October 10, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. “

(Ephesians 6.19-20a)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Of course, Paul was writing to the community of faith in Ephesus from Rome where he was under house arrest. And while this threefold prayer is being presented to us as an example of putting on prayer as a part of the full armor of God, it is one that would not be readily visible to the eye of an observer. That is because prayer is a posture and posturing of the heart, mind and soul of the one who is preparing to step into the sin-fected world. Prayer is not something that you put on. It is something you “put in.” And before you think that Paul is being self-interested in his call for prayer from the Ephesian community of faith, which then would be extended to the other six communities joined with them in Asia Minor, let us not lose sight of the fact that his writing was for the edification and instruction of those whom he loved in the spirit. Paul knew that they were in view of the lion’s mouth as well. Ephesus was a vital city in Asia Minor. It was a crossroads by land and sea. It was a business and cultural city under Roman rule and influence. It was also a city of multi-theological expressions but only one of them would represent the One True God. If we remember from a reading in Acts, Paul addressed the knowledgeable Greeks in Athens one day. There in the midst of many “gods” was an empty base. Perhaps it was not yet filled with a fixture representing another god in their pantheon. Perhaps, the fixture had been toppled because of a failure to complete the dream which a group of people had put upon it. For Paul, it was the opportunity to speak to the vastness of the “unseen and invisible” God of gods, Yahweh Elohim. In Paul’s treatise, he spoke to the primacy of Yahweh as a God of mercy and grace. He poured out the gospel to those who were in attendance. He filled the space with a vision and not an idol. He set such a vision that even if and when another fixture like those already present would be set in place, some of those in attendance or some who then heard the word through them which Paul declared, would see that the God of heaven and earth was still in that place. The fixture would disappear from sight because of the very truth which the gospel presented. No one could see it literally but it was visible nonetheless. The community of faith in Ephesus was that sort of image and vision. They would need to be strong in their faith and their commitment to the kingdom of God which was there. They were the only literal figures which the population and visitors would see. They would be persecuted, as Paul was in Rome, for the sake of the gospel. His call for prayer for himself to speak the word boldly in face of great dangers to his body was a reminder to them to be bold as well. Paul mentions that he is in chains. They were the physical reminders of his ministry and the cost of it. Yet he would declare from there “to die was gain in living out the cause for Christ.” The chains placed upon him were not of Roman justice but of God’s mercy and grace. The spirit that was within him could not be chained. He ministered to his jailers and those who brought him food, clothing and letters of encouragement and of need. He was the example of putting on the full armor of God as his prayer life kept him strong as no armor could.

We, mighty ones of God, like those in Ephesus and in all the churches who bound their identity to the gospel of Jesus Christ, also wear the chains placed upon us. They are the bindings of our spirit to the spirit of God through Jesus Christ. The world cannot see literal chains but they can witness the tie we have to “the way, the truth and the life.” We are the ambassadors called to make known the “mystery of the gospel” in every venue we find ourselves. Regardless of who or what may be in those places of “worship” that we might pass through daily, the residue of our faith slowly begins to build up and take a form which others will not be able to deny. We must put a word to that residue. That word is Jesus Christ. It was the beloved apostle, first disciple, of Jesus Christ whose name was John who described Jesus as “the Word.” His gospel was filled with greek images of truth and knowledge radically reinterpreted so that the mystery of the gospel could be seen. It could not be denied and would not be overcome. Listen again to the preamble of John’s gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1.1-5) John heard Paul’s preaching and teaching as well as that of Jesus Christ. John was there in the beginning as one of the Sons of Thunder. He was at the cross of Christ alongside the Marys as the son of Mary hung on the cross to complete the work of the gospel given to Him by God. Among the last words of Jesus came the charge for John to care for His mother as a son only could. John would take her into his home until her death. It was this John who became the elder presbyter of the seven churches in Asia Minor living in Ephesus. He was the evidence of the invisible God and the resurrected Christ. His life was a living prayerful example of the boldness of the gospel to stand against a sin-fected world. He did not stand to condemn the world. He stood fast to bring the truth to the world and set it free from the bindings of the world in sin. He would suffer for it. He would be arrested for the sake of the gospel which he boldly represented. He would be imprisoned on Patmos which was a place where the criminally insane were sentenced to live out their days. To some, John must have appeared as the Gadarene demonic whom Jesus freed from “Legion, for we are many.” He was seen and feared as a dangerous man. He was a dangerous man because he put on by putting in the faith that prayer was his true identity. It would give him bold words to speak and write. Those words would get back to Ephesus and circulate throughout the churches of Asia Minor in his day and to the whole world since. His greatest and boldest writing was, of course, The Revelation of Jesus Christ as presented to John. It would speak of the world as it is, as it will be and as it will be replaced with a no longer invisible and seemingly imaginary place. It would become a reality and define the new world which is already present in many ways to those who follow Jesus the Christ now. Paul’s call to prayer for himself was a call to prayer for every believer. We see that we live in that “already but not yet” kingdom of God which Jesus declared in His prayer with the disciples as He led them to prayer powerfully, “Our Father who is in Heaven, holy is Your Name in all of Creation. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done ON earth as it is IN heaven. Give us this day our daily bread (the word of life), forgive us our debts (sins/trespasses) as we forgive others their debts (sins/trespasses) and lead us not in temptation (to present the gospel for our own welfare) but deliver us from evil [One] for Yours in the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever.” Mighty ones of God this is who we truly are not because of what armor we put on (which is also not visible except by example) but what we allow to be poured into us and out of us like a chalice of communion or a basin and pitcher for washing. Be bold!

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

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.