Ephesians 2:6-10
In the name of him who makes all our tasks worthwhile, dear fellow followers of our Lord and Savior,
Wouldn’t it be nice to be a king or queen, a prince or princess? Who wouldn’t want that kind of honor and respect! You’d get to dress up and wear the finest clothing. People would be excited to have you come through their town. You’d be someone important! And you’d have a purpose in life – to represent the crown and take care of the kingdom. But then we shake our heads and wake up from our daydream and find ourselves back in our rather routine, anything-but-special lives – lives that often seem void of any specific direction or purpose. You get up, eat, go to work, come home, and go to bed. In between any “free” time is spent running the kids from place to place or putting out the little fires that seem to pop up on a daily basis or just keeping the cars running and the house in good repair. What’s the purpose of it all? What does it matter? Is it all even worth it?
For the next three Sundays we’re going to be taking a look at our Christian calling and how it affects our view of life. You’ll learn that your life does matter, that it does have purpose, and that God has a plan for using each of his children here on earth. Today let’s spend some time with Ephesians 2:6-10:
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
This morning may we learn to proclaim with everything we do:
“Let This Task Be Lived for You, Jesus!”
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians unfolds many mysteries about daily life. We learn that, contrary to what it may seem at times, the world isn’t spinning out of control. On the other hand, we’re not the ones responsible for holding things together. But that’s a good thing! Even though we may be good planners – constantly checking our pocket planners, PDA’s, and Blackberrys – still God is much better at planning than we are, and we’re all very much in his plans. In the first chapter of Ephesians Paul explains that God’s individual plan for each one of us began even before he created this world. He meticulously unfolded a world that he created in six days, and right in the center of it all he placed his greatest creation – mankind – you and me! And he gave us tasks to perform (Ge 2:15), “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Everything Adam and Eve did in caring for that garden was part of their calling, part of their spiritual worship of their God. Even such simple tasks brought joy and honor in a perfect world.
But things have changed. Now terms like “jobs” or “housework” or “homework” don’t seem all that honorable or spiritual, do they? And what emotions emerge when people mention “Monday”? For many it’s the worst day of the week because it’s the day when they have to go back to work or back to school after a weekend of freedom. It’s back to the same old grind, the same old weariness that causes us to complain and moan about what used to be a joy but now has turned into a struggle. When Adam and Eve decided to follow a different leader, their unfaithfulness to God set off a chain reaction that has affected the rest of humanity for all time. Now our tasks are too often laced with pain, frustration, and a perceived lack of purpose. All too often we’re tempted to believe that God has given up on us, that he’s left us to figure it all out on our own. In the end we feel like a hamster running in a wheel – making a good effort but really not going anywhere. We feel as if our life has no purpose.
But then we’re reminded from Scripture that God is still in control, setting up tasks for us to perform that give our lives purpose and meaning. He sets up governments to provide protection and peace. He entrusts parents with children to raise. He calls some to be teachers to develop our abilities. He has employers in place to give us employment and to provide what we need to live. He is still in control and is still using you and me here on this earth for his own good will and purpose! Yes, our lives do have purpose, because God says so!
Before we go on, let’s remember that we don’t gain any favorable standing before God by the kind of job we have, by our position in society, or even by how well we perform the tasks before us. When it comes to our salvation, our works are really worthless. In Romans we’re reminded (Ro 3:10,20), “There is no one righteous, not even one …. No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” We knew the rules, but we chose to break them. That’s what sin is. But keep digging in Scripture and you’ll find a God who didn’t toss us aside like yesterday’s newspaper but instead had a plan. He would give us what we needed for salvation, something we could never obtain by ourselves (vv 8,9), “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Peter told the crowd at Pentecost (Ac 2:23), “This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” God loves us so much that he set up a plan to condemn his very own Son in our place in the heavenly court of justice. You and I were merely spectators as Jesus took on the full punishment for all the times we’ve failed to live up to God’s standards. It was Jesus who snatched us from the curse of hell itself, and our most important task in life – to find favor with God – is finished. Jesus said so. In John 17:4 he tells his heavenly Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Mission accomplished!
What a relief to know that our standing before God isn’t based on what we do, but on what Christ has already done. That changes our whole perspective and focus on life. Think about it. Jesus paid the price – we owe him our very lives, our eternities! More than that, he is our life! He has plans to keep us close to him, plans to use us in his service, plans to reach out to others. Like Paul our motto has become (Php 1;21), “For to me, to live is Christ” – no matter what our task may be! How can we do any less when we remember the high position we all share because of Christ (v 6), “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” There are lots of callings in life, but none can compare with the special union we have with Christ himself. Just think of how it all started at your baptism. You were “buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God” (Col 2:12). Jesus made us respectable in the eyes of the only one who counts. In Colossians Paul tells us (Col 3:1,3), “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ . . . your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Here’s where we differ from the world around us — everything a Christian does, any task we may perform, is wrapped up in our God and not just in ourselves. Christians “no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them” (2 Co 5:15). That’s what changes the routine, menial, everyday tasks into something special, something that matters, something that serves our Lord and makes us useful in his kingdom!
After all, that’s why God brought us into this world (v 10), “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” It’s true that we’re not saved by our good works, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not supposed to do them. Just the opposite is true – God handcrafted each of us for specific tasks that he prepared in advance for us to do. The Greek actually says that these tasks were prepared for us to “live” or to “make a part of our daily walk.” These “good works” make up our “calling” here on this earth as Christians. Later in Ephesians Paul encourages us (Eph 4:1), “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” He’s not just talking to “called workers” here, those who have received a unique calling into the public ministry. Whereas there’s a reason why we invest so much time and money in training pastors and teachers for full-time ministry, that doesn’t mean that all other tasks within the church are secondary in importance. Each Christian has been given different gifts to use in doing the “good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” In a sense, we’re all “called workers” when you think of it. Counting the offering, setting up for Communion, cleaning the church – there’s a sacred value to each of these tasks in the eyes of God. Martin Luther put it well when he said, “The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone.”
We’re not talking just about the things done at church. Everything we do is affected by our relationship with Jesus. There was never meant to be a barrier between the sacred and secular tasks in our life, as if some are better than others. Everyday tasks such as caring for children, doing homework, helping neighbors – they’re never just routine and “unspiritual.” They’re all ways of serving the Lord. Meals have to be prepared, floors have to be cleaned, garbage has to be collected. This is how God cares for the world and how he uses us to serve. Luther once wrote that God and the angels smile whenever a man changes a diaper. This is what Paul meant when he wrote (Col 3:17), “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Another Martin Luther – Martin Luther King Jr. – put it another way, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted – so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lives a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Your job isn’t just to get a paycheck or to bring home good grades on your report card. They’re ways to glorify God with the gifts he’s given you. Whether at home, at work, or at school, Paul says (Eph 6:7,8), “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does.”
If God has a plan for us, it makes sense for us to begin each task with the goal, “Let this task be lived for you, Jesus.” No, this doesn’t mean that the tasks before us will be easy. Paul often talked about the suffering he endured as he lived for Christ. But it does mean that what we do has new meaning. We are all “priests” of God, called to “declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pe 2:9). We’re part of our Lord’s church, the “ekklesia” in Greek, which means “the called out” ones. We’re meant to work together. There’s not suppose to be any solo acts in God’s symphony, but we’re all part of the orchestra where individual notes and talents are blended together. We come together for worship and instruction in God’s Word. Scripture tells us why (Heb 10:24,25), “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.” Here together in study and worship we grow in our understanding of what God’s plan is for us. Then at the closing benediction, the church commissions her priests – each one of us – to head out into the world that so desperately needs us. That’s where we belong, out in our everyday lives, performing the tasks that God prepared in advance for us to do, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.
That’s because everything we do is important to God. We represent his crown, and he uses us to care for his kingdom. He uses our lives and our witness “in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (v 7). That’s the bigger picture. With that in mind, we really have only one job description, no matter what the task. Peter describes it this way (1 Pe 2:12), “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
You are a valuable part of God’s plan. So tomorrow morning before you start taking on another “Monday,” spend a few moments in quiet prayer. Look over all the daily tasks that await you. Then, throughout your day, whatever task you undertake at home, work, school, church, or in your community, let this prayer be in your heart: “Let this task be lived for you, Jesus!”
Amen
– Rev. Jonathan Rockhoff