Now let's tackle the verses with which so many people have a problem. "Wives submit to your husbands" and "Husbands, love your wives" have caused much grief for wives who misinterpret them and husbands who can't live up to them (Ephesians 5:22, 25). Both commands are compared to how Christ relates to the church. Since Christ is the head of the church, the church, as the body of Christ, submits to the head. Christ loved the church enough to give his very life for her. These verses (5:22-33) are all of a piece. We can't separate one from another. The burden would seem to be heavier on the husband than the wife. The husband is to give himself up for his wife, to love her as he loves himself, to present the word of God to her, to help her become holy and blameless before God, just as he does for himself because in marriage the two have become one. Paul is, of course, speaking to two Christians married to one another. Then, if the husband does all of this, the wife need only respect and submit. She is not even, in this case, told to love her husband. Yet we know we are to love all people. A husband who can do all of the above is never abusive to his wife, nor demeaning. A wife, whose husband is this good, would never lose respect for him or have a need to nag. Will they argue sometimes or disagree about what is best for their union, their body? Yes. I'm reminded of a book I read recently which touched on the Civil War in the United States. I was constantly amazed at how far President Lincoln would go to maintain the union, the marriage if you will, among the states. He was tolerant of dissent and disagreement even among his cabinet as long as the goal was to save the union. For Reflection: If you are married, how strong is your union? What can be done to make it stronger? If unmarried, is there anyone who helps you grow in the body of Christ? How can you honor that person? Let us pray. God of mercy and love, unite your body more closely to you so that no part, no molecule, may go astray. Unite me more closely to you. Increase my love for my spouse. Increase my spouse's love for me. Unite us more as one in being with you.
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Now we come to that hated word: submit. People today do not like the thought of submitting to someone else. So let's face it and see what it says. First, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21). People who are submitted to Christ, who reverence the Lord, should be able to submit to one another. In all kinds of relationships decisions need to be made. Sometimes all parties agree, sometimes they don't, and one party goes along with the other's decision. The level of submission required depends on the importance of the decision. One common place that Christians live this out is in their local church congregation. How much talk (gossip) goes on over church decisions? Let's be honest. Lots of decisions are rehashed for months and years. This does nothing to build up the body of Christ, and, in fact, tears it down and ruins our witness. We must learn to use discernment about what matters are really important enough to have a public disagreement about. For Reflection: We are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Christ first love us. He loved us when we were not submitted to him. If he can do that, can we not love others who love him and submit to others who submit to him? Let us pray. Jesus, you loved me even when I had no knowledge of you. You submitted your life to the cross for me before I was born. Help me to submit my life to you. Grant me discernment about submitting to others out of reverence for you. Sit, walk, build, put off, put on. What's next? In our brief review of Paul's letter to the Ephesian church, we have come across these command verbs. We are to sit with Christ in the heavenly places. This is a time of resting in Him and learning who He is and who we are. When we have done this, we are to walk in the ways Christ has shown us. We are to build one another up into the mature body of Christ. Then put off our old ways, and put on the new ways of Christ. So what is next? Imitate God. Paul writes, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2). We learn that we are dearly loved children when we sit in the place of rest with him and learn his ways. When we sit with him in the heavenly places, we observe the ways of the kingdom of God. Since Jesus and the Father are one, when we learn the ways of Jesus, we learn the ways of the Father (and the Holy Spirit). That is how we learn what is to be imitated. Children learn by imitating their parents. Even Paul did not begin his apostolic life by going out right away to do things. He began by learning about Jesus and learning new ways of living and loving. He began from that place of rest in Christ before he began to preach. Although he began with "the big reveal", he had to learn to walk all over again. He had to learn to build rather than tear down. He had to put off his old ways before he could put on the new. He had to learn to imitate God when he himself had not seen Jesus in his earthly life. For Reflection: There are many ways to learn to imitate God: reading and studying the Scriptures, prayer, meditation, walking with others who are more mature than we are. And, if we belong to a sacramental church, availing ourselves of the sacraments. Let us pray. Jesus, we know that you do not leave us adrift when it comes to learning how to follow you. Help us, your beloved children, to grow more like you every day. What do you want me to grow in today? As we grow in maturity in Christ there are things we must "put off" according to Paul. Since Paul is fond of lists, let us list here the things we are to put off: your old self, deceitful desires, falsehood, anger, stealing, unwholesome talk, grieving the Holy Spirit, bitterness, rage, brawling, slander, malice, sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, coarse joking, darkness, drunkenness (Ephesians 4:17 - 5:20). Paul gives, of course, another list of what we are to "put on": our new self, righteousness, holiness, truth, wholesome talk (psalms, hymns and spiritual songs), kindness, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, love, thanksgiving, light, understanding, the Spirit. Many of these have to do with our words, what we say to one another. As James says in his letter, if we control the tongue we control the entire person (James 3:1-12). If we change the way we speak, we will change the way we act. For Reflection: If we don't find ourselves more in the second list from Ephesians than the first, can we find a way to immerse ourselves in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs? Let us pray. I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly. . . . I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth . . . . (Psalm 40: 9-10). When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians (and his other letters), he was writing to a community of people. He envisioned a group of people who were working together and growing together into greater maturity in Christ. They were to do this by fulfilling the roles to which Christ had called them. Some were called to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. The goal of all was to prepare the community for works of service among themselves until they should reach maturity. Their first goal was to build one another up into a cohesive unit who know the truth and live as the body of Christ. They were to become such a unit that they could not be swayed by outside influences. If we picture a human body, we realize that all parts grow at a certain rate. In the younger years there is a great rate of growth. In the teen years things can be a little out of balance physically as the body adjusts to greater maturity. But what if the arms decide they are not waiting for the rest of the body to grow? They want to grow now! Disaster results. Unfortunately, I've been in churches where people were growing individually but not corporately. Paul consistently warned against this. He was always pleading for people to get along and to grow in unity. I've also been a part of churches where it seemed the goal was not to build one another up, but to tear one another down. This does not help the body of Christ to grow in unity and maturity either. For Reflection: Am I a source of unity or division in my church? Am I growing together with the body of Christ or doing my own thing? What am I doing to help others grow? Let us pray. There are times, Jesus, when I have been guilty of doing my own thing. There are times when I have torn down rather than built up. Jesus, I want to fit better into your body. I want to be a better member of your body. I want to do my part - the part you have called me to do. I want to fulfill my destiny in you. In order to walk our path we must know who we are in Christ. Let's review who we are. We are God's children, heirs to all of his promises and heirs of the kingdom. We have the Holy Spirit on deposit within us guaranteeing our inheritance. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing. We are chosen, forgiven, holy and blameless. We are redeemed through his blood. We are God's masterpiece. We are members of Christ's body, the church, of which Christ is the head. So we are under the headship of Christ. And let's not forget we are loved. This list of who we are is just what Paul outlines in his letter to the Ephesians. He adds more in his other letters. Given who we are, our life on this earth should reflect what Jesus has done for us. Paul spends the second half of his letter to the community in Ephesus outline how we should live. Who we are in Christ is God's gift to us for believing in his Son Jesus. We believe; He gives. We do nothing to deserve it or earn it. We just receive it. Then, in gratitude, we try to act like we have it. We don't always succeed, but we keep practicing. We do our best. For reflection: Where or when did I do well today? Where or when could I have done better today? Let us pray. Jesus, as I look back over my day, I can see you in certain events, but not others. Yet I know you are always with me. Help me to look for you at the times I find the hardest. Some time back we looked at the beginning of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. In chapter 1 he tells us that the Father raised Jesus from the dead to sit at his right hand in heaven. In chapter 2 we learn that we were raised with him by being baptized into his death and resurrected with him so that we too sit in the heavens with Jesus and the Father. So we must learn to sit with him, learn who we are, and see things from his perspective before we begin to do anything else. In chapter 4 Paul tells us we must learn how to walk on this earth in a way that is worthy of our calling and gives evidence of who we are. We must walk as people who are humble, gentle and patient. We must walk in unity with one another, at peace because we are one in the spirit and one in the body of Christ. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God who is Father of all. For reflection: Does my daily walk reflect who I am in Christ? Let us pray. Jesus, your walk was not easy even though you, above all people, knew who you were. I am not as confident in who I am, and not as confident in my walk. Please light my path more brightly. Paul writes that we are all heirs, all members of one body, all sharers in the promise of Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Paul knew what it was like to attack other people because of their beliefs. He also knew what it was like to be attacked because of his beliefs. In fact he was in prison for his beliefs when he wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus. One might say that unity was a burning issue for him, a matter of great consequence. So he urged unity in his churches. He knew that it is the common witness of the church that will speak to the "rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." And that common witness cannot be achieved if we in the church don't recognize that we are all members of one body, part of one another, one flesh, with Christ as the head. We cannot put up walls against one another or attack each other without damaging the common witness we are supposed to support. Let us receive Paul's prayer on our behalf today. "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work with us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21) "Good fences make good neighbors" is a famous line from Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall." In it two neighbors walk the stony fence line in the spring putting back the rocks that have fallen over the winter. One is thinking that, "Before I built a wall I’d ask to know/What I was walling in or walling out," and mentions to his neighbor that they really don't need a fence between them. But the other automatically quotes his father who always said, "Good fences make good neighbors." The latter part of Ephesians 2 concerns the breaking down of the wall between Jews and Gentiles who have become Christians. The wall has been broken down by Christ who has made the two into one in him thus bringing peace. The Christian world today is no longer broken down into Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, but, nevertheless, we have lines or fences that divide us. Today we have political fences, cultural fences, economic fences, racial fences and theological fences. But we Christians are not a people of fences. We are a people of unity. Paul says, we are "no longer foreigners and aliens" because we are all citizens of God's Kingdom, members of God's household. We are individually members and corporately members. We are individually houses or temples of God and we are corporately one house or temple of God. There is no room for a fence. For Reflection: Jesus died for unity, reconciliation and forgiveness. What fences have I erected with other Christians? What am I walling in or walling out? What am I doing to tear down my walls and the walls in the world today? Let us pray. Father, I thank you that through the work of Jesus we are no longer foreigners and aliens, but we are fellow citizens with all of God's people and members of God's household. We are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. I thank you that in him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple. And I thank you that in him we are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (based on Ephesians 2:19-22) |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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