Growing and Dwelling in Christ

 

I find Ephesians 4:1-16 to be one of the most powerful and profound passages in Scripture.  I invite you first to find your Bible and slowly read these words.  Let each word land in your heart, paying attention to what is evoked and provoked within you. There is so much packed into these sixteen verses.  First, there is Paul’s love of lists that as people of faith we are called to live with humility, gentleness, patience, bearing one another in love, and prayerfully tending/staying open to the Spirit. 

 

Whew.  There is enough there for the entire week. 

 

Paul goes on to talk about the gifts each of us have been given.  You are created in God’s image, empowered by God to share and shine your light.  You do this not as a single spark or as one flashlight in the world, but your light collaborates and cooperates and conspires with other’s lights in this world to be a beacon of God’s love.

 

Wow.  I feel the gears in my mind grinding in response.

 

Paul keeps on going, saying that the mission and ministry of the church is to ‘equip’ you to let your light shine.  The mission and ministry of the church is to find ways for all of us to work together with God’s guidance and holy promptings.  The mission and ministry of the church is to provide a safe space for exploration and experimentation.  The church is a laboratory where you can put on your white lab coat looking at your life and how our lives are being woven together.

 

Now I feel like I have just run several miles.  My mind is swirling, heart racing, soul spinning. 

 

And Paul isn’t finished yet!  He wraps all of this up with the phrase, “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine…but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into (Christ)”.  (Ephesians 14:14-15)

 

I feel like I am drinking from a firehose.  After this last year, I have felt tossed to and fro by everything that is going on around me and within me.  After this last year, there are so many voices clamoring for my allegiance.  After this last year, I wonder if I can speak the truth in love? These words are powerful and profound.  I wonder what is stirring and swirling within your soul in these words?  What insights or questions do you have?  As you sit with these words today, may God awaken your imagination to ways that you and I might embody these truths in such a time as this.

 

Prayer: God help open my mind, heart, and whole live to be in a dynamic dialogue with Paul, seeking to bring these words so close to my life to be embodied in what I do, say, and how I move about today.  Amen.