I'm back with another edition of the Shimmering Points of Scripture. For this week I focused in on Ephesians 4:25-5:2. Paul here is somewhat summarizing his main point of what it means to live in the love grace and forgiveness of Christ.
The first point that shimmered for me was speaking the truth. We as Christians are supposed to be truthful and as Paul says, to speak the truth to our neighbors. The problem we as human beings fall into is that speaking the truth is not always easy. First of all it was pointed out that we can't all agree on what the truth is even. It is contextual and relevant. Second of all, the truth is not easy to speak nor is it always easy to receive. These factors with out the diligence of Christian discipline can easily lead to anger.
Paul here reminds us that it is okay to be angry. However he reminds us to not sin and do not let the sun go down on your anger. Love the sinner, hate the sin as the old saying goes. John Wesley said in reference to this passage: "Anger at sin is not evil, but we should feel only pity to the sinner. If we are angry at the person as well as the fault, we sin." The prime example is Jesus who when he confronted people with their sin and asked them to make a choice, or when people turned away, the Gospel writers consistently tell us Jesus "loved" them, and then spoke the truth.
The second point that shimmered for me was the overall point of building up. We as the church must not devote our time toward tearing others down, but rather building up. Paul is clear about what this means: No evil talk is to come out of our mouths, but our words must give grace to those who hear. This also means putting away all bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, and slander, together with all malice (did Paul have a thesaurus in front of him?).
I moved from from preaching to meddling a little, here also. In our society right now we have an example of what Paul is speaking to. In our current debate over health care insurance in the US, some opponents (not all) of the bills that are now before congress, who are disrupting town hall meetings in the manner they are, ought to be ashamed of themselves! It is one thing to disagree with policy, to engage in debate, and even to peacefully assemble in dissent. But the behavior of these groups of people being orchestrated across the country is not about building up to do what is right, it is about malice, stirring up wrath and anger. This is not the behavior of Christians let alone adults. When my kids behave that way toward others, they get a time out.
The third point that shimmered out for me was that we are to live in love. As we are kind to one another, tenderhearted (as opposed to hardhearted) and forgive one another, we imitate Christ who came from God and forgave us. If your ever around angry bitter people, who seem to be mad all the time, it can be contagious. We either find ourselves getting angry too, or get so tired of being around that negative energy, we just have to get away from it. But kindness can be contagious too. If we live in a manner that is kind and forgiving, and do not allow ourselves to be influenced by anger, then we share the example of Christ, whether it is through our mission work, our fellowship, or simply offering kindness, that too is an act of imitating Christ.
Well those are the points that shimmered for me this week. Feel free to leave your comments as well and check back next week for another installment.
Peace and Prayers
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment