Sermon Notes: Ephesians 2, Walking Worthy - Hostility to Peace

Here are notes from various sources that I will be using in these week's sermon from Ephesians 2. The theme will center around the idea that while salvation comes freely, we are now called to live and proclaim peace through servanthood, which is no less than the way of the cross.

I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out. – John Wesley

Walking Worthy of Our Vocation: From Children of Wrath to Children of the Path

“For he is our peace…has broken down the dividing wall of hostility…that he might create in himself one new humanity…”

“The church is not the end of the world, but you can see it from there…to see how the church finally ends is that place where Jesus the Christ gathers his believers, the church…If you want to see a world which ends in peace, come look at the world at that point where it is becoming the church…not by staring at the church directly but rather by looking to Christ Jesus, to whom the church also looks…And what it sees, in him, is what it gets: peace” (Bertram, 155-156).

“There is a no-peacable alternative…unhappy ending, is summed up in its single word, ‘hostility”…(Bertram, 157).

“There is no place from which even to see the end of it; or almost none…It is that strange and desolate place which Ephesians locates by such graphic terms as “in Christ Jesus”, “in his flesh,” “in one body through the cross”… it ends there in peace…not a place for those who flee reality…those who cannot stand the sight of blood. It is the place where the righteous and the ungodly…the lawful and lawless finally clash” (Bertram, 158).

The cunning old Creator had been in on this whole magnificent scam from the very beginning. It is difficult even to tell that hilarious story without cracking up. But cracking up is what the wall of hostility is doing. Can’t you see it from here?...far-offs like ourselves…brought near…it may well take you to a cross to bring other far-offs near” (Bertram 159).

“…large number of those who casually call themselves Christians, the cross has become an abstract symbol of faith. It is admired, revered and displayed, but lacks personal significance…without ever becoming even in the most elementary sense a pattern for our lives….Paul called the cross a scandal and so it was” (Schroader, 16).

Even today when I read a passage like Leviticus 26:3-6, which paints a wonderful picture of the earth yielding rich harvests, wild animals that are domesticated and a condition of peace – ‘the sword not go through the Land’ – I find myself getting goosebumps. It almost seems too good to be true...[reflect also on Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3, Isaiah 11:6,9]…Such images and longing nurtured and sustained the Jewish population of Jesus’ time as they endured oppression, exploitation, brutal wars and disappointed hopes” (Schroader, 17). We need a similar vision today.

“For Jesus forgiveness was a very basic sign of the kingdom…’Father, forgive them they know not what they are doing’…Coupled with forgiveness is the clear teaching and example of Jesus that suffering servanthood has replaced violence as the way of the kingdom….before Pilate he said, “My kingship is not of this world…my servants would fight” (John 18:36). (Dick, 20).

“John Howard Yoder has summarized it well: ‘Servanthood replaces dominion, forgiveness absorbs hostility.’” (Dick, 20).

The cross means two things: reconciliation with God AND the model for a new way of relating to others and to the violent world. “The cross becomes for us a way of life” (Dick, 20).

Ephesians 5:12 – Imitators of Christ; love as Christ loved us, giving himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

“If we are not willing to accept the cross as the decisive ethical pattern for how we are to deal with opponents and enemies…then we must in the end give up any legitimate claim to be followers of the cross of Christ.” See Matthew 16:24 and Romans 12:19. (Dick, 21)

“The cross of Jesus is the norm for every area of our lives, in the home, in the church, in the marketplace and in our relationships with the state…’so that you may be sons of your father in heaven…’(Matthew 5:44-45) (Dick, 22).


Divine Product: Workmanship = poeima in Greek; From which we get word “poem”. We are the “direct result of the creative work of the Eternal God” (Hiebert, 116).

“God will use the saints to ‘display in the coming ages the suproassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus’” (Eph. 2:7) See also 1 Cor. 6:19b-20,you’re your own, bought at a price (Hiebert, 117).

Divine Purpose: Believers are saved for good works just as a tree may be said to be created for its fruit. Now that are new creatures in Christ, it is God’s purpose that our works reveal the reality of our salvation (Hiebert, 118).

The bible speaks of ‘evil works’ (Col. 1:21; John 3:12). They are the open transgressions of the sinner as outlined in Ephesians 2:2-3. “By contrast believers are presented as engaged in ‘good works’, works that are beneficial to others and have God’s approval…The Gospel is not only a wonderful message of free salvation; it is also a trumpet call to active service on the part of the saved” (Hiebert, 120).

Divine Plan: God has a plan for the lives of His redeemed children. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. “vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory” (Rom. 9:23). We may not always understand all that God has planned for us…When his plan develops differently than what we had thought or hoped, we can yet trust His wisdom...”that to them that love god, He works all things unto good, to those as called according to his purpose” (Hiebert, 122).

God desires that we cooperate with him in his plans for us (Hiebert, 123).

Notes:
Bertram, Robert W., Preaching Peace, 1985.
Dick, Mervin, The Biblial Basis of Peacemaking: Ephesians 2:14-16.
Hiebert, D. Edmon, God’s Creative Masterpiece, 1994.