• The Pirate Pastor • : Kate Birss on Ephesians

Kate Birss shared from Ephesians in our church's Easter service this year. I was so inspired, that I rediscovered and rewrote all my notes from Ephesians, posting them here during most of the month of April.

Kate Birss About to Enter Kopi Squat in Berlin.

The following are the notes from which Kate shared:

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At Christmastime, we celebrate the coming of Christ as a newborn child at Bethlehem. In Advent, we remember his birth but there is also an anticipation of his future return. To me, Easter has a similar feeling of an anticipation of his return and the New Jerusalem and perfection of his kingdom here on earth.

Easter is the celebration of his death and resurrection.

After his resurrection and spending some time with his followers down here on earth, Christ returned to his home, his throne, in heaven.

And as I think of that image of Christ going up into the sky, I imagine the disciples craning their necks up to heaven, looking kind of silly, and standing there for who knows how long. Then the two angels, who must have been giggling to themselves at the disciples' amazed expressions, said to them, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)

Easter is a time where we remember the resurrection of Christ and our own resurrected hearts and newness of life in his redemption of our tired, messed-up old lives. “We were dead in our trespasses and sins... but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly placers in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1 and 2:4-7)

We need to remember that we are now alive, but also that Christ is returning to call us, his loved ones, home to be with him because of all his rich grace. But the people around us are not necessarily going to be joining in that New Jerusalem. There are people around us who are not renewed and regenerated by Christ's gracious blood and they are dying right now every day – racked with guilt by their sins and living under that curse of death from which we have been so graciously freed. We must love one another. We must walk with tender hearts that are attuned to hear the Holy Spirit's voice. We must put on all of the spiritual armor and keep it on. We can't just gallivant around doing whatever we feel like in our old fleshy gross ways and sinning left and right and being all gross like we aren't even saved from all that junk. We are. We are saved, and we are free. We are freed from sin. We are free from the law of sin and death.

We are one in the Spirit
- We are one in the Lord.

Jesus is the greatest Authority. He conquered sin and death and rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Ephesians 1:20). He is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” -Ephesians 1:21 ESV

In Ephesians 3:6 and 5:30, Paul describes Christ as

the head of the body that is the church.

(This is also in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.)

Paul also describes the church's relationship to Christ as similar to that of a wife to her husband. Ephesians 5:28-32 reads,

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Christ is the head of the body, the groom of the bride, and the chief cornerstone -the most important piece of the foundation in a building. In 1 Peter 2:6, Peter quotes Leviticus and the prophet Isaiah:

For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

Christ is far above all, he is the head of the body that is the church and he is the husband to whom we are all to submit.

But God also regards us as Christ's brothers and sisters, and this is a marvelous grace.

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. -Ephesians 2:4-9 ESV

This is like that Shins song that goes, “Mercy's eyes are blue, when she places them in front of you, nothing holds a roman candle to, the solemn warmth you feel inside of you...” Dude doesn't just say the old phrase, “nothing holds a candle to...”. No, he says a roman candle. That's one of those ones that shoot flames up into the air.... multiple flames. That's what God's mercy is like when it's in front of your face. It's like a roman candle in your face. It's like wow.

In this marvelous grace, Jesus unites us with God. And Jesus unites us to one another. He gives us peace between us and God, and he gives us peace with one another.

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit, given to us at salvation, that we are enabled to walk in unity with God and in unity with one another. The old Jesus people song says, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,” and it is right. Because of the Holy Spirit, God is with us. That guy who parted the Red Sea and killed all the Egyptians and their horses and so saved the Israelites. That guy. He has lots of power and he shares it with us. And in that power, through Christ, we are one with one another.

Ephesians 2:12-22 ESV:

...remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated 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. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

And in Ephesians 4:1-6:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

We are one in Christ and he equips us, through the body that is his church, to accomplish his work.

We are given the gifts of
Spiritual leaders and
the Body of Christ.

Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. . . .

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. -Ephesians 4:7, 11-16 ESV

· Christ is the head of the Church. He is the husband of the bride. He is the chief cornerstone. Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers are given to the body of Christ to equip us to do the work of the ministry. Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers are gifts given to us by God's grace. People who have and walk in these gifts are not somehow special or above others by some human standards (read 1 Corinthians), but Paul says, “grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. . . .”

In Ephesians 3:7-10, he says:

Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

The Church is God's working in the world. Each one of us, as believers, is filled with the Holy Spirit, and we're walking around just bein' “God with us” all over the place. Jesus called us salt and light. We are given grace to preach the riches of Christ and to shine light for people, including ourselves, to see that great mystery of grace. We make that grace known as we be the body together, and

we are to submit:

o One to another (5:21)

o Wives to husbands (5:22)

o Children to parents (6:1)

o Slaves to masters (6:5)

o Masters to slaves (6:9)

And doing all this submitting is bright and light and shining God's grace.

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. -1 Peter 2:13-24 ESV

So, we are given one another to love and to teach us about grace in Christ,

And we are given Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers to equip us for the work of the ministry.

So, what is the ministry?

The ministry:
1- Stand firm, and
2- Pray in the Spirit always.

We are given spiritual armor and the gift of prayer in the Holy Spirit.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
-Ephesians 6:10-20 ESV