January 26, 2024

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4.1-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

In bringing this series of reflections to a close for this season, I want to end with a question. The question is this: “WHAT CAPTIVATES YOU?”

I am sure you understand where this question comes from after this time spent reflecting on Ephesians 4.1-6. If not, then lets read the introduction to this pericope again: As a prisoner for the Lord. This is Paul’s “title” in his missionary journey through the heart of the Roman Empire. It is his boast, though he would claim none save the gospel of the cross which bears Jesus Christ before all the world. He said as much to us through his missive to the Christ community of faith in Galatia. It says, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6.14-16) Paul submitted himself into the service of the Lord who Himself was committed to the will of His Heavenly Father and it being done in Him and through Him and over Him. He was not forced into such service and servitude. It was a voluntary commitment to go where he was sent, to do what he was instructed to do and to be who he had been made to be. What was he made to be? Is it not a new creation- the Israel of God. And when Paul declares this identity, he embraces the title of the Messiah as the prophet Isaiah declared: wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace who bears the governance of the world upon His shoulders. The “new” Israel of the mighty God incarnate in Jesus the Christ was, is and will be until the close of the Age- the Church.

What then, is the Church to be likened in this manner more to a prison or a servant’s quarter than the evangelical portrayal of a hospital? It most certainly is a hospital, a place for the infirmed who have suffered the pains and disgrace of sin in, through and over their lives. It is an infirmary. Such a place is provided for those who are “in service” to a greater cause such as those who serve in the military. We can experience that reality as soldiers of the gospel sent out to confront and overcome the ravages of the enemy clothed in the full armor of God. They, we, are sent out as a priesthood of all believers and thus in a similar manner clothed in the full adornment of prophet and priest of the King, the Commander-in-Chief if you will. We are servants, prisoners, slaves if you must, not because we are a conquered people. Rather, we are a liberated people by the mercy and grace of a loving God. In a servitude of gratitude, as did Paul, we commit ourselves to the role given to us as a “prisoner for the Lord.” We are a servant bound in His Name to accomplish His will, the will of His Father in Heaven. He was sent to say and do what His Father expected and commanded. He did not come, just as He said to the disciples, “…to be served but to serve.” And in this manner of thinking, it is an indentured servitude which we take on. a period of service without pay for a specific time. After “a time,” the servant is released from their service. We experience this in the Upper Room as Jesus embraced His disciples with a truth almost to wonderful to hear. Jesus said, “No longer do I consider you servants but friends.” (John 15.15)

They were free to choose what they would do, where they would go and who they would be. They committed themselves to a time of service to the One they believed was the King of kings and Lord of lords. He was the Messiah of God, the Son of the Living God. They were willing to follow Him and serve Him all the days of their lives. Of course, they thought that the “new and restored Israel” was the eternal manifestation of the kingdom on earth where Heaven would come down and exist forever. They did not see an end to their journey with Jesus because He would be with them forever in the flesh as well as in the Spirit. He would be like David of old who reigned the nation of Israel and restore it to wholeness. They did not allow themselves to conceive of an end; especially of His death. Yet, in the moment of freedom and transition from servant to friend, they became fast allies of the faith. They would choose to remain faithful receiving for that decision the on-dwelling, indwelling and through-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. The borders of this “Israel of the Lord” expanded to the far reaches of the earth. Their service to the will of God for the reconciliation, redemption and transformation of the world was unstoppable even by persecution and death. They had seen the resurrected Lord and knew the truth which existed for them beyond death as in the death on the cross.

So, mighty ones of God in Jesus Christ, I ask “Who and/or what captivates you?“ What are you a prisoner of and a servant to? What leads, guides and directs your life? Do you see the value and worth to live this life to which you have been called to live? Do you see an end or a beginning? Do you see imprisonment or freedom? Do you see service or friendship? It is the invitation to adjust our thinking and our vision to allow the gospel of the cross of Christ to reshape and reform us into that new creation: the Israel of the Lord!

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.