Abide – Ephesians 4
Welcome. Welcome to Abide. Testing 1-2-3.
Welcome, everyone. Welcome to Abide. I'm so glad you've come to just sit with me and sit with the Lord as we carve out this space in our daily life. And if you're listening to this podcast in real time, you'll know that we are well on our way in a season of Lent where we're called to make space for God. We’re invited to journey with Jesus toward the cross. Some of us create new habits in these 40 days. Some of us abstain from things that we love for these 40 days just to create a heightened awareness of God and his sacrifice for us, so blessings as we all continue to journey and that we’re invited into this vulnerability with Jesus and this sacrificial love.
And in this, I'm reminded of this hymn written by Henry Lyte entitled “Abide with me.”
And this man, Henry, actually was a pastor and a well-known minister in his time in the 1700-1800s. But his health was continually threatened with asthma and tuberculosis. And so you'll hear these four lines of this hymn. You'll hear a vulnerability; you'll hear weakness and a calling out.
And as we journey with Jesus toward the cross, he exposes vulnerability and just the dailiness and the moment by moment need to abide with God, with our Father in all things. And so may you be blessed by these four stanzas in this hymn as I read it to you.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy word before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
And so, friends, here we are together, longing to heighten our sensitivities, heighten the awareness of this truth that the Lord has planned, that we abide with him, that we dwell, that we rest, that we make home, that we connect, that we plug in, whatever word helps you. This is where we're meant to be. And so, let's all get settled a little bit more in this space, whether it's in your car, on the drive, in the commute, on the bus or on a walk. Maybe you're in a quiet space and you can close the door. Or maybe there's a lot of people around you coming and going. And you're able to sort of check out and tune in to this amazing presence that Jesus is here.
Let's begin to just steel our bodies by taking a nice inhale through the nose. And exhaling out. And this is a great time to just do a gentle body scan, noticing where you might be gripping or holding. Maybe you woke up with a headache. Maybe your shoulders are tight, your neck. Through the back and down through the hips and legs. Maybe just take note of where in your body you might be storing stress, fatigue. This is a good time to allow the body to soften, to rest, to begin to restore and to heal in the presence of God.
And while we're at it with our bodies, let's take time to relax the mind. I'm sure you're very aware of all the thoughts and all of the to-dos and just the whole gamut of mental traffic that's going on inside, so just become aware of that and I'm wondering if you can give yourself permission. Give your mind permission to soften and to let go of some of those, the mental chatter right now. I like to envision a big open sky, a blue sky with clouds, and that each of these busy thoughts or demands or responsibilities might become these light clouds that are gently moving together slowly in a direction further from me so that I can hold them lighter and release them.
And lastly, let's just begin to relax our emotions. Maybe you woke up this morning just feeling extremely strong in your emotions. The emotional climate within is stormy or angry or sad or overwhelmed. And you don't have to live in that climate, you know? We can allow and give ourselves permission. Give our emotions permission to relax. Maybe they can be released, the gripping of the emotion. Maybe it can be released as if it's a cloud. You can let the strength and the intensity of the emotional state right now just be lifted and to be relaxed.
So we are practicing relaxing in the body, in the mind, and in the emotions of ourselves. And all of this is just to create more space for Jesus to come and have a seat, it's almost like you've cleared off the couch and cleared all the papers and all the mess and said “Okay now Jesus, there's some space for you on the couch. Come sit with me.” And as we've made some more space and Jesus sits with us. We're going to just do some time here gazing at one another in gratitude.
I read a quote this week by Andy Warhol that says “You need to let the little things. That would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” And if you'll know in any of Andy Warhol's art, he makes things as simple as the tomato soup can look shiny and exciting. And so, as we sit with Jesus, let's start to think about the things in our day that we often do every day that seem like boring or ‘yeah, I just did that.’ Let's bring it up and talk about actually, how thrilling it is. I know, for me, an example is like just taking a shower, like how thrilling, how wonderful that water comes out and we can feel cleansed and the water can be warm. I mean, for me, a coffee is a thrill and I get to daily have that. Being able to walk my dog like that's a thrill. Being able to pick my kids up from school, again very daily and become boring. So what are your daily things? And just kind of bring them up to Jesus and let's begin practicing that these things are actually quite thrilling in their ordinariness. And I'll give you a moment to do that.
Wonderful. Sometimes these ordinary things of life, we just glance, you know, it's a quick glance. Sometimes the ordinary things of life, it's a glare like, oh, I gotta do that. And what we're trying to cultivate here is a gaze, where we look and we see. We ponder and we wonder. This is the kind of way in which we want to interact with our lives and with Jesus. Not at a glance and not at a glare, but a gaze, and appreciation, and intimacy with your life, your personal life.
And as we sit with Jesus, we get to open this letter again with him. A letter written by Paul and it's a personal letter to us again, because the word of God is God's voice to us. And today, we're going to be in Ephesians 4. And we're going to read the verses 1 to 16. And you'll notice that Paul is turning from chapters 1 to 3 into the final chapters, where things will become very practical and practical details of how God's glory will manifest on this earth is going to come forward. What does it look like? How do we try it on and how do we carry it out? And so, you'll be listening for those sorts of things in these verses.
And so, let's just take a nice gentle inhale, get settled and prepared to hear the word of God again today. Grateful for the space, to have ears to hear, and the Holy Spirit that is personalizing this word for each and every one of us.
This is the word of the Lord.
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, forbearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Be still and allow this word to be out in the middle of your environment. To be soaking into your body, your mind, your emotions. Just give space for this word to saturate.
Verse 1 reads “As a prisoner for the Lord.” Once again, we are reminded that Paul is writing this letter in prison. And I don't know if you remember, but a few podcasts ago, we spent some time reflecting on that, that Paul is not in ideal conditions, like it's not fun and he feels probably chained and not able to carry out the Gospel or his work in a way that he envisioned he would. And this is just these 4 words “as a prisoner for the Lord.” There's 6 words there. It gives us insight that we too will be in situations and in conditions in our physical lives that will feel cumbersome, that will feel not ideal, and not what we thought it would be like. And oftentimes, we want to escape and just get to where we want to go. God, why don't we just be released from the jail and move? But Paul is basically standing straight up in the prison and saying, ‘I am going to continue to do the work here.’ And so, I'm wondering if you might be able to consider or become curious about your conditions of life right now. And where you might feel bound or frustrated or confused or it's not working out like you would think it should or would. And be reminded that in this very day, in these very conditions, that God has you in, there is good work to be a part of. And so, let's just open that up to God again.
Verse 2 reads, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” So these are 4 virtues that I feel like they don't really get much air-time. You know the fruits of the spirit get a lot of air-time, but here we have 4 very beautiful virtues. And as we sit with Jesus, he really embodies these. And so we're just going to talk about these 4 virtues. And we're going to sense where these virtues might want to become cultivated in our bodies, in our lives.
The first one here says be completely humble. You know Jesus's life and his death were a service. They were a sacrifice, without thought of his reputation. There is such a humility there. And I wonder in your life, and I surely know in my life, where do we want to stand out and be noticed and be the top and shine and be extraordinary in so many ways? And you'll notice, as I'm noticing, it becomes very self-absorbed. It's about me. It can get very confused in there thinking it's about God and it's about others. But where can humility find its way into what you're working with in your daily life? Allow the spirit to gently guide and put a hand, a gentle hand upon an area in your life where this virtue of humility might manifest.
The next virtue is gentleness or meekness. I've heard it said that a meek or a gentle person is one who's absorbed in seeking a worthy goal, but for the common good, not for the self. One who doesn't have to always speak up first. You know, one that is gentle. Quick to listen, slow to speak. Where might gentleness and meekness find a way in your life? I know for me even this morning, I was doing chores and I moved the vacuum around so ungently or so forcefully that I even broke part of the vacuum today, and I thought, where's this gentleness Lizzie? You know, even how you handle your physical body, how you move through a day, how you handle the items in your day, how you handle the people in your day? Is it gentle? Is it forced? Is it harsh? Is it quick? I know for me, yes, it is. It's harsh, it's quick, it's pushing. It doesn't have this, and so, Spirit Lord have mercy and give me a deeper sense of this gentleness and this meekness today.
The third virtue is to be patient. Patient as in a steadfast, an enduring of suffering, a slow to becoming angrier, argumentative. I definitely need patience for myself, for life. My prayer this week lately is. Things aren't moving as quickly as I would like Lord, in this situation that I'm praying about. It is not, it's just not moving, it seems to me. Where can I develop patience? Well, it's right here in this space and in this space and in this space. So if we long to practically live out and manifest the glory of God in our own beings and in our lives we will be humble. We will be gentle. We will be patient people. This is kind of what it looks like. This is what Jesus looks like. Where might patience need to be cultivated in you today?
And lastly, forbearance. We’re meant to bear with one another in love. You'll see as we don't have time to go through the whole passage, but you'll notice that it's one body. It's one faith. It's one baptism. There are so many temperaments, so many different socioeconomic groups, so many different races, so many different ways of being in the world. And yet, the Scriptures are encouraging us to forebear, to, in all things, hold them in love. This takes such work because the people and our families are not like us. The people that we work with, the people we worship with, everything seems to be frustrating and not working like we like, so oh Lord, have mercy, may we cultivate forbearance. Bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep peace and unity. That the body, all the different parts may be held together in unity and you being the head. What is this forbearance look like in our personal lives?
We see in the later verses, a call to maturity, a call to not be infants any longer, but to mature in your faith. I truly believe that this maturity will come through these 4 virtues. And within these 4 virtues, we will be able to stand in a different way. as Paul writes, verse 14, “Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and cunning and craftiness.”
We often find our daily life can toss us to and fro. We become dizzy and nauseous and lost. And this is when we come back to this space of abiding of sitting with Jesus, of remembering that our conditions, whether it be a prisoner or completely free, that this is the space and the time where we will become grounded and anchored. That through this intimate relationship, these virtues might be cultivated, planted, watered, grown. So that the unity of the body of Christ might be first and foremost.
So, my fellow body members, my brothers and sisters and my deep friends in the faith. I pray that we would take this time with Jesus seriously, that we would continue to mature in these big truths that we are meant to grow in. And that we would manifest the glory of God on this earth. And so, let's begin to wind down this time of prayer. This intimate time and preparing ourselves to move out into the world and into our day, where we sort of take this prayer with us, we take this practice of relaxing the mind, our heart, our body, emotions with us. We take this practice of gratitude for the little and the mundane with us. And all of it needs the grace of God because we will fall and get back up again, and then we'll fall and get back up again, and fall and get back up again throughout the day. And our prayer is that we would abide that we would keep our hand held in yours, Father. And so, we want to end this time saying, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Spirit, as it was in the beginning, as it is now today and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Go in peace, my friends. To live humbly. To live gently. To live patiently. To bear with one another in love.
