The Rest Of Yes

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Doesn’t matter who you are…Everybody wants to be accepted. Everybody wants to be included. Everybody wants to be invited. Everybody wants to hear good news. And Paul is going to give everyone – everything they want.
…Today we hear the same good news that the Ephesians heard 2000 years ago. Good news that says: We are no longer unclean; no longer rejected, no longer left on the outside to fend for ourselves……. quite the opposite actually. WE ARE accepted, included, and invited. /// Accepted, included and invited. Because of Jesus Christ - we have gained the same status as the Jews. We Gentiles are now – children of God – we are the newest members of God’s family. And like the Jews, we Gentiles have become joint heirs, part of the same body, and sharers in God’s promise.
I think back to my legal secretary days. I was thrilled the first time I was invited to a reception and dinner for a district judge. I think I may have even gone out and bought a new dress for that occasion. And because not every secretary was asked, I just knew that I had rose above the crowd….. worked myself into a cushy position with those who counted,, it was clear that my invitation was proof that I was now a part of the in crowd. Oh pity all those other secretaries who weren’t. And very shortly after I arrived – early as I was instructed to do – I was shown a chair behind a table – in the lobby of the hotel – to check names off the guest list and hand out name tags; to pick up empty champagne glasses and dirty plates; and give directions to not only the reception and the dinner, but to pay phones and bathrooms. I realized a little late - that along with the invitation, acceptance and inclusion - came a job. Of course, I was so full of myself at being among the chosen – that I didn’t think about that when I said yes.
Paul makes sure we understand that we are invited, included and accepted… - and he makes sure we know that it comes with a job. Yes, Paul brings the good news of the boundless riches of Jesus Christ to us – but not so we can be self-indulgent and strut our stuff …..but …because we have stuff to do. As Paul says, we have been included and given this new status -- so that through us – who are the church – everyone is made aware of God’s eternal purposes for the world. And what are God’s purposes for the world…and what is it that the church is to do? ? Again, according to Paul the church is to be a sign of God’s redemptive grace.
New Testament scholar, Luke Johnson writes:
It is through the church, and her members that the world is to see what reconciliation looks like. It is the church’s job to make sure that people understand that God’s eternal purposes for humanity have nothing to do with rivalry or boasting, position or worthiness, or earning your way. Rather it is the church’s responsibility to be so grounded in the redemptive grace as exhibited in Jesus Christ – that grace is what the world is to see in everyone of us.
Too often we start feeling pretty impressed with ourselves for being invited, accepted, and included in God’s covenant. After a while = a couple thousand years, we get to thinking this is a pretty cushy place to be = forgetting that to whom much has been given, much is expected…. especially in the form of grace – grace that nurtures and forgives --- mends and makes whole. Grace that includes those who are outcasts just like we used to be ---grace that works toward justice and peace for all people.
Luke Johnson finishes with this: The great tragedy of the church is that we have so thoroughly failed to live up to God’s promise and Christ’s commission.
Lesson learned:
Just because I was invited, accepted and included to be a part of a dinner and reception – didn’t mean I was something special – better than any other secretary – and gloating about my new and improved standing at the law firm. Saying yes to that invitation – meant I had a job to do…meant that there was an expectation put upon me – to do my part, to participate in whatever way I was asked, to make the event successful, and as it turned out -- in my case – to be available and to serve others.
Saying yes to Christ – saying yes to the church – saying yes to discipleship – saying yes to leadership in the church --- doesn’t come without an expectation. The expectation to do our part in accordance with our gifts, and abilities so that the church can carry out God’s purpose for humanity: exhibiting Christ’s redemptive grace through service.