Psalm 19, Ephesians 4:25-5:2
I value finding good,
relevant insight from old sources. And
I actually became an insight giving old source in a humorous moment last Wednesday
evening at Camp Johnsonburg. I had been
there to give a chapel talk to all of the week’s young campers and the moment I
told them I was 42 years old there was a very audible gasp ‘n giggle, as if
everyone at the same time was wondering aloud how a T-Rex was there to speak
about God to them!
The sources I
frequently consult when studying the Bible actually are old, often centuries
old, like this helpful quote I found this week from a famous 17th
century Presbyterian clergyman named Matthew Henry. “The Scriptures were written,” he preached, “not
to make us astronomers, but to make us saints.”
I understand this to
mean that when we read and relate the teachings of the Bible, it’s not for the
purpose of training us to first and foremost look and listen for God “up” and
“out” there, in some faraway very distant place. I agree whole-heartedly! Granted, there can be great comfort and
humbling in our scanning the skies to be reminded that our lives are just one
very important part of God’s good and vast creation. And this can help with our sense of
belonging, with our faith in being ultimately cared for by our gracious Creator,
and with reclaiming God’s original purpose for us to be caretakers. I also find it does help many folks to talk
to God as a “higher” power who exists above and beyond worldly ways. This is how I first came to faith
myself.
Yet the epic stories and holy encounters that
fill the pages of Scripture mostly locate God at work on the ground, right in
the here and now and the roots and raw needs of people’s lives. Why did the Magi follow a star? It wasn’t to find God up in the remote
heavens; it was for the purpose of locating God at work at the most important
and most miraculous moment ever to happen on earth, in human history, to help
them discover the new beginning for all God’s children through the birth of our
Messiah.
Keep God’s location in
mind when reading from the Book of Ephesians.
This “book” is really a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to Christians
in an ancient, bustling cultural melting pot city of the Roman Empire called
Ephesus. The start of the letter is
addressed to the saints there who had been born anew through their baptism in
Christ. It wasn’t addressed to people
who were somehow perfectly faithful, or to people who are just “up there” in
heaven next to an “up there” God. Paul
understood saints differently. He knew them to be the people set apart by
God in a particular time and place to follow, indeed to imitate, Jesus. Let me put it this way – it’s the same as if
I welcomed you all this morning by saying, “Good morning to all of you saints
of Fairmount Presbyterian!”
So what did Paul teach
the Christians in Ephesus about how to be saints instead of astronomers? How does this ancient counsel help us today,
we saints who are of one faith, one Lord, one baptism? One significant thing he taught that I’m
highlighting today was that they were to mind
their mouths.
Listen once again to part
of Paul’s faithfully wise words – “Let all of us speak the truth to our
neighbors, for we are members of one another … let no evil talk come out of
your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that
your words may give grace to those who hear … live in love, as Christ loved us.”
Paul’s emphasis in
Ephesus was spot on. Many of our intentionally
and unintentionally aimed words can cut down and cause crumbling to
relationships and entire social foundations.
So how we choose to speak to one
another and to every person we meet really and deeply matters. Not just because it reflects upon who we are,
how we’re known, how we’ve been raised … but more importantly because it directly
reflects and represents our identity as baptized people who have been signed
and sealed into the Way and Word of Jesus Christ. Our words should be further expressions of
His grace. The reconciling truth spoken
to us through His teaching is not for us to just absorb and keep silently to
ourselves. It needs to flow into and
then out of us like a sacred symphonic sound in the world, enhancing human
relationships and enriching human communities.
He is our Head, we are His Body, our vocal chords can be and should be
instruments for helping to make His always amazing, abundantly loving, freely
forgiving grace known.
One biblical
commentator has noted how today’s passage from Ephesians is summed up in the
words of the song “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”[i] Do you know that one? I believe it’s in our Blue hymnal, and I know
for sure it’s in the new Presbyterian hymnal that’s about to be published. Anyone who has ever been part of Camp
Johnsonburg sure knows it very well. This
commentator rightly points out that the unity and working side by side that is sung
about in this song must be put in action, absolutely lived out. And the ethical practices found in Ephesians
about living out Christ’s love through truthful, tenderhearted, forgiving words
can save this song, and, to quote the commentator directly, other “ditties of
devotion to love and unity” from becoming “sentimental schlock.”
There was one particular Olympian this summer
who minds his words very well, whose witness is far from schlock, who knows how
important it is to share speech that strongly represents God’s grace in Jesus
Christ. Lopez Lamong finished third
this year in his 5000 meter Track and Field final, but this 27 year old was
also at the 2008 Olympics. In fact, he was
the flag bearer for the United States at those opening ceremonies. Does anyone recognize the name?
At the age of 16, Lopez
Lamong became a US Citizen. This was
after he had been born in South Sudan and had been abducted during the Second
Sudanese Civil War. After nearly dying
in captivity, he was helped to escape by three others there from his home
village. The four of them ran for three
straight days until arriving in a refugee camp in Kenya. His story is just one of 20,000 displaced
or orphaned boys known as the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” There
is a documentary available to you by this name that I highly recommend.
Lopez’s specific story
came to my attention through Relevant magazine, a quarterly publication about
God, life and progressive culture I subscribe to. Through an interview, I read how the amazing
power of God’s grace in his life is not something he quietly keeps to
himself. He hears Jesus’ voice saying,
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be children of God.” (Matt. 5:9).
He understands this voice needs
to be further expressed in order to give hope and build other people up. He speaks as a saint, as one who is set
apart by God to help people in a specific time and place receive grace. He accomplishes this mostly through his own
foundation for bringing about healing in Southern Sudan. And he did so through the Relevant magazine
interview in which he said the following faith-building words –
“I’m here because God
rescued me, gave me a second change, kept me alive today. I cannot run a step
without God giving me the strength to run and be happy. I’m doing this for the
people who are not able to run anymore, who are dead. I’m that voice.”
Friends, have you
found your baptismal voice? The voice
that expresses with conviction that you have been reborn and raised to new life
in Christ? Do you understand how even your
slightest words can be creative acts conveying God’s grace?
As you strive to live in
love as Christ loves you, do more than just ask What Would Jesus Do? Actions that imitate our Lord are vitally
important, but so too are the words we choose that do the same. We need to also ask, “What Would Jesus Say?” When
His loving truth is heard by people in need of kindness and forgiveness, it
just might be what directs their desperate attention from God being distantly
“out there” to God being securely and intimately known right here. Amen.
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