Monday, January 30th: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (NIV; Ephesians 4:1-3).
In Ephesians 3:1, Paul calls himself literally, “a prisoner of the Lord.” Here in 4:1, he calls himself literally, “a prisoner in the Lord.” What does he mean? As he does so often, Paul seems to be playing with multiple meanings. On the one hand, it seems pretty clear that Ephesians is one of several letters that Paul wrote while he was literally in prison. So, in that sense, NIV has the translation right with “a prisoner for the Lord.” Paul’s current imprisoned state is due to his proclamation of the Gospel. On the other hand, there’s this idea that Paul was a prisoner long before the Romans put irons on him. He is a prisoner of the Lord/in the Lord in the sense that it is the Lord who tells him where to go and what to do. Paul often takes ‘harsh’ ideas and turns them on their head. For example, he often refers to himself as ‘the Lord’s slave.’ He does this to show just how completely his life belongs to the Lord and to encourage us to see our own lives thus belonging completely to the Lord.
Daily Bible Reading: Lamentations 2:1-3:66
Tuesday, January 31st: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (NIV; Ephesians 4:1-3).
Yesterday we talked about Paul’s phrase, ‘a prisoner in the Lord,’ and ended with the note that Paul saw his life belonging totally to the Lord and wanting all of his readers to see their lives the same way. One of the implications of our lives belonging to the Lord is to see how we are, in one sense, prisoners of each other. The word that Paul uses for ‘bond’ in the phrase ‘bond of peace’ sounds in Greek like the word for ‘prisoner.’ So, imagine being handcuffed together with other members of the congregation, and you have a sense of Paul’s metaphor.
Two things should be noted. First, in our day, church membership just doesn’t mean that much to us. For us, church membership is a voluntary association that we can leave whenever we want to. The sheer number of options out there and the ease with which we can move between them really undermines what it means to be a congregation. I don’t know what to do about that, but at least I can point out that Paul saw things differently.
Second, we could imagine that if we were handcuffed to someone else, the first thing we’d be looking to do would be to get free. But Paul calls it the bond of peace. He suggests that being ‘bound’ is not such a bad thing, that if we just stopped pulling apart and joined hands instead we wouldn’t even notice the bonds.
Daily Bible Reading: Lamentations 4:1-5:22
Wednesday, February 1st: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (NIV; Ephesians 4:1-3).
“Make every effort” might be a little weak. “Apply yourself diligently” or “Work hard” might catch it better, because Paul knows what anyone involved in a church knows: it’s not easy to preserve the unity of the congregation. So, let’s start by pointing out that the unity of the congregation is a unity that the Spirit gives. We’re not asked to create something out of nothing. To be brought into the family of God is to be given the gift of the same values and the same goals as our Father through His Spirit. (No wonder, then, that Paul recites his great list of all the things that hold us together in vv. 4-6.) What is asked of us is that we preserve what God has given us.
Perhaps part of the reason that unity is hard to maintain is because we stumble at the very first step. We tend to think of spiritual things individually: we see the important things as my forgiveness, my salvation, my peace, etc. All of those are good and true, but we fail to see that our spiritual blessings are given to us as the single family of God. An intriguing case is the Lord’s Supper. The question of close communion often prompts objections like, “How can you judge my faith?” The issue that is missed is that the meal binds the family together in one. It’s not just ‘me and Jesus;’ it’s ‘all of us and Jesus together.’ So, the long and the short of it is that we tend to think that our relationship with God can occur without getting the church involved. Paul would disagree: to be in a right relationship with God means being a part of His new people, and he encourages us to work hard to preserve the unity of that people.
Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 1:1-2:10
Thursday, February 2nd: It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (NIV; Ephesians 4:11-12).
It’s ironic how much churchmen have quarreled over this little passage. It’s ironic because it’s a passage about preserving the unity of the church! The debate, in short, goes like this: Would it be better to translate the phrase, “for the equipping of the saints, for work of service, for the building up of the body,” or “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, for the building up of the body.” You’ll notice the only difference is a comma after the word ‘saints.’ Those who want the comma say that there is a special work of service that belongs only to the Office of the Ministry; those who don’t want the comma say that the work of the service is the work of all Christians and the Office of the Ministry prepares them for it.
In keeping with a passage on unity, I’m starting to think the answer is, “Why can’t you have it both ways?” In the context, Paul clearly says that there is something unique about the Office of the Ministry: he calls it a gift given by Christ Himself to His church. It is the ministry of Word and Sacrament calling the church to maturity in Christ. On the other hand, the whole passage is about the church working together for the glory of God, so why wouldn’t we want to extol the work of service every Christian is called to?
In short, rejoice in the ministry of the Word in your midst and rejoice in your glorious standing as God’s family, called to mature humanity.
Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 3:1-5:17
Friday, February 3rd: Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (NIV; Ephesians 4:13).
So, on the one hand, the unity of the church is a gift; it is the unity the Spirit gives (v. 3) and it is founded on being one body in Christ, etc. (vv.4-5). On the other hand, Paul says that unity in faith is something that we strive for. What gives? Well, when my son was born he was my son. No questions about it; that’s the status he had. However, he needed to grow up, and I sure wanted him to grow up to share my values. (So far, so good, by the way.) So, there’s no inconsistency between being given a status and still having to learn how to live up to that status. The message seems to be that we need to learn to live as the creatures that God has already declared us to be. The goal is to become mature humans, humans who are looking more and more like the God in whose image we are made. And part of that growing up—a significant part, if Paul is to be believed—is learning how to live in harmony, in our homes and in our church.
Daily Bible Reading: (Friday) Ezekiel 6:1-7:27
(Saturday) Ezekiel 8:1-9:11
--
Pastor Doug
www.biblegateway.com
www.prd-adangerousthing.blogspot.com
Monday, January 30th: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (NIV; Ephesians 4:1-3).
In Ephesians 3:1, Paul calls himself literally, “a prisoner of the Lord.” Here in 4:1, he calls himself literally, “a prisoner in the Lord.” What does he mean? As he does so often, Paul seems to be playing with multiple meanings. On the one hand, it seems pretty clear that Ephesians is one of several letters that Paul wrote while he was literally in prison. So, in that sense, NIV has the translation right with “a prisoner for the Lord.” Paul’s current imprisoned state is due to his proclamation of the Gospel. On the other hand, there’s this idea that Paul was a prisoner long before the Romans put irons on him. He is a prisoner of the Lord/in the Lord in the sense that it is the Lord who tells him where to go and what to do. Paul often takes ‘harsh’ ideas and turns them on their head. For example, he often refers to himself as ‘the Lord’s slave.’ He does this to show just how completely his life belongs to the Lord and to encourage us to see our own lives thus belonging completely to the Lord.
Daily Bible Reading: Lamentations 2:1-3:66
Tuesday, January 31st: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (NIV; Ephesians 4:1-3).
Yesterday we talked about Paul’s phrase, ‘a prisoner in the Lord,’ and ended with the note that Paul saw his life belonging totally to the Lord and wanting all of his readers to see their lives the same way. One of the implications of our lives belonging to the Lord is to see how we are, in one sense, prisoners of each other. The word that Paul uses for ‘bond’ in the phrase ‘bond of peace’ sounds in Greek like the word for ‘prisoner.’ So, imagine being handcuffed together with other members of the congregation, and you have a sense of Paul’s metaphor.
Two things should be noted. First, in our day, church membership just doesn’t mean that much to us. For us, church membership is a voluntary association that we can leave whenever we want to. The sheer number of options out there and the ease with which we can move between them really undermines what it means to be a congregation. I don’t know what to do about that, but at least I can point out that Paul saw things differently.
Second, we could imagine that if we were handcuffed to someone else, the first thing we’d be looking to do would be to get free. But Paul calls it the bond of peace. He suggests that being ‘bound’ is not such a bad thing, that if we just stopped pulling apart and joined hands instead we wouldn’t even notice the bonds.
Daily Bible Reading: Lamentations 4:1-5:22
Wednesday, February 1st: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (NIV; Ephesians 4:1-3).
“Make every effort” might be a little weak. “Apply yourself diligently” or “Work hard” might catch it better, because Paul knows what anyone involved in a church knows: it’s not easy to preserve the unity of the congregation. So, let’s start by pointing out that the unity of the congregation is a unity that the Spirit gives. We’re not asked to create something out of nothing. To be brought into the family of God is to be given the gift of the same values and the same goals as our Father through His Spirit. (No wonder, then, that Paul recites his great list of all the things that hold us together in vv. 4-6.) What is asked of us is that we preserve what God has given us.
Perhaps part of the reason that unity is hard to maintain is because we stumble at the very first step. We tend to think of spiritual things individually: we see the important things as my forgiveness, my salvation, my peace, etc. All of those are good and true, but we fail to see that our spiritual blessings are given to us as the single family of God. An intriguing case is the Lord’s Supper. The question of close communion often prompts objections like, “How can you judge my faith?” The issue that is missed is that the meal binds the family together in one. It’s not just ‘me and Jesus;’ it’s ‘all of us and Jesus together.’ So, the long and the short of it is that we tend to think that our relationship with God can occur without getting the church involved. Paul would disagree: to be in a right relationship with God means being a part of His new people, and he encourages us to work hard to preserve the unity of that people.
Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 1:1-2:10
Thursday, February 2nd: It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (NIV; Ephesians 4:11-12).
It’s ironic how much churchmen have quarreled over this little passage. It’s ironic because it’s a passage about preserving the unity of the church! The debate, in short, goes like this: Would it be better to translate the phrase, “for the equipping of the saints, for work of service, for the building up of the body,” or “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, for the building up of the body.” You’ll notice the only difference is a comma after the word ‘saints.’ Those who want the comma say that there is a special work of service that belongs only to the Office of the Ministry; those who don’t want the comma say that the work of the service is the work of all Christians and the Office of the Ministry prepares them for it.
In keeping with a passage on unity, I’m starting to think the answer is, “Why can’t you have it both ways?” In the context, Paul clearly says that there is something unique about the Office of the Ministry: he calls it a gift given by Christ Himself to His church. It is the ministry of Word and Sacrament calling the church to maturity in Christ. On the other hand, the whole passage is about the church working together for the glory of God, so why wouldn’t we want to extol the work of service every Christian is called to?
In short, rejoice in the ministry of the Word in your midst and rejoice in your glorious standing as God’s family, called to mature humanity.
Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 3:1-5:17
Friday, February 3rd: Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (NIV; Ephesians 4:13).
So, on the one hand, the unity of the church is a gift; it is the unity the Spirit gives (v. 3) and it is founded on being one body in Christ, etc. (vv.4-5). On the other hand, Paul says that unity in faith is something that we strive for. What gives? Well, when my son was born he was my son. No questions about it; that’s the status he had. However, he needed to grow up, and I sure wanted him to grow up to share my values. (So far, so good, by the way.) So, there’s no inconsistency between being given a status and still having to learn how to live up to that status. The message seems to be that we need to learn to live as the creatures that God has already declared us to be. The goal is to become mature humans, humans who are looking more and more like the God in whose image we are made. And part of that growing up—a significant part, if Paul is to be believed—is learning how to live in harmony, in our homes and in our church.
Daily Bible Reading: (Friday) Ezekiel 6:1-7:27
(Saturday) Ezekiel 8:1-9:11
--
Pastor Doug
www.biblegateway.com
www.prd-adangerousthing.blogspot.com