August 1, 2021: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
Well, welcome back as we swing into the final days of summer in this second year of pandemic. Yet this year, despite the impact of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, it seems different than last August. For this is a moment of turning a corner – a pivot point in this long journey we have walked together – and we would not be here were it not for our strong sense of connection to one another, and to Jesus Christ, which brings us to our Epistle from this morning.
Now, last time we gathered, back on July 11th, we read the opening of this letter, written by somebody claiming to be St. Paul, and addressed to the churches in Ephesus. And as I said then, the timing is kind of perfect, because as we emerge out of this pandemic, churches all over the world are in a similar place as those early church communities of the first century, because we are all trying to figure out, as we move out of this pandemic time, how to be followers of Jesus in a new and unfamiliar way, and among people we have only just begun to know. Now, just a reminder about what we have already heard last time: The author is writing to a diverse group, and seeks to unite them by reminding them God claimed us all as children, that all of heaven and earth are united in God, and that we, having heard the truth, are marked as Christ’s own by the Holy Spirit.
Before we get to that, let’s just look at what we haven’t heard…the parts between the opening we read on July 11th, and today’s lesson, some of which you likely heard if you attended worship the last two weeks of July, which of course I know each and every one of you did.
So, here is a Cliff Notes version of the parts of this letter between what we heard last time, and what we are going to talk about today. Essentially, it was a very, very, very long prayer. After the opening of the letter that we heard on July 11th, the author essentially prays for two full chapters, ending in a very familiar way to many of us, as a form of it is often used to close the daily office of Morning Prayer, and used as a blessing at the close of some church services: “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
So, having opened with a greeting, and then praying for them all, the author begins to get to the gist of what he wants to tell the people in the churches of Ephesus. And so that brings us to today’s episode of “As the Ephesians Turn,” and considering that we will be celebrating the confirmation and reception of two of our congregation later this week, the timing is perfect.
While all of it is important, listen to these parts of it closely: “I… beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…” Then the author continues, “…each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift…The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” And finally, he adds “speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”
Truth be told, that whole part of this letter is a sermon itself. However, you are not that lucky, so grab more coffee and sit right back down, because we need to really dig deep on these things – why? Because this is essentially a nearly perfect summation of our life in Christ, and if we don’t get this part right, we don’t get what it means to be a follower of Jesus and we may as well stop pretending this matters to us. Yes, it is that important.
You know, as I mentioned earlier, this week one of our congregation, Michelle Ryndak, will be received and another, Carlo Sinacori, who joined us during this pandemic, will be confirmed. Two others, who worshipped with us from the Church of the Annunciation, will also be confirmed and received: Pastor Karen Bullen and Liz Rooney respectively. And if you watch the livestream of the confirmation service, you will here this as a call and response between the bishop and the congregation at the opening:
There is one body and one Spirit: There is one hope in God’s call to us. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism: One God and Father of all.
Sound familiar?
What we heard today, what those confirmands will hear, and what is said whenever we have a service of baptism is a creedal formula – a statement of what we believe. It is a foundational declaration that we are united across all of Christendom. We may worship in different ways, but once we have been baptized into him, we are all part of a single family. Sure – sometimes our differences have us feeling like third cousins twice removed – while others are more like sisters and brothers – part of that one holy, catholic and apostolic church. Yet all are one in Christ Jesus.
So, the author is yet again imploring the readers, and now us, to never forget what he said right at the beginning of this letter: that all of heaven and earth belong to God – and therefore we are united as part of that – people of all faiths, all races, all languages and nations. And those who follow Jesus are united one to another in him by our baptism. All the rest is built upon this creedal statement, which is why it is front and center at any service welcoming someone into the household of God.
Now, about that household thing: it is something we always say at baptisms, isn’t it – “We welcome into the household of God”…so and so – naming the person being baptized. It is this understanding of our faith – that we are a family united in Jesus Christ – that is, I think, why this author wrote the rest of what we heard today. Because like it or not, family members don’t always agree with one another, sometimes have difficulty getting along, and even will allow our differences to break the family apart.
I am reminded of this kid who went to “his first day of school. The first-grader hands his teacher a note from his parents. The note reads, “The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.””[1] How many of us want to do the same with our own families.
Maybe that is why the author of this letter gives us some guidance on how to do this – on how to live as a family – as part of the household of God – so we don’t end up killing one another. Because one thing is for sure, whenever two or three are gathered together in his name…at least one will be in disagreement with the other two. It is our human nature that we are of different, even given different gifts of the Spirit by God’s grace, as this author makes clear. Yet somehow we are to be united in Christ. How?
I am reminded of something said by the evangelical pastor A. W. Tozer, in his book The Pursuit of God. He writes, “Has it ever occurred to you that 100 pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.”
I love that image, because we know that pianos come in all shapes and sizes: grand, baby grand, upright, keyboard…you name it. They are even different colors, some have a few missing keys, some are like new, while others are a bit worn. Yet when tuned to a pitch fork…they are truly of one accord, and because of that, they can make wonderous music.
It is this idea that the author of Ephesians was trying to convey in his emphasis on unity. Not that we are all alike, or that we are even supposed to be the same. God created us to be our unique selves. Yet, we are not meant to be individual monoliths, each with our own Jesus, our own God. This is where that personal type of Jesus gets it so wrong. We don’t own him, he claims us! He unites us as a family into the household of God. We as a family are tuned to him, not the other way around, and because of that, we remain unique and yet united.
But like any family, like those people in Ephesus, we are going to have our differences with one another. Even the followers of Jesus were not in agreement – read about how the others reacted to James and John wanting to sit on Jesus right and left, or how Peter and Paul fought, not to mention the patriarch Jacob wrestling with the angel of God all night. Humans are communal creatures, usually, but we do have our shortcomings. Using Pastor Tozer’s analogy, we can, if left to our own devices, sound like a mess of 100 pianos all in different states of tuning – a cacophony of noise rather than the sweet music of grace.
And so, this is where this author helps us, when he begs us “to lead a life worthy of the calling to which [we each] have been called,” adding, and this is important “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…and speaking the truth in love.”
Humility, gentleness, patience, bearing one another in love, and speaking truth in love. It sounds simple, but is it really?
Perhaps we understand gentleness and patience, even if we don’t always have it. But do we understand humility, or for that matter, love? I remember a great old Mac Davis song, “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way!” The thing is, if we get humility right, it is because we understand love and truth, and the gentleness and patience we are called to will come naturally.
I have been reading a book by Michael Casey, a monk of Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia. It is called A Guide To Living in the Truth: Saint Benedict’s Teaching on Humility. Casey begins chapter two in this way “Bernard of Clairvaux (Clair-Vo) clearly affirms that humility is grounded on truth: within oneself, in one’s relations with others, and with regard to God.”
“Humility is grounded on truth.”
So, we just have to tell the truth all the time and we will be doing the right thing by Christ? Well…not so fast. That isn’t what old Bernard was saying, nor is it what this author was telling us. Because there is a reason that truth, on its own, isn’t always all it is cracked up to be.
“In the movie Liar, Liar, Jim Carrey plays an unscrupulous attorney who suddenly finds himself compelled to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He spends the rest of the movie being slapped, beaten and humiliated by friend and foe alike. Just for being honest? Honesty is an excellent virtue, but honesty alone can be brutal.”[2] Indeed…ever tried to answer the question “How do I look in this dress…shirt…Christmas sweater…” well, you get the picture.
Truth on its own, while a virtue, is a bit like Yin without Yang – it is out of balance. We need to “speak the truth in love,” as the author of this epistle implores us. Then we will truly be the people we are called to be in Christ. Remember, when Jesus gave his new commandment to us on the night before he was crucified, it was simply that we are to love. He didn’t list a whole bunch of other things – not even humility, gentleness, or patience. Just love. Because he knew that without love, the other things are impossible, but with love – anything is possible.
And as the song goes…”what the world needs now is love, sweet love.”
This pandemic has challenged us in work, school, play, and church. It has pushed us to the edge of our patience (and perhaps over it). It has forced us to face the arrogance of those who choose individual liberty over responsibility to one another. And it has opened our hearts to what really matters in our lives. Yet one thing we, as followers of Jesus, know…we are not in this alone.
This epistle reminds us that we are united as children of God, as part of a household built upon the foundation of our baptism in Christ Jesus, and we are called to speak the truth in love, offering the gifts given us by the grace of God in humility, gentleness, and with patience (for ourselves as well as others).
This is our call – our hope – our promise in Christ.
We will speak the truth in love when we humbly walk beside the oppressed.
We will speak the truth in love when we are gentle with those who are most in need.
We will speak the truth in love when we are patient with our own failings, and those of others.
And when we speak the truth in love, we will be united one to another in Christ Jesus, in whose life and death we were baptized, and that, my friends, will make all the difference.
Next week, we will conclude our journey through this epistle. I will address the bits we don’t, for good reason, include in our lectionary. And we will learn more about the meaning of something we hear every Sunday, which comes from this very letter. We will learn what it means to truly “walk in love as Christ loved us.”
Until then, I again leave you with the letter’s closing, “Peace be to our whole community, and love with faith, from God the [Creator] and [our Savior] Jesus Christ.”
Amen.
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[1] Homileticsonline.com
[2] Tim and Joy Downs, “Speaking the Truth in Love,” FamilyLife, 2003, familylife.com.
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
August 1, 2021
The Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
1st Reading – 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
2nd Reading – E Ephesians 4:1-16
Gospel – John 6:24-35
