Ephesians 4:25-27

Ephesians 4:25-27 

English Standard Version

  Paul doesn't tell us not to get angry.  There are plenty of things worth getting angry about.  I was reading an article the other day about the number of people in abject poverty due to violent conflicts in Africa that have persisted for years.  It was heartbreaking... and worth getting angry about.  We should get angry about suffering and injustice in the world.

  What Paul warns us about is letting anger linger in our souls, because it starts to change us.  If we let the anger be the voice that persists over years, it can drown out every other voice.  Paul is telling us to watch out for anger, to deal with it quickly, and therefore to ensure that anger doesn't remain the guiding force in our lives.  Let the things in the world that make us angry help us decide how to act, but then we can set aside the anger and move forward in love.

Ephesians 4:20–24

Ephesians 4:20-24 

English Standard Version 

  This passage reminds me of a dressing room, where we have a completely new set of clothes, and we set aside our old ones to put on the new.  If we're to focus on the price tags, we'd realize that we cannot afford them, but someone else has paid, and the new clothes are a complete renewal of our minds, created not in our image, but in the likeness of God reflecting righteousness and holiness.

  We walk out of that dressing room having been renewed by the grace and mercy of God.  What a marvelous gift -- to be loved in such a way that the old is taken away and the new is perfect, calling us into an entirely new way of life.  We love with selflessness, we serve with focus on the other, and we are bold to trust completely in God.

Ephesians 4:17–19

Ephesians 4:17-19 

English Standard Version

  Paul is never shy about calling out sins in his letters.  His comments on sensuality and sexuality get the most publicity, but there are plenty of comments about greed, most of which we like to gloss over, because most of us experience greed in some way, shape, or form, and that's a much more private sin.  It's far easier to focus on the visible sins of others than to accept criticism of our sins.  

  But Christianity is a faith where the door is left open for all of us to walk through and experience the grace and mercy of Christ.  We're not accepted because we're perfect -- we're accepted because Christ is perfect, and so we're called to walk in the light, in new life, and put away the sins of our past.  Christ is calling -- what do you need to set down to answer with all of your heart?

Ephesians 4:15–16

Ephesians 4:15-16 

English Standard Version 

  We live in very individualistic times.  It's all about the self, to the point where some people would encourage you to jettison any idea of community that doesn't just affirm you all the time.  

  Here in Ephesians, Paul is reminding us that we grow together.  Christ is the head, and we're all connected, one to another in a big community.  

  So we have a responsibility -- how do we hold each other together, while keeping Christ at the center?  How do we think about ourselves as part of an entire body, rather than on our own?