SERMON, PROPER 12B, EPHESIANS

In this cycle of the lectionary, we spend seven weeks in Ephesians; so, with the exception of next week when we celebrate the Transfiguration, we are going to be looking at Ephesians. Someone will probably ask, "Why don't you preach on the Gospel?" The answer is, I am -- I'm just using a different text to do it.

First, a little background information about Ephesians. It's informative to know that its authorship is disputed. The letter may have been written by Paul; but then again, it may hvae been written by someone else using Paul's name.

For us, attributing another name to something we write seems improper at best. But it could have been written by someone close to him as a tribute, or maybe as a way to codify all of Paul's thoughts and teachings into one document. The two most likely suspects for this are Onesimus and the writer of Luke-Acts.

Arguments against Paul as author are based on style, word choice, church structure and apparent dating of the letter. Arguments for Paul as author include theology, parallel styling, common language and tradition.

Something else to note about this epistle is that nowhere in our earliest manuscripts does it reference Ephesus. That notatioin appears to have been an addition to the letter much later. Take that reference out, and the letter becomes a very generic and impersonal letter that may have been circulated among many churches.

So there's some background information. Two weeks ago, we heard the introduction. There is a lot of predestination theology in that section. Setting that aside, there are two important points I want to discuss briefly.

First, Paul says that God chose us. This is important because it lets us know that we belong to God. This isn't a matter of us choosing which church to attend, or which religion we are going to belong to, both of which might be subject to change. Paul is making it very clear that we have been adopted by God; we have been chosen to be part of the family.

Second, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. Like circumcision is a mark of belonging to God for the Jews, our being sealed is an indelible and unchanging mark that we belong to God forever. That seal for us happens at baptism when the Bishop or Priest anoints us with chrism and says, "You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ's own forever."

We have been chosen, adopted, and belong to God forever. And that is good news.

Last week we heard Paul writing about unity and reconciliation. He referenced Isaiah in bringing together those far off and those who are near. The Jews, being the traditional people of God and therefore near to him, are united and reconciled with the Gentiles, those who were seen as far off.

Paul is telling us that all people are welcomed into the family, reminding us that Christ is creating one, unified people knit together in peace and love. That is, if we let him. For although the goal is one new humanity, members of the house of God with Jesus as the cornerstone, we want to hang onto our tightly defined lines of separation. We want to be the onese to determine who's in and who's out. Because what Paul is talig about scares us. By maintaining those walls, we are guaranteed a sense of security, and that allows us to safely condemn others while reveling in our own salvation. This, of course, makes us feel better.

And all that brings us to today. Paul has already mentioned that we have been chosen by God. Another way to say that is that we have been called by God; called as apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers -- a variety of gifts -- all to build up the body of Christ.

In working to build up the body of Christ, we will encounter those different from us -- different theologically, socially, racially and politically. REgardless of our differences though, we are called to act with gentleness and humility and patience. We are asked to make every effort towards unity. And when differences arise, we need to work through those differences, determining in part if they are secondary issues or core doctrinal issues.

I happen to think that most of our problems today stem from secondary issues. Christians can agree that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. The problem comes when we want to be the ones determining who is called, who is pure, who is far off and who is near.

If we aren't talking about core doctrines, we cannot say, "I have no need of you." All that does is separate us from them. Those secondary lines of demarcation that we use to determine antoher's worthiness aren't part of the gospel, and they aren't part of Ephesians.

It's not important who wrote Ephesians, whether it was Paul or Onesimus or someone else, because that is a secondary issue. And it's not important that it really wasn't to the Ephesians at all. The primary issue of Ephesians is that everything is to be unified in Christ, and the church is the place where that happens.

Ephesians and the gospel are about uniting people together in the body of Christ; they are not about maintaining the walls of the near and the far. They are about living into our call to the best of our ability, with all honesty, patience and love.