Lent March 12, 2015
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10 You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— Ephesians 2:1-5
What has made us so afraid? Rather than loving our neighbors, we fear them. Rather than rejoicing in the diversity God created, we cling to exclusivism. I sometimes wonder if we have invested so much time in reading the rest of the Bible we have forsaken the four gospels. We have turned our backs on the one who got us here in the first place. Following Jesus Christ is not just a matter of wearing a wristband or t-shirt imprinted with WWJD. Christianity is not like a sports team that we cheer and declare, “We’re Number 1.”
In our scripture today Paul is writing to new Christians in Ephesus who were surrounded by statues of various gods and temples. These Christians’ status in society was actually reduced because of their choice to follow this one called Jesus Christ. What we do not see now is that we occupy the chair of the elite and rather than being faithful to our calling in Christ, we have adapted the same ways of those ancient elites. We are emulating not only the Greek elites but also our ancestors in faith, the people of Israel who got caught up in their own worth and lost sight of their covenant with God and were taken into exile. We have not been called to license we have been called to responsibility. We have not been called to hate and exclusivism but to love and inclusivism.
When and if we choose to follow the path of love and inclusivism we are made alive in Christ for it is by his grace that we have been saved and while life is frightening to us at times, we never need to be afraid again.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our lack of trust, reinforce our faith so that we can run and not become weary in our marathon to live your love. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.