This is our third Sunday now focusing on the book of Ephesians. At last we're getting around to starting at the beginning. We have already peaked at parts of chapter 2 and chapter 3 because of special themes for Epiphany and Human Relations Sunday. But now we get back to a more orderly approach.
The first 14 verses of the book are some of the most complicated verses in the Bible. Verses 3-14 are a translator's nightmare because the twelve verses were originally written in Greek as one long, complicated sentence, and they didn't use punctuation then, so you have to really work to figure out where one thought ends and the next thought begins and what relates to what. Paul starts out right away focusing on God, offering worship to God, and it looks like maybe he got so excited about God that he forgot about keeping his sentences short and well organized.
In them Paul introduces most of the main themes which will be repeated in the letter. But this morning we'll just focus on a few things.
I suspect that many Christians see themselves as sort of on the edge of what God is doing. Sure, God is great and good and the Bible promises great things. Sure it works great for some people. But that isn't all for me. I know God loves me. I know there have been times when he helped me out. I want to serve him. But for me it will always be at a bit of a distance. I don't expect much from God. He doesn't have much planned for me. Those are for other folks, not me.
Do you ever have feelings like that? Paul was writing to new Gentile Christians, who didn't have a good Jewish upbringing like most of the first Christians. Maybe you are one of those people who never got to go to Sunday School when you were little, and you always feel like everyone else knows more of what's going on than you do.
Maybe you grew up in the church, but on the fringes and you wished you could be like those who were in the middle of everything. You feel like an outsider.
Maybe you are only just beginning to start thinking seriously about God, and you wonder if there is any hope for you.
Some people have the temperament where they feel warm and happy and trusting about everything. Maybe you were born with a temperament which is more questioning and naturally keeps at a distance and doesn't feel God's presence so easily.
Maybe you tried once, real hard for a while, but it didn't come together the way you had hoped. You feel like God let you down, or it just isn't meant to work for you. So you have settled for second best.
Then listen carefully to the first 14 verses of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Because they tell us that God offers you a great deal. Paul is writing to Gentiles, people who grew up in religions that we call pagan today, who knew nothing about the Old Testament, who were beginners in Christian things, who may have been wondering whether they belonged there at all. Listen to what Paul tells them.
And I would encourage you to have it open in front of you. You can find it on page 191 of your pew Bible.
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory."
See, I told you the sentences were complex and there was a lot going on in them. Let's simplify it and just look at a few things this morning.
Let's start at verse 4. "he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world." How much do you have to show God before he believes you are serious and will accept you? How hard to you have to try to earn his love? When will he start to love you?
Before you were born, before your great, great, grandmother was born, God had already made up his mind that he wanted you to be his. You had nothing to do with it. He made up his mind. You can choose to ignore that, if you like. You can walk away and God will try to get you back, but he won't force his way. You can even choose to spend all of eternity apart from God if you like. But God made his mind up a long, long, time ago. As far as he is concerned, he wants you to be his family. And Paul just heaps on the theological words to fill in what this means. He planned that you should be "holy and blameless", that he would give you help to overcome your sins. He planned that you would live "before him," in his presence, close to him. None of us needs to feel far away from God.
That's why we generally baptize children when they are still infants. They haven't done anything major that is either right or wrong yet. But God already loves them and wants to set them apart as his children.
He chose for you to receive redemption, to be set free from the bondage of sin, forgiveness, revelation so that you can understand what God is doing, and on and on. You don't have to ask whether God is on your side or not. He made that decision centuries ago. It is your destiny to be God's child.
And how did he choose us? He chose us "in Christ". That phrase "in Christ" is used 11 times in our passage alone, so you know it is an important part of his thinking. All these blessings are for those who are "in Christ."
Imagine that you are in Washington, D.C. today. Its probably a little warmer than Freeport. They probably have most of the inauguration stuff put away, but some tents might still be up.
A teenage girl walks up to the white house gate. The guard asks, "What can I do for you?" She says she wants to go in. But the guard says, "Sorry, only official people are allowed to enter today." So she walks away, disappointed. If she had tried to force her way in you know that the place would have been instantly swarming with Secret Service agents to keep her out. She has no chance.
A few minutes later another teenage girl walks up to the gate. There is nothing special about her appearance. She's dressed like any other teenager of her age. But this time the guard instantly swings it open for her. She walks right into the white house, walks into the presidential residence wing to change, takes a dip in the white house pool, goes down to the kitchen and raids the presidential refrigerator, and then goes into the private quarters, stretches out on a sofa and watches TV. In fact, the presidential aids even let her pop into the oval office to talk to the president for a couple minutes between official visitors.
Why does she get in? Because her name is Chelsea Clinton. She's part of Bill Clinton's family. It's nothing that she did on her own. She gets in through her Dad. It's the relationship that makes the difference.
What hope do any of us have of being accepted by God? On the basis of what we can do to earn God's favor, there is no hope. What can I do to impress God? What can I do to undo the things I've done wrong? Our only hope is to come in on the shirttails of God's Son, Jesus Christ. "In him," in relationship with him, all these good things come about. He made the way for us. We can't do anything to escape the guilt of our sins alone, but in relationship with him we can experience forgiveness. We can't break the habits of sin alone, but with him in our hearts, we can. We can't expect special treatment from God on our own, but when we have a relationship with Christ, we can. It all happens "in him."
There is a kind of theology which is called Calvinism. You don't hear too much of it anymore. To John Calvin, God doesn't love everyone. A long time ago God picked out, or elected, some people who just were not going to make it, no matter how hard they tried. And he elected some others who would have a free ride to heaven. It's a theology that does a lot of honor to God's sovereignty, but it leaves no room for human free will, and I don't see that it leaves much room for love, either. You don't hear much Calvinism anymore, but I'm afraid that many people still conclude they are just not destined to be close to God.
There is a story that once back in frontier days a Calvinist preacher met up with a Methodist circuit rider. The Calvinist preacher had much more education than the poor Methodist, and he let it be known. He belittled the poor Methodist. He said, "You don't know what you're doing. You shouldn't be trying to teach others. I bet you don't even understand the doctrine of election." (That's the term that the Calvinists used to say that God elects some to automatically go to hell and elects some others to automatically go to heaven).
But the Methodist circuit rider knew just what to say. He said, "Sure I know about the doctrine of election. They're holding an election for your soul to get into heaven. God votes for you. The devil votes against you. And you get to cast the tie breaker vote."
This morning I want us all to understand. God votes for you. From the beginning of time he voted for you. There was nothing in his heart for you but that you would be his child and that he would love you and bless you with all the blessings he has. He has it all set up for you.
But he leaves it to us to cast our vote as well. Sometimes we find it hard to believe that such a wonderful thing could be true. But if we will open our hearts to Jesus Christ, if we'll listen to his words of love and guidance and healing, if we'll live each day "in him," he will fill us with all the blessings of heaven. AMEN
