What greater place that
Ephesus -- a cross-roads of trade, cultures and learning -- to hear the words
of Paul and later the reading of the Revelation to John to the Christian
community which flourished there and is said by many to have included not only the
apostle Paul, the disciple John, the great theological interpreters and
teachers Priscilla and Aquila, the young dynamic preacher Timothy, but also by
tradition, the very mother of Jesus himself as part of its body of believers. Here where east met west, where philosophy
met theology, where pantheists and monotheists lived, worked, travelled and
traded, Paul and later John applauded the church's firm establishment, its
refusal to compromise, its possession of spiritual discrimination.
At it's inception this body
of believers embraced Christ and one another with an abundance of love. It's ability to be accepting without
compromising made it's witness invitational to all.
Paul's great theme in the
letter to the Ephesians is God's glorious plan to bring men of every nation and
background together in Christ (Eph 1:10).
As Christians, all are on equal terms.
We are one. And we must see that
we express that oneness in personal relationships and the way we behave.
Eph 2:11-22 Jesus' death on
the cross is the one means of peace with God for all men, without
distinction. And all who belong to him
have a common bond which is deeper and stronger than any of their former
differences -- of race our color or status or sex or background
Eph 4:1-16 Unity in practice We are not identical in temperament,
personality or gifts. We are bound
together by a common faith, a common life, common loyalty, common purpose. We must constantly cement the bond by a
loving, forbearing attitude to one another, and by using our different gifts
for the common good. We have to grow up
together until we are all Christ wants us to be -- until we are really like
Him.
In the Wesleyan tradition we
call this unity in diversity. It remains
one of the most basic tenants of our doctrinal interpretation of the message of
love Christ taught and lived. This is a
hallmark of the faith handed down to us generation by generation through the
church we celebrate here. As Americans
we live not only in a place where cultures have meet and meld, but where they
collide and clash. We like the Ephesians
have been called to embrace Christ and one another with an abundance of
love. To establish a church grounded in
the knowledge of God and able to be accepting without compromising sound
teaching. We are called to witness by
our common bond which is deeper and stronger than our differences.
John, in bondage on Patmos,
speaks to each of the seven churches addressing Ephesus first. The greatest danger to that church was not
the cultures and other religions to which it was exposed by opening its arms to
Jew and Gentile, slave and free, traveler and tradesman. The greatest danger to that church was that
it lost sight of love. Its teaching was
sound, its doctrine was in keeping with Scripture, but it had become cold --
unaccepting -- it had lost its heart.
Let us take heed, so that
same will not be said of us
Yea, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love. (Jer 31:3)
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life.(John 3:16)
Behold what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God. (I John 3:1)
And Jesus answered him, The
first of all the commandments is: Hear,
O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy
soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
There is non other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31)
This is my commandment, That
ye love one another, as I have loved you.
(John 15:12)
By this shall all me know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35)
Love ye therefore the
stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deut. 10:19)
Let love be without
dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil;
cleave to that which is good.. (Rom
12:9)
But whoso hath this world's
good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion
from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in
deed and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18)
Ye have heard that it hath
been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you.
(Matthew 5:43-44)
Be therefore followers of
God, as dear children: And walk in love,
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. (Ephesians 5:1)
Let us bow our heads as we
hear Paul's prayer for the people who worshipped in Ephesus and for those of us
who worship here again today.
For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... that he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit
in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; and that ye
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with all saints,
what is the breadth, and length and depth, and height, and to know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness
of God, now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in
the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
(Ephesians 3:13-21)
Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement,” is first made known in scripture when he sells his field and brings all the proceeds to the apostles to encourage the spread of the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection. As the Acts of the Apostles continues to unfold, Barnabas becomes the disciple of second chances.
I think of the many “second chances” my parents, my husband, my children, my friends have given me. We all fall short. We take a wrong turn and end up somewhere we didn’t plan to go.