mastering life

October 31, 2007

Ephesians 2:11-13

“So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’—a physical circumstance made in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Imagine a culture of varied influences where people aren’t necessarily atheists but are dedicated to the worship of many gods; where they are influenced by all that is going on around them; where their senses may even be on overload for the varying messages of life that come their way. Sound familiar? This was the world in which great philosophers like Epictetus resided. Epictetus never wrote anything himself (though his student Arrian compiled his works after his death). Epictetus was born in 55 AD and died in 135. He spent the beginning years of his life as a slave and later found his freedom. In that freedom, he became a teacher who observed his world and encouraged those around him. In that encouragement he spoke about the exhortation that we should become the “masters of our lives” and about the fact that the culture had become far too divided and that unity must be achieved.

The apostle Paul was living and working about the same time and maybe he was influenced by the wisdom of Epictetus, but of course, he put his own spin on things. (Be reminded at this point that we do not know for sure who wrote Ephesians, but we do know that it was common to use someone else’s name to communicate a message. So maybe our author was also influenced by Epictetus.)

It is to the aforementioned culture that our author speaks and specifically to Christians who had once been polytheists. The author wants them to understand that there was a time when they were so different from the Jews and in those differences they lacked hope and promise but mainly they lacked a relationship with God, the one and only God. So even though they spent their time searching, they weren’t getting anywhere. They were practicing being the masters of their own lives as Epictetus suggested but such living was drawing them away from a fulfilling life. It was only when they found and made Christ the master of their lives that they came into the very place of unity that was so important. With these verses, the author is setting up a conversation on the importance of unity—unity with each other that comes through a unity experienced in God.

I refused to go the North Carolina Baptist State Convention meeting last year because I was tired of trying to unite myself with people who look at me and perceive that I do not know God. Because I choose to love all people and seek not to cast judgment on homosexuals or ordained women or all manner of other things. It pains me that even though I have tried to accept them in spite of our differences they refuse to honor me in the same way. I would contend that in their failures to honor me and other moderates like us, they fail to practice the unity that is at the heart of Christ’s teachings. They fail to honor God.

It is easy to point fingers at others like the critical North Carolina Baptists but we have to see their criticisms and allow them to wake us up. We have to ask ourselves, in what ways have we failed and do we fail daily to practice unity? I know I’m guilty of seeing others as separate from me. I know that I need to spend a lot more time focused on seeing our oneness. I know that if I am going to be the master of my life, I have to deny myself, take up my cross and make Jesus Christ the master of that life. In that DAILY practice, I begin to find inklings of the unity the Ephesians author is acknowledging and therein rests hope.

This week, may we dedicate ourselves to the practice of unity and may that unity grant us much hope for the living of these days! Amen.