November 6, 2016 All
Saints Sunday Ephesians 1:11-23
Election Day is on Tuesday, but I
don’t have to remind you of that. I
think we’re all exhausted by it all, and I don’t believe any of us are actually
running for public office! Perhaps my
biggest fear is that when it’s all over it won’t be over. I don’t mean the possibility of contested
election results. I mean that grid-lock
and political maneuvering will continue.
It seems like partisan ideology has completely eclipsed pragmatism.
Anyway, enough of my political
opinions. It seems like one thing almost
all politician do very well is lying.
Perhaps it’s a partial truth, perhaps it’s wishful thinking to win
votes, or perhaps it’s a downright lie, but they all seem to do it very
well. There’s nothing new about
this. One of my favorite quotes comes
from St. Augustine from 4th century Rome, “I was preparing to recite
praises of the emperor, most of which were lies, and by so lying win favor from
those who knew [that they were lies].”
(Confessions, VI.6)
Politics is dirty business. I often fear that anyone truly honest and
upright wouldn’t stand a chance. Like
the two men walking through a cemetery looking at the tombstones. One tombstone read, “Here lies John Smith, a
politician and an honest man.” To which
the one man said, “Isn’t that sad. They
had to bury two people in the same grave.”
The world of business can be similar
to politics. You have to think ahead and
strategize, even planning for a compromise.
I remember when we building this sanctuary we had to submit a
landscaping plan to the town for approval.
Bruce Boncke pointed out that no matter what we put down the planning
board will ask for more. Therefore,
deliberately make it lean so that when they ask for too much more we can appear
to compromise; which is actually ending up with something practical.
Politics, business and just about
everything in daily life involves posturing, maneuvering and compromise. We learn it at an early age. How many of you put on a ‘dating face’ to impress
someone you like, hoping that the other person will fall in love with you; and
only after that would you then start to show your flaws?
On All Saints Sunday there is good
news for us when we turn to our Ephesians text.
Unlike politicians who lie to us, God does not. It’s the straight honest truth. It’s the truth about our eternity, which is a
good thing indeed.
“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…”
This is true praise of God – not a
political surrogate inventing praise for a person he or she is getting paid to
make look good. There’s no need to
exaggerate on God’s goodness. God simply
is good!
“…he chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world…” This is not a
doctrine of predestination as some people like to take it. It is a statement that God has the past, the
present and the future in hand. All is
surely going according to God’s design.
“…to be holy and blameless before him
in love.” Some read this and get the
image of someone spotless and nice – perhaps too nice to be likeable. But that’s not what is intended, for people
who are too nice aren’t effective at anything.
No, this means people of character, integrity and goodness who work hard
for the betterment of others around them.
“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.” If this came from a politician
we’d think they were buttering someone up.
But again, this is true praise of joy and thanksgiving from a genuine
disciple to our God who really is that good.
“In him we have redemption through his
blood…” This is actually business language. Just the way you redeem a coupon or redeem a
product rebate so it is that our souls are bought by Jesus. The price was his own blood.
I donate blood frequently. Of course it’s a sterile and almost painless
process, and very different than Jesus’ crucifixion, but even so I consider it
a valuable gift. I want it to be used
well – to help someone in need. I
wouldn’t donate blood if it was going to be dumped out or wasted. Christ’s crucifixion is a valuable payment
for someone valuable to God – you.
If we jump down a little bit, “With
all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure…” What is
this mystery? Does it mean we get inside
information as to how the election will turn out? No, it means that we know what God is up
to. God is drawing all of creation to
himself in love and mercy. That is God’s
plan for the fullness of time. It means
that we are heading for a time when lies and manipulation leveraging every
situation to get the most out of it will be no more. It means peace and safety and comfort.
The test from Ephesians tells us. God’s plan, literally his “stewardship” for
us is to gather all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In other words God isn’t involved in some
limited disaster zone clean-up plan. God
is drawing it all into one great thing.
The next verses speak of us receiving
an inheritance, or I prefer to translate it as we are part of a heritage. That reminds us that what we do is not just
our own work in our own lifetime but something that we pick up from those who
have gone before us and something that is passed on throughout history for as
long as God allows creation to continue.
The letter to the Ephesians continues
with praise for them for the work that they do.
We live centuries later and thousands of miles away but we too
accomplish good work. Our church budget
shows some of the obvious work:
–support for the larger church and it’s work in the world,
-support for missionaries nearby and far away,
-support for world hunger,
-support for our local food cupboard, and on and on.
Support is more than money.
There’s hands-on support for the Victor Farmington Food Cupboard and
regular food donations and donations to special projects like the Thanksgiving
baskets. There’s hands on support to the
Neighbors in Ministry to Seniors program, Community Lutheran Ministries and
other local needs. I suppose that list
could go on and on too.
There’s also support from the building and grounds that we
maintain. Because of us groups like Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts, AA, Community Chorus and others have a place to use at no
cost. We empower them to be benefits to
the community.
Of course we also have tenants who pay us – the YMCA, Weight
Watchers, plus couple music teachers and other groups. Even though we receive benefit for their use
it is also a sharing. This building
wouldn’t be much use to the glory of God if we restricted it and it sat here
empty most of the time.
And of course there is this building’s intended use – as a place
for spiritual growth and worship.
Worship services, Sunday school, Bible studies, Holy Yoga, and a work
area for projects.
In all the world
you have to earn things. You have to
work. You have to get things by your merit. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Earning things is a great way to appreciate
what you have. But it can also become
exhausting and mistakes are costly. Over
the door we have the sign, “Sinners Only.
This is a Space of Grace.” And
indeed it is. Here you do not earn. Here you do not merit. Here is a safe space of grace. It is a space for you and for all of God’s
children.
Like the
Ephesians who responded to God’s grace by being gracious and giving, so do
we. That is the straight truth with no
political spin. We are blessed to be
blessings, and indeed we are; always striving to improve.
May the saints
who have gone before us and completed their pilgrimages on earth inspire us to
do the same. May we embody God’s grace
in this world, and may we let God make meaningful use of ourselves each and
every day to his glory. In God’s time we
will rejoice fully when God draws all things to himself and creation is
complete. Our God has a great and
glorious future in store for us.
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