God’s
grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Audience, Address
and Application, and my focus is our Epistle (Ephesians 2:1-10). Let us
pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they
said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our
feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may
your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus
loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Audience.
To better appreciate literature, be it The Great Gatsby or The
Invisible Man, Pride and Prejudice or Grapes of Wrath, To
Kill a Mockingbird or Jane Eyre, it helps to have some knowledge of
the setting and the audience. Those of you who attend my Bible studies know
that Mark, Isaiah, Paul and other writers were written for a particular
audience. For example, Mark addressed the persecuted Church of Rome. Failure to
pay attention to the intended audience would be like comparing the works of
Carl Sagan to Ray Bradbury’s. That said, our audience – Ephesus.
Located
in western Turkey, Ephesus flourished as a port city. A business district
opened around 43 B.C. to service the massive amounts of goods arriving or
departing from the man-made harbor and from caravans traveling the ancient
Royal Road. It was second only to Rome as a cosmopolitan center of culture and
commerce.
Today,
Ephesus lies in ruins, but that does not diminish its importance today. The
city visited by tourists today existed between 4th century BC and 15th
century AD, despite the earthquakes, wars, diseases and fires it endured. It
served as the capital city of Asia Minor twice. And if you’re interested in
ancient ruins, it has more to offer and is cheaper to see than most other sites
in the Mediterranean.
Christians
should know that Ephesus played a vital role in the spread of Christianity.
Starting in the 1st century, Saint Paul and Saint John visited the
city. Paul lived in Ephesus from 52–54. He worked with the congregation and
organized missionary trips from there. Paul attended the Jewish synagogue in
Ephesus, but after three months he became frustrated with the stubbornness or
hardness of heart of some of the Jews, and moved his base to the school of
Tyrannus (Acts 19:9).
Paul
rebuked the cults of Artemis, winning many Christian converts in the process.
Now, not every Ephesian was open to Paul’s message. Acts 19 tells of a riot
started by a man named Demetrius. He made silver coins featuring the likeness
of Artemis. Tired of Paul’s attacks on the goddess he worshipped, and worried
that the spread of Christianity would ruin his trade, Demetrius plotted a riot
and enticed a large crowd to turn against Paul and his disciples. Ephesian
officials, however, protected Paul and his followers and eventually
Christianity became the city’s official religion.
Paul
introduced about twelve men who had previously only experienced the baptism of
John the Baptist to the 'baptism with the Holy Spirit'. Between 53 and 57, Paul
wrote 1st Corinthians from Ephesus. He wrote the Epistle to the
Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome around 62. And that, brings me to my
second point, Address.
Address.
My address of Ephesians is a thumbnail sketch of the Letter. Ephesians addresses
not so much a congregation in Asia Minor, but the worldwide church, the head of
which is Christ, the purpose of which is to be the instrument for making God’s
plan of salvation known throughout the universe.
Ephesians
differs from other Pauline letters in that there are no personal greetings.
Early manuscripts omit the words “in Ephesus” leading many to regard Ephesians
as an encyclical or “circular letter” sent to a number of churches in Asia
Minor and read by its bearer, Tychicus.
Paul
is described in almost unparalleled terms with regard to the significant role
he had in God’s plan for bringing the Gentiles to faith in Christ. Yet at the
time this letter was written, he was in prison, suffering afflictions. This
“Captivity Epistle” has, along with Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon, been
dated to an imprisonment in Rome, likely in 61–63.
Ephesians
emphasizes unity in the Church for both Jews and Gentiles within God’s
household. It also emphasizes the “seven unities” of church: one body, one
Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all. Yet the concern is not with the
church for its own sake but rather as the means for mission in the world. The
gifts Christ gives its members are to lead to growth and renewal. All aspects
of human life and relationships are illumined by the light of Christ.
The
gospel of salvation that God worked in Christ is reiterated in terms of what
God’s great love, expressed in Christ, means for us. The passage sometimes
addresses Gentiles, but at other times speaks of all who believe. In urging
people to remember their grim past when they were dead in sins and what they
are now in Christ, Paul sees both Jew and Gentile reconciled with God, now one
new person, a new humanity, one body, the household of God, a temple and
dwelling place of God’s Spirit. There is more to say about Paul’s address, but
perhaps I can save that for another day. So, we move from Address to
Application.
Application.
The noun application is derived from the verb apply. To apply means to join or
combine with; attach to something, or adhere. It comes to us from the Latin
word applicare, a combination of two smaller words: ad meaning to
and plicare meaning fold. To apply is to bring things in contact
with one another, such as lotions, plasters, or other things that bond two or
more items. For example, when our house was being built, the subcontractors applied
tape and mud to the drywall in our new house before primer and finish paint was
applied. Ladies apply lipstick and makeup to their faces to enhance their
attractive looks. We men apply deodorant to mask our manly scent.
Liturgically
and spiritually, we apply the practices of Lent – prayer, fasting and
almsgiving – to Easter. We apply the penitential character of Lent to the
joyful celebration of Easter. We meditate on Jesus’ Passion as well as his
Resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit to remind us of what He did for us,
for me. And we can never underestimate the importance of that suffering and
death, for without it, how do we apply meaning to the Christian life?
Clearly,
the application of Christ’s Paschal Mystery – suffering, death and resurrection
– to my life enhances our reason for being Church, and my reason for being
Christian. Without the application of this Paschal Mystery, what meaning does
my life hold? What meaning do we offer the world as Church?
I
understand well the importance of all the things we do as a church to keep the
doors open and the lights lit, the bills paid and the children educated, but to
focus a lot of time and energy on those things alone would be like reading
Ephesus as an Epistle written only to a congregation and miss its importance to
the Universal Church.
So,
how does this passage address my life? Well, clearly, there is more to the Christian life
than enjoying our salvation. You are a saved Christian, but you have work to
do! How are you doing? You are a recipient of God’s grace, but are you making
progress in accomplishing those “good works”? Look at the different roles you
play – parent, grandparent, godparent, husband, wife, sibling, friend – and
you will see that you serve a purpose for God and His Church than you might
have not yet imagined. Look at your role in the world – business owner,
employee, teacher, first-responder, healthcare worker, analyst, driver – and
you will see that you do much more than a job or a career. Your work is to
bring the Gospel to God’s world and God’s children.
If you have not yet
imagined how God’s Word applies to your life, take some time this week to discern
God’s presence in what you do. Look for ways that the Holy Spirit is working in
your relationships, trying to form divine presence in you.
I close with a
spiritual exercise. Imagine God as a heavenly potter, and you as the clay that
he is molding. Is there a part of your life where he is pressing you, trying
to get you into shape? If there is, yield to him. Let him bring about the
beauty that he sees in you. If it means forgiving someone so that your heart
softens, take the next step. If it means increasing your generosity to a
friend, try to give a little bit more.
Maybe God has you in
the kiln right now, making you stronger through a test of fire. Perhaps you are
struggling with a wayward son or daughter. Maybe challenges at work are nearing
a breaking point. Whatever it is, don’t run away! Let God continue to burn away
your impurities so that you can become a stronger vessel of his grace.
God rescued you from
sin because he loves you. But he also did it because he has a marvelous plan
for your life. So, make it a point to cooperate with him so that he can bring
that plan to fulfillment![1] And when you do, may the
peace of God that surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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