February 5, 2024

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“So, Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4.11-13)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I responded to a post by one of my daughters who said “In order to be the Proverbs 31 and Ephesians 5 woman of scripture we must focus on discovering our true identity as we would find in Psalm 139 and Ephesians 1.” I was reminded as I read that of the theory of backward design. Backward design sees the end goal and then moves back through anticipated paces describing the journey needed to arrive there from where we are in the moment. Now don’t get Calvinistic on me and think I am advocating predestination or manipulation of the resources in life to achieve an end that we think serves us best. Instead, backward design talks about what the goal is in its nature, character, productivity and existence. Breaking it down into its essential elements, we can plan and produce with intentionality how best to excel in each of those elements. Putting them together in a unified and fluid motion ought to “produce,” and I used that word carefully, the end goal. That becomes our mission and describes, as well, our purpose. Paul speaks of such a challenge to the faith in Christ community in Ephesus with the following charge:

      “…become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Placing that charge against the template of “backward design” we should easily see that the end goal is clear and in two compatible elements: maturity and the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. We are to become mature (let’s call it for the moment “spiritual literacy”) and whole, complete, achieving the fullness of Christ. Jesus described it this way (John 13.34,35) “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” And before some may run amok thinking that Jesus declared the former commandments, rules of righteousness, both the Great Commandments and the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) now null and void to be replaced by this “New Commandment,” let me declare “Take a chill pill.” Jesus was adding to the commandments with this further expectation. Imagine Heaven without it. What, do we take for granted that in Heaven we will love one another, be loved by others and be loved by God without experiencing the anxiety of approval or the fear of rejection? I think we must since we are not practicing it as we should here on earth as it is in Heaven! Or do we also not take seriously the prayer which Jesus constructed and taught His disciples to lead, guide and direct their thoughts on a daily basis.

Daily? Did I say daily? Do we utter the Lord’s Prayer on a daily basis with thoughtful practice and grateful anticipation? The disciples themselves asked Jesus to teach them how to pray as John had taught his disciples to pray. They saw, some by firsthand experience having been John’s disciples, the power of his ministry and the effect and affect it had on the leadership and population of Israel. Now that Jesus was taking the place of John in spiritual leadership what “voice of power” would He advocate as prayer to God with one another? Did the Lord’s Prayer stand alongside the Shema as the goal and expectations of the day? What elements within both statements beg for further development until they met the “measure of the fullness of Christ“? Why would we not speak both statements on a daily basis? Do we think their instruction is sufficient to remember one day a week? Why would we pray the Lord’s Prayer sporadically in asking for “daily bread and protection from those who would lead us with evil intent? I submit these two elements reflect perfectly what James called “pure religion” as we reflected on James 1.27 several weeks ago “…to provide for the widow and orphans (daily bread) and to keep ourselves unadulterated by the thoughts, actions and intentions of the world (protection from those who would lead us with evil intent.)” I believe we should pray this prayer willfully, intentionally and heartily on a daily basis. It speaks of a backward design which becomes our goal as we move through its elements as purposefully as David’s 23rd Psalm.

What of the Shema? Does it not fit into the disciplined discipleship practice of meeting the measure of the fullness of Christ? What does it say again? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Of course, it actually states with “Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God is one….” That “oneness” speaks to the holistic reality of God’s presence throughout the whole of the universe to which the crucified and resurrected Christ ascended to. “Hear, o Israel (both old and new), the Lord our God (the same yesterday, today and forever) is one (in body, mind, spirit, heart, soul and intentionality).” Therefore, we should be reminded on a daily basis of the unchangeable One who invites us to become “one” with Him in spirit and in truth. Jesus modeled that type of life and expectation and called it righteousness. It was to this Shema, I believe, that Jesus added the “new commandment.” We should not only love our neighbors (and included in that would be our enemies) but “one another.” That is, we should practice on a daily basis the call and expectation to live out a “loving community of faith” on earth as it will be and is in Heaven. Why would Jesus ask us to pray for it if it were not the goal, expectation and hope. Is it not the aim of authentic love?

And to that end, let me say for future reflection, the Christianity is the religion of right relationships to be practiced until we achieve the measure of the fullness of Christ who laid down His life for others so that they might live in eternal peace and joy being loved through God’s mercy and grace into wholeness. Just saying…

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.