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Talk on Ephesians Today we are looking at Ephesians Chapter 4. In many translations this section of chapter 4 begins with the word ‘therefore’. It is imperative that when we see the word therefore in the Bible we ask ourselves what it is there for? Up to this point, Paul has been setting out for us the principles and the foundational theology of the christian faith and now he moves swiftly on to its practical application both for the church and for each of us as individual believers. The letter is following a simple progression that theology 0r th process of thinking about God, inevitably leads to doxology, praising God, and doxology has its practical outworking in discipleship. So it is that he says: “Therefore I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking”v.17. In this case ‘therefore’ is inserted to encourage us to consider everything we've seen from verse one of chapter 0ne to the present, and now to make it apply in practice in the way we live our lives. Paul then paints a picture of the Gold Standard of Christian living. He describes how the Children of the Light of Christ live and challenges us to put on this new way of life in Christ Jesus. He challenges us to move from being nominal Christians to fully committed followers of Christ. Challenge is the right word. Like all attempts to set out the gold standard, Paul’s picture of the gold standard of Christian living is humbling and I suppose can be somewhat daunting. Paul’s gold standard would be just the same if it were not for the grace he reminds us of in Christ Jesus. Paul is not trying to discourage us, quite the opposite actually. He is at pains to point out that through Jesus we have access to the power of the Holy Spirit and it is through that transforming power of God’s Holy Spirit that we find our salvation and are reborn into a new life with different values and perspectives about life. Once we receive that grace and power then we are invited to allow it to reflect in the way we live our lives and Paul describes what that will look like. In true Pauline poetic fashion he invites us to take off the old grubby suit of our former lives without the knowledge of the grace of Jesus and to put on a brand new high quality well cut suit of a life in Jesus Christ. As a woman I must say that this image really appeals to me. I like clothes and this is a metaphor that appeals. But what does the new life in Christ look like? It is not enough to shake off corrupt principles of the world; we must put on gracious ones also. WE read in EPH 4:25 "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. So people of the Light are God’s children who are
In other words give up all those things which grieve God’s Holy Spirit and run contrary to our calling to be imitators of the nature of God. When Paul talks about taking off the the old life and putting on a new life, he means in practical terms that we exchange falsehood for truth (Eph 4:25) He calls us to forgive eachother and we have been forgiven. Here is the greatest challenge of all. Paul is not alone in this either . He speaks with the full authority of Jesus when he calls us to forgive. Forgiveness was always close to the heart of our lord Jesus. The longest parable Matthew recorded, that of "The Unmerciful Servant" (Matt.18: 21 -35) concludes with these words: "This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” " The watchword for Christians, and for all people, is "Forgive or forfeit forgiveness!" Today as you and I sit here, I wonder whether we might take the opportunity of a few moments to look back over our own lives and consider: As fully devoted disciples of Jesus, are there people in our lives to whom we need to extend the hand of forgiveness? Are there people who are asking for our forgiveness for wrongs they have done to us or words they said in haste? Paul challenges us as children of the Light, in the context of remorse and repentance, to find in our hearts, the love, the kindness, the compassion to forgive them. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not naive enough to think that Forgiveness comes in a moment. That may be true of God, but we are not God, only his people trying to be imitators of his love and grace in the world. For us Forgiveness is part of a process. It can take a life time to occur. However, if we don’t forgive when it is the appropriate time to do so, we fall victim to the sins Paul lists in this chapter, the sins of bitterness; malice; anger and the rest and in the final analysis we do harm to others and ourselves. A lack of forgiveness blocks out love. It steals from us and others peace and joy . In the face of true repentance it is not honest or kind. So we are called to forgive. With God’s help and grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to forgive. As I said before forgiveness is a process which cannot begin until we resolve to start it, until we orientate our hearts towards it like the sunflower to the sun. Be mindful that there is no telling how long it will take, so the sooner we start the process the better. Are there areas in our lives today where forgiveness is required? Where we are called to forgive others or perhaps even ourselves for something we have done or that has been done to us. Let us at least ask God to help us start the process and then in time may God show us when that process has been completed. “I slipped the picture back where I had found it. Then I realized something: That last thought had brought not sting with it. Closing the door I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” (Page 329, Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini)
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