Living a Worthy Life

Ephesians 4:1-3:  "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."

Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus was written during a time when he was imprisoned in Rome.  He previously had lived among these Ephesian Christian brothers and sisters for several years, and now Paul was following up with them with a letter, delivered by Tychicus, as a word of encouragement for them to stay the course of obedience in their faith.

As I read through these first verses of the fourth chapter of Ephesians, several things come to mind.  First, the Greek sentence structure suggests that the words "I urge" are very emphatic.  Paul wants to communicate strongly his pleading that the believers at Ephesus take to heart his charge to them.  This instruction is given to the believers in view of their being called by God to salvation (1:5), thus being lavished with all wisdom and understanding (1:8), and being granted the hope of the riches of God's glorious inheritance for the saints (1:18).  And for these reasons, Paul wants to quicken the attention of his readers to take serious note of the words that he is about to share.

Secondly, Paul identifies himself as a "prisoner for the Lord."  He is not merely giving his own personal beliefs or convictions about the matter; rather, he is heralding the directive will of the Lord Almighty, even though previously such proclamations often brought suffering and persecution to the messenger (see 2 Timothy 1:11-12).  Paul knew how important it was to reveal to everyone the truth of God's Word, so that they might experience the blessing of His favor for their faithful fulfillment of His requirements.

Thirdly, we find that Paul charged the people to "live a life worthy of the calling [they] had received."  The "calling" was everything for his readers in Ephesus.  The fact that God so loved them that He offered His one and only Son as the payment for the sin in their lives, so that they might receive His righteousness and His eternal favor and blessing, was motivation enough for them to strive to be all that they might be for their Lord.  The word for "worthy" suggests balancing the scales.  There is absolutely no way they could ever balance the score card with God.   But through the death and resurrection of Jesus they were absolved completely of the judgment for their sins, giving them the honor of living out their lives as an expression of their deepest gratitude for His imputed righteousness and His imparted Holy Spirit, who was a "deposit, guaranteeing [their] inheritance" (Ephesians 1:14, 2 Cor. 1:22).

Paul, the pragmatist, wanted the believers at Ephesians to have examples of how they could live the "worthy life."  First he called them to be completely humble.  Humility suggests lowliness and meekness. This does not mean that one has no value, but it does mean that one realizes that his purpose is not about himself but his Righteous King.  When one capitulates to God's will and His leading in his life, he is presenting a thank offering to the Lord in response to the grace already imparted to him. 

So too, Paul called the Ephesian believers to be gentle, patient, and willing to bear with one another.  The word for "patient" suggests a reluctance to avenge wrongs . . . willing to endure the frustrations that come one's way from those in their lives.  And the word for "bearing" literally means "holding up."  Thus, Paul wanted the people to love everyone (even those who may be prone to irritate them) and hold others up in view of the love that had been given to them in Christ Jesus.  Paul, continued by imploring the believers to "make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."  The word for making every effort is the word used of a gladiator striving for victory.   Paul wanted them to have a strong determination even in difficulties to labor for peace, harmony, and unity.  He knew that if they grasped the reality that they had been given everything in Christ, they would be able to be at peace no matter the circumstance.

These words are good for us to hear today.  We know that cannot receive the favor and forgiveness of God by our actions; this is why Jesus had to come. But in view of what we truly deserve (namely God's fullest pouring out of wrath upon us for all eternity) and what we have received instead (pardon, adoption, the blessing of His eternal presence, the indwelling of His Spirit within us . . . ), we should live our lives in such a way that we worship Him through our obedience.   We would do well to reflect upon the tangible ways that Paul shares in these verses, so that we can live lives worthy of our calling.  Are we completely humble and gentle with others?  Are we striving for patience with them, even if they don't meet our timely expectations?  Are we holding up others in love and striving to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?   Interestingly, the Greek word Paul uses for "live" is the word for "walking around." In other words, in every facet of our lives, we should be "walking around" bringing glory to God by doing the very things that have been given explicitly to us to follow. Again, we do this because in Christ we already have been declared "worthy" if we have put our faith in Him and surrendered ourselves to His Lordship.  So let's be a people who love others and in so doing, live our lives worthy of the calling that we have received.

The Loss of Community

Daniel 9:4:  "I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:  'O LORD, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong.  We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.  We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our father, and to all the people of the land.'"

Oftentimes, when pastors have preached through the visionary chapters found in the book of Daniel, their focus has been upon the end-of-times, apocalyptic themes.  They have attempted to adapt their sermons to the prophetic undertones found within the text, with the purpose of associating the events prophesied with the modern-day episodes found around us.  As much as these themes warrant a time of discussion, I do believe that an equally important revelation found in these chapters is overlooked and as such reveals a tragic reality within the walls of our churches.

When we read through Daniel, we find that this man of God has been introduced through dreams to the magnificence of the Lord and His will for His people.  We too find that Daniel becomes acutely aware of the sins that have been committed against the Sovereign One.  And as Daniel begins to confess His sins to the Lord, he does not limit his petitions for his own benefit, but He is intentional as he uses plural pronouns in his address, so that his prayers for God's mercy might encompass the entire community of faith.  There is a "we're in this together" mindset in the prophet's mind . . . a collective journey of a people who are seeking the pardon and blessing of God.  There is no sense of individuality of faith; rather, Daniel sees the importance of a unified, collaborative movement of the Israelites in captivity . . . desiring to see God's deliverance leading to their redemption.

In contrast to Daniel's notion of community, we seem to find within modern, American evangelicalism an embracing of the individualism and consumerism that so pervades our culture.  Oh to be sure, we might sing songs exclaiming our oneness in the bonds of love, but our behaviors betray such notions.  Little do we commune with each other outside the prescribed meeting times once a week.  Seldom do we pray for one another and check on one another throughout the week as our days already are filled with activity to help us fulfill our notions of the American dream.   Then we wonder why there is a staleness in our corporate worship . . . why God does not seem to be a part of it . . . and why we feel so disconnected from the very people we consider to be our eternal brothers and sisters.

The apostle Paul addressed such issues in his letter to the church at Ephesus.  Specifically, he urged the followers of Christ to life a life "worthy of the calling you have received" (Eph. 4:1).  The word for "worthy" in Greek suggests bringing up the other side of a measuring scale.  Now, we know that we will never be able to give back to God with full weight of payment for His glorious grace, which cost Him the very death of Jesus Christ.  Still, we are to live our lives constantly expressing our gratitude for His lovingkindness made manifest through the cross.  The way that Paul suggests that we do that is to be "completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love . . . making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph. 2-3).

With these commands in view, let us as a church not fall prey to the self-absorbing enticements of the world; rather, let us love one another.  Let us be humble, and receptive, and encouraging, and supportive of one another.  By doing so we express to our Lord the desire to live our lives as an expression of our deep appreciation to the Lord for the calling we have received to be His children.

From the Depths of the Pit

Lamentations 3:55-57:  "I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit.  You heard my plea:  'Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.'  You came near when I call you, and you said, 'Do not fear.'"

As Jeremiah shared these words from the book of Lamentations, one might conclude that the prophet was reflecting upon the very difficult experiences that he endured for his warnings of God's coming judgment against the wickedness of Judah.  To be sure, the leaders of Judah hated the prophet's declarations against their wicked ways and they determined to destroy this man of God for his meddling in their affairs.  None of these events came as a surprise to God, for in Jeremiah 1, the Lord commanded the prophet not to be afraid of these men who would fight against him when he shared the Words that God wanted uttered against them (Jeremiahs 1:19).  Still, these persecutions were very real and very painful to the prophet, as he expresses to God in Jeremiah 20:

"I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction.

So the Word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach

all day long . . . . I hear many whispering, 'Terror on every side!

Report him!  Let's report him!'  All my friends are waiting for me

to slip, saying, 'Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail

over him and take our revenge on him.'"

The listing of persecution against Jeremiah is long and exhausting:

1.  As soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets, and all the people seized him and said, "You must die! (Jer 26:8).

2.  King Jehoiakim had Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, arrested for the words of judgment written on a scroll (Jer. 36:23).

3.  Jeremiah was arrested again under the reign of King Zedekiah.  The officials of the king were so enraged at the prophet that they had him beaten and imprisoned in a vaulted cell, where he remained for a very long time (Jer. 37:1-15).

4.  Later the officials instructed King Zedekiah that Jeremiah should be "put to death."  They lowered Jeremiah into a cistern of mud.  Their hope was that he would waste away in the dark, dank pit, eventually starving to death (Jer. 38:4-9).

It is in this latter event that Jeremiah recounts his thoughts and feelings in the book of Lamentations.  Not only was he lowered into the pit to be left to waste away, but his accusers pummeled him with stones as he stood helpless beneath them.   Jeremiah wondered if he was about to perish, and so he called out to God, pleading that the Lord's ears be attune to the prophet's fretful circumstances.  And it was just at that time that the LORD called out to His chosen messenger and exclaimed, "Do not fear."  God intervened at just the right time to comfort and encourage Jeremiah to press on and be faithful to the calling to which he was assigned.  God assured Jeremiah that He was with His prophet.  All Jeremiah needed to do was trust his Lord and obey His calling.

This did not mean that Jeremiah from that point on would be immune to the difficulties that he previously faced, for though he eventually was freed from the pit, the prophet later would be taken by army officers against his will to the land of Egypt (Jer. 42-43).  God still had before his prophet certain challenges; still, the Lord would not abandon Jeremiah.  In Egypt is where the story of the life of Jeremiah ends.  It was not a wonderful storybook ending for the prophet; still, it was right where the Lord determined him to be . . . being used for His glory.

This is a good word for us, for we know that in our own lives we face many different and difficult experiences along the way.  And though we are not assured that we will be delivered from the calamities that befall us in this life, we are reminded that our Lord is with us in the midst of our circumstances and we too know that He calls out to us not to fear but to trust Him.  So when we face the painful trials in our lives, let us do as the prophet Jeremiah did . . . let us cry out to the Lord to hear us and intervene in our circumstances, and let us attune our ears to His response, knowing that He will comfort us in our difficulties and will remind us to press on in our faith and trust in Him.

The Lord is Like an Enemy

Lamentations 2:5:  "The LORD is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel.  He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds.  He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah."

Oftentimes, we hear in today's churches an emphasis upon the love, grace, and mercy of God.  And to be sure, these are wonderful attributes of our Lord that should be celebrated passionately and frequently.  However, no one will ever appreciate the magnitude of God's grace, if he is unwilling to fathom the tremendous judgment of God upon the abhorrent sinful treason of man against God's rightful reign.

In the case of the Israelites of Jeremiah the prophet's day (ca. 598 BC), God had endured enough of their chronic rebellion and wicked behavior to the point that He in fact had become their enemy.  From the very beginning of the book of Lamentations, one reads of the Israelites that they 

once had been prosperous, but now had become a wasteland

once were esteemed, but now they were enslaved to their enemies

once had been supported, but now they were betrayed

once had been at home, but now they were far away from their homeland

once were at rest, but now they had become restless

once inhabited celebration and ceremony, but now were full of misery and hopelessness.

And as the people wasted away in the horror of their besieging and captivity, they thought of the prior days of glory when God had showered them with blessing and treasure.   Once they had been called the "perfection of beauty" and the "joy of the whole earth."  Now, the days of their future looked like an abysmal reality of shameful loss and destitution, for the hand of God's favor had been removed from them, and their enemies now had free reign to wield oppression and destruction upon the once favored people of God.  God, who once inhabited the sanctuary of His people and received their altar sacrifices, now had withdrawn from them, leaving them to the consequences of their betrayal of surrender to Him as their sovereign Lord.  And the greatest tragedy in all of the oppressive aggression of the evil nations around Israel was that God was using these pagan people as the instrument to bring His wrath upon His once chosen people.  The graphic nature of the severity of His judgment is recorded in Lam. 2:12:

"They (the children) say to their mothers,

'Where is the bread and wine?'

as they faint like wounded men

in the streets of the city,

as their lives ebb away

in their mother's arms."

God had become the Israelites worst nightmare . . . their greatest enemy.  

As difficult as this passage is to read.  It is a sobering reminder of the effrontery of sin in the eyes of God.  God will judge sin, and the sternness of His judgement is evidenced in the example found in Lamentations.  Still, God is rich in grace and mercy.  He will forgive us of our sin, if we would repent of our wicked ways, capitulate our selfish pursuits by submitting ourselves to His lordship over us, and receive His gift of His own death and resurrection to satisfy fully His righteous requirements for the atonement of our sin.

So let us not forget from that which we have been forgiven through the blood of Christ.  Let us appreciate the grace, love, and mercy of God, but let us also be reminded of the severe wrath of God that should be poured out upon us were it not for His forgiveness, afforded through the cross and the resurrection.  The more we see the gravity of that which we have averted because of His love, the more we in fact will appreciate His grace.