A text – Ephesians 2:1-10
2:1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins
2:2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.
2:3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.
2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us
2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–
2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
2:7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God–
2:9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
2:10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
A reflection:
In this letter to the Christians in Ephesus, Paul or his assistant writer want to make sure that the new believers do two important things: 1) accept that their salvation into eternal life is a pure gift from God, given freely to them even though no one had earned it by living virtuously; and 2) because they have received God’s love and salvation, live in a new way that helps others and pays attention daily to the gracious God who has saved them.
These are two important actions all of us could stand to learn over and over. God loves us unconditionally, so when we make mistakes, God still loves and wants us. We don’t have to hide away in shame or do things that separate us even farther from God. We can rejoin the flock, so to speak, and continue to stay on the path as best we can, accepting the gift of God’s love and salvation again and again. Accept the gift we have not earned, and live in such a way to help and serve others.
This Ephesians passage reminds us of the Nicodemus passage in the gospel of John. Jesus tells him that God loved human beings in this way: he sent his only son to save everyone so that, living or dying, we belong to God and are brought to heaven to live eternally with God. It is nothing humans did. It is all God’s doing. And those who refuse to believe that God loves them no matter what simply remain in darkness, stuck in the dark, where they have always been, and maybe where things feel familiar. Remaining in what feels familiar is often much easier than breaking out into the light and changing the way we do things. We may even be dissatisfied to be in the dark ruts we’ve been in for so long, but taking the one step to climb out is scary and feels like “not us,” and so we look away from the healing, away from eternity in heaven, away from the savior wishing we would turn.
What keeps us in our particular ruts? What level of dissatisfaction would it take to get us to turn toward the light and the kindness of God?
A prayer:
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us your gifts. Help us to realize when we’ve become stuck, and help us turn your way and find your light. Amen.
Short Dwellings in the Word by Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison 