Ephesians 3:7-137 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power.
I once played a butler in a play called “Shall We Join the Ladies?” written by J.M Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. It’s a murder mystery set in the dining room of a country manor. The guests all have a connection to the victim and they try to elicit clues from one another as they talk at the dinner table. The butler does not say a word in the play and must be attentive to each of the guests by bringing and removing silverware, plates and glasses. It’s only a one act play, but it’s one of the most intense murder mysteries I have been involved in and being the butler I had to fully concentrate on what was being said, done and expressed by the whole cast.
I literally had to become a servant to all of the other actors on the set to make the plot work.
Paul does the same when he’s writing to the Ephesians. The plot of the Gospel is to save the entire world and the mystery is how God accomplishes this through grace. When Paul declares himself to be the servant of the gospel, he’s letting the Ephesians knows that his life is dedicated to serving God’s purpose, attending to Christ’s demands, and fulfilling the tasks that are set before him. Paul doesn’t leave it to someone else to get things done – he’s on a mission for God and that mission is to spread the Gospel, preach the Kingdom, and glorify Christ all over the Mediterranean.
The Ephesians understood what it meant to be servants; after all, they had served Diana, their goddess, for hundreds of years. Their culture, their economy, their reason to exist was built upon serving the Great Temple of Diana, one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, and devoting their energy, gifts and resources to maintaining her relevance in the civilized world. Without Diana, Ephesus would have been bypassed long ago. Without the temple, the Ephesians would just have been just another small Mediterranean town.
So they understood service and being servants, which is why Paul emphasizes his own servitude to Christ. He wants to link with their experiences and relate his faith to their life style. He wants to match his purpose with theirs. He is looking for ways to make faith in Christ attractive and acceptable to the Ephesians by meeting them on their own terms, in their own cultural ways. He is finding a way to tear down the walls of being a Jew in a Gentile world. Paul is making inroads with his Gospel message by using the culture to convey his beliefs.
This is something that our own church did nearly 130 years ago. Out of all the names that we could have been known by, our spiritual forefathers and foremothers chose the name “Erin.” It was the name of this district a long time before it became known as Bearden, but when we were established we could have easily been called Bearden Presbyterian Church. So why did the charter members choose the name “Erin?” It all had to do with cultural relevance and Missional outreach to the surrounding community.
Erin is the ancient Gaelic name for Ireland and it means “the beautiful island.” It’s a poetic and lyrical name for the old country. Anyone who was a Scots-Irish Protestant in this area would have been drawn to the church by the old Gaelic name. We were established to serve God by serving as a spiritual home for the Scots-Irish in this area. It’s part of our heritage. It’s a wonderful part of our history. And if you have a look at the church register for the last 130 years, you’ll see that Scots-Irish names still make up the majority of those written in its pages.
So, in order to be culturally relevant, the original charter families chose the name “Erin.” For Paul to be culturally relevant to the Ephesians, he used the term ‘servant’ to describe membership in God’s Kingdom through Christ.
8 Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Some servants are more important than others. In Victorian households, the butler was the chief manservant who organized all the servants below him. He acted as concierge and confidante to the family; he saw to it that all the duties assigned to the household servants were accomplished. His role was chief servant and steward to the entire household. He ensured that all the family’s resources for domestic purposes were not squandered or wasted.
In Paul’s time, there was a also chief servant attached to every successful household. His duties as overseer were practically the same, so the Ephesians would have understood that with service and servant hood, there was some sort of order and hierarchy. So they expected Paul, as preacher and teacher to their church, to be the chief servant – but Paul would not accept that mantel of esteem. In Christ’s kingdom, all servants are equal because all are preachers, teachers, ministers and priests for the sake of the Gospel. No one servant lords it over another. There is only One Lord – Jesus – and all of His followers are servants.
That’s why I love being a Presbyterian. We don’t have a hierarchy in our denomination or church. Ministers of the word and sacrament are set apart, not set above the people, when they are ordained. Elders are chosen by the congregation, as is the pastor, so that all the people have a say in the shaping of the church, the direction it is headed in, and the vision for the future. We don’t have bishops, cardinals, or popes who individually decide things for us. We are all servants of God here; we are all called to do Christ’s bidding.
In recent years, our denomination has encouraged members of local churches to think about becoming commissioned lay pastors. Instead of going to seminary, those members in our midst, who have served at least three years as an elder, are given the opportunity to serve the church in a wider capacity as lay pastors. I’m delighted to tell you that both Charles Snodgrass and Katina Stair from our own wee congregation. In years to come, their service to our presbytery and church may be crucial for the PCUSA in this area. As servants of Christ, they will have opportunities to minister in specialized areas of our church’s life, work, and ministry. And I am hoping that they are the first among a whole group of Erin elders who will undertake, endure, and accomplish this special training.
9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When Paul was writing to the Ephesians about being servants, they must have asked themselves what that serving entailed. It’s easy to accept serving God, after all the Ephesians had served Diana for generations – all they had to do was transfer their devotion from one deity to another – but what was their purpose as servants, what was God calling them to do?
Paul is ahead of them with regard to this question – he states what service to God is all about – the church’s purpose is to make God known in the world and to let their community know that Jesus Christ is Lord of life. That’s the Gospel in a nutshell – that’s the message reduced to its most simplistic form. Where I come from in Glasgow, Scotland, my city has this motto: “Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word and the praising of God’s Name.” It’s the exact same message that Paul was expressing to the Ephesians in his letter – serving God meant preaching the Word; being servants involved the praising of God’s Name.
Perhaps we could adopt something similar as a new mission statement for Erin, something like: “We are called to be servants of Jesus, growing in God’s Wisdom and praising Christ’s Holy Name.”
And talking about service for Christ at Erin, in the next couple of minutes, we are going to welcoming new members into our church. They have expressed a desire to join with our congregation and we are absolutely delighted that they have chosen to do this. But how can we help them become servants of the Lord, as well as members of our church? What experiences, ministries and missions can we offer them to enhance their connection to God and their relationship with Jesus? Are we content just to let them worship with us on Sundays, or are we going to make it our intent to invite and include them in our classes, our studies, our fellowship, our teams, our programs, and our plans? They have reached out to us: how are we going to reach out to them, to learn their names, to know of their gifts, to encourage and support them in their walk with God? We are all servants here – let us therefore serve one another by reaching out to these new members with our hearts and hopes, our faith and friendship, our laughter and love.
12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Finally, Paul writes to the Ephesians about why service to Christ in God’s Kingdom is important. They knew what to do and how to serve, but why were they called to serve Christ?
Almost every religion in the world has this common theme: that one day, every person who has ever lived on earth, will stand before God and be held accountable for every thought, word, deed, misdeed, and mistake that they made during their existence on earth. In most faiths it’s called the Time of Reckoning and Christianity is no different from many others on this point. People worship God, or gods, or goddesses to preserve and protect them from the trials and snares that this life imposes upon them. They also devote themselves and serve their God, gods or goddesses, in order to placate, appease and please them.
Just the other day, a devout Hindu in India, sought to win favor from his goddess Kali by making a sacrifice. The sacrifice he chose was to cut off his right hand. He’s now in hospital undergoing emergency surgery. But if he was a Christian, if he served Christ, he wouldn’t have to fear his God. We serve Christ because He has sacrificed Himself for us, so there is no greater sacrifice that God would ask of us. We can freely and confidently, as Paul writes, approach God and be in his presence without fear of reproach, retribution or reckoning. Our everlasting destiny has already been prepared when we decided to become Christ’s servants. We look forward to a moment in glory when we will be united with Christ through the unsearchable riches of His grace. We have nothing to fear… and this is why we are called to be servants of the Lord, so that others who fear death, punishment, and eternal separation may hear, know, and accept the Gospel – which tells us that we are not doomed to death and destruction, but that we are made for light and everlasting love.
Our calling as a church, as a congregation called Erin is to be that beautiful island of faith that everyone needs in their lives. Our task is to maintain the infrastructure of the Gospel, so that a bridge between heaven and earth can be experienced by as many people in our community that we know. And if we accept this calling of our hearts to serve Jesus, then one glorious day we will step forward, confidently and freely in the holy presence of our Almighty God to receive His eternal blessing and everlasting love. We will truly be Ephesian people, Erin Church members, and Christian servants, both now and always. Amen.
Last Saturday, the PCUSA Presbytery of East Tennessee, at Farragut Presbyterian Church, voted 81-66 in favor of ordaining gay people, in an active relationship, to eldership and ministry.
