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Meditation on Ephesians 1:3-14
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"Pastor Karen's sermon from July 12, 2015"
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Meditation on Ephesians 1:3-14
July 12, 2015
“Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in
love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious
grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches
of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he
has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather
up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
In Christ we have also
obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him
who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we,
who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his
glory.
In him you also, when you had heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were
marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge
of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his
glory.”
***
We had just finished our lunch last Thursday and were sitting around a
table in a conference room at the nursing home. Pastor Dan Bowman, Pastor Tom
Evenson, and Pastor Joseph Kim and I were gathered for our monthly ministerium
meeting. Our only actual agenda item was to discuss how we might move forward with
our community benevolent fund, a project that we have been working on for at
least 6 months. Our vision is to establish an orderly system for helping people
in crisis through vouchers for gas, groceries, and other essentials, funded by
donations and administered by local police. It was Pastor Joseph’s last meeting
with us, and it was unfortunate that our Catholic and Methodist colleagues were
not able to join us. The atmosphere was, unexpectedly, like no other meeting we’ve
had before!
Pastor Joseph is leaving his congregation next month to begin a doctoral
program in Iowa. Although he has been with us three years, we seem to have
always been too busy to spend time just getting to know one another as brothers
and “sister” in the faith-- since I am the only female minister. But on
Thursday, we shared stories from our personal lives. We didn’t try to hide in
any way our true selves from one another, and we were filled with a spirit of
joy. I laughed so hard at one point that tears were streaming down my face!
Pastor Dan grew up in Japan, the son of American missionaries,
and is notoriously frugal. He told one hilariously detailed account of how
he put together a machine to print his own checks so he never has to buy checks
from a bank ever again. Then he told the story of the first and only car he
ever bought new years ago -- a Toyota Corolla diesel. He was determined to get 300,000 miles on it and get his
money’s worth. The car had some issues with rust. Eventually it needed some new
doors. He drove to a junkyard and found doors that fit, but they were a
different color. He had them installed. Later he went to another junkyard,
found 2 more doors that fit and had them installed. They were yet another
color. Eventually, Dan named the car, Joseph, for the biblical Joseph whose
father, Jacob, gave him a coat of many colors.
I asked Dan why he didn’t just paint the car one color after he had the
junkyard doors installed? That elicited more giggling because, of course, Dan
didn’t want to spend the money. He launched into a description of the many
things that were wrong with the car -- and the story of how the car finally
died. He was driving to still another junkyard looking for an additional part
that was needed. He turned into the junkyard driveway, the struts went, and Dan
literally drove the car into the ground.
Appreciative
laughter all around.
Then
Pastor Tom -- or maybe it was Pastor Joseph -- asked, “Did you make it to
300,000 miles?”
“Yep,”
said Dan. “Made it to 328,000 miles.”
We
giggled again.
After
each of us had shared from our personal experiences, Joseph marveled that he
had learned things he had never known before--especially about Dan, who told
most of the stories. Joseph wondered if Dan’s years in Japan had made him more
reluctant to share personal things, just as Joseph, a Korean American, learned
through his culture to be more reserved.
Pastor Dan grew serious. “I am broken,” he said, without hesitation.
Then he taught us a lesson about grace. He told the story of an ancient
Japanese art of repairing broken pottery--not so the break would be invisible, as
we do, but so the broken place would be accentuated. Gold is added to
the bonding material, and the broken pottery becomes a work of art, more
valuable than before. This is called kintsugi.
The philosophy of kintsugi is similar to the Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi, embracing the flawed or
imperfect.
Hearing
about kintsugi reminded me of our
scripture last Sunday, in 2 Cor. 12, when Paul says he will boast of his
weaknesses, for when he is weak, he is strong. Paul had appealed to the Lord to
remove the “thorn in the flesh” that God had given him. But God said, “My grace
is sufficient for you! For my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Dan’s story of kintsugi also stirred thoughts of how the broken pottery repaired
with gold is a marvelous image of what God has accomplished for us through the blood
of Jesus Christ, poured out for our sins. We are made whole, more beautiful and
valuable than ever before. But the broken places do not completely disappear,
and we should never try to conceal them. For in the attempt to cover up our
flaws, we hide the love and grace of our Redeemer.
***
The message in our reading in Ephesians,
much like last Sunday’s reading in 2 Corinthians, is all about grace. In
today’s epistle, we are assured of our redemption through Christ’s shed blood.
Our sins are forgiven by the riches of
God’s grace “lavished on us.” But unlike Paul’s simple encouragement to
boast of our weaknesses in 2 Corinthians, for God’s grace is sufficient for our
sin, we learn that God’s grace isn’t randomly bestowed or universally received.
That while God’s love extends to the entire world, God has chosen certain
people for a purpose, before they are even born; in fact, “before the
foundation of the world.”
In
the Presbyterian Church, we talk about this choice as “election.” This is part
of the mystery of God’s love, the “mystery,” says the writer of Ephesians, “of
God’s will.” We are not told this so that we will be arrogant about being “chosen,”
for it is an honor that we have not earned. We are not told this so we can look
around at other people and wonder if they are God’s chosen, too. The
passage is, however, meant to be comforting to believers gathered to worship
and listen for God’s Word. We are encouraged and lifted up by the knowledge
that we are predestined to be God’s “adopted” children or, more literally, predestined
for “adoption as sons.” The emphasis is on God’s initiative in salvation; this
is God’s choice--not ours! The Greek word translated “adoption as sons” is also
found in Romans and Galatians and comes from Greco-Roman law (Andrew Lincoln, Word Biblical Commentary,
25). A well-to-do but childless adult who wanted an heir would adopt a
male, usually older than an infant and often a slave, to be his son and heir.
Paul applies this legal term to the “privileged new relationship believers have
with God” in Jesus Christ.
But I want to make sure you hear more than
the message of our being “chosen” for redemption and our “privileged
relationship” with God through the Son. Listen to the reason why you have been redeemed! The grace that has been “lavished” on
us provides our redemption AND “all wisdom and insight”--all that we need to
know--to understand and live according to God’s purpose for us,
according to God’s will. What is this purpose? What is God’s will? In verses 11
and 12, we read: “In Christ we
have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the
purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who
were the first to set our hope on Christ, might
live for the praise of his glory.”
We find God’s purpose articulated in verses 5 and 6, as well, with the focus
more specifically on God’s grace. “He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.”
***
Yesterday, Pastor Dan told me that he had been thinking about our
conversation on Thursday and was writing a kintsugi
catechism. He plans to share the hope of Jesus through the story of the
broken pottery, repaired with gold mixed with the bonding material to
accentuate the flaws, rather than attempt to hide that the pottery was broken.
He wanted me to tell him again what I had said when we talked--how our
redemption is like kintsugi.
We are like the broken pottery, redeemed by the blood of Christ, the
“gold” that accentuates and fills
our broken places and makes us whole. We are more beautiful and precious than
ever before! But we must not try to hide our broken places, lest we also
conceal what our merciful God has done for us--Christ’s shed blood for our
sakes.
Beloved,
you are redeemed for a purpose! You
are destined, from the foundation of
the world, to share God’s glorious grace! You are chosen to be God’s adopted children, living for God’s glory and praise!
Let us pray.
Holy One, thank you for choosing us for
your redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ and for a special purpose. Thank
you for your grace that you lavish on us. Forgive us for not sharing your love
and forgiveness with the world and not always responding to your Great
Commission with joy. Help us to live not for ourselves and our own interests
but for your glory and praise. Lead us to share the hope of salvation with all
we meet by revealing the broken places in us that never completely heal, much
like the Japanese pottery repaired with gold, to accentuate, rather than hide,
what has been broken. Transform us by your Spirit so that we may be, more and
more, the image of your humble Son, through whom we pray. Amen.
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