Speaking Truth in Love
Pentecost 11 – August 4, 2024
Exodus 16:1-4, 9-15
Psalm 78:23-29
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35
In our lesson from Ephesians today Paul begins by calling us to live lives worthy of our call from Christ Jesus – the perfect man. He then gives us a list of the characteristics of that life, a creed that describes God, an exposition of Psalm 68:18, and then returns to how we are to live our lives. There is a lot here to think about. If we would be in a Bible study we would spend several hours looking closely at all that is in here. Instead of an in depth look we cover the high points of this text.
We begin with Paul’s list of the characteristics of Christians. Those are humility and gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love in order to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. While these are noble characteristics, they are not always the ones that the world promotes. In fact some promote the opposite of this. They call for assertiveness, self reliance, individualism, and often aggressiveness. So where does Paul get his list from? He tells us in the next section by the creed that he gives us.
Remember that the word ‘creed’ comes from the first word of the Apostles’ and Nicene creed meaning ‘I believe.’ Unlike those creeds Paul’s is in reverse order beginning with the Holy Spirit, then to Jesus, and ending with God the Father. We are not fully sure why. This may be an actual creed used by the church and Paul is quoting it. It may be a composition of Paul listing the order that he taught new Christians. Paul could have reversed the order of an already composed creed because of the context of his argument. The main theme that runs through this creed is unity. Note how many times Paul uses the word ‘one’ – one body, one Spirit, one Lord one hope, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. That is where our unity comes from. Not by our own efforts but by God who is one. After reminding us of our unity as the people of God Paul then quotes Psalm 68 verse 18.
If you look up this Psalm you may be confused because Paul’s quote changes the Psalm. But you know that Paul often does this with Old Testament quotes. While we in our modern understanding would not accept this as valid, Paul is well within a Jewish tradition of how texts are read and used. This tradition which led to the Talmud was one of applying the Old Testament lesson to help the reader to apply the text to their own life. Psalm 68 is an enthronement psalm used when a king was crowned. So Paul uses it to talk about Jesus the King of kings changing the words to fit the situation. He also may have used another targum (translation) that had already changed the words. He chose this translation of the psalm because he wants to talk about the gifts that Jesus has bestowed upon us.
The gifts that Paul lists here are gifts given so that we, who have received them, can work to build up the body of Christ. He is careful to remind us that, while we work to bring unity to the Body of Christ, it is Christ who will complete the task. Until we are all gathered into one we are called by God to work tirelessly in pursuit of that unity. We help build up the body of Christ by speaking and acting in love. The love that comes from God. It is the same love that guided Jesus to the cross. This love that comes from God is acted out in humility, gentleness, and patience, bringing about the unity and peace God bestows upon the church. Remember who you are and what you once were until God’s love came to you and rejoice in God’s marvelous love and the many gifts God has given you.