Immeasurable Riches

Ephesians 2:1-10 New International Version (NIV)

Made Alive in Christ

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to livewhen you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Much research has been done by religious scholars about this letter and who the intended audience was meant to be.  I won’t overload you with details but modern day scholars believe the letter is written by Paul. However, the intended audience is not necessarily only those in Ephesus.  Many believe that this letter was intended to be heard by many communities that were struggling to accommodate the rapid growth of the early church among gentiles all the while living under Roman rule.  Knowing this, this letter is less intended for the individual than it was written for the communities to where these words traveled. In other words, the idea of sin and salvation is one for the entire body of Christ, not just individual believers.  As a contributor to workingpreacher.org, Kyle Fever wrote, “As Paul goes on in Ephesians, he will stress the importance of reconciliation.  Not just our reconciliation with God, but with each other. The new house under the Lordship of Jesus has no place for divided humanity.  The ‘other’ is no long the ‘other’ but sister/brother.”

As the events of the past few days unfolded, my heart truly ached.  I have a tendency to handle my personal grief in a much different way than seeing those I care about handle their grief.  As I was made aware of such devastating news, these words from Paul echoed throughout the depths of who I am. So many difficult questions to which I couldn’t provide decent answers.  Knowing this keeps me from saying anything at all. My words are only that. Simple words that hardly seem adequate. I can’t seem to wrap my mind around such loss, such heartache. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t still struggling with it all.  What can I do? Will it be enough? God, give me the perfect words to say right now so I can help comfort the family!  Truth is, I have none. Not only is there a large empty hole left in the hearts of those who knew Kim, but the aftershocks of such a loss will rattle this community for several years because Kim was involved in everything.  Looking back, it was Kim and many like her that drive me to be involved on the city council, coach little league, preach, work, raise a family, be a part of the FCA, hand out football stickers, and reach out to those in need.

It sometimes feels like the easy way out but in situations like this I lean on prayer and scripture.  “Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”  We often view death as an aspect of God’s wrath... that at some point we have done something to deserve death.  But there is greater a wrath than earthly death. You see, death is not something permanent. If it were, then yes, death would be the end all to the wrath of God.  If death had the final say, and in moments like this it seems as if it does, then that would be final. We would all eventually succumb to the wrath of God. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ... it is by grace you have been saved.”  Death hurts, it seems to have the final say because we no longer get to hear the words, feel the touch, laugh or cry with those who pass away but I cannot stress enough that this is not final.  It is not the wrath of God.

Now, what if we took this message to the masses?  Imagine a society where death still hurts, of course, but the hope of God’s grace eventually overrides those feelings.  We will never accept death and it will never seem natural because we were not intended from the beginning to experience it.  I have shared similar feelings about this with you before. But death is not final. Imagine the kind of hope generated by such a different way of thinking!  I am not saying we will ever get to the point where death won’t sting but we can get to the point where no one has to go through it alone. Even through such loss, this idea of reconciliation to God and one another is prevalent.  If nothing else binds us to sense a togetherness because of different cultural backgrounds, different home environments, opposing political and religious beliefs then knowing that Jesus died for every, single, one of us ought to.  Again, imagine if we looked at one another knowing that we had that single thing in common.  What if our neighbor was more than someone that lived in a close proximity to us... Imagine your neighbor being everyone whom Jesus died for.  Imagine the healing and comfort provided in living every breath in such a way! Every Sunday we celebrate the fact that Jesus died for us but what if we celebrated the other six days the same way with those we interact with?  Can you imagine such a place? The task seems daunting when looking on the large scale of things but narrow it down to you and your circles. If we approach every relationship, every hello said in passing, every helping hand offered to a stranger you will never see again, imagine if we took this approach.  The opportunity then presents itself for God’s grace to spread like a wildfire raging out of control.

That kind of compassion and love for neighbor and God is what is expected of us.  Sometimes, we live up to that and other times we don’t. God gets it and that is what allows for His grace.  I can’t escape the greatness found in verse 10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  I, like some of you, may get caught up in the “God prepared in advance for us to do” aspect of that verse. However, I want us to focus on why we were created... We are God’s handiwork.  Goodness, knowing that we are each the handiwork of God makes you feel so alive! We were created by God to do good work and by God’s grace we were created to create goodness. This is how his works were prepared in advance: he created you and the goodness that resides in you.  That is exactly how we are all set up. There are elements of goodness in every human being. Finding that goodness requires due diligence on our behalf but the ability to see that goodness is a part of our very DNA makeup as placed by God.

The sting of death will never leave us.  However, the finality of it, or believing it to be God’s wrath, will in time.  As we progress through the process of mourning, we will realize that God conquered death.  “Jesus lived the way he did in this world, for this world, because his hope was set beyond this world; that is the secret to his life.” (John Eldredge).  The secret to living our earthly life is based out of our hope beyond it. May those words bring you comfort in times of loss as well as strength and courage in times of mourning.  People who decide to live this way leave an impact for generations to come that also unites sister/brother rather than divides.