January 5, 2003
A sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma
It’s been called the longest run-on sentence in the New Testament. I’m talking about the Apostle Paul’s blessing or benediction that we read in Ephesians, chapter 1. It is 250 words long! Isn’t that something? One sentence of 250 words! How do you explain something like that? Leonard Sweet offers this explanation: Paul is so caught up in the wonder of God’s work in Christ that he can’t find the time to take a breath.
Those who have been touched by the grace of Christ understand that. In Christ we find the key to life. If we center our lives on Christ, our lives begin to come together. We have fullness of life. Life can change for the better. Of course, there are those who don’t believe that. As I rode home from Iowa on New Year’s Day, a humorist on the radio said that he had given up on New Year’s resolutions. There was no such thing as a new year. Every year brought just more of the same: His wife would be on his back all the time and his kids would continue to be a big disappointment. He said that we shouldn’t call it a new year, we should just call it another year -- another miserable year in which everything would be just the same as last year.
As Christians we don’t see 2003 as just another year, full of the same troublesome things. We see it as a new year in which new things are possible; a year in which things can change for the better because of the grace of God. Paul knew that too and that is why he could be so exuberant when he spoke about Christ. And so Paul asks us to focus all our energy on two things: Remembering God’s blessings in Christ and responding to these blessings. Paul puts it this way, “God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing...” (verse 3). Then Paul lists the litany of blessings that God gives us in Christ. If we dwell on these things, we will have life.
1. Blessing number one: Because of Christ we stand holy and blameless before God. Paul puts it this way: “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.” (verse 4) So, here’s the critical question as we enter 2003: How do we think God sees us? Do we think that God sees us as holy and blameless or as unholy and blameworthy? Do we obsess about how terrible we are and how God couldn’t possibly love us? Or do we remember what Paul says about us: Because of Christ, God sees us as God intends us to be. He sees us as a good and perfect creation. Do we trust that God is at work right now to restore us to a state of wholeness and perfection? What happens to us in 2003 is going to be determined in good part by what we put our trust in.
2. Blessing number two: We are adopted children of God, not orphans. Paul puts it this way: “God destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ...” (verse 5). We have just passed through one of the most family oriented times of the year. Almost everyone, if they can, makes the effort to return home. For the last twenty-seven years we have made a trip to Minnesota or Iowa, often driving through the night so that we could get there for Christmas Day. Why do we do that? Because no matter how inconvenient it may be or what it costs, we have this deep-seated need to belong. Even though the homes we return to or the families we try to create may be far from ideal, we have this deep-seated need to belong. Paul tells us that God has the same desire for us. He is at work to fulfill this need for belonging, and one day we will know home and family as it is intended to be. So, what will we choose to believe in 2003? Will we regard ourselves as orphans, or will we trust that we are part of the family of God and that God is working on our behalf?
3. Blessing number 3: Because of Christ, we are forgiven. Paul says, “In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses...” (verse 7). Because of the incredible burden of sin we carry, what a blessing that is! Nothing can separate us from God because of Jesus Christ. It may be true that there are people who won’t forgive us and we may have trouble forgiving ourselves, but because of Christ God always forgives us. We can start anew. In 2003 what will we trust? The memories of sin that would diminish and destroy us or a God who forgives us and wipes the slate clean?
4. Blessing number 4: In Christ we know the secret of life. Paul says that God has made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure that he has set forth in Christ.” (verse 9). Again, what a gift in a world where so many are living tremendously destructive lifestyles because they do not know the purpose of life! What is the secret that God reveals to us in Christ? God is in the process of gathering up everything in Christ. In Christ God is at work bringing everything into perfect working order. Once again, what will we trust in 2003? Will we trust those who say that life has no purpose; therefore, do what you please? Or will we trust in what God has revealed in Christ and join God in the project of bringing peace and unity into the world?
Do we want fullness of life in 2003? Here is the only way it will come: Reembering the blessings that God gives us in Christ. And how do we do this? We worship, we pray, we immerse ourselves in God’s Word. If we choose to do that, we will have life. If we choose not to do that, we will diminish ourselves. So, if your self-image is suffering, if you are feeling like and orphan, if some sin is plaguing you, if you feel out of touch with God’s purposes, maybe you should do something to jump-start your spiritual life. Why not attend a Via de Cristo weekend? Why not attend the Centering Prayer Workshop? Why not participate in a Bible study? Why not find some new avenue of service? Why not do something different to renew your relationship with Christ?
That’s the first thing Paul asks us to do. The second is this: “Live for the praise of his glory...” (verse 12). In other words, people who have been as marvelously blessed as you and I should be a blessing to others. In what ways am I a blessing to others? As we enter 2003, how would we answer that question?
There was an article in the Beacon Journal the Saturday before Christmas. It was entitled, “Ask Yourself: What Am I Doing?” It was by a writer for a Wichita newspaper named Tom Schaefer. It asked in a very direct way the question Paul asks: How am I living to the praise of his glory? He begins by commenting on all the flap one religious group has created by asking Detroit to build more environmentally friendly cars. The debate was joined when they began an advertising campaign asking, “What would Jesus Drive?”
He says that we need to be concerned about that issue, but we need also to consider more substantive issues. For example: Where would Jesus live? An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless. That number rises to 1 billion if it includes those living in housing that is “very insecure or temporary, often of poor quality,” according to the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements.
What would Jesus eat? In Africa, approximately 300 million people - nearly half the population - live in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day, according to the anti-hunger organization, Bread for the World. Meanwhile, nearly 65% of Americans are overweight, and 31% are obese according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
What would Jesus do with his spare time? The amount of time spent on entertainment in the home and outside the home would eliminate the national debt of several countries. Is there some way we could spend less time entertaining ourselves and give more time to others?
What did Jesus do? He cared for the sick and dying. He urged his followers to give to the less fortunate. He condemned hypocrisy, but never rejected the outcaste. He was self-sacrificing, not self-serving.
No question about it: In Christ we have been abundantly blessed. We need to daily remember that. Then, motivated by this, we need to live to the praise of his glory. If we do these things, we will have life and we will have it abundantly.
copyright 2001 by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma