preaching ephesians

Those who are following the Revised Common Lectionary have an opportunity to preach from the Letter to the Ephesians on successive Sundays this month. Here are preacher's notes on the readings from Ephesians this July ...

                July 11 - Ephesians 1:3-14
                July 18 - Ephesians 2:11-22
                July 25 - Ephesians 3:14-21

preaching ephesians on july 15, 22 & 29

Those who are following the Revised Common Lectionary have an opportunity to preach from the Letter to the Ephesians on successive Sundays this month. Here are preacher's notes on the readings from Ephesians this July ...

                July 15 - Ephesians 1:3-14
                July 22 - Ephesians 2:11-22
                July 29 - Ephesians 3:14-21

imitatio dei

Ephesians 4:17-5:2

We are back in Ephesians. Yes, I know. We spent the season of Lent hosting this letter. Now the lectionary takes us through it once more. It is a refresher course, a summer school retake, preparation for the fall semester. Ephesians isn’t as well known as, say, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Among the letters in the New Testament it is overshadowed by Romans and Corinthians. But, as we discovered in Lent, it is essential reading for us here and now. It is essential for us because Ephesians is addressed to a people who are discovering what it is to live the way of Jesus Christ. Here at University Hill we describe ourselves as a people who are “rediscovering the Way of Christ for the sake of the world.” Ephesians is addressed to us.

notes on ephesians chapter six

It seems that we just began our lenten pilgrimage in the first chapter of Ephesians and here we are, already at Ephesians 6. This week we reach the conclusion of the letter. As we do so take time to go back and read the entire letter once again. I wonder if there is a particular verse or a set of verses that you want to be sure to remember and recall in future?  Listen for the Word that God is writing on your heart as you read. I will be interested to learn what it is that you discover, what it is from the Letter to the Ephesians that resonates with your heart and soul and mind.

Since last week's session included the Household Code that runs from chapter five into chapter six, we will focus our attention on Ephesians 6:10-24. That seems appropriate since verse ten begins with the word "Finally".

notes on ephesians chapter five

Last week's hosting of Ephesians chapter four was a rich conversation. In each of the three groups that gathered we found much to appreciate and to respond to in these verses. We found ourselves having to constantly remember that the second half of Ephesians (chapters four through six) must always be read in the light of the first half of the letter. In the first three chapters the emphasis is on God and on God's saving grace which is the source and sustenance of our life together. There is nothing we can do to earn or to create this grace. It is all gift. In chapter four we begin to read "therefore ethics" (Eph 4.1) in which the way that we live is a result of God's grace rather than as a means to God's love. There is plenty of wisdom and advice in chapter four, for example: "Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger ... Let no evil talk come out of your mouths" (Eph. 4:26, 29). Sometimes our anger does become dangerous to others, becomes captive to sin. Sometimes the sun does go down on our anger. Sometimes our speech does damage, breaks down rather than builds up. This does not negate God's grace. Nor does getting anger "right" make God more gracious toward us. Instead, once caught up in God's grace our whole lives are lived seeking to embody that grace. Such embodiment will always be imperfect. That is why grace is so crucial. Now we are on to chapter five ...

by grace

Ephesians 2:1-10

Grace. What do we mean when we say the word “grace”? We are graced by the presence of another. We fall from grace. We play grace notes on the piano. We say grace before the meal. When we put our foot in our mouth we are grateful for a gracious host. We say that a dancer is graceful. We name a daughter ‘Grace’. We sing that grace is amazing. Grace is hard to define. It almost defies language. Then Paul says “by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:5).

Wow. Saved. And not just from an embarrassment at dinner. “You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world ... following the desires of flesh and senses” (Eph. 2:1-3). Saved from a living death. By grace. As a congregation we have been reading Ephesians together now for four weeks. We have been transported to the world of the early church. It is a world in which entering the little congregation changes everything in one’s life. Remember, when Paul, says “you” he is speaking - yes, you already know where I am going - he is speaking to “all y’all”. It is a plural you. “Y’all were dead ... and y’all are saved by grace ... by the grace of God”.

notes on ephesians chapter four

For the first three chapters of Ephesians I had some preacher's notes on file, ones that I had written previously. For the last three chapters of Ephesians I have no such notes on file. So these will be rougher, simpler, notes offered on the run - holy scribbles - as a way of inviting a rich hosting of these verses when we gather on Wednesday at the White Spot over breakfast, Thursday at Janet's over dinner and Sunday in my office over coffee and, yes, dough-nuts.

ephesians week three

Well, all three of our groups have caught up to each other and we are now half way through the six chapters of the Letter to the Ephesians. In reading the third chapter we realized again that our congregation feels a special affinity for the third chapter of Ephesians. It has been our blessing to be able to worship in the Chapel of the Epiphany at the Vancouver School of Theology for nearly three decades now. While we do not own any property we have been able to rent the Chapel of the Epiphany for Sunday morning use over that time. As a result we make a special point of celebrating Epiphany on the Sunday closest to January 6 each year. On that occasion we use the texts that are set aside by the ecumenical church for Epiphany. They are always the same four readings: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Matthew 2:1-12 and, yes, Ephesians 3:1-12. Each year when we read these texts we remind ourselves that, if asked, we should be able to answer the question: "Just what epiphany is this chapel named for? What great insight, what great 'aha', is to be remembered whenever we enter this chapel?"

ephesians week two

Two of our groups are on to chapter three, one will read chapters two and three this coming Sunday. This is a summary of the conversations that I overheard as we hosted Ephesians chapter two. The main thing we wrestled with was the word "grace". It is a key word in this chapter. Yet we realized that it is such a well worn word in the church that it has sometimes lost its power for us. We talked about how the word is used in common parlance these days: "She is a gracious host" or "He is such a graceful dancer". We thought again about what it means to say "grace" before the meal. We sang "Amazing Grace" and wondered about what makes it so amazing. We noticed that the Greek word that is translated as grace is "charis" from which we get "charisma" - someone full of energy and spirit. It is also the source of the Greek word "eucharist", meaning thanksgiving, the sacrament of the heavenly banquet where all are fed and welcomed as a beloved member of the household of God, the great homecoming for all orphans and lost souls. We realized that grace is meant to speak of God's great power to save and heal and redeem and that this power is given freely, without reserve to insiders and outsiders alike in Jesus Christ. We realized that it is sometimes very good for us to revisit such a central and well-worn a word as "grace".

preacher's notes on ephesians 3:14-21

The following article was written to provide preachers with some suggestive options for a sermon that proclaims the message of Ephesians 3:14-21. If you were preaching a sermon on this text ... or listening to one ... where would you want the emphasis to fall? What is the Word from God from these verse for our time and place? for you at this point in your life?

Imagine a sermon in the form of a prayer. Here, in the midst of this letter to the infant church in Ephesus, Paul prays. He prays for the congregation. He knows that he cannot give the congregation what it needs in order to be sustained in the face of the struggles that lie ahead. He knows, too, that being the church is not a self-help project. The church must learn to rely upon God, not itself. Perhaps the sermon will take its shape from the shape of this text, describing the prayer that the preacher has for the congregation.

ephesians week one

The word picture here indicates the number of times words are used in the letter to the Ephesians and portrays the letter's emphasis well. The heart of the faith, of the church, of the gospel is Christ who makes us one people. Our first week hosting this letter caught us up in its elliptical phrases and spiraling logic. Like an impressionist painting, its power is often experienced as a whole piece more than in the individual verses.

preacher's notes on ephesians 2:11-22

The following article was written to provide preachers with some suggestive options for a sermon that proclaims the message of Ephesians 2:11-22. If you were preaching a sermon on this text ... or listening to one ... where would you want the emphasis to fall? What is the Word from God from these verse for our time and place? for you at this point in your life?

This text is one that every congregation needs in its repertoire. Here Paul describes the shocking nature of the church. Reading these verses one guesses that it did not take long for the church to forget the radical nature of its life together. Yet Paul does not sound impatient. “So then, remember ... that you were at one time without Christ” (vs. 11-12) he begins. “So, then, you are no longer strangers” (vs. 19) he concludes. A sermon grounded in this passage will do well to adopt this moderate “so then, remember” tone as it unfolds the extraordinary story that it tells.

preacher's notes on ephesians 1:3-14

The following article was written to provide preachers with some suggestive options for a sermon that proclaims the message of Ephesians 1:3-14. If you were preaching a sermon on this text ... or listening to one ... where would you want the emphasis to fall? What is the Word from God from these verse for our time and place? for you at this point in your life?

Entering into the world of Ephesians can be challenging for a congregation at the best of times. Its language is ‘thick’. The first sentence of this Sunday's text is, in itself, a mouthful for the lector and surely an earful for a summer congregation more in the mood for a parable than for this densely worded phrasing. But the preacher will want to think twice before opting to preach on one of the other assigned texts for the day. Are there any in the congregation who struggle with shame, who know what it is to feel abandoned and of little worth? For that matter, does the congregation itself wrestle with despair when it faces the future? If so, this is a text well worth the challenge of hosting on behalf of the congregation that gathers to hear the Word on Sunday.

beginning ephesians

On Ash Wednesday (which falls on February 22 this year) we at University Hill Congregation begin a six week lenten study of the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians. We will meet in three groups - on Wednesday mornings over breakfast at a local restaurant, on Thursday evenings over dinner in a member's home and on Sunday mornings prior to worship over coffee, tea and dough-nuts in my office. If you live in Vancouver and would like to participate in one of these groups you would be most welcome. You will find contact information at University Hill Congregation. If you are unable to join us you are welcome to participate via the related posts that I will make to this blog each week. The purpose of such congregational Bible study is, as it says in Ephesians 4:20, "to learn Christ". We will not so much learn about Jesus Christ as we will endeavour to learn the peculiar grammar of a communal life that is lived in Jesus Christ. Eugene Peterson calls this "practicing resurrection".

the people of the epiphany

Ephesians 3:1-12

Today we celebrate the great festival of the Epiphany. Epiphany. What is the big deal about Epiphany? Well we, who have worshiped this past quarter century in the Chapel of the Epiphany should surely know by now. But just in case our memory fails we stop once each year to be reminded. What is the reason, we wonder? To which the lector responds by reading from the letter to the Ephesians:“This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.” (vs. 1) Epiphany has to do with Jesus Christ. It has to do with being a prisoner. It has to do with Gentiles. Paul is the apostle of the Epiphany. Which is to say that he is the messenger of the great insight, the holy “aha”, the incredible revelation that is the mighty good news called the Epiphany.

what's up

A sermon preached on Ascension Sunday, June 5, 2011
at University Hill Congregation,Vancouver, BC

“What’s Up”
Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53

“I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers” (Eph. 1:15-16). Sometimes Paul is frustrated with the church. Sometimes he is exasperated with the church. Sometimes he is just plain mad at the church. But not always. When Paul prays for the little church in Ephesus he is filled with gratitude for a congregation that trusts its life to Jesus and, as a result, has an abundance of love for one another. I know what it is to be filled with gratitude for a congregation that trusts its life to Jesus and, so, is marked by love and affection for one another. Three weeks ago, when the doctors confirmed their suspicions and told me that I have multiple myeloma, I was shocked and sad and grateful. The gratitude was, and is, threefold. I found myself realizing how thankful I am for a strong and beautiful family, for a wonderful country in which I am blessed with incredible medical care and for you, for all of you. I thought “I am so grateful that I am the minister at University Hill Congregation. I know how much faith and love there is in our life together. Everything is going to be all right.” Since then you have showered me with affection, concern, prayers and support. I am the recipient of an outpouring of love. This is the odd discovery of being told that you have incurable cancer. Wonderful news accompanies the terrible news. It turns out that the church is not a problem, not an anachronism, not out of touch. It turns out that the church is precious. It turns out that, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, the kingdom of God is as close as hearing that life will end sooner rather than later. Faced with the news of our mortality we realize that being together today is a gift to be cherished and received with gratitude. “And for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.”