SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 1:3-14
TEXT:7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8athat he lavished on us. THEME: Loved by God, we live as adopted heirs, bringing glory to God. INTRODUCTION For the most part, the sermon texts are stories that reveal theological insights. The Author of the letter to the Ephesians takes a different approach, as we are given theological insights that need to be read into the story of the Church in Ephesus. Given these theological insights we have to provide our own stories to wrap around truth. SCRIPTURE This passage begins with the statement that, “What God is able to accomplish in us, reveals an awesomeness of God, that blesses God.” Then it goes on to say that Jesus and God are the same, and that God has always seen us as good, made in the image of God, and God does not withhold anything from us. In fact, later in verse 8, God lavishes grace upon us. We used to think that we were not good enough for God because of our sin. No one is without sin, so no one is good enough. But sin does not keep God away from us as we thought. Our Children sin all of the time but we don’t distant ourselves from them until they are better. Or have a sacrifice to pay for their offense. We don’t withhold forgiveness from them, like a carrot to get them to do what we want. No, we lavishly pour out forgiveness to them, and never stop loving them, and reassure them of our love, and encourage them to learn from their mistake, errors, failures, and successes. If we, as fallen, imperfect parents can love our children in this way, then why shouldn’t we expect God to display this exact kind of love towards us, in extending God’s self to us in Jesus. God has had this plan of loving us all along. God has never stopped loving us, and has always considered us as good, worthy, special, holy, set apart from the rest of Creation by our belief in God, contrary to how awful we feel because of what we have done, we are forgivable and recipients of grace. We are not perfect by any means, we lie, cheat, take, blame, doubt and let greed get the best of us (but that is another story and Ephesians does not do stories) but our love relationship with God, gives hope, acceptance, identity, promise and life. This is how my theology has been evolving. After the Event in the Garden, by the parents of humanity, God shows grace in clothing them, teaching them how to farm, and continues to be in humankind’s life. This is seen through the faith adventures of the family of Abraham and Sarah. God is constant in loving us, not because we are perfect, but because we are committed (for the most part) to be in relationship with God, to struggle with having faith, to believing, to live in a particular way that is consistent with the truth of God. Did I say struggle? God calls it a ‘wrestle’ as in the name Israel, “a people who wrestles with God, in close relationship with God.” Nothing we do disqualifies us from God (other than by their own choosing to), and yet God is always there when we turn from greed, back towards God. The purpose of such a Love is for relationships. What is more dear than being made a part of God’s family through choice, destiny, or adoption? We are Jew and Gentile, Japanese and Hawaiian, Portuguese and Filipino, German and Kosraen alike. We are family relations with a shared inheritance in faith. Love line is more important to God than blood line. Even Jesus’ line, it is mixed, because God is not creating a superior race, but the People of God though relationships of love, beginning from one ethnicity but not exclusively, because belief in God can come from anyone. We all have God stories no matter what culture we are from, where God has been involved and experience, although not identified in the same way as in our Christian faith, but God is active in all humanity, because God cares for all humanity, even before God comes to be known through Jesus. This can be seen in the Hawaiian’s understanding of ‘Aloha’. In many regards it is like the Greek word for love: ’Agape’ which is the selfless love of God, that desires the very best for someone else. It’s not to say that the Hawaiian society, or political structure was perfect, but in every society, we have facets of inspiration from God that are pushing and moving how we are as a people to be better, human, respectful, just, caring and kind. God’s Spirit moves through all of us. APPLICATION God’s plan of salvation is for us to be loved by God. God has never stopped loving us even with all of our shenanigans. We are adopted into a relationship with an inheritance and responsibility. Blessed be God by God’s accomplishments in us. This love is sealed in us with a pledge of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to live for the praise of God’s glory? How is God’s redeeming love displayed in stories that lived by these theological truths? Substituting a sinless Christ to take on all of the sins of the world, upon a sacrificial death, that pays the price of our offense, has highjacked much of our theological understanding of Christianity. It has reduced our faith to an accounting of sin and forgiveness, to make sure that no vile acts go without the proper act of forgiveness. We have become litigious and self-righteous rather than loving and accepting. This is not relational, but score keeping as if life with God is some sort of game. Christianity carries tremendous insights and revelation of the heart, will, graciousness, and love of God, but it does not hold the exclusive experiences of God like how Peter saw that experiences of God’s Holy Spirit were not limited to Jews who believed in Jesus, but also to Gentiles. And Gentiles who believe in Jesus and are filled with the Seal of the Holy Spirit include us. We are beginning to realize that there are other ways that God speaks to other cultures, religions, and people that can be discovered if we are open to listen to them. In much the same way the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts before we hear the Good News of Jesus. God is speaking way more than our exclusivity. The measuring rod is in relationships. There are people who irritate me, Not any of you. But they are inaccurate in what they communicate. They are cavalier in the work that they do. They try to hurt you as much as they perceive that they have been hurt by you. They are rude, lazy, hold their prejudices, are arrogant, selfish, blind to how their shopping cart affect others in Costco. But this steadfast love of God, this lavish grace, and seal of the Holy Spirit with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, draws us into a relationship with God and into relationships with others, even with those who irritate us, as a blessing that gives praises to God. Nobody said that it was easy to be a Christian, especially when we have to live, building relationship with people, according to what we believe, with love, grace, acceptance, forgiveness and care. CONCLUSION Taking the theology of the author of Ephesians, we could get bogged down by the words, and become immobilized. But taking its theological truth, we can wrap our own stories around them. Living stories of how we are loved by God. Acting in ways that show our identity and self-worth in God and not from the approval of others. Living in relationships that are nurturing and where we are the nurturer. Seeing that our salvation is more than a balance sheet of sin and forgiveness by being loved by God by a lavish grace. Having been loved so unselfishly enables us to love others with a lavish grace that we didn’t think that we were capable of loving with, that gets lived out on others, because God loves us like that.
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