have fellowship in the unity of the Spirit and a bond of peace that is so strong that others might say as they said of the early Christians, “How they love one another!” Sometimes we are creatures as different from one another as dwarves and elves, and yet the world should marvel at our unity, in spite of our differences in personality and experiences.
Our fellowship comes not from ourselves but flows from the fellowship we have with God our King, a fellowship we have in 3 ways: with His Person, in His purpose, and in His power. We have fellowship with God’s person, of course, through Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings, and if you’ve ever thought it might be a grand adventure to fight in Gandalf’s army then you might be glad to know that you are a part of Jesus Christ’s army (remember Ephesians 6 yesterday?)
This fellowship is much greater than in any other army, because we are saints in Jesus Christ (verse 1), whose affection we share (verse 8), and we are filled with the nourishing fruits of righteousness by Him (verse 11.)
Our fellowship in Jesus Christ extends to fellowship in His divine purpose, for we have fellowship with Jesus and one another in His gospel (verse 5) and strive together for the gospel in a cosmic battle that makes The Lord of the Rings look like child’s play. If you want to know more about the cosmic battle we are engaged in, you might want to re-read Ephesians.
The ultimate purpose of this cosmic battle is for the glory and praise of God (verse 11) – the highest goal a warrior could ever seek.
To fully participate in this fellowship with God’s person and purpose, we also need His power. For this reason, God has made us partakers of His grace (verse 7). We must never forget that it is God’s person and His power alone that will enable us to participate in His purpose – which is actually to participate in His person and power!
From our love of God and from our fellowship with God Himself comes our love for and fellowship with one another: in serving God, we are made one. As we each have fellowship with God in His person, He unites us together into one body, the Body of Christ. As we have fellowship with God in His purpose and by His power of grace, we labor together, and this creates a deep fellowship. This fellowship is like the fellowship soldiers in combat find together and like the fellowship that is only found in a family. It’s like the fellowship that Frodo the Hobbit found with Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf.
St. Paul is keenly aware of the oneness, the fellowship, he has with the individuals and churches committed to his care. All throughout his letters there is a sense that he considers that he and the recipients of his letters are laboring together for one glorious end – for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The remarkable thing is that he sees the Philippians as partaking in his work, even when he is miles away and in chains, and he sees himself as being with them in spirit. They are so obviously in his thoughts and prayers, and it is certain that the people he oversaw made constant prayer for him.
There are so many things to love about St. Paul and his letters: the Faulknerian sentences that go on for a page, the in your face theology that tells it like it is . . . . But what I love most is his amazing love, the love of Jesus Christ that so clearly goes through Paul to the Philippians.
Paul loves the Philippians by praying for them, remembering them, and thanking God for them (verse 3.) He has them in his heart and sees them as fellow partakers of the same grace Jesus showed to him (verse 7.) Paul sees the Philippians as a part of himself and himself as a part of them, just as Christ is in him, and he in Christ. What better way to fulfill the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself than to see your neighbor as part of yourself, as part of the Body of Christ.
Paul longs greatly for them, with the affection of Christ. Because God Himself is the one who first loved Paul, Paul knows that God sees his love for the Philippians (verse 8.) This “affection” with which Paul loves the Philippians is interpreted “bowels” in the King James Version. “Bowels” might not quite capture it for us today! – after all, it wouldn’t be very endearing today for a lover to say to his loved one: “I yearn for you with all my bowels!” And yet in that day the “bowels,” basically the internal organs, were considered to be the center of a person’s emotions, desire, and affection.
What Paul is essentially saying is that he has a visceral desire to be with the Philippians. It’s the same word (my favorite Greek word!) used of Jesus when he has “bowels” of compassion on the 5000 who have had nothing to eat for 3 days. This isn’t the kind of love you can manufacture: it’s one that comes from a life that genuinely loves with the love of God.
The Philippians have their part to play as well. Though the Philippians are mute to us – there is no record of what they might have said to Paul – their actions and lives still speak to us today. Their actions speak of a love for God and a love for Paul, their pastor. The Philippians, though not perfect, embody every pastor’s dream, for they made Paul rejoice for the progress they had made in becoming more like Jesus Christ in all things.
Paul is able to thank God for the Philippians because of their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now (verses 3ff), and he has confidence in them because he sees Jesus in them (verse 5.)
Paul, and presumably the Philippians too, will not rest until the Philippians are filled with the fruits of righteousness, which is the common goal of both Paul and the Philippians. This goal, which is the divine purpose of God, can only be accomplished by the human fellowship that comes from fellowship with God’s person and His power.
It’s exciting to me that Paul’s letter to the Philippians could describe so well the fellowship I hope to have at St. Andrew’s and that every Church would have. It’s exciting that in the 21st century at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, Texas or fill in your church name and city we are re-enacting the very things St. Paul and the Philippians did: their fellowship; their laboring together for the sake of Jesus Christ their Lord; and their common goal of living in love until the day of Christ.
In Henry V Shakespeare wrote of the fellowship around the King of England, on the eve of the historic battle of Agincourt in 1415:
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so lowly,
This day shall enoble his rank.
And gentlemen in England, now abed,
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here;
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Shakespeare had Henry V say these stirring words to represent the kind of fellowship that war can create.
But how much greater fellowship can we expect from the Prince of Peace, in the Kingdom of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? And ours is to be a fellowship not of mere human blood but of communion through the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Ours is to be a royal fellowship of love, for all of us here this morning (wherever you are reading this) are bound together by the love of God, in fellowship with Him and with one another in the Body of Christ. For we are chained together by love, in the Fellowship of the King
Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, for the fellowship You allow me and other Christians to have in You. I thank You especially for those who share this godly fellowship of participating in Your person, purpose, and power, especially ______ (take some time to mention people in your life by name.) In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Spend some time in prayer, remembering and giving thanks for those who God has made a part of His godly fellowship throughout your life.
2. In what way is God calling you to greater fellowship in His Church, especially in your local church?
Resolution: I resolve to meditate today on the Fellowship of the King that we have as Christians in Jesus Christ. I further resolve to find one way to actively contribute to this fellowship today (this might be a resolution or discipline the King has already been calling you to.)
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday of Epiphany 2 - Ephesians 5:15-33
We’ve come this morning to a difficult passage of Scripture – not difficult because it’s hard to understand, but difficult because it’s hard for us to accept what God wants to teach us. The passage is Ephesians 5:21-33, and in it St. Paul gives us clear commands about the relationship between husbands and wives.
Our passage this morning is part of a larger passage all about submission – and this will help us to see clearly what Paul teaches. Though many of us may choke on the command of wives to submit to their husbands, Paul clearly has real submission in mind. He tells us to be subject to one another (verse 21), wives to be subject to husband (22), children to obey parents (6:1), and slaves to obey their masters (6:5).
This morning’s passage, then, and the beginning of Chapter 6, is about submission alright. But primarily it is about submission to God and His will, for we all, husbands and wives alike, are to be submitted primarily to the Lord, as we walk in His ways and in His commandments.
Think of Paul’s teachings, then, as a challenge, a test. How willing am I to submit to God, by obeying His commandments? How willing am I to do His will, and not my own?
Paul’s teaching on the submission of a wife and on the headship of the husband is very clear. Wives are to submit to their husbands, as to the Lord. The Greek verb means to submit or make subordinate. It is a word used in Bible of following relationships: angels to Christ, the Church to Christ, Christians to God’s law, women to men, wives to husbands, children to parents, young to old, slaves and servants to masters. No wiggle room there.
“As to the Lord.” No wiggle room there either.
In 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2 Paul argues from creation – from before the Fall – that man is the head of woman and that the woman’s submission to her husband was part of God’s plan from the beginning, because He chose to create Adam, man, first, and to make Eve, woman, the man’s helper.
In Ephesians 5, Paul makes the headship of the man clear, arguing not from creation but from redemption. As Christ is the head of he Church, so is the husband the head of the wife. Again, no wiggle room.
Modern women find submission to their husbands increasingly difficult to accept because most of us have bought into the cultural assumptions about radical egalitarianism. Other times women may have difficulty because the person in authority may be wrong. This raises an issue for all of us who are under authority: What do you do if you think the person in authority is wrong? It would be tempting to fly to some sort of theory of civil disobedience: when I know my husband is wrong, I don’t have to submit. But is this really what God teaches?
Suppose we look at the authority of parents over children. Do we expect them to obey only when they feel like it, only when they think we are right? If so, then it is really the children who are in charge, because they are calling the shots. They are the ones determining the rules and when to obey and when not to obey. In a similar way, the wife is not to simply decide she disagrees with her husband and then go her own way.
Another problem is that somehow people assume that if you really believe in the submission of the wife to her husband that you must mean a “caveman”, unthinking, submission and a wife who totally submerges and sublimates her unique talents and wisdom. But good grief! Who wants a wife like that?! In fact, I’d feel insulted and cheated if Jackie were nothing but a Yes Woman, mindlessly rubber-stamping everything I said. How would that cause me to see more and to grow more wise? How would that manifest our one-fleshedness?
But there is a problem with the recent decades of feminism. Women insist on exercising the headship God has given to men, and this has caused many problems. There is a Great Pendulum of History that swings back and forth. For decades - no centuries - husbands mistakenly took these verses, and others like them, as a license to be petty tyrants. In the 60s and 70s the pendulum swung quickly past the middle to an extreme on the other side where these verses mean nothing. God didn’t say them or mean them and we don’t have to obey them. Women are like men in every way: there is no divine difference.
I find that women are often more competent, and in a wider variety of contexts, than men. But should we then argue based on human abilities? Precisely because women are capable and fully human and yet are called to submit (as are all of us in various relationships), they have a special opportunity to display the humility of Christ by submitting themselves to their husbands.
Watch out, men – you knew this moment was coming! St. Paul has even more to say to the husbands! The husband is to be the head, the authority. This is assumed and taught all throughout the Bible. Though there are different models of leadership he may legitimately use, he must take the authority God has given him and lead. In the house, husbands, especially, are to govern the household, to rule it. They should provide the vision and leadership and shape and protect the family.
In addition to women trying to usurp the authority of men, husbands’ abuse of their headship is a chief reason wives don’t submit to them. In the past, Jews considered a woman not a person, but property: in their morning prayer service, men gave thanks that God had not made them a Gentile or a woman. The Greeks were just as bad. The “enlightened” philosopher Demosthenes once said, “we have courtesans for the sake of pleasure; we have concubines for daily cohabitation; and we have wives to bear children and manage the household.”
Even Christian husbands have not always remembered that God’s commandment to them is not only to be the head but to do so by loving, which means serving.
But today, probably even more often than men have abused their authority over their wives, men have abdicated their headship. We see the consequences in young men adrift, who were not fathered except in a biological way and who have no good model of husbandly leadership.
Men commonly make three mistakes in avoiding God’s command to be heads. They confuse real courage and masculinity with machismo. Others become milquetoasts and in a cowardly way just give in to the world and people around them.
But the most common kind of abdication of godly headship that I see in men is being childish and cowardly. How many guys care more about their latest toys than anything else, whether it is technological gadgets or cars? It bothers me when I witness a wife working hard all day (and the husband may have too), yet when the husband comes home he assumes that somehow he’s “Off Duty” regarding the household and the kids, while the wife is “On Duty” 24-7.
To me, the real courage in being a godly man is in serving my wife and others. That cuts against the grain of my own selfishness, as well as against the grain of our culture. It takes no guts whatsoever to sit in the easy chair and let the wife serve you and the kids incessantly. What takes courage is to drag your butt off the chair and go help for a change and command your submissive wife to take a break!
Instead of being tyrants, instead of abdicating their headship, husbands are to love their wives, as Christ loved the Church. You guys thought you got off easy? Hah! You’ve got the harder task!
Husbands, yes God commands you to be the head of your wife, but you will search in vain to hear Him command you to by tyrannical or domineering or cruel. Your specific commandment from God is to love. You lead by your love, and if you want to lead as a Christian man, then you cannot lead without love. Love is doing what is best for another person. It requires sacrifice. You have been given headship for a reason – so that you can love and sanctify your wife – not so that you can satisfy your ego or become a little Napoleon or Stalin.
The real problem is that often we think of husbands and wives as 2 separate things, and therefore they are in competition and conflict. The solution is to think of marriage as a sacrament, an outward sign of an inward grace. Marriage is to be a means of grace, and a husband and wife are one flesh, even if they refuse to acknowledge this. There is a mystical union, just as there is between Christ and His Church. Paul’s point here is that marriage mirrors an even deeper mystery: how we live as husbands and wives teaches about and reflects the marriage of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church.
Wives and husbands, if you want a simple guideline to keep in front of you all the days of your life, you can do no better than the example of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church.
Wives, how does the Church submit to her Master? Use that as your example.
Husbands, how does Jesus Christ love and serve His Bride?
Prayer: O God, who has so consecrated marriage that it represents the spiritual marriage between Christ and Church, bless all Christians who are in marriage that they may so love, honor, and cherish each other and live together in godly love and unity that their homes and lives may be a haven and blessing of peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
Wives: Examine your attitude toward your marriage in light of Paul’s teachings. In what ways are you rejecting the Lord’s Word to you and do you need to learn submission? Meditate on the relationship of the Church to Christ.
Husbands: Examine your attitude toward your marriage in light of Paul’s teachings. In what ways are you rejecting the Lord’s Word to you and do you need to learn love? Meditate on the relationship of Christ to the Church.
Single People: Consider Ephesians 5:21-33 in light of either your call to be a godly leader or to serve in love.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate on how I can be a husband or wife as the Lord has commanded me to be. I resolve to find one practical way I can show my submission (wife) or love (husband) to my spouse today.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Our passage this morning is part of a larger passage all about submission – and this will help us to see clearly what Paul teaches. Though many of us may choke on the command of wives to submit to their husbands, Paul clearly has real submission in mind. He tells us to be subject to one another (verse 21), wives to be subject to husband (22), children to obey parents (6:1), and slaves to obey their masters (6:5).
This morning’s passage, then, and the beginning of Chapter 6, is about submission alright. But primarily it is about submission to God and His will, for we all, husbands and wives alike, are to be submitted primarily to the Lord, as we walk in His ways and in His commandments.
Think of Paul’s teachings, then, as a challenge, a test. How willing am I to submit to God, by obeying His commandments? How willing am I to do His will, and not my own?
Paul’s teaching on the submission of a wife and on the headship of the husband is very clear. Wives are to submit to their husbands, as to the Lord. The Greek verb means to submit or make subordinate. It is a word used in Bible of following relationships: angels to Christ, the Church to Christ, Christians to God’s law, women to men, wives to husbands, children to parents, young to old, slaves and servants to masters. No wiggle room there.
“As to the Lord.” No wiggle room there either.
In 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2 Paul argues from creation – from before the Fall – that man is the head of woman and that the woman’s submission to her husband was part of God’s plan from the beginning, because He chose to create Adam, man, first, and to make Eve, woman, the man’s helper.
In Ephesians 5, Paul makes the headship of the man clear, arguing not from creation but from redemption. As Christ is the head of he Church, so is the husband the head of the wife. Again, no wiggle room.
Modern women find submission to their husbands increasingly difficult to accept because most of us have bought into the cultural assumptions about radical egalitarianism. Other times women may have difficulty because the person in authority may be wrong. This raises an issue for all of us who are under authority: What do you do if you think the person in authority is wrong? It would be tempting to fly to some sort of theory of civil disobedience: when I know my husband is wrong, I don’t have to submit. But is this really what God teaches?
Suppose we look at the authority of parents over children. Do we expect them to obey only when they feel like it, only when they think we are right? If so, then it is really the children who are in charge, because they are calling the shots. They are the ones determining the rules and when to obey and when not to obey. In a similar way, the wife is not to simply decide she disagrees with her husband and then go her own way.
Another problem is that somehow people assume that if you really believe in the submission of the wife to her husband that you must mean a “caveman”, unthinking, submission and a wife who totally submerges and sublimates her unique talents and wisdom. But good grief! Who wants a wife like that?! In fact, I’d feel insulted and cheated if Jackie were nothing but a Yes Woman, mindlessly rubber-stamping everything I said. How would that cause me to see more and to grow more wise? How would that manifest our one-fleshedness?
But there is a problem with the recent decades of feminism. Women insist on exercising the headship God has given to men, and this has caused many problems. There is a Great Pendulum of History that swings back and forth. For decades - no centuries - husbands mistakenly took these verses, and others like them, as a license to be petty tyrants. In the 60s and 70s the pendulum swung quickly past the middle to an extreme on the other side where these verses mean nothing. God didn’t say them or mean them and we don’t have to obey them. Women are like men in every way: there is no divine difference.
I find that women are often more competent, and in a wider variety of contexts, than men. But should we then argue based on human abilities? Precisely because women are capable and fully human and yet are called to submit (as are all of us in various relationships), they have a special opportunity to display the humility of Christ by submitting themselves to their husbands.
Watch out, men – you knew this moment was coming! St. Paul has even more to say to the husbands! The husband is to be the head, the authority. This is assumed and taught all throughout the Bible. Though there are different models of leadership he may legitimately use, he must take the authority God has given him and lead. In the house, husbands, especially, are to govern the household, to rule it. They should provide the vision and leadership and shape and protect the family.
In addition to women trying to usurp the authority of men, husbands’ abuse of their headship is a chief reason wives don’t submit to them. In the past, Jews considered a woman not a person, but property: in their morning prayer service, men gave thanks that God had not made them a Gentile or a woman. The Greeks were just as bad. The “enlightened” philosopher Demosthenes once said, “we have courtesans for the sake of pleasure; we have concubines for daily cohabitation; and we have wives to bear children and manage the household.”
Even Christian husbands have not always remembered that God’s commandment to them is not only to be the head but to do so by loving, which means serving.
But today, probably even more often than men have abused their authority over their wives, men have abdicated their headship. We see the consequences in young men adrift, who were not fathered except in a biological way and who have no good model of husbandly leadership.
Men commonly make three mistakes in avoiding God’s command to be heads. They confuse real courage and masculinity with machismo. Others become milquetoasts and in a cowardly way just give in to the world and people around them.
But the most common kind of abdication of godly headship that I see in men is being childish and cowardly. How many guys care more about their latest toys than anything else, whether it is technological gadgets or cars? It bothers me when I witness a wife working hard all day (and the husband may have too), yet when the husband comes home he assumes that somehow he’s “Off Duty” regarding the household and the kids, while the wife is “On Duty” 24-7.
To me, the real courage in being a godly man is in serving my wife and others. That cuts against the grain of my own selfishness, as well as against the grain of our culture. It takes no guts whatsoever to sit in the easy chair and let the wife serve you and the kids incessantly. What takes courage is to drag your butt off the chair and go help for a change and command your submissive wife to take a break!
Instead of being tyrants, instead of abdicating their headship, husbands are to love their wives, as Christ loved the Church. You guys thought you got off easy? Hah! You’ve got the harder task!
Husbands, yes God commands you to be the head of your wife, but you will search in vain to hear Him command you to by tyrannical or domineering or cruel. Your specific commandment from God is to love. You lead by your love, and if you want to lead as a Christian man, then you cannot lead without love. Love is doing what is best for another person. It requires sacrifice. You have been given headship for a reason – so that you can love and sanctify your wife – not so that you can satisfy your ego or become a little Napoleon or Stalin.
The real problem is that often we think of husbands and wives as 2 separate things, and therefore they are in competition and conflict. The solution is to think of marriage as a sacrament, an outward sign of an inward grace. Marriage is to be a means of grace, and a husband and wife are one flesh, even if they refuse to acknowledge this. There is a mystical union, just as there is between Christ and His Church. Paul’s point here is that marriage mirrors an even deeper mystery: how we live as husbands and wives teaches about and reflects the marriage of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church.
Wives and husbands, if you want a simple guideline to keep in front of you all the days of your life, you can do no better than the example of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church.
Wives, how does the Church submit to her Master? Use that as your example.
Husbands, how does Jesus Christ love and serve His Bride?
Prayer: O God, who has so consecrated marriage that it represents the spiritual marriage between Christ and Church, bless all Christians who are in marriage that they may so love, honor, and cherish each other and live together in godly love and unity that their homes and lives may be a haven and blessing of peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
Wives: Examine your attitude toward your marriage in light of Paul’s teachings. In what ways are you rejecting the Lord’s Word to you and do you need to learn submission? Meditate on the relationship of the Church to Christ.
Husbands: Examine your attitude toward your marriage in light of Paul’s teachings. In what ways are you rejecting the Lord’s Word to you and do you need to learn love? Meditate on the relationship of Christ to the Church.
Single People: Consider Ephesians 5:21-33 in light of either your call to be a godly leader or to serve in love.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate on how I can be a husband or wife as the Lord has commanded me to be. I resolve to find one practical way I can show my submission (wife) or love (husband) to my spouse today.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Monday, January 19, 2009
Tuesday of Epiphany 2 - Ephesians 5:1-14
Have you ever been on a walk that was more than just a walk?
Perhaps it was a romantic walk; or maybe an important business matter was discussed during a walk; or a life-changing decision was made during a walk.
I remember going on many walks with Jackie during which we discussed my many attempts to understand God’s call on our lives together. We have walked and talked about having children and what we will name them; we have walked and talked about my becoming a deacon and about my becoming a priest, and (during a month of uncertainty and confusion) we talked about the possibility of my studying to become a rare book librarian.
Sometimes a walk is more than mere walking.
The Bible is filled with admonitions for Christians to “walk” in a certain way. In Ephesians, the word “walk” occurs in 7 separate places.
For example in Ephesians 2:10 Paul informs us that God has ordained that we should walk in good works. In 4:1 we hear that we are to walk worthy of our calling, and in 4:17 Paul teaches that we should not walk as the Gentiles walk.
But what does it mean to “walk,” in biblical terms? It means “to live” or the manner of conducting one’s self.
Any time you walk, you have to have a destination and know where you’re going, and you have to know how to get there, the direction. But when you walk with someone, you also have to have a desire to walk with that person.
Our life with God, our walk with God, is the same way. Walking with God, involves 3 things:
1. a desire to walk with God – to Walk in Love (verses 1-7)
2. a direction as to how to walk with God – Walk in Light (verses 8-14)
3. a destination for where we are walking with God – Walk in Wisdom and Obedience (verses 15-21, even though they are technically outside of today’s lesson)
To walk with God, we must first have a desire to walk with God; we must walk in love as He first loved us (verses 1-2.) When walking with someone, and not just by yourself, or not just happening to be going the same direction, you have to have a desire to walk – to be – with that person. This was certainly true of Jackie and me when we were courting. Yes, we had places we were walking to, but the most important part of the walk was the being with Jackie. There was a great desire to walk with her. Just recently, on a Monday when I was not doing church work and the kids were in school, I had the best time just running (or should I say walking) errands with Jackie because I got to be with her. For me, being with Jackie, is something like being in heaven.
In the same way, we must walk with God – we must walk in love, desiring to be in the presence of God. Though Paul is primarily speaking of walking in love toward one another, this love begins by loving God. To walk with God, to live with Him and experience Him, we must be willing to imitate Him (verse 1.)
Children are born imitators. Whenever I do something silly at the dinner table, you can bet that child by child, wildly mutating as each takes a turn, my children will imitate what I have just done (and Jackie just shakes her head.) We even have a saying at my house: “Children See, Children Do.”
To imitate God means to walk in love, as He is love. Jesus Christ loved us and gave Himself as an offering for us (verse 2), and if we want to walk with God we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God by giving up ourselves for others. In verses 3-6 Paul shows us that lust is opposed to love. Unfortunately, our culture confuses the two, especially when it comes to sex. Lust is about pleasing oneself, but love is about doing what is best for others.
In every walk, you must not only have a desire but you must have a direction: you must know the way. Therefore, in walking with God, we are to walk in light, His light (verse 8.) Light gives us the direction to see where we should walk.
Once you were darkness, but now you are light (verse 8.) The fact is that as a child of God, you are light – not simply will be. Since you are light, walk as children of light.
One of the mistakes that Christians make, especially young Christians, is in walking with those who are in darkness. Paul says, however, that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. This doesn’t mean we have no contact with those who are still in
darkness, but it does mean that we do not do what they do and that we don’t put ourselves in a position where those in darkness are determining the shape and behavior of our life.
Darkness is often seductive. The world tries hard to make it look sexy and glamorous. It’s cool to get drunk; it sophisticated to commit adultery; and everybody sleeps around. I’ve know too many Christian young people who keep making poor choices in friends and poor choice in entertainments, and in their lives the darkness overcomes the light.
Walking in the light means that we must expose their works of darkness. For those who are more mature Christians, we must stand beside those flirting with darkness and expose the darkness. An interesting thing happens when light meets dark, even when the dark is menacing and intimidating: the light drives away the darkness.
Too often we find ourselves drifting into the darkness, and the reason we do is because we have stopped walking with God and are walking with someone else. I remember one time when I was young we were in New York City walking together as a family. I followed my Mom so I wouldn’t get lost, and since she was wearing a beige skirt I kept my eyes focused on the beige skirt. When I finally looked up, my real family was 100 yards away, and I had been following the wrong beige skirt!
To walk with God we need one more thing: we need a destination. Where are we going on this walk with God? In verses 15-21, Paul reminds us to walk in wisdom.
I think a lot of us are like someone who was put in the middle of a desert and told to start walking, and so we walk because we’re supposed to. But we haven’t sought and found the map, the direction, for where we are to go. Even if someone gave us a map, we still wouldn’t know where to go because we wouldn’t know what our destination was supposed to be.
Our destination, our map, is to walk in wisdom, which means doing the will of God, for this is the destination, the goal of our walk. St. Paul gives us 3 ways to walk in wisdom: we should redeem the time (verse 16), discern the will of God (verse 17), and be filled not with spirits but with the Holy Spirit (verse 18.) There is so much that could be said about each one of these, but it’s up to you to learn, in wisdom, how to apply each.
In the early chapters of Genesis, it appears as if it were the custom for God to walk in the cool of the day with Adam, before he fell. In Genesis Chapter 5, we read of righteous Enoch, who “walked with God” and walked so faithfully that he was translated into heaven and did not even see death!
This is the way I want to walk in my life: to walk so closely with God in His love, in His light, and in His wisdom, that I am translated into heaven because heaven is being in His presence.
Prayer: Father, teach me to walk with You by walking with You in love. Give me a desire to be with You and to love as You have loved me. Keep me in Your light and fill me with Your wisdom that in all things I may dwell in Your presence all the days of my life. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
Meditate on and apply Paul’s command to walk in wisdom in one of the 3 ways which Paul discusses.
1. How can you “redeem the time” in your life? What are the time-wasters in your life? Are there opportunities to walk with God by serving Him that You have not been taking?
2. Have you spent adequate time discerning the will of the Lord? In what area or areas of your life should you be seeking God’s will more actively?
3. How can you be more filled with the Spirit by engaging in speaking to others with spiritual songs, by making a melody in your heart to the Lord, or by giving thanks?
Resolution: I resolve to seek to walk with God today. In particular, I resolve to find one way to practice walking in love, light, or wisdom. You might want to relate this resolution to the specific things God has been asking You to do lately.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Perhaps it was a romantic walk; or maybe an important business matter was discussed during a walk; or a life-changing decision was made during a walk.
I remember going on many walks with Jackie during which we discussed my many attempts to understand God’s call on our lives together. We have walked and talked about having children and what we will name them; we have walked and talked about my becoming a deacon and about my becoming a priest, and (during a month of uncertainty and confusion) we talked about the possibility of my studying to become a rare book librarian.
Sometimes a walk is more than mere walking.
The Bible is filled with admonitions for Christians to “walk” in a certain way. In Ephesians, the word “walk” occurs in 7 separate places.
For example in Ephesians 2:10 Paul informs us that God has ordained that we should walk in good works. In 4:1 we hear that we are to walk worthy of our calling, and in 4:17 Paul teaches that we should not walk as the Gentiles walk.
But what does it mean to “walk,” in biblical terms? It means “to live” or the manner of conducting one’s self.
Any time you walk, you have to have a destination and know where you’re going, and you have to know how to get there, the direction. But when you walk with someone, you also have to have a desire to walk with that person.
Our life with God, our walk with God, is the same way. Walking with God, involves 3 things:
1. a desire to walk with God – to Walk in Love (verses 1-7)
2. a direction as to how to walk with God – Walk in Light (verses 8-14)
3. a destination for where we are walking with God – Walk in Wisdom and Obedience (verses 15-21, even though they are technically outside of today’s lesson)
To walk with God, we must first have a desire to walk with God; we must walk in love as He first loved us (verses 1-2.) When walking with someone, and not just by yourself, or not just happening to be going the same direction, you have to have a desire to walk – to be – with that person. This was certainly true of Jackie and me when we were courting. Yes, we had places we were walking to, but the most important part of the walk was the being with Jackie. There was a great desire to walk with her. Just recently, on a Monday when I was not doing church work and the kids were in school, I had the best time just running (or should I say walking) errands with Jackie because I got to be with her. For me, being with Jackie, is something like being in heaven.
In the same way, we must walk with God – we must walk in love, desiring to be in the presence of God. Though Paul is primarily speaking of walking in love toward one another, this love begins by loving God. To walk with God, to live with Him and experience Him, we must be willing to imitate Him (verse 1.)
Children are born imitators. Whenever I do something silly at the dinner table, you can bet that child by child, wildly mutating as each takes a turn, my children will imitate what I have just done (and Jackie just shakes her head.) We even have a saying at my house: “Children See, Children Do.”
To imitate God means to walk in love, as He is love. Jesus Christ loved us and gave Himself as an offering for us (verse 2), and if we want to walk with God we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God by giving up ourselves for others. In verses 3-6 Paul shows us that lust is opposed to love. Unfortunately, our culture confuses the two, especially when it comes to sex. Lust is about pleasing oneself, but love is about doing what is best for others.
In every walk, you must not only have a desire but you must have a direction: you must know the way. Therefore, in walking with God, we are to walk in light, His light (verse 8.) Light gives us the direction to see where we should walk.
Once you were darkness, but now you are light (verse 8.) The fact is that as a child of God, you are light – not simply will be. Since you are light, walk as children of light.
One of the mistakes that Christians make, especially young Christians, is in walking with those who are in darkness. Paul says, however, that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. This doesn’t mean we have no contact with those who are still in
darkness, but it does mean that we do not do what they do and that we don’t put ourselves in a position where those in darkness are determining the shape and behavior of our life.
Darkness is often seductive. The world tries hard to make it look sexy and glamorous. It’s cool to get drunk; it sophisticated to commit adultery; and everybody sleeps around. I’ve know too many Christian young people who keep making poor choices in friends and poor choice in entertainments, and in their lives the darkness overcomes the light.
Walking in the light means that we must expose their works of darkness. For those who are more mature Christians, we must stand beside those flirting with darkness and expose the darkness. An interesting thing happens when light meets dark, even when the dark is menacing and intimidating: the light drives away the darkness.
Too often we find ourselves drifting into the darkness, and the reason we do is because we have stopped walking with God and are walking with someone else. I remember one time when I was young we were in New York City walking together as a family. I followed my Mom so I wouldn’t get lost, and since she was wearing a beige skirt I kept my eyes focused on the beige skirt. When I finally looked up, my real family was 100 yards away, and I had been following the wrong beige skirt!
To walk with God we need one more thing: we need a destination. Where are we going on this walk with God? In verses 15-21, Paul reminds us to walk in wisdom.
I think a lot of us are like someone who was put in the middle of a desert and told to start walking, and so we walk because we’re supposed to. But we haven’t sought and found the map, the direction, for where we are to go. Even if someone gave us a map, we still wouldn’t know where to go because we wouldn’t know what our destination was supposed to be.
Our destination, our map, is to walk in wisdom, which means doing the will of God, for this is the destination, the goal of our walk. St. Paul gives us 3 ways to walk in wisdom: we should redeem the time (verse 16), discern the will of God (verse 17), and be filled not with spirits but with the Holy Spirit (verse 18.) There is so much that could be said about each one of these, but it’s up to you to learn, in wisdom, how to apply each.
In the early chapters of Genesis, it appears as if it were the custom for God to walk in the cool of the day with Adam, before he fell. In Genesis Chapter 5, we read of righteous Enoch, who “walked with God” and walked so faithfully that he was translated into heaven and did not even see death!
This is the way I want to walk in my life: to walk so closely with God in His love, in His light, and in His wisdom, that I am translated into heaven because heaven is being in His presence.
Prayer: Father, teach me to walk with You by walking with You in love. Give me a desire to be with You and to love as You have loved me. Keep me in Your light and fill me with Your wisdom that in all things I may dwell in Your presence all the days of my life. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
Meditate on and apply Paul’s command to walk in wisdom in one of the 3 ways which Paul discusses.
1. How can you “redeem the time” in your life? What are the time-wasters in your life? Are there opportunities to walk with God by serving Him that You have not been taking?
2. Have you spent adequate time discerning the will of the Lord? In what area or areas of your life should you be seeking God’s will more actively?
3. How can you be more filled with the Spirit by engaging in speaking to others with spiritual songs, by making a melody in your heart to the Lord, or by giving thanks?
Resolution: I resolve to seek to walk with God today. In particular, I resolve to find one way to practice walking in love, light, or wisdom. You might want to relate this resolution to the specific things God has been asking You to do lately.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Monday of 2nd Sunday after Epiphany - Ephesians 4:17-32
The drama of good vs. evil grips us because it hits so close to home. Some of the most compelling myths today – things like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings – grab us precisely because they dramatize the battle between good and evil.
But the most dramatic version of the battle between good and evil is not lived out in a galaxy far, far away or in an age that is long, long ago: it is lived out in each of us every day. It is a battle to which God has called you this day and of which St. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:17-32.
“This I say, therefore,” Paul says in verse 17. Did I miss something? What did he just say? What he just said was Ephesians 1:1 – 4:16. He said that God has adopted us and made us His children; that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places; that we have a high calling to be like Christ as stewards of His mysteries; and that we are to walk worthy of our high calling, the calling of salvation.
Therefore, because of all that Paul has just said, we are to do 2 things. There are 2 steps in participating in God’s mystery:
First, put off the old man, the sin nature, and defeat evil in your life (verse 22.)
Second, put on the new man, Jesus Christ and His righteousness, and multiply good in your life (verse 24.)
There is true evil and real sin in the world. Often, we see it most in ourselves. This evil is related to what Paul calls the Old Man, the sinful nature and sinful deeds that we do. This Old Man that Paul talks about is the way that the Gentiles without Christ lived in Paul’s time, and it is the way all of us live without God in our lives. The Old Man lives in the futility of his mind (verse 17), has its understanding darkened and has blindness of heart (verse 18), is alienated from the life of God (verse 18), and is given over to lasciviousness, uncleanness, and greediness (verse 19.)
This is what we were and would continue to be without the righteousness of Jesus Christ in our lives. And it is this – a life apart from God, a life lived our own way – that we must get rid of and put off.
The evil of sin and the Old Man requires courageous and vigorous action to slay it, though. And it is not possible to simply put off the Old Man, to get rid of sin: you must also put on the New Man. In fact they must happen together, for the good displaces the evil. Trying to take off the Old Man without putting on the New Man is a little like downing a bottle of antibiotic pills all at one time without ever eating any yogurt or probiotics. You might temporarily get rid of the bad bacteria, but there are no good ones to replace the bad ones. If taken this way, the bad bacteria will be back and all you’d have to show for it would be a massive case of diarrhea.
If you think Christianity is another 12-step program to help yourself get over sin, or if you think the Bible is another self-help book – the do-it-yourself way to get right with God – then you’re in for the shock of your life!
It is only by putting on Christ and His righteousness and His Spirit and His life that we can hope to put off sin and put on righteousness. When you put on the New Man, you become one with the New Man, and He lives in and through you. Behold, you are a new creature! God expects to radically transform each of us so that we look more and more like His Son. Our transformation may not be as rapid or as dramatic as that from Saul of Tarsus to St. Paul – and God doesn’t intend it to be so. But God does expect and has equipped each of you, over the course of your life, to experience a transformation of your character as great as Paul’s. In terms of spiritual development, St. Paul may have been a hare, and most of us are tortoises. But the truth is that even St. Paul knew the Law and something of the Messiah before his conversion, and he spent many years learning the new life in Christ from the apostles.
Sometimes we have a casual attitude toward this process of sanctification, of putting on Jesus Christ the New Man. Suppose you had been invited to an evening dinner with the President, but earlier that day you decided to catch up on some chores. You planted your garden and mowed the lawn and changed the oil in your car. Wouldn’t you take off your dirty, smelly clothes and put on your best suit or dress?
In the same way, you are to put off the Old Man of sin and put on the New Man, which is Jesus Christ and His righteousness – before you can go and meet with God.
To me, it’s exciting that by doing something as simple as turning from my sin and doing what is right, by doing the very thing that I deeply desire to do, that I can: be holy as God is holy; participate in His eternal plan; become a new creature and become like my Lord and Savior; and can actually please my God.
In each of you, the most gripping and incredible drama is being played out. Your body, mind, and soul are the places where the cosmic battle between good and evil is being fought. The battle is not out there in a galaxy far, far away or back in Middle Earth. And you are not permitted to be a spectator: you are the actor, or, more accurately, Christ in you.
But how can you practically put on the New Man? Of course, we all know the traditional and good answers of worshiping in the Church, reading the Bible, and praying. But Paul’s remedy is to practice acting righteously. The other things are all necessary, but when it comes down to it, we must go out and act righteously, like Jesus Christ.
Paul gives 3 examples, though the specific prescription for you may be different. In each example, Paul gives us one sin we must put off and one righteous action we must put on.
In verses 25 and 29-30 Paul says, in essence: “Don’t use your mouth for evil, but use it for good.” The tongue, James says, is a restless evil: be on your guard against it. It might seem as if lies, or a little gossip, or the complaining about life that we all do is no big deal. But God puts the sins of the tongue right up there with all of the other ones we tend to think about more.
There’s a simple test for use of your mouth: does it glorify God and does it edify your neighbor? If your mouth is grumbling or lying or hurting, then maybe it’s time to shut your mouth.
A second example of putting on the New Man, Paul says, is to not lose your temper, but to ensure that your anger is righteous (verses 26-27.) The truth is that most anger is selfish, and most of it is over small things. Most anger, by far, does not work the righteousness of God.
Paul’s third example of how to put on the New Man is that you should not steal but should instead work and give to others (verse 28.) It goes without saying that we shouldn’t steal, and I’m willing to bet that not a single one of you snatched a purse or bumped off a 7-11 this past week. (Of course, there are a lot of you I don’t know very well!)
So maybe we can all safely skip over this commandment. But, how many of us have worked and saved, not just for ourselves, but so that we may give to those who are more needy? How many of us see our wealth as all belonging to God and actively think about how He might want us to use His money? (And by the way – it’s not just money that can be stolen.)
In Malachi 3:8, Malachi asks: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.”
Much more could be said about all of these ways of taking off the Old Man, but these are meant to remind us of how prevalent sin is and how many opportunities we have each day to obey and to grow. The point of each is that we seek to take off ourselves and our way of doing things and put on Jesus Christ who is the New Man.
Put on Jesus Christ – every bit of Him on every bit of who you are. He wants you heart, mouth, and hand. The right use of your anger is representative of your heart; not lying but speaking truth is representative of your mouth; and not stealing but working and giving is representative of your hands.
Put on the New Man: put on Jesus Christ every morning.
Prayer: I humbly ask you, Lord, that being dead unto sin and living unto righteousness, and being buried with Christ in His death, that You may crucify the Old Man in me and utterly destroy the whole body of sin. As You have made me a partaker of the death of Your Son, may You also make me a partaker of His resurrection and the New Man; so that finally, with Your holy Church, I may be an inheritor of Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to practice taking off the Old Man and putting on the New Man Jesus Christ by choosing one thing God is asking me to do. I resolve to pick one behavior God is asking me to give up and to choose one thing He is asking me to do instead. In doing this, I will seek to remember that this is one way that I can put on Jesus Christ every day.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
But the most dramatic version of the battle between good and evil is not lived out in a galaxy far, far away or in an age that is long, long ago: it is lived out in each of us every day. It is a battle to which God has called you this day and of which St. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:17-32.
“This I say, therefore,” Paul says in verse 17. Did I miss something? What did he just say? What he just said was Ephesians 1:1 – 4:16. He said that God has adopted us and made us His children; that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places; that we have a high calling to be like Christ as stewards of His mysteries; and that we are to walk worthy of our high calling, the calling of salvation.
Therefore, because of all that Paul has just said, we are to do 2 things. There are 2 steps in participating in God’s mystery:
First, put off the old man, the sin nature, and defeat evil in your life (verse 22.)
Second, put on the new man, Jesus Christ and His righteousness, and multiply good in your life (verse 24.)
There is true evil and real sin in the world. Often, we see it most in ourselves. This evil is related to what Paul calls the Old Man, the sinful nature and sinful deeds that we do. This Old Man that Paul talks about is the way that the Gentiles without Christ lived in Paul’s time, and it is the way all of us live without God in our lives. The Old Man lives in the futility of his mind (verse 17), has its understanding darkened and has blindness of heart (verse 18), is alienated from the life of God (verse 18), and is given over to lasciviousness, uncleanness, and greediness (verse 19.)
This is what we were and would continue to be without the righteousness of Jesus Christ in our lives. And it is this – a life apart from God, a life lived our own way – that we must get rid of and put off.
The evil of sin and the Old Man requires courageous and vigorous action to slay it, though. And it is not possible to simply put off the Old Man, to get rid of sin: you must also put on the New Man. In fact they must happen together, for the good displaces the evil. Trying to take off the Old Man without putting on the New Man is a little like downing a bottle of antibiotic pills all at one time without ever eating any yogurt or probiotics. You might temporarily get rid of the bad bacteria, but there are no good ones to replace the bad ones. If taken this way, the bad bacteria will be back and all you’d have to show for it would be a massive case of diarrhea.
If you think Christianity is another 12-step program to help yourself get over sin, or if you think the Bible is another self-help book – the do-it-yourself way to get right with God – then you’re in for the shock of your life!
It is only by putting on Christ and His righteousness and His Spirit and His life that we can hope to put off sin and put on righteousness. When you put on the New Man, you become one with the New Man, and He lives in and through you. Behold, you are a new creature! God expects to radically transform each of us so that we look more and more like His Son. Our transformation may not be as rapid or as dramatic as that from Saul of Tarsus to St. Paul – and God doesn’t intend it to be so. But God does expect and has equipped each of you, over the course of your life, to experience a transformation of your character as great as Paul’s. In terms of spiritual development, St. Paul may have been a hare, and most of us are tortoises. But the truth is that even St. Paul knew the Law and something of the Messiah before his conversion, and he spent many years learning the new life in Christ from the apostles.
Sometimes we have a casual attitude toward this process of sanctification, of putting on Jesus Christ the New Man. Suppose you had been invited to an evening dinner with the President, but earlier that day you decided to catch up on some chores. You planted your garden and mowed the lawn and changed the oil in your car. Wouldn’t you take off your dirty, smelly clothes and put on your best suit or dress?
In the same way, you are to put off the Old Man of sin and put on the New Man, which is Jesus Christ and His righteousness – before you can go and meet with God.
To me, it’s exciting that by doing something as simple as turning from my sin and doing what is right, by doing the very thing that I deeply desire to do, that I can: be holy as God is holy; participate in His eternal plan; become a new creature and become like my Lord and Savior; and can actually please my God.
In each of you, the most gripping and incredible drama is being played out. Your body, mind, and soul are the places where the cosmic battle between good and evil is being fought. The battle is not out there in a galaxy far, far away or back in Middle Earth. And you are not permitted to be a spectator: you are the actor, or, more accurately, Christ in you.
But how can you practically put on the New Man? Of course, we all know the traditional and good answers of worshiping in the Church, reading the Bible, and praying. But Paul’s remedy is to practice acting righteously. The other things are all necessary, but when it comes down to it, we must go out and act righteously, like Jesus Christ.
Paul gives 3 examples, though the specific prescription for you may be different. In each example, Paul gives us one sin we must put off and one righteous action we must put on.
In verses 25 and 29-30 Paul says, in essence: “Don’t use your mouth for evil, but use it for good.” The tongue, James says, is a restless evil: be on your guard against it. It might seem as if lies, or a little gossip, or the complaining about life that we all do is no big deal. But God puts the sins of the tongue right up there with all of the other ones we tend to think about more.
There’s a simple test for use of your mouth: does it glorify God and does it edify your neighbor? If your mouth is grumbling or lying or hurting, then maybe it’s time to shut your mouth.
A second example of putting on the New Man, Paul says, is to not lose your temper, but to ensure that your anger is righteous (verses 26-27.) The truth is that most anger is selfish, and most of it is over small things. Most anger, by far, does not work the righteousness of God.
Paul’s third example of how to put on the New Man is that you should not steal but should instead work and give to others (verse 28.) It goes without saying that we shouldn’t steal, and I’m willing to bet that not a single one of you snatched a purse or bumped off a 7-11 this past week. (Of course, there are a lot of you I don’t know very well!)
So maybe we can all safely skip over this commandment. But, how many of us have worked and saved, not just for ourselves, but so that we may give to those who are more needy? How many of us see our wealth as all belonging to God and actively think about how He might want us to use His money? (And by the way – it’s not just money that can be stolen.)
In Malachi 3:8, Malachi asks: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.”
Much more could be said about all of these ways of taking off the Old Man, but these are meant to remind us of how prevalent sin is and how many opportunities we have each day to obey and to grow. The point of each is that we seek to take off ourselves and our way of doing things and put on Jesus Christ who is the New Man.
Put on Jesus Christ – every bit of Him on every bit of who you are. He wants you heart, mouth, and hand. The right use of your anger is representative of your heart; not lying but speaking truth is representative of your mouth; and not stealing but working and giving is representative of your hands.
Put on the New Man: put on Jesus Christ every morning.
Prayer: I humbly ask you, Lord, that being dead unto sin and living unto righteousness, and being buried with Christ in His death, that You may crucify the Old Man in me and utterly destroy the whole body of sin. As You have made me a partaker of the death of Your Son, may You also make me a partaker of His resurrection and the New Man; so that finally, with Your holy Church, I may be an inheritor of Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to practice taking off the Old Man and putting on the New Man Jesus Christ by choosing one thing God is asking me to do. I resolve to pick one behavior God is asking me to give up and to choose one thing He is asking me to do instead. In doing this, I will seek to remember that this is one way that I can put on Jesus Christ every day.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Friday, January 16, 2009
Saturday of Epiphany 1 - Ephesians 4:1-16
When I grew up in Champaign, Illinois for the first 10 years of my life, I had this incredible sense of being home and of being at peace. Though I’ve lived away from Champaign for more than 30 years now, there is a sense in which it is still the measure of what life could be.
I’m convinced that one of the main reasons this is true is that my family, consisting of my Dad and Mom, two brothers, a sister, and myself, were incredibly close. There was this great unity there, so that you could say – “There goes the Erlandson family!” (complete with 4 kids in a 2 ½ year span.)
Though now my parents are grandparents and the 4 kids have gone their separate ways – one brother is in Michigan - there is still a unity that lies underneath our separation. When we get together, we still manage to have several conversations going at the same time; we still tend to talk about intellectual things and analyze things to death. One of my sister’s boyfriends politely likened our family conversation to an orchestra.
Regardless of how far away you removed us, even in death, there would still be this underlying unity. In the same way, St. Paul talks this morning about the unity of the Church – a unity that already exists, but one that must also be maintained by the Church.
Just as in many sermons, in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians there are 2 main parts of the letter: theological explanation and application to our lives.
In Chapters 1-3 Paul deals more theologically with God’s election and Great Plan of Reconciliation, the call to life in Christ, union with Christ, and fullness of Christ in the Church. In Chapters 4-6 he turns to God’s command to walk worthy of His calling.
I mentioned that often theology must go before application - well, here goes a little theology. Paul’s theology in Ephesians is based on the Trinity in many, sometimes not obvious, ways. Remember how Paul’s glorious sentence in Chapter 1 was based on the work of each person of the Trinity? The Trinity, the one God and 3 persons who created all things, is the basis for all reality. For this reason, there is both diversity in the world and also an underlying unity in this diversity.
Look at your loose change or a One dollar bill, and you’ll find the esoteric Latin phrase E. pluribus unum, which means “out of one many.” This political ideal is nothing less than an application of the ultimate reality of the Holy Trinity.
Paul is especially concerned in Ephesians 4 about unity, and he refers to the unity of the Trinity, for there is one Father (verse 6), one Lord (verse 5), and one Spirit (verse 4.)
But wouldn’t you expect that in the Body of Jesus Christ, the New Man that God has created, there would also be diversity in unity? Just as there is unity in God, there is unity in His Church. God is one, and therefore His Church is one. Not may be one but is one. Episcopalians and Reformed Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Baptists – there is only one Body of Christ, although, of course, not everyone who claims to be a Christian is truly a part of the Body.
There is only 1 Jesus Christ, and he’s not a polygamist. He has only 1 wife, the Church – whether we believe it or not. All of this exists, for, example the one true faith, regardless of what we believe. People may choose to think that all religions are the same or that it doesn’t matter what you believe. But regardless of what people believe, there is only 1 true faith, only 1 Lord, and only 1 Body of Christ.
So unity in the Church is a fact, but we must make it visible, to the world and to the angels, and we must maintain this unity and incarnate it.
It is all the work of God; but God gives us a role to play in His mystery of salvation, and part of that role is to maintain and make visible the unity that God has created through the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Paul tells us that we are to work to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace (verse 3.) There are things each of us must do to keep the bond of peace that God has created. Paul tells the Corinthians (2 Cor. 3:2) that they are his epistle, his letter.
You also are God’s epistle: you are his living, visible theology that others see. It is through each of you, through all Christians this morning, that God makes this unity visible and known to all.
St. Paul gives us 3 main ways you can make visible the unity of God that He expresses in His one, holy, catholic Church, and these are having one faith (verse 5), one body (verse 4), and one Lord (verse 5.)
Our one faith, as we’ve talked about in other Daily Breads includes both aspects of faith: belief + behavior, faith + faithfulness. To maintain and express the unity of God in His Church you must have proper belief or theology on your lips. There are certain things you must believe to be a Christian, things which are summarized in the Creeds.
To maintain and express the unity of God’s Church you must also have proper behavior in your life. Paul commands you in verse 1 to walk worthy of your calling. Remember the high calling you have as: a steward of the mysteries of God; an apostle; a martyr; an evangelist; a disciple of Jesus Christ; and an adopted child of God. This is the calling you are to walk worthy of.
How you live as a Christian makes a difference: it makes every difference in the world. You have been called to a God who is Light and have been called a child of Light. To choose therefore to walk in darkness is to break unity with God and His life. To make matters worse, when we disbelieve or sin, and therefore break the unity of the one faith, then we are leading others astray as well.
You can often hide your beliefs [not from God!], but you can’t hide your behavior for long.
When I taught school and talked to students who had doubts about Christianity or had left the Church, the number one reason they gave for giving up the one faith was the hypocrisy of Christians who said they believed one thing but lived as if they believed something else.
We can also make visible the unity of God in His Church by acting as one body. The mystical body of Jesus Christ on earth – the Church – is one. Jesus Christ came and died to make us one with God and one with each other.
How can we, who are sinful and selfish and prone to wars and divisions, show the world the one faith and the one body that we say we believe in? How can we, who are too often hypocrites, teach the angels the mystery of unity? By living in unity with one another, and that means to live in love.
How sad are the divisions in the Church! They are as sad – no, sadder – than divisions in earthly families. What part have you played in breaking the unity of the Church? In what ways are you not living at peace with your brother or sister? In what ways have you broken the unity of the Body by being a consumer of churches and of God, by believing that you can worship God however you want, whenever you want, with however much of your body, mind, soul, energy, time, money, gifts and talents you desire to give Him?
Finally, before we can have one faith and one Church and one life together we must all serve the one true Lord. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the Cross for the reconciliation and unity of the world, that we can ever have the other forms of unity. There is only 1 Lord Jesus Christ, and there is no other name in heaven or on earth by which men may be saved, that is, made one with God and with each other.
Like St. Paul, I am begging you this morning to walk in a manner worthy of your calling: your calling to believe in one, holy God; your calling to act like one body; and your calling to serve your one Lord God by being like Him in all things.
Prayer: Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who lives in perfect unity and love, I pray that You would help me to walk worthy of the calling with which You have called me. Help me to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and to guard the unity of Your Church by pursuing one faith, one body, and one Lord in whatever way You are calling me. Above all, give me Your love by which I may bear with others in the bond of peace and by which You are reconciling the world to Yourself. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Relate one of your previous resolutions or meditations to today’s meditation. If there is one thing in particular to which God has been constantly calling you, renew your dedication to serve Him in this way, in light of His call to unity.
2. Meditate on the glorious calling to which God has called you as a steward of His mysteries and His love letter to the world.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate on my calling to unity in God through unity in Christ and the Church, resolving to reflect on one way in which I have been called to help make the unity of God in His Church visible.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
I’m convinced that one of the main reasons this is true is that my family, consisting of my Dad and Mom, two brothers, a sister, and myself, were incredibly close. There was this great unity there, so that you could say – “There goes the Erlandson family!” (complete with 4 kids in a 2 ½ year span.)
Though now my parents are grandparents and the 4 kids have gone their separate ways – one brother is in Michigan - there is still a unity that lies underneath our separation. When we get together, we still manage to have several conversations going at the same time; we still tend to talk about intellectual things and analyze things to death. One of my sister’s boyfriends politely likened our family conversation to an orchestra.
Regardless of how far away you removed us, even in death, there would still be this underlying unity. In the same way, St. Paul talks this morning about the unity of the Church – a unity that already exists, but one that must also be maintained by the Church.
Just as in many sermons, in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians there are 2 main parts of the letter: theological explanation and application to our lives.
In Chapters 1-3 Paul deals more theologically with God’s election and Great Plan of Reconciliation, the call to life in Christ, union with Christ, and fullness of Christ in the Church. In Chapters 4-6 he turns to God’s command to walk worthy of His calling.
I mentioned that often theology must go before application - well, here goes a little theology. Paul’s theology in Ephesians is based on the Trinity in many, sometimes not obvious, ways. Remember how Paul’s glorious sentence in Chapter 1 was based on the work of each person of the Trinity? The Trinity, the one God and 3 persons who created all things, is the basis for all reality. For this reason, there is both diversity in the world and also an underlying unity in this diversity.
Look at your loose change or a One dollar bill, and you’ll find the esoteric Latin phrase E. pluribus unum, which means “out of one many.” This political ideal is nothing less than an application of the ultimate reality of the Holy Trinity.
Paul is especially concerned in Ephesians 4 about unity, and he refers to the unity of the Trinity, for there is one Father (verse 6), one Lord (verse 5), and one Spirit (verse 4.)
But wouldn’t you expect that in the Body of Jesus Christ, the New Man that God has created, there would also be diversity in unity? Just as there is unity in God, there is unity in His Church. God is one, and therefore His Church is one. Not may be one but is one. Episcopalians and Reformed Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Baptists – there is only one Body of Christ, although, of course, not everyone who claims to be a Christian is truly a part of the Body.
There is only 1 Jesus Christ, and he’s not a polygamist. He has only 1 wife, the Church – whether we believe it or not. All of this exists, for, example the one true faith, regardless of what we believe. People may choose to think that all religions are the same or that it doesn’t matter what you believe. But regardless of what people believe, there is only 1 true faith, only 1 Lord, and only 1 Body of Christ.
So unity in the Church is a fact, but we must make it visible, to the world and to the angels, and we must maintain this unity and incarnate it.
It is all the work of God; but God gives us a role to play in His mystery of salvation, and part of that role is to maintain and make visible the unity that God has created through the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Paul tells us that we are to work to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace (verse 3.) There are things each of us must do to keep the bond of peace that God has created. Paul tells the Corinthians (2 Cor. 3:2) that they are his epistle, his letter.
You also are God’s epistle: you are his living, visible theology that others see. It is through each of you, through all Christians this morning, that God makes this unity visible and known to all.
St. Paul gives us 3 main ways you can make visible the unity of God that He expresses in His one, holy, catholic Church, and these are having one faith (verse 5), one body (verse 4), and one Lord (verse 5.)
Our one faith, as we’ve talked about in other Daily Breads includes both aspects of faith: belief + behavior, faith + faithfulness. To maintain and express the unity of God in His Church you must have proper belief or theology on your lips. There are certain things you must believe to be a Christian, things which are summarized in the Creeds.
To maintain and express the unity of God’s Church you must also have proper behavior in your life. Paul commands you in verse 1 to walk worthy of your calling. Remember the high calling you have as: a steward of the mysteries of God; an apostle; a martyr; an evangelist; a disciple of Jesus Christ; and an adopted child of God. This is the calling you are to walk worthy of.
How you live as a Christian makes a difference: it makes every difference in the world. You have been called to a God who is Light and have been called a child of Light. To choose therefore to walk in darkness is to break unity with God and His life. To make matters worse, when we disbelieve or sin, and therefore break the unity of the one faith, then we are leading others astray as well.
You can often hide your beliefs [not from God!], but you can’t hide your behavior for long.
When I taught school and talked to students who had doubts about Christianity or had left the Church, the number one reason they gave for giving up the one faith was the hypocrisy of Christians who said they believed one thing but lived as if they believed something else.
We can also make visible the unity of God in His Church by acting as one body. The mystical body of Jesus Christ on earth – the Church – is one. Jesus Christ came and died to make us one with God and one with each other.
How can we, who are sinful and selfish and prone to wars and divisions, show the world the one faith and the one body that we say we believe in? How can we, who are too often hypocrites, teach the angels the mystery of unity? By living in unity with one another, and that means to live in love.
How sad are the divisions in the Church! They are as sad – no, sadder – than divisions in earthly families. What part have you played in breaking the unity of the Church? In what ways are you not living at peace with your brother or sister? In what ways have you broken the unity of the Body by being a consumer of churches and of God, by believing that you can worship God however you want, whenever you want, with however much of your body, mind, soul, energy, time, money, gifts and talents you desire to give Him?
Finally, before we can have one faith and one Church and one life together we must all serve the one true Lord. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the Cross for the reconciliation and unity of the world, that we can ever have the other forms of unity. There is only 1 Lord Jesus Christ, and there is no other name in heaven or on earth by which men may be saved, that is, made one with God and with each other.
Like St. Paul, I am begging you this morning to walk in a manner worthy of your calling: your calling to believe in one, holy God; your calling to act like one body; and your calling to serve your one Lord God by being like Him in all things.
Prayer: Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who lives in perfect unity and love, I pray that You would help me to walk worthy of the calling with which You have called me. Help me to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and to guard the unity of Your Church by pursuing one faith, one body, and one Lord in whatever way You are calling me. Above all, give me Your love by which I may bear with others in the bond of peace and by which You are reconciling the world to Yourself. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Relate one of your previous resolutions or meditations to today’s meditation. If there is one thing in particular to which God has been constantly calling you, renew your dedication to serve Him in this way, in light of His call to unity.
2. Meditate on the glorious calling to which God has called you as a steward of His mysteries and His love letter to the world.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate on my calling to unity in God through unity in Christ and the Church, resolving to reflect on one way in which I have been called to help make the unity of God in His Church visible.
© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday of Epiphany 1 - Ephesians 3:1-13
"Wonder what mystery Dad's working on now?" Joe asked.
His brother Frank looked eagerly down the platform of the Bayport railroad station. "It must be a very important case, the way Dad dashed off to Detroit. We'll know in a few minutes."
Both boys were wondering about a certain surprise their father had hinted might be ready for them upon their return.
Waiting with Frank and Joe was their best friend Chet Morton. "Your dad's cases are always exciting--and dangerous," the plump, ruddy-faced boy remarked. "Do you think he'll give you a chance to help out on this one?"
"We sure hope so," Joe replied eagerly.
"Well, if I know you fellows," Chet went on, "you'll get mixed up in the mystery, somehow--and so will I, sooner or later. There goes my peaceful summer vacation!"
I'm quoting, of course, from the beginning of a Hardy Boys mystery, The Secret of the Old Mill, to be exact. I spent many hours reading them when younger. At the center of every Hardy Boys book is a mystery, or something hidden that needed to be revealed.
St. Paul speaks here in Ephesians 3 of the Greatest Mystery known to man and one that has the greatest power to change our lives. Mystery in the New Testament is not a riddle to be solved but something once concealed that is now openly revealed.
What is the mystery? In verse 4 Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ. In verse 6, he qualifies it with "that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel."
The greatest mystery that lies behind the one mentioned here in Ephesians 3:6 is the mystery of Christ, who has made union with God, and thereby salvation, possible for man.
Maybe Paul has in mind his own teaching of I Timothy 3:16 - "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." It is the whole work of Christ, therefore, that is the mystery of God that has been revealed. It is God made man; it is God preached to us and believed by us; it is God's eternal plan of salvation made manifest in His Son.
And it’s Christ in us.
This is the Mystery of the Ages of which Paul speaks. As Paul makes clear in Ephesians 5:30-32, the mystery is that God and man are made one in Christ, that Jesus Christ and His Bride the Church are one flesh and that on this basis man may be saved.
Men have looked for this Greatest Mystery for millennia. They have desperately sought to unlock the Secret of Life, to find salvation, in many places. Some seek this mystery in false religions, of which there are many. Today, in the Western world, at least, the most common way for man to seek the Mystery, to find the Meaning of Life, is to look in himself. One of Shirley MacLaine's books is titled: "Going Within: A Guide for Inner Transformation." A book search online reveals many books about how man is divine without God - including one audaciously called The Lost Teachings of Jesus: Finding the God Within.
But the only place to find the Greatest Mystery of salvation is in God, as He has revealed
Himself through His Son, through the Church, and through the Scriptures.
We love to unlock the mysteries of the universe. But God's great mystery - His plan of redemption through His Son - is one mystery man cannot discover for himself.
God had to reveal it to us. As Paul writes in I Cor. 2:9 (quoting Isaiah 64:4) "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him . . . . But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit."
In verse 3 Paul reminds us that even the great apostle himself had to have this Great Mystery of salvation in Christ revealed to him. Paul is keenly aware of God’s gracious revelation in his life in all His letters and mentions in verses 7 and 8 that he was made a special minister of God's grace (especially to the Gentiles.)
It was not only to St. Paul but also to the entire Church that God's mystery was revealed; not only St. Paul but the entire Church was made a steward of the mysteries of God. It’s a good thing because St. Paul was only one man, and he’s no longer here with us.
Paul writes in verse 5 that the mystery of God was revealed now to apostles and prophets, just as he wrote in 2:20 that the apostles and prophets are the foundation of the Church and the foundation of God's mystery in the world.
Therefore, it is the Church as a whole who is the steward of the mysteries of God.
But how does God's mystery get propagated throughout the whole world? God does not offer new revelation to men, and they cannot find it by themselves. The Church is God's means of speaking to the world because it is the Body of Christ here on earth. It incarnates the mystery of God with us, of Christ and His Body.
There is a kind of divine respiration at work, then, in the world: God breathes His mystery, His gospel, out into us, His Church. Then we are to breathe it out again into the world. God breathes life into us by His Spirit, and then He breathes out life through us, to the world.
In other words, the mystery of God - His eternal plan of salvation - is first revealed to the Church, and then it is revealed to the world through the Church.
There was a TV commercial years ago: "When E.F. Hutton talks . . . (and everyone in room got instantly quiet.)
But when God talks, the Mystery of mysteries is revealed.
When God talks, people are saved and lives are transformed.
God spoke once, and the world was created; He spoke again - through His Son and now through His Church - and the world is re-created.
So important is the Church's part in revealing God's mystery to the entire cosmos that Paul says in verse 10 that even the angels are taught about God by the Church.
This is one of those absolutely astounding verses of Scripture to me, and unless Paul had revealed it, I wouldn't have known it or believed it. Through us the angels, the principalities and powers in heavenly places, come to know the wisdom of God. Incredible!
This makes each of you and all of us together stewards of the mystery of God. A steward is someone who has been given the responsibility to watch over and administer something valuable, such as a house or the wine.
We have a sacred treasure entrusted to us: the mysteries of God, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are heirs of a long line of faithful stewards of the mystery, and we must prove just as faithful. We cannot let this unbroken chain of revelation - from Jesus Christ to Paul to the
Church to us to the world - be broken by our negligence.
The mysteries of God are like a great treasure that has been entrusted to us, and our job is to pass it along to as many as we possibly can. God's mystery of salvation is like hidden treasure, except that He has shown us exactly where it lies. Unlike earthly treasure, which everyone wants to keep to himself and because of which everyone is figuring out a way to
cut others out, God’s mystery of Christ in us is one that you want to share, because the more you share the treasure the greater it will be.
By the way you live, by your holiness, the mystery of God is revealed to the world.
By the way you manifest the peace and joy and love of God in your lives, the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.
By your daily worship of God and your desire for Him, the angels are instructed.
Guard this treasure, this mystery with your life and by your life. God has put His treasure into these earthen vessels, these old, frail bodies and sinful souls that we might speak it and perform it before the world.
Remember: the world, and even the angels, are watching and learning - from you.
For you are a minister of the mysteries of God.
Prayer: Father, I thank You that You have revealed Yourself and Your salvation to Your people through Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for choosing me as a minister of Your great mysteries and for making me an heir of Your great salvation. Remind me today that I have a holy obligation to help reveal this mystery to others, as much as is in my power. For the salvation of the world and the enlightenment of the angels, make me Your minister today. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Meditate on some of the ways that God has revealed Himself and His salvation to You. Rejoice in and give thanks for each one.
2. Meditate on one way that God has been calling You to be a more faithful steward of His mystery. It might be by more faithfully revealing Him to others through evangelism or discipleship, or it might be by being a more faithful minister in your own holiness. If you have been working on other resolutions recently, continue them with today’s meditation in mind.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate today on the fact that I am a minister and steward of God’s mystery of salvation.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
His brother Frank looked eagerly down the platform of the Bayport railroad station. "It must be a very important case, the way Dad dashed off to Detroit. We'll know in a few minutes."
Both boys were wondering about a certain surprise their father had hinted might be ready for them upon their return.
Waiting with Frank and Joe was their best friend Chet Morton. "Your dad's cases are always exciting--and dangerous," the plump, ruddy-faced boy remarked. "Do you think he'll give you a chance to help out on this one?"
"We sure hope so," Joe replied eagerly.
"Well, if I know you fellows," Chet went on, "you'll get mixed up in the mystery, somehow--and so will I, sooner or later. There goes my peaceful summer vacation!"
I'm quoting, of course, from the beginning of a Hardy Boys mystery, The Secret of the Old Mill, to be exact. I spent many hours reading them when younger. At the center of every Hardy Boys book is a mystery, or something hidden that needed to be revealed.
St. Paul speaks here in Ephesians 3 of the Greatest Mystery known to man and one that has the greatest power to change our lives. Mystery in the New Testament is not a riddle to be solved but something once concealed that is now openly revealed.
What is the mystery? In verse 4 Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ. In verse 6, he qualifies it with "that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel."
The greatest mystery that lies behind the one mentioned here in Ephesians 3:6 is the mystery of Christ, who has made union with God, and thereby salvation, possible for man.
Maybe Paul has in mind his own teaching of I Timothy 3:16 - "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." It is the whole work of Christ, therefore, that is the mystery of God that has been revealed. It is God made man; it is God preached to us and believed by us; it is God's eternal plan of salvation made manifest in His Son.
And it’s Christ in us.
This is the Mystery of the Ages of which Paul speaks. As Paul makes clear in Ephesians 5:30-32, the mystery is that God and man are made one in Christ, that Jesus Christ and His Bride the Church are one flesh and that on this basis man may be saved.
Men have looked for this Greatest Mystery for millennia. They have desperately sought to unlock the Secret of Life, to find salvation, in many places. Some seek this mystery in false religions, of which there are many. Today, in the Western world, at least, the most common way for man to seek the Mystery, to find the Meaning of Life, is to look in himself. One of Shirley MacLaine's books is titled: "Going Within: A Guide for Inner Transformation." A book search online reveals many books about how man is divine without God - including one audaciously called The Lost Teachings of Jesus: Finding the God Within.
But the only place to find the Greatest Mystery of salvation is in God, as He has revealed
Himself through His Son, through the Church, and through the Scriptures.
We love to unlock the mysteries of the universe. But God's great mystery - His plan of redemption through His Son - is one mystery man cannot discover for himself.
God had to reveal it to us. As Paul writes in I Cor. 2:9 (quoting Isaiah 64:4) "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him . . . . But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit."
In verse 3 Paul reminds us that even the great apostle himself had to have this Great Mystery of salvation in Christ revealed to him. Paul is keenly aware of God’s gracious revelation in his life in all His letters and mentions in verses 7 and 8 that he was made a special minister of God's grace (especially to the Gentiles.)
It was not only to St. Paul but also to the entire Church that God's mystery was revealed; not only St. Paul but the entire Church was made a steward of the mysteries of God. It’s a good thing because St. Paul was only one man, and he’s no longer here with us.
Paul writes in verse 5 that the mystery of God was revealed now to apostles and prophets, just as he wrote in 2:20 that the apostles and prophets are the foundation of the Church and the foundation of God's mystery in the world.
Therefore, it is the Church as a whole who is the steward of the mysteries of God.
But how does God's mystery get propagated throughout the whole world? God does not offer new revelation to men, and they cannot find it by themselves. The Church is God's means of speaking to the world because it is the Body of Christ here on earth. It incarnates the mystery of God with us, of Christ and His Body.
There is a kind of divine respiration at work, then, in the world: God breathes His mystery, His gospel, out into us, His Church. Then we are to breathe it out again into the world. God breathes life into us by His Spirit, and then He breathes out life through us, to the world.
In other words, the mystery of God - His eternal plan of salvation - is first revealed to the Church, and then it is revealed to the world through the Church.
There was a TV commercial years ago: "When E.F. Hutton talks . . . (and everyone in room got instantly quiet.)
But when God talks, the Mystery of mysteries is revealed.
When God talks, people are saved and lives are transformed.
God spoke once, and the world was created; He spoke again - through His Son and now through His Church - and the world is re-created.
So important is the Church's part in revealing God's mystery to the entire cosmos that Paul says in verse 10 that even the angels are taught about God by the Church.
This is one of those absolutely astounding verses of Scripture to me, and unless Paul had revealed it, I wouldn't have known it or believed it. Through us the angels, the principalities and powers in heavenly places, come to know the wisdom of God. Incredible!
This makes each of you and all of us together stewards of the mystery of God. A steward is someone who has been given the responsibility to watch over and administer something valuable, such as a house or the wine.
We have a sacred treasure entrusted to us: the mysteries of God, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are heirs of a long line of faithful stewards of the mystery, and we must prove just as faithful. We cannot let this unbroken chain of revelation - from Jesus Christ to Paul to the
Church to us to the world - be broken by our negligence.
The mysteries of God are like a great treasure that has been entrusted to us, and our job is to pass it along to as many as we possibly can. God's mystery of salvation is like hidden treasure, except that He has shown us exactly where it lies. Unlike earthly treasure, which everyone wants to keep to himself and because of which everyone is figuring out a way to
cut others out, God’s mystery of Christ in us is one that you want to share, because the more you share the treasure the greater it will be.
By the way you live, by your holiness, the mystery of God is revealed to the world.
By the way you manifest the peace and joy and love of God in your lives, the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.
By your daily worship of God and your desire for Him, the angels are instructed.
Guard this treasure, this mystery with your life and by your life. God has put His treasure into these earthen vessels, these old, frail bodies and sinful souls that we might speak it and perform it before the world.
Remember: the world, and even the angels, are watching and learning - from you.
For you are a minister of the mysteries of God.
Prayer: Father, I thank You that You have revealed Yourself and Your salvation to Your people through Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for choosing me as a minister of Your great mysteries and for making me an heir of Your great salvation. Remind me today that I have a holy obligation to help reveal this mystery to others, as much as is in my power. For the salvation of the world and the enlightenment of the angels, make me Your minister today. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Meditate on some of the ways that God has revealed Himself and His salvation to You. Rejoice in and give thanks for each one.
2. Meditate on one way that God has been calling You to be a more faithful steward of His mystery. It might be by more faithfully revealing Him to others through evangelism or discipleship, or it might be by being a more faithful minister in your own holiness. If you have been working on other resolutions recently, continue them with today’s meditation in mind.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate today on the fact that I am a minister and steward of God’s mystery of salvation.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wednesday of Epiphany 1 - Ephesians 2:11-22
Open almost any page of almost any newspaper and you can't help but be struck by the fact that the world is in chaos.
We sent 1000s of our troops to Iraq because Saddam Hussein threatened the peace of the region and of the entire world. We have 1000s more troops in many places around the world - all to keep the peace. In our own neighborhoods, we read of robberies and murders, and in the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Communion worldwide we hear of divisions and a lack of peace.
If there is one thing we all want and need it is peace in our time and peace in our lives. And yet the average person in the world has about as much idea of how to achieve peace on earth as does Miss America.
In the 60s, hippies began flashing each other the sign for peace. They wanted peace with their fellow man without peace with God. But I don't believe many of those saying “Peace” found true peace.
As St. Paul teaches in Ephesians chapter 2, man is not at peace in the world, and he is not at peace with himself or others because he is not at peace with God. He is by nature a child of wrath, born in sin, and alienated from God by this sin. In verse 12 Paul reminds us that by nature and by birth we were without Christ and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. O.K., Paul, but what’s the bad news?!
Our enmity with God has devastating consequences, for the wages of sin is death. And sin is war with God. But this enmity with God always has consequences for our other relationships as well: for enmity with God leads directly to enmity with our fellow man. Just as love of God makes it possible for us to love our neighbors, so a hatred and enmity towards God make it possible for us to hate and be at war with our neighbors.
In families, where there is especially to be love and peace, we find husbands in conflict with wives; parents and children fighting, and children at each other’s throats. There is often so little peace in the family that some people spend all their time at work so they don't have to be at home for very long. And it wasn’t long after Adam and Eve’s sin that one of their sons, Cain, killed another son, Abel.
In Ephesians 2:11-20, Paul speaks of one of the greatest sources of enmity and hatred in the ancient world (and one which hasn't completely ended today) - enmity between Jews and Gentiles. Though the Temple was constructed to worship God so that man could find peace with God, the Temple was a symbol of the division between Jew and Gentile. Herod's temple, the one that Paul would have known, was a magnificent and beautiful structure. It was a massive structure built on a mountain and must have looked like an island rising up around a sea of walls, houses, and streets. It measured almost 1000 feet on each side and so encompassed nearly 1,000,000 square feet. By some estimates it could contain within its circumference more than 200,000 people. The temple was crowned by a mass of snowy marble and glittering gold and must have been a spectacle for all to behold.
Yet it was a symbol of intense enmity. All throughout Ephesians 2:11-22 Paul alludes to the division between Jews and Gentiles, nowhere more clearly than in verse 14, where he speaks of a "dividing wall of hostility" between Jews and Gentiles. This enmity between Jew and Gentile, both made in the image of God, was a type or picture of all enmity. Though God up until that time made distinctions between Jew and Gentile in His plan of salvation, both Jews and Gentiles used it as an occasion to despise the other. Gentiles despised Jews and persecuted them; Jews considered Gentiles dogs and unworthy or incapable of salvation, saying that Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the flames of hell.
This "dividing wall of hostility," to which Paul refers, is an allusion to Herod's Temple and its literal dividing wall. Outside the Temple was a spacious court called the Court of the Gentiles, from which Gentiles could see the Temple but not enter into it. The Temple was encompassed by a great stone wall that had a sign saying, in effect, not "Trespassers will be prosecuted," but "Trespassers will be executed." The sign forbade any foreigner from entering, under penalty of death.
The irony of Jerusalem today is that it is a city which means "possession of peace" and yet is perhaps the place of greatest enmity and strife in the world.
Thanks be to God, that through His Son, He has done for us what we could not do it for ourselves! Now we who were far from God and far from peace are brought near to God (verse 13.)
In the first half of Ephesians, St. Paul describes the painful war with God which we call sin, the wages of which are death. But as St. Paul yesterday offered us the grace of God to save us, today he offers us peace. By Jesus Christ, we have access to the Father (verse 18.)
The veil of the Temple, separating Holy of Holies from Holy Place, symbolized that man could not enter into God's presence. This veil was an enormous 60 x 30 foot curtain that was four inches thick and took 100 men to move. This veil was literally torn when Christ died. But much more impressively, God tore the veil that separated man from God and made it possible for man to live in peace with God once again. And now we have access to the Father.
This then, the work of Jesus Christ, is the secret of peace. Through the Cross, God has reconciled us to Himself and reconciled Jews and Gentiles into one body - the Church.
For this was God's plan of peace, that only by entering the true Temple - Jesus Christ Himself - can we have peace. Husbands and wives, parents and children, Jews and Gentiles can now have peace through Jesus Christ who is our peace.
God doesn't promise that magically all of your problems with people will be solved when you become a Christian - but He does promise that if you make peace with Him, that He will transform you.
If you do not have peace this morning - if you know in your heart, that you are always angry and unfulfilled; if you know that there is a relationship with those close to you in which there is no peace; whether you are in conflict with God, with someone else, or with yourself; there is one thing you need to know: Jesus Christ has done everything necessary for you to find peace in your soul. The peace which the world cannot give, God freely offers to you through His grace.
But you must accept the terms of peace with God that He offers, and those terms are that you surrender yourself to Him completely. If you want true peace, lasting peace, then first find peace with God - a peace which comes only through a faithful relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.
You are now members of the household of God (verse 19.) You are fellow citizens with the saints! You were once foreigners to God and His household, but now you are His children and His saints (verse 19.)
In fact, you, and all the saints, are now God’s holy Temple where He dwells (verse 21)! Herod's temple was magnificent and beautiful, but it was ultimately a symbol of our separation from God and from each other. Herod's temple was full of glory and grandeur, but by A.D. 70 it was reduced to rubble and never seen again.
But now the true temple of God has been revealed - and it is you - it is us, the Body of Christ. We are where God dwells with man and where the reconciling work of Christ is made real. You. Me. Us. The Church.
Are you waging a secret war with those around you?
Do you want peace as you've never known it before?
Then seek first peace with God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Thanks be to You, my loving Father, because You sent Your Son to make peace between You and me, when I was by nature Your enemy. Thank you for tearing down the wall of separation between us. I pray that I might not rebuild the wall and separate myself from You by sin. Where I am not at peace with my brother or sister, help me to seek peace, remembering the Cross of Christ by which I may find peace again. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Consider carefully the places in your life where there is no peace. Prayerfully, present each of these before Jesus Christ who is your peace. Pray for peace, and ask God what steps you should take in one of these situations to restore peace, as much as it lies in your power.
2. Remember situations in your life where God has brought peace. Give thanks to God for His salvation, and be encouraged by His promise of peace in other situations.
3. Are you at peace with God? If not, look back at the resolutions you have made in the past to discover the source of enmity. What steps is God asking you to take to find peace with Him?
Resolution: I resolve to seek peace in one situation in my life where there is not peace. It may be with God Himself (best remedied through repentance – confession and penitence), or it may be with another person.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
We sent 1000s of our troops to Iraq because Saddam Hussein threatened the peace of the region and of the entire world. We have 1000s more troops in many places around the world - all to keep the peace. In our own neighborhoods, we read of robberies and murders, and in the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Communion worldwide we hear of divisions and a lack of peace.
If there is one thing we all want and need it is peace in our time and peace in our lives. And yet the average person in the world has about as much idea of how to achieve peace on earth as does Miss America.
In the 60s, hippies began flashing each other the sign for peace. They wanted peace with their fellow man without peace with God. But I don't believe many of those saying “Peace” found true peace.
As St. Paul teaches in Ephesians chapter 2, man is not at peace in the world, and he is not at peace with himself or others because he is not at peace with God. He is by nature a child of wrath, born in sin, and alienated from God by this sin. In verse 12 Paul reminds us that by nature and by birth we were without Christ and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. O.K., Paul, but what’s the bad news?!
Our enmity with God has devastating consequences, for the wages of sin is death. And sin is war with God. But this enmity with God always has consequences for our other relationships as well: for enmity with God leads directly to enmity with our fellow man. Just as love of God makes it possible for us to love our neighbors, so a hatred and enmity towards God make it possible for us to hate and be at war with our neighbors.
In families, where there is especially to be love and peace, we find husbands in conflict with wives; parents and children fighting, and children at each other’s throats. There is often so little peace in the family that some people spend all their time at work so they don't have to be at home for very long. And it wasn’t long after Adam and Eve’s sin that one of their sons, Cain, killed another son, Abel.
In Ephesians 2:11-20, Paul speaks of one of the greatest sources of enmity and hatred in the ancient world (and one which hasn't completely ended today) - enmity between Jews and Gentiles. Though the Temple was constructed to worship God so that man could find peace with God, the Temple was a symbol of the division between Jew and Gentile. Herod's temple, the one that Paul would have known, was a magnificent and beautiful structure. It was a massive structure built on a mountain and must have looked like an island rising up around a sea of walls, houses, and streets. It measured almost 1000 feet on each side and so encompassed nearly 1,000,000 square feet. By some estimates it could contain within its circumference more than 200,000 people. The temple was crowned by a mass of snowy marble and glittering gold and must have been a spectacle for all to behold.
Yet it was a symbol of intense enmity. All throughout Ephesians 2:11-22 Paul alludes to the division between Jews and Gentiles, nowhere more clearly than in verse 14, where he speaks of a "dividing wall of hostility" between Jews and Gentiles. This enmity between Jew and Gentile, both made in the image of God, was a type or picture of all enmity. Though God up until that time made distinctions between Jew and Gentile in His plan of salvation, both Jews and Gentiles used it as an occasion to despise the other. Gentiles despised Jews and persecuted them; Jews considered Gentiles dogs and unworthy or incapable of salvation, saying that Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the flames of hell.
This "dividing wall of hostility," to which Paul refers, is an allusion to Herod's Temple and its literal dividing wall. Outside the Temple was a spacious court called the Court of the Gentiles, from which Gentiles could see the Temple but not enter into it. The Temple was encompassed by a great stone wall that had a sign saying, in effect, not "Trespassers will be prosecuted," but "Trespassers will be executed." The sign forbade any foreigner from entering, under penalty of death.
The irony of Jerusalem today is that it is a city which means "possession of peace" and yet is perhaps the place of greatest enmity and strife in the world.
Thanks be to God, that through His Son, He has done for us what we could not do it for ourselves! Now we who were far from God and far from peace are brought near to God (verse 13.)
In the first half of Ephesians, St. Paul describes the painful war with God which we call sin, the wages of which are death. But as St. Paul yesterday offered us the grace of God to save us, today he offers us peace. By Jesus Christ, we have access to the Father (verse 18.)
The veil of the Temple, separating Holy of Holies from Holy Place, symbolized that man could not enter into God's presence. This veil was an enormous 60 x 30 foot curtain that was four inches thick and took 100 men to move. This veil was literally torn when Christ died. But much more impressively, God tore the veil that separated man from God and made it possible for man to live in peace with God once again. And now we have access to the Father.
This then, the work of Jesus Christ, is the secret of peace. Through the Cross, God has reconciled us to Himself and reconciled Jews and Gentiles into one body - the Church.
For this was God's plan of peace, that only by entering the true Temple - Jesus Christ Himself - can we have peace. Husbands and wives, parents and children, Jews and Gentiles can now have peace through Jesus Christ who is our peace.
God doesn't promise that magically all of your problems with people will be solved when you become a Christian - but He does promise that if you make peace with Him, that He will transform you.
If you do not have peace this morning - if you know in your heart, that you are always angry and unfulfilled; if you know that there is a relationship with those close to you in which there is no peace; whether you are in conflict with God, with someone else, or with yourself; there is one thing you need to know: Jesus Christ has done everything necessary for you to find peace in your soul. The peace which the world cannot give, God freely offers to you through His grace.
But you must accept the terms of peace with God that He offers, and those terms are that you surrender yourself to Him completely. If you want true peace, lasting peace, then first find peace with God - a peace which comes only through a faithful relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.
You are now members of the household of God (verse 19.) You are fellow citizens with the saints! You were once foreigners to God and His household, but now you are His children and His saints (verse 19.)
In fact, you, and all the saints, are now God’s holy Temple where He dwells (verse 21)! Herod's temple was magnificent and beautiful, but it was ultimately a symbol of our separation from God and from each other. Herod's temple was full of glory and grandeur, but by A.D. 70 it was reduced to rubble and never seen again.
But now the true temple of God has been revealed - and it is you - it is us, the Body of Christ. We are where God dwells with man and where the reconciling work of Christ is made real. You. Me. Us. The Church.
Are you waging a secret war with those around you?
Do you want peace as you've never known it before?
Then seek first peace with God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Thanks be to You, my loving Father, because You sent Your Son to make peace between You and me, when I was by nature Your enemy. Thank you for tearing down the wall of separation between us. I pray that I might not rebuild the wall and separate myself from You by sin. Where I am not at peace with my brother or sister, help me to seek peace, remembering the Cross of Christ by which I may find peace again. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Consider carefully the places in your life where there is no peace. Prayerfully, present each of these before Jesus Christ who is your peace. Pray for peace, and ask God what steps you should take in one of these situations to restore peace, as much as it lies in your power.
2. Remember situations in your life where God has brought peace. Give thanks to God for His salvation, and be encouraged by His promise of peace in other situations.
3. Are you at peace with God? If not, look back at the resolutions you have made in the past to discover the source of enmity. What steps is God asking you to take to find peace with Him?
Resolution: I resolve to seek peace in one situation in my life where there is not peace. It may be with God Himself (best remedied through repentance – confession and penitence), or it may be with another person.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tuesday of First Sunday after Epiphany - Ephesians 2:1-10
What would you give to a doctor who told you, when someone you love is at the point of death, that he could cure him? That he would give him back his life - and not just for a few months hooked up to a roomful of machines and monitors - but that he would give back life in all its fullness?
Of course, our first thought is not to wonder how we would reward or think about such a doctor: our first thought is to disbelieve that such miracles can happen.
And yet I say to you that I know a physician who can restore the life of every one who has ever been dead or who has ever been at the point of death. I know someone who has the power over life and death - not like any earthly doctor. I know someone who can raise the dead and give them eternal life.
That someone, of course, is God.
In Ephesians Chapter 2, Paul is not only concerned with the resurrection of our bodies after they have died while on earth: he’s concerned with the eternal condition of our souls. Paul's powerful prescription for the cure of death is indeed a miraculous and strong medicine; but first, he must make a very serious and deadly prognosis on every one who has ever been born into this world.
It is the oldest and deadliest disease known to man that Paul has in mind, and the prescription he makes is the most powerful and most famous in history: for his message in Ephesians 2:1-10 is very simple: you were dead in your sins, but God has made you alive through Jesus Christ.
Many people have attempted to explain the mystery of mankind - how he can act so nobly sometimes and create the most beautiful works of art and yet is capable of the greatest evil and harm. Most people today would say that men do wicked things because of their environment. Rousseau believed that man was born free but everywhere we see him in chains. He believed that man was basically good but that society corrupted him.
The problem with this and all similar arguments is that what is society but a collection of humans in community. How can each one be good but together they are corrupt and wicked? It makes no sense.
The apostle Paul - indeed the Scriptures in their entirety - have a vastly different belief about man and his natural condition. For St. Paul preaches that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Let me say it again: you were dead in your sins (verse 5).
Apart from the grace of God, we live for ourselves and not God; we love ourselves and not God; every day we break God's commandments, each of which carries the penalty of death, because we have violated a holy and perfect God.
There’s simply no way to sugar coat this. God's Word is completely clear on this matter. You - meaning you, I, and everyone who's ever lived (with one exception) - were born in sin, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Paul doesn't tell you that you were a little sick but went into spontaneous remission: he plainly says that you were dead because of your trespasses and sins. He refers to 3 things that we have followed into sin and death, 3 things that the Church has traditionally categorized as "the world, the flesh, and the devil." In verse 2 he mentions both the world and the prince of this world, and in verse 3 he mentions the desires of the flesh. All 3 of these lead us into temptation, into sin, and ultimately into death. And this was our natural condition, before God reaches down to save us.
St. Paul is hardcore. As if this weren’t bad enough, he says in verse 3 that we were "by nature children of wrath."
You were dead in your sins and were by nature children of wrath BUT GOD. These are two of the shortest words in the Bible, but also two of the most dramatic: BUT GOD.
But God what? BUT GOD who is rich in mercy made us alive in Christ (verses 4-5.) By the grace of God - and entirely by the grace of God - we find relief, deliverance and salvation from the miserable condition that I just discussed.
How has God done this?
In 3 simple words, all of our life's problems are answered by God: union with Christ.
It’s by being united with Jesus Christ that you’re set free from enslavement to the world, the flesh, and the devil; it’s by being united to Jesus Christ that you’re justified before a holy God; and it’s by being united with Jesus Christ that you’re made alive to God.
If you’re a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you’re truly united with Christ - made one with Him. In this passage Paul tells us that God saves us by uniting us with His Son in 3 real ways. In verse 5, we learn that God "made us alive together with Christ,” that is, we are united with Him in His Resurrection. In the first part of verse 6 we hear that we are raised up with Him in the heavenly places or united with Him in His Ascension. And in the second part of verse 6 we are taught that He "made us to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” that is, that we are united with Jesus Christ in His Session, his sitting and ruling at the right hand of the Father (I could do a whole meditation just on this one verse!)
Truly, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, for He has made us one with His Son, and this has delivered us from death, bondage to sin, and damnation.
But why? Why would God offer to take away the sins of the world?
Because He is "rich in mercy" (verse 4) and love.
Given our being dead in sin and being by nature children of wrath, the only possible source of salvation is God and His grace. Grace, by its nature, is a gift. It’s God’s Christmas present to you, through His Son made flesh.
You were saved by God's grace because you were dead to God and could not save yourself.
The world is filled with pictures of people into whose life God has poured His grace.
One such picture is the life of John Newton, who was born in 1725 in England. He spent his early life turning to religion, only to fall back from it again. He read a work which taught that you could believe anything about God you wanted to. Slowly, this acted like a poison in his soul, and he gradually became a very corrupt man, tempting and seducing others into evil. Newton's later testimony was that he was "big with mischief, and, like one infected with a pestilence, was capable of spreading a taint wherever I went."
He became a slave trader, and in March 1748, while on ship, he awoke suddenly to the force of an extremely violent storm. Adrift at sea for four weeks, he read parts of the New Testament and began to cry to the Lord, understanding that only He could relieve his plight.
By the time they reached land, Newton had recovered his belief in God and his grace. John Newton is, of course, most famous today for having written the following words,
surely thinking of how God had saved him in both the storm at sea and in the storm of his life:
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found
was blind, but now I see."
It may not be that any of you has had God work so dramatically in your life - I
know He hasn't in mine. And yet this is a picture of the grace that has already operated in the life of every true believer in Jesus Christ.
What would you give to a God who gave you back your life when you didn’t deserve it?
The answer should be obvious: you give Him back your entire life: body, mind, and soul!
Prayer: Thanks be to You, O Lord, because when I was dead in my sins You showed me mercy and saved me by Your grace. Remind me today and every day of Your amazing grace that I may return to Your holy Temple and give thanks. Give me the grace to do the good works for which I was redeemed in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to meditate today on God’s grace in my life and to find one specific way to respond to His grace. Some possible options are:
1. Singing a hymn, such as “Amazing Grace”
2. Continuing in one good work you have begun in a prior resolution, remembering that you were “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (verse 10).
3. Remembering your former life or what your life would be without the grace of God. Try to find things in your life today that remind you of this. Each time you are reminded of God’s grace, offer up a brief prayer of thanksgiving.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Of course, our first thought is not to wonder how we would reward or think about such a doctor: our first thought is to disbelieve that such miracles can happen.
And yet I say to you that I know a physician who can restore the life of every one who has ever been dead or who has ever been at the point of death. I know someone who has the power over life and death - not like any earthly doctor. I know someone who can raise the dead and give them eternal life.
That someone, of course, is God.
In Ephesians Chapter 2, Paul is not only concerned with the resurrection of our bodies after they have died while on earth: he’s concerned with the eternal condition of our souls. Paul's powerful prescription for the cure of death is indeed a miraculous and strong medicine; but first, he must make a very serious and deadly prognosis on every one who has ever been born into this world.
It is the oldest and deadliest disease known to man that Paul has in mind, and the prescription he makes is the most powerful and most famous in history: for his message in Ephesians 2:1-10 is very simple: you were dead in your sins, but God has made you alive through Jesus Christ.
Many people have attempted to explain the mystery of mankind - how he can act so nobly sometimes and create the most beautiful works of art and yet is capable of the greatest evil and harm. Most people today would say that men do wicked things because of their environment. Rousseau believed that man was born free but everywhere we see him in chains. He believed that man was basically good but that society corrupted him.
The problem with this and all similar arguments is that what is society but a collection of humans in community. How can each one be good but together they are corrupt and wicked? It makes no sense.
The apostle Paul - indeed the Scriptures in their entirety - have a vastly different belief about man and his natural condition. For St. Paul preaches that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Let me say it again: you were dead in your sins (verse 5).
Apart from the grace of God, we live for ourselves and not God; we love ourselves and not God; every day we break God's commandments, each of which carries the penalty of death, because we have violated a holy and perfect God.
There’s simply no way to sugar coat this. God's Word is completely clear on this matter. You - meaning you, I, and everyone who's ever lived (with one exception) - were born in sin, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Paul doesn't tell you that you were a little sick but went into spontaneous remission: he plainly says that you were dead because of your trespasses and sins. He refers to 3 things that we have followed into sin and death, 3 things that the Church has traditionally categorized as "the world, the flesh, and the devil." In verse 2 he mentions both the world and the prince of this world, and in verse 3 he mentions the desires of the flesh. All 3 of these lead us into temptation, into sin, and ultimately into death. And this was our natural condition, before God reaches down to save us.
St. Paul is hardcore. As if this weren’t bad enough, he says in verse 3 that we were "by nature children of wrath."
You were dead in your sins and were by nature children of wrath BUT GOD. These are two of the shortest words in the Bible, but also two of the most dramatic: BUT GOD.
But God what? BUT GOD who is rich in mercy made us alive in Christ (verses 4-5.) By the grace of God - and entirely by the grace of God - we find relief, deliverance and salvation from the miserable condition that I just discussed.
How has God done this?
In 3 simple words, all of our life's problems are answered by God: union with Christ.
It’s by being united with Jesus Christ that you’re set free from enslavement to the world, the flesh, and the devil; it’s by being united to Jesus Christ that you’re justified before a holy God; and it’s by being united with Jesus Christ that you’re made alive to God.
If you’re a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you’re truly united with Christ - made one with Him. In this passage Paul tells us that God saves us by uniting us with His Son in 3 real ways. In verse 5, we learn that God "made us alive together with Christ,” that is, we are united with Him in His Resurrection. In the first part of verse 6 we hear that we are raised up with Him in the heavenly places or united with Him in His Ascension. And in the second part of verse 6 we are taught that He "made us to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” that is, that we are united with Jesus Christ in His Session, his sitting and ruling at the right hand of the Father (I could do a whole meditation just on this one verse!)
Truly, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, for He has made us one with His Son, and this has delivered us from death, bondage to sin, and damnation.
But why? Why would God offer to take away the sins of the world?
Because He is "rich in mercy" (verse 4) and love.
Given our being dead in sin and being by nature children of wrath, the only possible source of salvation is God and His grace. Grace, by its nature, is a gift. It’s God’s Christmas present to you, through His Son made flesh.
You were saved by God's grace because you were dead to God and could not save yourself.
The world is filled with pictures of people into whose life God has poured His grace.
One such picture is the life of John Newton, who was born in 1725 in England. He spent his early life turning to religion, only to fall back from it again. He read a work which taught that you could believe anything about God you wanted to. Slowly, this acted like a poison in his soul, and he gradually became a very corrupt man, tempting and seducing others into evil. Newton's later testimony was that he was "big with mischief, and, like one infected with a pestilence, was capable of spreading a taint wherever I went."
He became a slave trader, and in March 1748, while on ship, he awoke suddenly to the force of an extremely violent storm. Adrift at sea for four weeks, he read parts of the New Testament and began to cry to the Lord, understanding that only He could relieve his plight.
By the time they reached land, Newton had recovered his belief in God and his grace. John Newton is, of course, most famous today for having written the following words,
surely thinking of how God had saved him in both the storm at sea and in the storm of his life:
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found
was blind, but now I see."
It may not be that any of you has had God work so dramatically in your life - I
know He hasn't in mine. And yet this is a picture of the grace that has already operated in the life of every true believer in Jesus Christ.
What would you give to a God who gave you back your life when you didn’t deserve it?
The answer should be obvious: you give Him back your entire life: body, mind, and soul!
Prayer: Thanks be to You, O Lord, because when I was dead in my sins You showed me mercy and saved me by Your grace. Remind me today and every day of Your amazing grace that I may return to Your holy Temple and give thanks. Give me the grace to do the good works for which I was redeemed in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to meditate today on God’s grace in my life and to find one specific way to respond to His grace. Some possible options are:
1. Singing a hymn, such as “Amazing Grace”
2. Continuing in one good work you have begun in a prior resolution, remembering that you were “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (verse 10).
3. Remembering your former life or what your life would be without the grace of God. Try to find things in your life today that remind you of this. Each time you are reminded of God’s grace, offer up a brief prayer of thanksgiving.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Monday of First Sunday after Epiphany - Ephesians 1
Have you ever been excited to be a part of something bigger than yourself? To be in on a very important goal whose greatness brings you glory?
In the book of Ephesians, we find that God has let us in on the Greatest Goal of All - to bring blessing to mankind, who does not deserve it. St. Paul’s message is that as a result of God's blessing us, we live in a new cosmos, a new world. We are part of a new reality, a new humanity, and a new society because we are seated in the heavenlies with Christ – all because of God's plan of blessing.
What's the best sentence you’ve ever read in your life?
For me, it would have to be Ephesians 1:3-14. In one single sentence (it looks like in the Greek it’s only one sentence!), Paul reveals God's mysterious plan, planned from before the world was created, a plan of such rapturous delight that Paul forgets to take a breath and use any periods! Paul’s writings are always concentrated, but Ephesians 1:3-14 is so concentrated that it’s as dense as a neutron star!
He chants a sevenfold benediction, punctuated by the threefold refrain: "to the praise of the glory of God's grace"- which is a key phrase in Chapter 1. In verse 3 Paul begins with blessing God because He has blessed us. In fact, the whole book of Ephesians is about how God shares Himself with us and how we are to respond to this.
If God is the one who acted first in creating us; if God is the one who acted first to save us, then our every thought, word, and deed ought to begin with God. Yet in so many churches when you hear someone preach or see them on TV they begin with us. I’ve seen commercials on TV for a local church that doesn’t even mention God: it simply says, in effect, “Come to our church because it’s filled with people just like you.”
Verses 3, 6, 12, 14 all mention "to the praise of His glory” because the new cosmos all centers on the glory of God, from beginning to end.
This God who is worthy of all praise has blessed us with "every spiritual blessing" (verse 3). I can scarcely imagine all of the blessings that God has in store for those who know Him, but I do know some of them: true forgiveness for the many ways I have failed Him; comfort in all my trials in this life; unimaginable bliss in the world to come; a life that is more and more conformed to His will, that seeks to please Him and bless Him, and in the process returns blessing to me; and perhaps most of all – His presence with me.
Paul seems to believe that you already have all these gifts, if you are a Christian, for God “has blessed us” with every spiritual blessing.
But if you want to see what Paul saw - God's glorious plan to bless and exalt mankind - though he is sinful and deserves nothing but death - then you must go where St. Paul went. St. Paul did not see this dazzling vision of God's purposes, which are His glory, by standing here on earth. No, he ascended into heaven with Christ and from the heavenly places he saw what I want to see. These divine mysteries can only be gazed at if you recognize with Paul that as Christians, as those upon God has bestowed His name and His inheritance of treasure, you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places.
Let’s go: the vision of God and His eternal plan of salvation is waiting for us.
Ephesians 1:3-14 is one of the best places to learn about the Holy Trinity, for Paul teaches something about the role of each person in God’s incredible plan.
Paul begins with the work of the Father. In verse 1, Paul says that he himself is called by the will of God: it is the will of the Father that is done in God's plan to bless mankind. In verse 2, Paul tells us that it is the Father who has especially blessed us through His Son. And in verse 4 we learn that it was the Father who chose us in him before the foundation of the world. How incredible that God would choose me to be part of His glorious plan for a new world!
It is the Father who destined us in love to be His sons, according to the purpose of His will. Sometimes we think that only the Son or Spirit is love, but it is especially the love of the Father that has made us His sons. Our response, in verse 6, is to praise Him for His glorious grace.
Already, Paul has left me breathless – and there’s more to come!
The eternal will of the Father reaches down to us in history, in our lives, through the Son. We have been adopted as the sons of God (verse 5) only because of the work of God’s only-begotten Son. None of us were born into the family of God: God had to adopt us, which He did through the work of His only natural Son.
It is through the Son that this loving Father has made known to us the mystery of His will (verse 9), and it is in this Son, Jesus Christ, that God is gathering all things into one. This is the work of the New Creation, of making a new world in which God’s creation is able to live with Him again.
God's plan to unite heaven and earth will be done finally in the future, and it comes through the work of the Spirit (verse 10). We must never forget the plan of salvation that is unfolding day by day before our very eyes. Pentecost is past, and the Spirit has already been given; we are in presently in the process of moving closer and closer to the time when all will be done; and one day in the future, earth and heaven will be forever married.
We know that the Father’s loving plan will be fulfilled because we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (verse 13). The Father has made many promises to His adopted children – a promise of forgiveness of sins, a promise of eternal life with Him, a promise of a time of heavenly bliss. All of these future realities - which we are in the midst of receiving even now - are sealed by the work of the Spirit in your life. It is the Spirit who guarantees to us that the Father’s loving will is a reality (verse 14).
As a human father, sometimes I make promises I’m unable to keep or that I forget to keep. But through the seal of the Holy Spirit, we can be 100% certain that what the Father has promised will come to pass - that if we have faith and live a life of faith, we will see God's plan of blessing to the end.
How could such a certain promise - of such magnanimous blessing - not result in the praise of the glory of the grace of God?
But all of this incredible plan of God's blessing - salvation - requires something from you. Though it is all the work of God and planned from eternity past and executed by His will through His Son and by His Spirit, you are required to do something.
What could that something be? What could you possibly give God in return for His magnificent, mind-blowing blessings?
In one sense – nothing. You could never repay such an expensive gift. But you can give what God has enabled you to give - you can truly please God by giving Him yourself: body, mind, and soul; thought, word, and deed.
Some people are destined for greatness. I think of Mozart who composed his first symphony when he was 4. But you were destined and appointed - by God - for something much more glorious. You are destined and appointed to live forever for the praise of God's glory.
What can you give God? You can give back the glory He lovingly shared with you. You can live for the praise of His glory. Remember: this is the eternal, ultimate purpose of all things - to bring God glory.
And there is no higher honor in life, no greater purpose, than to participate in God's glory by giving Him glory and praise.
Prayer: Father, I praise You for Your love that planned all things according to Your holy will; Jesus, I praise You that through Your life I have been made a child of God; Spirit, I praise You because You have guaranteed the wonderful promises of the Father to me. Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I praise You because You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Go back and read Ephesians 1:3-14, slowly meditating on each phrase and praising God for His blessings to you.
2. Plan to praise God throughout the day today. Find a number of different ways and times to be able to praise Him.
3. Praise the Holy Trinity in slow motion throughout the day. Praise the Father in the morning, the Son in the afternoon, and the Holy Spirit in the evening.
Resolution: I resolve to find ways to praise God throughout the day because of His glorious plan of salvation through which He has blessed me.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
In the book of Ephesians, we find that God has let us in on the Greatest Goal of All - to bring blessing to mankind, who does not deserve it. St. Paul’s message is that as a result of God's blessing us, we live in a new cosmos, a new world. We are part of a new reality, a new humanity, and a new society because we are seated in the heavenlies with Christ – all because of God's plan of blessing.
What's the best sentence you’ve ever read in your life?
For me, it would have to be Ephesians 1:3-14. In one single sentence (it looks like in the Greek it’s only one sentence!), Paul reveals God's mysterious plan, planned from before the world was created, a plan of such rapturous delight that Paul forgets to take a breath and use any periods! Paul’s writings are always concentrated, but Ephesians 1:3-14 is so concentrated that it’s as dense as a neutron star!
He chants a sevenfold benediction, punctuated by the threefold refrain: "to the praise of the glory of God's grace"- which is a key phrase in Chapter 1. In verse 3 Paul begins with blessing God because He has blessed us. In fact, the whole book of Ephesians is about how God shares Himself with us and how we are to respond to this.
If God is the one who acted first in creating us; if God is the one who acted first to save us, then our every thought, word, and deed ought to begin with God. Yet in so many churches when you hear someone preach or see them on TV they begin with us. I’ve seen commercials on TV for a local church that doesn’t even mention God: it simply says, in effect, “Come to our church because it’s filled with people just like you.”
Verses 3, 6, 12, 14 all mention "to the praise of His glory” because the new cosmos all centers on the glory of God, from beginning to end.
This God who is worthy of all praise has blessed us with "every spiritual blessing" (verse 3). I can scarcely imagine all of the blessings that God has in store for those who know Him, but I do know some of them: true forgiveness for the many ways I have failed Him; comfort in all my trials in this life; unimaginable bliss in the world to come; a life that is more and more conformed to His will, that seeks to please Him and bless Him, and in the process returns blessing to me; and perhaps most of all – His presence with me.
Paul seems to believe that you already have all these gifts, if you are a Christian, for God “has blessed us” with every spiritual blessing.
But if you want to see what Paul saw - God's glorious plan to bless and exalt mankind - though he is sinful and deserves nothing but death - then you must go where St. Paul went. St. Paul did not see this dazzling vision of God's purposes, which are His glory, by standing here on earth. No, he ascended into heaven with Christ and from the heavenly places he saw what I want to see. These divine mysteries can only be gazed at if you recognize with Paul that as Christians, as those upon God has bestowed His name and His inheritance of treasure, you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places.
Let’s go: the vision of God and His eternal plan of salvation is waiting for us.
Ephesians 1:3-14 is one of the best places to learn about the Holy Trinity, for Paul teaches something about the role of each person in God’s incredible plan.
Paul begins with the work of the Father. In verse 1, Paul says that he himself is called by the will of God: it is the will of the Father that is done in God's plan to bless mankind. In verse 2, Paul tells us that it is the Father who has especially blessed us through His Son. And in verse 4 we learn that it was the Father who chose us in him before the foundation of the world. How incredible that God would choose me to be part of His glorious plan for a new world!
It is the Father who destined us in love to be His sons, according to the purpose of His will. Sometimes we think that only the Son or Spirit is love, but it is especially the love of the Father that has made us His sons. Our response, in verse 6, is to praise Him for His glorious grace.
Already, Paul has left me breathless – and there’s more to come!
The eternal will of the Father reaches down to us in history, in our lives, through the Son. We have been adopted as the sons of God (verse 5) only because of the work of God’s only-begotten Son. None of us were born into the family of God: God had to adopt us, which He did through the work of His only natural Son.
It is through the Son that this loving Father has made known to us the mystery of His will (verse 9), and it is in this Son, Jesus Christ, that God is gathering all things into one. This is the work of the New Creation, of making a new world in which God’s creation is able to live with Him again.
God's plan to unite heaven and earth will be done finally in the future, and it comes through the work of the Spirit (verse 10). We must never forget the plan of salvation that is unfolding day by day before our very eyes. Pentecost is past, and the Spirit has already been given; we are in presently in the process of moving closer and closer to the time when all will be done; and one day in the future, earth and heaven will be forever married.
We know that the Father’s loving plan will be fulfilled because we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (verse 13). The Father has made many promises to His adopted children – a promise of forgiveness of sins, a promise of eternal life with Him, a promise of a time of heavenly bliss. All of these future realities - which we are in the midst of receiving even now - are sealed by the work of the Spirit in your life. It is the Spirit who guarantees to us that the Father’s loving will is a reality (verse 14).
As a human father, sometimes I make promises I’m unable to keep or that I forget to keep. But through the seal of the Holy Spirit, we can be 100% certain that what the Father has promised will come to pass - that if we have faith and live a life of faith, we will see God's plan of blessing to the end.
How could such a certain promise - of such magnanimous blessing - not result in the praise of the glory of the grace of God?
But all of this incredible plan of God's blessing - salvation - requires something from you. Though it is all the work of God and planned from eternity past and executed by His will through His Son and by His Spirit, you are required to do something.
What could that something be? What could you possibly give God in return for His magnificent, mind-blowing blessings?
In one sense – nothing. You could never repay such an expensive gift. But you can give what God has enabled you to give - you can truly please God by giving Him yourself: body, mind, and soul; thought, word, and deed.
Some people are destined for greatness. I think of Mozart who composed his first symphony when he was 4. But you were destined and appointed - by God - for something much more glorious. You are destined and appointed to live forever for the praise of God's glory.
What can you give God? You can give back the glory He lovingly shared with you. You can live for the praise of His glory. Remember: this is the eternal, ultimate purpose of all things - to bring God glory.
And there is no higher honor in life, no greater purpose, than to participate in God's glory by giving Him glory and praise.
Prayer: Father, I praise You for Your love that planned all things according to Your holy will; Jesus, I praise You that through Your life I have been made a child of God; Spirit, I praise You because You have guaranteed the wonderful promises of the Father to me. Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I praise You because You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Go back and read Ephesians 1:3-14, slowly meditating on each phrase and praising God for His blessings to you.
2. Plan to praise God throughout the day today. Find a number of different ways and times to be able to praise Him.
3. Praise the Holy Trinity in slow motion throughout the day. Praise the Father in the morning, the Son in the afternoon, and the Holy Spirit in the evening.
Resolution: I resolve to find ways to praise God throughout the day because of His glorious plan of salvation through which He has blessed me.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Friday, January 09, 2009
January 10 - Colossians 2:6-19
“God is absolutely sovereign, and man is accountable before Him.”
This is such a major theme of the Bible that it appears in just about every nook and cranny of God’s revelation. It’s an important truth to keep in mind as we look at baptism this morning.
Baptism is, first of all, the work and initiative of God. It is a sign and seal of the good work He has done in us, and not primarily a sign of our belief. It is, in fact, the Christian rite of initiation into the Body of Christ and union with Christ, just like circumcision in the Old Covenant.
Paul says in verse 11 that we were circumcised with the circumcision not made with hands, by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism. In the Old Covenant, circumcision was the means of entrance into a covenant with God through participation in Israel. If someone wanted to be counted part of Israel, God’s Elect Lady, he needed to be circumcised. So important was this initiation into God’s covenant with Israel that when holy Moses forgot to circumcise his own son, God hunted him down and was about to execute him, until his wife had the wisdom to figure out that Moses should keep the Law God had given him. If someone wanted to become an Israelite and obtain all the blessings of being in a covenantal relationship with God through Israel, he had to be circumcised.
Circumcision was normally performed on baby boys when they were eight days old, and so obviously circumcision was a sign of what God was doing in the life of the child, and not a sign of what the child had done. In the New Covenant, circumcision is replaced by baptism, only now God has expanded the range of recipients to include females as well. But baptism is still a sign of what God has done to and for us, and not what we have done (except in a secondary way), for salvation is all of grace and not of the work of man.
Baptism is also a Sacrament, and one that was ordained by Jesus Christ Himself. Remembering that a Sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us.” Grace, being the free gift of God, can’t be caused by our faith, or else we would have to initiate the relationship with God even before He has called us. Grace precedes faith. God is always the origin of a relationship with Him, and so it makes sense that God can begin a relationship even with those who are young.
Baptism, therefore, brings us into a covenantal union with God by being united to Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church.
I know that some of you will have different beliefs about baptism and the grace that God gives in it. My point is not to argue for a position but to help us wonder at the grace of God and to learn what our response is to be to this grace.
When I say, therefore, that baptism brings us into God’s covenant and makes us an heir of His blessings, I know there will be some objections. I think what most people want to make sure of, when discussing the fact that God truly gives grace in baptism and truly initiates a relationship with man, is that I am not saying that baptism by itself saves a person. Baptism, by itself never saved anyone. Being united to Jesus Christ does.
But can God use baptism to initiate a covenantal relationship with Him? Of course! He did it in the Old Covenant – why would it be impossible or unthinkable in the New, where the grace of God is even greater?
So God is absolutely sovereign, and He is always the one who first loves us and begins the new life in us. But if it’s true that in baptism we are buried with Christ and die to ourselves and are raised with Christ to new life, this new life in Christ must be kept alive. This is where the other side of God’s truth must be affirmed: that man is accountable before God, accountable in this case to continue in the grace He has given. After receiving God’s grace and after God has planted a new life in us, we have a part to play. It was God who planted the Garden of Eden and planted the seeds and trees in it: but Adam was to guard and cultivate the good work God had begun.
Our lives are our own Garden of Eden. God has planted a new life in us, but we must cultivate and guard this life. This is why being baptized, without a life of faith and faithfulness, can never save a man. Baptism may bring that person into a new spiritual life or sphere, but it cannot sustain it without faith. Even before baptism, we may see the grace of God at work in the lives of our kids. Does this mean that they don’t have to lift a finger to continue in that grace? Of course not!
For this reason, even though Paul speaks highly of baptism, he consistently warns us to walk in Christ as we have received Him (verse 6.) There is nothing automatic about faith or salvation: we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in us both to do and to will for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13.) Even Jesus Christ Himself had to not only be circumcised (and then be baptized) but also had to obey God. Though Jesus Christ was God Himself and had the Holy Spirit in Him, the human Christ had to actively choose to obey.
Baptism is a visible reminder of the grace of God in our lives that He began even before we desired Him. It reminds us that our life is hidden in Jesus Christ and that we are in a relationship with Him. While we were still dead in our sins, Jesus Christ chose us and wiped out the judgment of God’s holy Law against us (verse 14.) He took on the principalities and powers of this world and made a public spectacle of His victory over them (verse 15).
This is what God has done for you. What are you doing for God?
I encourage each of you to look back at the vows you took at baptism. A covenant is a two-way street. God promises to bless those who love Him and keep His commandments. When you were baptized, you also promised God certain things. It is a good idea to review them at least once a year.
In the Book of Common Prayer Holy Baptism service, a Christian vows to: “renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh.” The Christian also vows to “obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days” of his life. If it is a child being baptized, the parents or sponsors vow to teach the child the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments and “all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul’s health.” Finally, the Christian is charged to not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified but to manfully fight under His banner and to continue His faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end.
I might add as well that at baptism each Christian is anointed as a priest of God and is commissioned as a minister of the Lord.
The grace and love of God given at baptism and throughout our lives is immeasurable. No gift we could ever give in return could be an adequate response.
But there is one thing God does ask of you: that you be a whole burnt offering to Him and that you love and serve Him with all your body and all your mind and all your soul.
Resolution: I resolve to celebrate the grace of God in my life and examine my vows before Him today.
Prayer: All praise be to you, heavenly Father, because you first loved me and sent Your only-begotten Son. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for living and dying for me. Assist me with the continual grace of Your Holy Spirit that I may fulfill my holy vows before You to serve You all the days of my life. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Find one way to celebrate the grace of God in your life.
2. Slowly meditate upon the things that a Christian vows in baptism (listed above.) Spend enough time on each one to honestly evaluate the condition of your soul before God.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
This is such a major theme of the Bible that it appears in just about every nook and cranny of God’s revelation. It’s an important truth to keep in mind as we look at baptism this morning.
Baptism is, first of all, the work and initiative of God. It is a sign and seal of the good work He has done in us, and not primarily a sign of our belief. It is, in fact, the Christian rite of initiation into the Body of Christ and union with Christ, just like circumcision in the Old Covenant.
Paul says in verse 11 that we were circumcised with the circumcision not made with hands, by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism. In the Old Covenant, circumcision was the means of entrance into a covenant with God through participation in Israel. If someone wanted to be counted part of Israel, God’s Elect Lady, he needed to be circumcised. So important was this initiation into God’s covenant with Israel that when holy Moses forgot to circumcise his own son, God hunted him down and was about to execute him, until his wife had the wisdom to figure out that Moses should keep the Law God had given him. If someone wanted to become an Israelite and obtain all the blessings of being in a covenantal relationship with God through Israel, he had to be circumcised.
Circumcision was normally performed on baby boys when they were eight days old, and so obviously circumcision was a sign of what God was doing in the life of the child, and not a sign of what the child had done. In the New Covenant, circumcision is replaced by baptism, only now God has expanded the range of recipients to include females as well. But baptism is still a sign of what God has done to and for us, and not what we have done (except in a secondary way), for salvation is all of grace and not of the work of man.
Baptism is also a Sacrament, and one that was ordained by Jesus Christ Himself. Remembering that a Sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us.” Grace, being the free gift of God, can’t be caused by our faith, or else we would have to initiate the relationship with God even before He has called us. Grace precedes faith. God is always the origin of a relationship with Him, and so it makes sense that God can begin a relationship even with those who are young.
Baptism, therefore, brings us into a covenantal union with God by being united to Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church.
I know that some of you will have different beliefs about baptism and the grace that God gives in it. My point is not to argue for a position but to help us wonder at the grace of God and to learn what our response is to be to this grace.
When I say, therefore, that baptism brings us into God’s covenant and makes us an heir of His blessings, I know there will be some objections. I think what most people want to make sure of, when discussing the fact that God truly gives grace in baptism and truly initiates a relationship with man, is that I am not saying that baptism by itself saves a person. Baptism, by itself never saved anyone. Being united to Jesus Christ does.
But can God use baptism to initiate a covenantal relationship with Him? Of course! He did it in the Old Covenant – why would it be impossible or unthinkable in the New, where the grace of God is even greater?
So God is absolutely sovereign, and He is always the one who first loves us and begins the new life in us. But if it’s true that in baptism we are buried with Christ and die to ourselves and are raised with Christ to new life, this new life in Christ must be kept alive. This is where the other side of God’s truth must be affirmed: that man is accountable before God, accountable in this case to continue in the grace He has given. After receiving God’s grace and after God has planted a new life in us, we have a part to play. It was God who planted the Garden of Eden and planted the seeds and trees in it: but Adam was to guard and cultivate the good work God had begun.
Our lives are our own Garden of Eden. God has planted a new life in us, but we must cultivate and guard this life. This is why being baptized, without a life of faith and faithfulness, can never save a man. Baptism may bring that person into a new spiritual life or sphere, but it cannot sustain it without faith. Even before baptism, we may see the grace of God at work in the lives of our kids. Does this mean that they don’t have to lift a finger to continue in that grace? Of course not!
For this reason, even though Paul speaks highly of baptism, he consistently warns us to walk in Christ as we have received Him (verse 6.) There is nothing automatic about faith or salvation: we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in us both to do and to will for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13.) Even Jesus Christ Himself had to not only be circumcised (and then be baptized) but also had to obey God. Though Jesus Christ was God Himself and had the Holy Spirit in Him, the human Christ had to actively choose to obey.
Baptism is a visible reminder of the grace of God in our lives that He began even before we desired Him. It reminds us that our life is hidden in Jesus Christ and that we are in a relationship with Him. While we were still dead in our sins, Jesus Christ chose us and wiped out the judgment of God’s holy Law against us (verse 14.) He took on the principalities and powers of this world and made a public spectacle of His victory over them (verse 15).
This is what God has done for you. What are you doing for God?
I encourage each of you to look back at the vows you took at baptism. A covenant is a two-way street. God promises to bless those who love Him and keep His commandments. When you were baptized, you also promised God certain things. It is a good idea to review them at least once a year.
In the Book of Common Prayer Holy Baptism service, a Christian vows to: “renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh.” The Christian also vows to “obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days” of his life. If it is a child being baptized, the parents or sponsors vow to teach the child the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments and “all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul’s health.” Finally, the Christian is charged to not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified but to manfully fight under His banner and to continue His faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end.
I might add as well that at baptism each Christian is anointed as a priest of God and is commissioned as a minister of the Lord.
The grace and love of God given at baptism and throughout our lives is immeasurable. No gift we could ever give in return could be an adequate response.
But there is one thing God does ask of you: that you be a whole burnt offering to Him and that you love and serve Him with all your body and all your mind and all your soul.
Resolution: I resolve to celebrate the grace of God in my life and examine my vows before Him today.
Prayer: All praise be to you, heavenly Father, because you first loved me and sent Your only-begotten Son. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for living and dying for me. Assist me with the continual grace of Your Holy Spirit that I may fulfill my holy vows before You to serve You all the days of my life. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Find one way to celebrate the grace of God in your life.
2. Slowly meditate upon the things that a Christian vows in baptism (listed above.) Spend enough time on each one to honestly evaluate the condition of your soul before God.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Thursday, January 08, 2009
January 8 - Acts 28:23-31
Here is what Jesus Christ told Ananias, things which I’m sure He also told St. Paul: “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).
Was it worth it?
Here is Paul’s abbreviated list of what he had to endure for Christ: “imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?” (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).
Was it worth it to Paul? I think we would all say yes, knowing what fruit Paul yielded for the Kingdom of Christ. He preached and established churches in most of the places he visited: Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch Pisidia, Perga, Attalia, Paphos, Salamis, Troas, Apollonia, Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Miletus, Ephesus, Assos, Mitylene, Rhodes, Patara, Myra, and Cnidus. He strengthened the churches, encouraged them by visiting them, prayed for them, and ordained others to guard and keep them. He wrote letters to the churches at Rome, Corinth (3 letters, although one is lost), Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossi, and Thessalonica, as well as to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. These inspired letters, of course, make up half of the New Testament.
I think we could agree it was more than worth it!
But do you think it seemed like it was worth it to Paul at the time? Maybe. If so, only because of his great faith in what Jesus had promised to him.
So now we have come to the end of Paul’s story, and what do we hear? What is the end of this incredible, grace-drenched story? This: “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” Even at the end of his life, a life that was submitted to Christ in all things, Jesus Christ used him as His chosen vessel to be His minister on earth.
But what about you? St. Paul ran the race set before him, and he ran it well. He ran it to win, and win he did by losing himself so utterly to Jesus that in his weakness he was made strong by Christ.
One thing’s for sure: you won’t be another St. Paul – and neither will I. God hasn’t called you to be St. Paul: that was a unique gift given to him. But He has called you to minister in His kingdom. Who might you be and become if you truly answered the call of the Lord. When He calls to you, whether generally or specifically, do you answer, “Here I am Lord!”
How many more years do you plan on living? Who do you think the Lord could make you if you completely surrendered your life to Him the remainder of it? It doesn’t matter if you think your life is almost over and have only a few years left. What will you do with them?
The answer to that should be this question: “What is Jesus calling you to do?”
Paul once wrote about himself: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God” (1 Corinthians 1:1).
We’ve talked a lot in Acts about the stories that God is telling. We’ve heard the story of Stephen, and the story of Israel as he told it. We’ve especially heard the stories of Paul and of a young Church that was trying to live a Spirit-filled life that pleased her Master.
What will you write about yourself? To what has Jesus Christ called you, and to what is He even now calling you? I don’t presume to know what that is in particular, but I do know what it is that Jesus has called each of His disciples to: He’s called us to take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him. And He’s called us to invest our lives in Him that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.
Prayer: O Lord, my God, fountain of all true and holy love; who hast made me, and preserved me, that I might love Thee; give to Thy servant such a love, that whatsoever in Thy service may happen contrary to flesh and blood, I may not feel it; that humility may be my sanctuary, and Thy service the joy of my soul, and death itself the entrance of an eternal life, when I may live with Thee, my Strength and my Refuge, my God and everlasting Hope. Amen. (Jeremy Taylor)
Point for Meditation:
1. Consider your story so far. How would you like for it to end?
2. To what do you know that God has called you? How faithfully are you doing His will? What is keeping you from it? Who or what might the Spirit use to encourage you?
Resolution: I resolve to spend some time today considering my life and God’s call on it.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Was it worth it?
Here is Paul’s abbreviated list of what he had to endure for Christ: “imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?” (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).
Was it worth it to Paul? I think we would all say yes, knowing what fruit Paul yielded for the Kingdom of Christ. He preached and established churches in most of the places he visited: Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch Pisidia, Perga, Attalia, Paphos, Salamis, Troas, Apollonia, Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Miletus, Ephesus, Assos, Mitylene, Rhodes, Patara, Myra, and Cnidus. He strengthened the churches, encouraged them by visiting them, prayed for them, and ordained others to guard and keep them. He wrote letters to the churches at Rome, Corinth (3 letters, although one is lost), Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossi, and Thessalonica, as well as to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. These inspired letters, of course, make up half of the New Testament.
I think we could agree it was more than worth it!
But do you think it seemed like it was worth it to Paul at the time? Maybe. If so, only because of his great faith in what Jesus had promised to him.
So now we have come to the end of Paul’s story, and what do we hear? What is the end of this incredible, grace-drenched story? This: “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” Even at the end of his life, a life that was submitted to Christ in all things, Jesus Christ used him as His chosen vessel to be His minister on earth.
But what about you? St. Paul ran the race set before him, and he ran it well. He ran it to win, and win he did by losing himself so utterly to Jesus that in his weakness he was made strong by Christ.
One thing’s for sure: you won’t be another St. Paul – and neither will I. God hasn’t called you to be St. Paul: that was a unique gift given to him. But He has called you to minister in His kingdom. Who might you be and become if you truly answered the call of the Lord. When He calls to you, whether generally or specifically, do you answer, “Here I am Lord!”
How many more years do you plan on living? Who do you think the Lord could make you if you completely surrendered your life to Him the remainder of it? It doesn’t matter if you think your life is almost over and have only a few years left. What will you do with them?
The answer to that should be this question: “What is Jesus calling you to do?”
Paul once wrote about himself: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God” (1 Corinthians 1:1).
We’ve talked a lot in Acts about the stories that God is telling. We’ve heard the story of Stephen, and the story of Israel as he told it. We’ve especially heard the stories of Paul and of a young Church that was trying to live a Spirit-filled life that pleased her Master.
What will you write about yourself? To what has Jesus Christ called you, and to what is He even now calling you? I don’t presume to know what that is in particular, but I do know what it is that Jesus has called each of His disciples to: He’s called us to take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him. And He’s called us to invest our lives in Him that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.
Prayer: O Lord, my God, fountain of all true and holy love; who hast made me, and preserved me, that I might love Thee; give to Thy servant such a love, that whatsoever in Thy service may happen contrary to flesh and blood, I may not feel it; that humility may be my sanctuary, and Thy service the joy of my soul, and death itself the entrance of an eternal life, when I may live with Thee, my Strength and my Refuge, my God and everlasting Hope. Amen. (Jeremy Taylor)
Point for Meditation:
1. Consider your story so far. How would you like for it to end?
2. To what do you know that God has called you? How faithfully are you doing His will? What is keeping you from it? Who or what might the Spirit use to encourage you?
Resolution: I resolve to spend some time today considering my life and God’s call on it.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
January 8 - Mark 9:2-13
My all-time favorite opening sentence from a work of fiction has to be the first line from Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. It goes like this: “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
Kafka proceeds in a perfectly deadpan fashion to describe the sad fate of this transformation of the life of Gregor Samsa.
This morning we read in a work of non-fiction, the Bible, about a transformation even more astounding – and that is the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. Even when you know the true nature of Jesus Christ as both God and man, you can’t help but be amazed and startled when He reveals His true nature for even a short time.
The fact is, that though we don’t see the Transfiguration of the physical body of Jesus Christ, we do have an opportunity to see the glory of our Lord every day.
First, we see Jesus Christ transfigured through His Creation. Like Jesus in his human flesh, who looked like an ordinary man, this world looks “normal.” It doesn’t seem like anything special.
But it is!
It’s full of God’s glory, but a glory hidden in the ordinary. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote that “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil.”
I see the glory of God in the gigantic horned beetle that my kids gave me for Father’s Day last year. I see the glory of God in the giant, beautiful quartz crystals my son Charlie and I found at Coleman’s Mine a little north of Hot Springs.
It’s there in the rainbow that God makes out of nothing more than light and water and air; and it’s there in a single drop of dew on a single blade of grass. It’s all over, once you begin looking for it.
I see the hidden glory of God in the Bible. From the outside, it seems like an ordinary book. It is bound like other books and has pages like them. It’s name means simply “The Book.”
But the glory of God is in these pages, not just in places like Mark 9 but throughout the whole book. Whenever I meditate on it, whenever I treat it like the Word of God and not just another book or not just something to be studied – the glory of God streams into my soul.
But there is still a more excellent way to see the glory of God, and that is in His people, the Church. You all look like ordinary people to the people of the world, and in some ways they’re right. But you, like Jesus, are vessels for the glory of God. Every once in a while, it is manifested for the world to clearly see.
Some of you may have been transfigured quickly, and you are the easiest kinds of transfigurations to see. But most of you have been transfigured slowly, day by day and year by year. It might even look to you as if you haven’t been transformed or transfigured at all.
But look at yourself this way. First, look at your life from the time you were born and try to imagine what it would have been like without Jesus Christ in it. You would have started at the same point, but little by little, sometimes more noticeably than others, you would have grown into someone who did not love God – someone who thought, spoke, and acted very differently than you do now.
If you have given your life to God, reflect, now, on your life as you have lived it with God. Now take that life and speed it up so that it flows rapidly before your eyes. Speed it up even faster and faster, until it all passes before your mind in a few seconds. If you were able to do this, for some of you it would look like the explosion of a supernova! For some of you, it would be like seeing the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ: you would see it as a life miraculously transformed by God!
In fact, that’s exactly what we all are witnessing, whenever we are privileged to see disciples of Jesus Christ grow in grace and truth: we are witnessing the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, as He indwells His people.
Do you want to see the glory of God?
It’s all around you – in His Creation, His Word, His Sacraments, and His People.
But don’t gaze at the transfigured glory of Jesus Christ as an idle spectator. God expects you to be transfigured by what you have seen.
He expects your life to be transformed, as were the lives of Jesus’ disciples.
You won’t write a book of the Bible like Peter did. But every day you have the opportunity to be a personal Transfiguration of Jesus Christ to all whom you meet.
So behold and see the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ!
And then allow God to so transform you that you yourself become an instrument of His glory and transformation for others.
Prayer: O God, who on the mountain revealed to chosen witnesses Your only-begotten Son wonderfully transfigured, in white and shining clothes; Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the worries of this world, may be allowed to see the King in His beauty, who with You, O Father, and You, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, world without end. Amen.
Point for Meditation: Take one of these 4 ways of seeing Christ transfigured – in His Creation, Word, Sacrament, or People – and meditate upon it. How do you see Him in this hidden way? How has He blessed You by His presence in this way? Practice continuing to see Him this way throughout the day that you might better train your mind to see Him in all things.
Resolution: I resolve to look for Jesus Christ today, in His Creation, in His Word, and in His people.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Kafka proceeds in a perfectly deadpan fashion to describe the sad fate of this transformation of the life of Gregor Samsa.
This morning we read in a work of non-fiction, the Bible, about a transformation even more astounding – and that is the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. Even when you know the true nature of Jesus Christ as both God and man, you can’t help but be amazed and startled when He reveals His true nature for even a short time.
The fact is, that though we don’t see the Transfiguration of the physical body of Jesus Christ, we do have an opportunity to see the glory of our Lord every day.
First, we see Jesus Christ transfigured through His Creation. Like Jesus in his human flesh, who looked like an ordinary man, this world looks “normal.” It doesn’t seem like anything special.
But it is!
It’s full of God’s glory, but a glory hidden in the ordinary. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote that “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil.”
I see the glory of God in the gigantic horned beetle that my kids gave me for Father’s Day last year. I see the glory of God in the giant, beautiful quartz crystals my son Charlie and I found at Coleman’s Mine a little north of Hot Springs.
It’s there in the rainbow that God makes out of nothing more than light and water and air; and it’s there in a single drop of dew on a single blade of grass. It’s all over, once you begin looking for it.
I see the hidden glory of God in the Bible. From the outside, it seems like an ordinary book. It is bound like other books and has pages like them. It’s name means simply “The Book.”
But the glory of God is in these pages, not just in places like Mark 9 but throughout the whole book. Whenever I meditate on it, whenever I treat it like the Word of God and not just another book or not just something to be studied – the glory of God streams into my soul.
But there is still a more excellent way to see the glory of God, and that is in His people, the Church. You all look like ordinary people to the people of the world, and in some ways they’re right. But you, like Jesus, are vessels for the glory of God. Every once in a while, it is manifested for the world to clearly see.
Some of you may have been transfigured quickly, and you are the easiest kinds of transfigurations to see. But most of you have been transfigured slowly, day by day and year by year. It might even look to you as if you haven’t been transformed or transfigured at all.
But look at yourself this way. First, look at your life from the time you were born and try to imagine what it would have been like without Jesus Christ in it. You would have started at the same point, but little by little, sometimes more noticeably than others, you would have grown into someone who did not love God – someone who thought, spoke, and acted very differently than you do now.
If you have given your life to God, reflect, now, on your life as you have lived it with God. Now take that life and speed it up so that it flows rapidly before your eyes. Speed it up even faster and faster, until it all passes before your mind in a few seconds. If you were able to do this, for some of you it would look like the explosion of a supernova! For some of you, it would be like seeing the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ: you would see it as a life miraculously transformed by God!
In fact, that’s exactly what we all are witnessing, whenever we are privileged to see disciples of Jesus Christ grow in grace and truth: we are witnessing the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, as He indwells His people.
Do you want to see the glory of God?
It’s all around you – in His Creation, His Word, His Sacraments, and His People.
But don’t gaze at the transfigured glory of Jesus Christ as an idle spectator. God expects you to be transfigured by what you have seen.
He expects your life to be transformed, as were the lives of Jesus’ disciples.
You won’t write a book of the Bible like Peter did. But every day you have the opportunity to be a personal Transfiguration of Jesus Christ to all whom you meet.
So behold and see the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ!
And then allow God to so transform you that you yourself become an instrument of His glory and transformation for others.
Prayer: O God, who on the mountain revealed to chosen witnesses Your only-begotten Son wonderfully transfigured, in white and shining clothes; Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the worries of this world, may be allowed to see the King in His beauty, who with You, O Father, and You, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, world without end. Amen.
Point for Meditation: Take one of these 4 ways of seeing Christ transfigured – in His Creation, Word, Sacrament, or People – and meditate upon it. How do you see Him in this hidden way? How has He blessed You by His presence in this way? Practice continuing to see Him this way throughout the day that you might better train your mind to see Him in all things.
Resolution: I resolve to look for Jesus Christ today, in His Creation, in His Word, and in His people.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
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