March 19, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor… follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children, and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 4.25a, 5.1-2)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I remember a several years back preaching a sermon on Ephesians 5.2 titled “Getting in the Way.” Funny isn’t it that when we hear that phrase we think of impeding progress and not promoting it. Something that “gets in the way” is deterring us from accomplishing something we believe is vital and necessary. But, what if it isn’t? We only need to go back Psalm 23 and the image of the Good Shepherd who “gets in the way of the enemy” with his rod and his staff. David was adept at using them both as well as a sling; and I am sure he was a pretty good bowman as well. As a shepherd, David had learned the necessity of blazing the trail and making sure that there was nothing that would get in the way of the flock making it to green pastures and still waters. Even in the valleys where the shadows loomed like shades of death and behind every boulder was a potential for attack, the good shepherd stepped right in the way they should go. He was well-versed and well-travelled. It served David well when Goliath stood in the way of Israel being the ruler of the land which had been given to them. David got in the way of Goliath who had set himself up not merely as an enemy of Israel but of God, too. Goliath laughed at the mention of God and defied the authority which the king of the nation of Israel claimed from God above. David learned that by getting in the way of evil, he was also getting into the way (the stream of spirit, truth and righteousness) of the Lord. He wasn’t impeding the flow of God’s promise of mercy, grace and plenty. He was becoming a part of the Kingdom mainstream.

This is what Paul was calling the community of faith in Jesus as the Christ there in Ephesus to become. The early Church was called in Antioch, “The Way.” The believers in Christ who lived there and served there were called “Followers of the Way.” They did indeed get “in the way.” They had taken to heart the very teaching of Christ who declared, and we read it in the gospel of John, “I AM the way, the truth and the life; no one can get to the Father except that they come by Me.” The image provided built upon the teaching of “I AM the good shepherd. I know My flock by name and they hear My voice and come when I call them.” He also described the good shepherd as being the sheepgate for the sheepfold. In the countryside, many sheep pens were enclosures built by stacking rocks to build walls. Some were then covered with thatched roofs. But, there wasn’t a door to fill the doorway nor a gate to keep the sheep safely in or thieves safely out. Instead, it was the shepherd who “filled that role.” In other words, the shepherd was “in the way.” He was both a blessing (for the sheep and the master of the sheep) and a bane (for those who were thieves, robbers and usurpers). Ezekiel saw something similar when God revealed to him the value of the watchman who stood guard on the wall around every city. When the enemy approached, the call to arms went out. When it was safe and the coast was clear, the word was given and the people could go out for food, water and to tend their fields and flocks.

In the same manner, we who are members of the Church serve that dual role of sheep and shepherd. We have our own flocks to tend but the flocks truly belong to the master who is God. Jesus Himself was in that similar position being both a sheep and a shepherd. We are called to abide in His image and make it known to all the world. We are called to “get in the way” by being “in the Way.” We are called to follow Christ and be directed by Him as well as to direct others who are following us. And, as I have said before, someone is always following us so we must be aware as well as beware.

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.