Ephesians 5:22–28

Ephesians 5:22-28 

English Standard Version 

  Lots of people know about verse 22, where wives are called to submit to husbands.  But we can't life that verse out of the rest of the paragraph. It's not just about wives submitting.  Paul is calling wives to submit, but he's calling husbands to love their wives in the same way that Christ loved the church.  How did Christ love the church?  He laid down his life in a sacrificial effort so that the church could thrive.  Paul isn't just focused on one partner -- he's calling both partners in a marriage to love one another with radical selflessness.  He's holding marriage up as a sacred partnership where each partner gives and serves in an attempt to honor the other.  The focus is not on control, but love.  A relationship is forged that reflects the love that Christ has for the church, and a marriage like this glorifies God.  If husbands and wives love and serve one another like this, then each is enriched and cherished and treasured and strengthened.  Paul is holding up each partner as worth loving and serving, and he's teaching the church what Christ's sacrificial love looks like in action in the world today.

Ephesians 5:15–21

Ephesians 5:15-21 

English Standard Version 

  It's hard to be good stewards of our time.  There are so, so many opportunities for distraction.  If we're not careful, we can let our lives slip away, one distracted moment after the next.  Paul is urging us to be wise about how we use our time and our attention.  Be grateful, Paul says, for what God has done, and let that guide your interactions with one another.  In doing so, we learn to worship in every moment, and we don't let distractions lead us far from Christ and one another.  In a world where we so easily put our heads in our devices and watch hours slip away, may we be the ones engaging in love and grace with the people around us, worshiping God through our interactions.

Ephesians 5:11–14

Ephesians 5:11-14

English Standard Version 

  Shame is a hard thing for people to deal with.  Our natural thought is to hide it and hope no one else knows, but it eats away at us, eroding our spirits from the inside.  Here, Paul encourages us to throw our shame into the light, for it is the best disinfectant.  The light of Christ can redeem us, can redeem our past, can redeem us for the future.  We cower in shame and listen to the lies of the enemy that tells us that our shame defines us, but when we expose them, we allow the grace of Christ to redefine us, to remind us of God's love for us, that we are made in the image of God and claimed in the waters of baptism.  

Ephesians 5:6–10

Ephesians 5:6-10 

English Standard Version 

  When I get up in the middle of the night, I walk very gingerly around the room, never quite certain if I've left something in the middle of the floor that wasn't a problem when the lights were on.  In the dark, it's far more treacherous.  Turn on the lights, and after the adjustment, I can walk very, very differently.

  The same is true of our walk with Christ.  We walk carefully in the dark, for danger lurks with every step.  However, when we're covered in grace and mercy, we can be confident, because we don't have to be afraid.  We discern the best next step, but rather than live in anxiety, we can trust in the love and perfection of Christ that has claimed us.  We no longer belong to fear.  We are Christ's, and in Him we are safe.

Ephesians 5:3–5

Ephesians 5:3-5 

English Standard Version 

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  There's been any number of debates about sex in the church over the last few centuries.  And they're worth having -- when we submit all of life to God, that includes our physical lives.

  But while we have untold hours of debate about sex, do we also have debate about greed and covetousness?  In the church, we often get so focused on sexual sins that we forget there are other sins.  Here in Ephesians 5, Paul is putting greed on the same level as sexual immorality.  We tend to think one is more serious than the other, but the Bible teaches us that all sin separates us from God and corrupts our relationships with one another.  We can do greed in private, and no one else will know about it... but it still rots us, hollowing us out, and we need Christ to redeem that part of our lives as well.  

  So let us lay everything before Christ.  When we confess our sins, we should include everything.  Christ has come to heal and restore, thanks be to God!

Ephesians 5:1–2

Ephesians 5:1-2 

English Standard Version 

  Every trip through the airport involves a walk by Auntie Anne's pretzels, where the aroma of sugar covered pretzels wafts across the concourse and always smells amazing.  I don't know that I've ever actually had one, but the smell always brings joy.  

  Paul talks about Christ's death as a fragrant offering, and I think of it the same way.  Christ dying on the cross is meant to waft around the community, bringing joy to those who were trapped in sin because they see the depth of God's love for them.  It's strange that it would be death on a cross that would bring joy, but such is the love of God -- it will pay any price to redeem you from sin and despair.  So the more we contemplate that, the more we are pushed to love one another, and so we then walk in love because of the great love with which Christ has loved us.  The offering of Christ moves around the world, touching hearts, changing lives, and pointing us towards the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 4:31–32

Ephesians 4:31-32

English Standard Version 

  Most of us have boxes that we've moved from place to place and still haven't unpacked.  There is a weight there that we barely notice -- it just blends into the background.  

  Bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander can do the same -- we carry them for so long that they become a part of us, and we don't notice the way they weigh down the soul.  When I run for President, maybe this will be my slogan -- imagine how much more at peace we'd be as a country if we could set down our anger and malice and wrath and be kind to one another, rather than react out of fear or bitterness that we've been carrying around for years.  If we realized the incredible gift of forgiveness that we didn't deserve and thought about how that should shape our interactions with others.  Think about how that could change a family, a community, a country!  Who can you start with?

Ephesians 4:28–30

Ephesians 4:28-30 

English Standard Version 

  I think about the passage in Matthew where Jesus tells us that the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart.  It's like an overflow of a dam -- our words reflect what is within us.  The more grace and wisdom we take in from God, the more we reflect that back to the world, and in the same way, when we do not invest in our relationship with God, it's easy to be less gracious to others, because when we understand the grace God has extended to us and root ourselves in this daily, we're more likely to be gracious to others.  

  This is why Paul is telling the Ephesians that the thief should no longer steal -- if he continues to steal after converting to Christianity, it's evidence that his conversion isn't very deep.  In the same way, we're called to treat one another in a way that reflects the work the Holy Spirit is doing in our own lives, thus reflecting the grace of God to the world.

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?