Twenty-five years ago Judith and I were living three short blocks south of the Twin Towers in Downtown Manhattan. I had received an invitation from Timothy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church New York City, to set up a gospel-focused Anglican Church to complement the ministry of Redeemer Church in the city.

On Tuesday morning, September 11, we had awakened to see from our apartment clear blue skies and the sparkling waters of New York Harbor. But it was not to last. We felt the shock in our building when the first tower was hit from the north. We heard the scream of the second jet flying low overhead and what sounded like a sonic boom when the south tower was hit.

Later that day when we left our building, the scene of the inches of dust and paper was surreal. The silence was palpable.

It’s easy to forget the evil that cut short the lives of people going about their daily affairs. Commercial airliners were used as missiles to crash into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. And a further flight was intended for more destruction but was thwarted by the selfless heroic efforts of passengers. People on that flight prayed the Lord’s Prayer as the plane crashed.

That evening, George W. Bush, then President, called for prayers for all who had lost loved ones. He continued: “And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”

In the Wall Street Bible talks I was giving at the time, I spoke on Psalm 46 which begins: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Creation in turmoil. The Bible is very aware of human evil and its devastating effects on this world. But Psalm 46 assure us that God continues his work even in the midst of the chaos. His supremacy and presence with his people is never thwarted.

The biblical epic records the intrusion of evil into God’s good creation as we read in Genesis 3. God didn’t create evil, but because he didn’t make us robots, he allowed it. However, as the biblical narrative unfolds, we become aware of the reality and the depth of wickedness.

As a side note, if we insist we’re here by chance and are nothing but atoms in an ordered cohesion bumping around in time and space, evil and suffering have no meaning for there is no transcendental moral compass.

That said, we dare to believe that goodness matters because the God who made the world intends to give his moral verdict on human history. Without judgment life itself is reduced to moral indifference. This is not an invitation to hatred and vindictiveness, for the Bible commands us to be concerned even for the best interests of our enemies and to pray for them.

The realities of the divine and of ultimate accountability have been integral to the life and practice of the US from its inception. The first president, George Washington, was inaugurated half a mile from what became the World Trade Center site. In the course of his inaugural address on April 30, 1789, he said: “[W]e ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained . . .”

The opening lines of Psalm 46 speak of the unchanging God who is our refuge and strength. In him alone we find a secure shelter and the power within to address any situation. Indeed, verses 2 and 3 exhort us not to fear, even if the world around us is undone, for God remains supreme over every facet of his creation – the earth, the mountains, and the seas.

Humanity in turmoil. Psalm 46 moves from the upheaval of the material world to human turmoil: There is a river, whose streams make glad the city of God….God is the midst of the city; it will not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.

Psalm 46, verse 6 speaks of the instability of evil and human tumult: The nations are in uproar, the kingdoms totter… However, God has the last word, for when he utters his voice, the earth melts. Verse 7 is so reassuring: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.  The Lord of hosts points to the mighty armies of heaven to which Jesus alluded when he was arrested (Matthew 26:53).

Be still! Verses 8 and 9 are an invitation to catch the vision of God’s ultimate intention – to make wars to cease to the end of the earth. It is a picture of the perfect peace that will follow on the other side of God’s judgement – the accounting that precedes the perfect righteousness of the new heaven and the new earth (2 Peter 3:12f).

The command ‘Be still’ is not so much a word of comfort to God’s people under duress but a command to every nation. Jesus’s word to the turbulent winds and waters, “Peace. Be still” display the power of God’s Word. Mind-bending though the idea is, at God’s command the nations will be called to order, confronted by God’s supreme and glorious power: “Know that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations … and in the earth” (46:10).

In the closing words, the confidence in God in verse 1 returns with greater power: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge – our high stronghold!

With the coming of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God into the world, we now have a clearer picture of God. Jesus experienced suffering, injustice and grief in the extreme. Yet he could say, “I am the Good Shepherd; I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Through his suffering, death and resurrection we find freedom from sin, from fear and freedom from self. In Christ alone there is peace and joy, love and hope.

It is that through the lens of the New Testament we begin to learn how God’s people should respond to the evil of the world. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44f). Praying for opportunities to promote God’s good news is an aspect of this.

Furthermore, as Paul exhorts in First Timothy, chapter 2, we are to pray for governments, that they may impartially administer justice, restrain wickedness and vice and, with discernment and wisdom, uphold integrity and truth that we may live at peace.

Paul also writes in Romans chapter 12, verses 17 through 21: Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all… None of this means that justice will not occur. Paul continues, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  On the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good, Paul exhorts.

In the midst of the chaos and evil of this present time, Christ calls on us to put aside anger and rage, vengeance and violence, for the day of perfect justice will come.

Prayer. We commend to your fatherly care, merciful God, all those who in this passing world are in any kind of trouble, sorrow, sickness, anxiety or need, especially we pray for…  Give them patience and confidence in your goodness, and in your mercy provide their every need. Father, hear our prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

Last weekend, Emmanuel Anglican Church New York City celebrated the 10th Anniversary of its formation and Dr. Jim Salladin’s ministry there. It is a wonderful tribute that the church has not only developed and grown over the years, but that it also testifies to the goodness and loving kindness of the Lord.

If you will pardon a personal note, Emmanuel Church was born out of the Christ Church NYC West Village congregation which we had planted in February 2010. Christ Church itself we had planted in 2001. However, learning of some serious challenges in late 2015 – I had retired at the end of 2013 – by God’s grace we were able to facilitate the resetting of the West Village congregation as Emmanuel Anglican Church in the first six months of 2016.

While setting up a new church is an effective gospel, disciple-making strategy in large cities, it can be fraught with challenges and pitfalls, especially in a city such as New York. In 2016 I wrote that ‘commitment, patience and perseverance are needed. But above all, that prayer is essential. For, as we read in Psalm 127 verse 1, unless the Lord builds the house the workers build in vain. Godly and true Church planting must never be about self-glory but rather God’s glory’.

Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, helps us here. Writing to a church that was divided around personalities, Paul says in verse 5: What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Servants. Significantly he says that Apollos and Paul are simply ‘servants ’ or ‘waiters’. Like waiters in a restaurant, they serve food prepared by someone else. In this case they serve the food God has prepared – the food of God’s written self-revelation found in the Bible; the food of God’s truth, God’s gospel, from which we all benefit.

It’s important we understand who ministers are: they include the formally ordained and appointed minsters of God’s Word in a church. But they also include anyone who is involved in teaching God’s Word in Discipleship / Bible Study Groups, one-to-one gospel coffee conversations, Sunday School and Young people’s groups – anyone who engages in the ministry of God’s Word. And we should note what Paul is saying here: none are to be put on a pedestal.

It can be very tempting for ministers who are naturally gifted speakers and whom God uses to gather large churches, to become puffed up, full of pride. Watch out, Paul is saying; we are simply servants.

‘I planted and Apollos watered’, Paul continues, ‘but God gave the growth’. What a significant but that is in verse 6. It was God who brought the church in Corinth into life. Yes, God involved the ministries of Paul and Apollos, but it was he who gave the growth.

Now, while Paul is insistent on the comparative insignificance of Christian ministers he is committed to the significance of Christian ministry. In verse 9 he writes: For we are God’s servants, working together; …

Christian ministry – be it ordained or non-ordained – is not about ministers competing with one another but working together in partnership with God. And for what purpose? In verse 9b he continues: You are God’s field, God’s building… With two different metaphors – one from agriculture, you are God’s field, and one from architecture, you are God’s building – he portrays what church and ministry is.

God doesn’t only give the growth to the church. The church itself is God’s. And Paul continues his architectural metaphor in verse 11: For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.

God’s church is to be built on the foundation that was laid by Jesus Christ when he died and rose again. Back in First Corinthians chapter 1, verses 23 and 24 Paul writes: We proclaim Christ crucified,… Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The primary task of ministry is to introduce the world to Christ or Messiah Jesus. Our further task is to teach what it means to turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Churches that are built and developed on this foundation will last forever. Jesus himself promised it when he said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Empires will come and go – as the Roman Empire did – but the church of Jesus Christ will last forever.

Effective ministry, our part in the work of building God’s church, demands constant vigilance and constant prayer. If it is God alone who gives the growth to a church should we not be praying more consistently than we are? Perhaps one of the reasons churches in the West today are not having the impact they could have is because of our prayerlessness. Blaise Pascal once commented God instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.

We have a special privilege, not only being partners with God in the building of the church of Jesus Christ, but also in prayer.

Let me use the 10th anniversary of Emmanuel Anglican Church NYC to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for his unique ministry that laid the foundation for gathering and building God’s church across the races and nations throughout time.

Let’s thank the Lord for the countless faithful ministers of God’s Word, praying that God’s people everywhere will persevere in the faith, living under God’s Word and exemplifying what love and loyalty to God means in the transformation of our lives, for the glory God – our rock and our redeemer.

Prayers. Eternal Father, who declared Jesus our Lord to be your beloved Son at his baptism, grant that we and all who have become his people through faith in his name, signified in baptism, may rejoice to be your children and the servants of all people. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Almighty and eternal God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your church is governed and sanctified: receive our prayer for the many different members of your holy church; that every one of them in their vocation and ministry may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

In his Screwtape Letters CS Lewis says that there are two equal and opposite errors that people fall into regarding the dark powers. One mistake is to disbelieve in their existence, the other is to believe in them to excess.

In Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 12, Paul the Apostle writes: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power… For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places…

Paul takes the reality of conflict in the world to another level: ‘our struggle’, literally, ‘our wrestling’, is not so much against ‘flesh and blood’ but ‘principalities and powers’. In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 10, he speaks of the day when all things, ‘in heaven’ and ‘on earth’ will be brought under rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, as we read in chapter 6, for the present there’s a war between the two spheres of darkness and light.

Spiritually speaking, God’s people live in enemy occupied territory. The epic that the Gospels reveal is that, without fanfare, the true king has slipped into our world to rescue people enslaved by the dark powers. The Gospel of John records Jesus’s words to Pilate: he could have called on a powerful army to rescue him (John 18:36). However, knowing he was the only one who could defeat the prince of darkness, he came alone to accomplish his mission. He knew that only through his sacrificial death could the powers of evil, and death itself, be conquered (Colossians, chapter 2, verses 13 through 15). Jesus’s resurrection from the dead validates his victory.

However, for the present the dark powers, although mortally wounded, continue to do their worst, attempting to destroy God’s ultimate and sure plan to glorify his people.

Against this background we learn from Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 that God’s people are caught up in a spiritual conflict as individuals and together. It is here that all too often we are naïve. We think it is only the smooth-tongued, yet deceitful, influential, and powerful who obstruct spiritual truth in the world. No, Paul warns. There are formidable supernatural forces at work – powers that will not respond to reason. And so we are caught up in a conflict that involves dark powers and human choices.

Put on the whole armor of God, we read in verse 13, so that you may be able to stand your ground. There will be times when the dark forces press us morally, whispering that everybody’s doing it. Sometimes they press us intellectually: you’re too clever to believe that. Sometimes they press us psychologically: your faith is so intolerant. And there are times when we experience discrimination, for example, in the workplace or in the family. The aim is always the same: to silence the voice of God’s people.

Stand firm, Paul says. Be alert. Don’t give in. Put on the inner protection of a godly lifestyle. Our loins need to be girded with God’s truth; we need a breastplate of righteousness; our feet need to be shod with the commitment to spread the gospel of peace, and we need the headpiece of salvation. Our lives are most at risk when our inner defenses are broken through. We need the qualities of integrity, of righteousness, of gospel readiness, and the deep assurance of God’s ultimate victory.

The dark powers will do their worst to discredit our integrity, prevent gospel outreach through lethargy and infighting, and demoralize us by discouraging us.

We need protection: the shield of faith with which we can quench the flaming darts of darkness. We can’t cope on our own. We need to trust Christ, for when we do, the darts of darkness will fall useless. ‘The victory that overcomes the world,’ John tells us, ‘is our faith’ (1 John 5:4).

The sword of the spirit. While Paul hasn’t spelled out the meaning of his metaphors up to this point, he wants us to know that God’s Word is a sword. Unlike communism or any other ‘ism’ or ideology, there is no place in Christianity for a literal holy war. God’s new society is not brought in by an act of Congress, still less at the end of a gun. God works through his Word.

The Word of God is not a message of the freedom fighters, but a message that focusses on personal repentance and God’s forgiveness, the building of God’s new society and its compassion and care for a lost world. The victory of God’s Word will have eternal outcomes.

Pray. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints… (Ephes 6:18).

In any battle, communication is vital. In the histories of World War II there is a picture of a young soldier holding together a broken telephone line. Prayer is our field telegraph. Paul urges us to pray constantly, to persevere in prayer, and to be vigilant in prayer. We are to pray in the Spirit.

Romans chapter 8, verses 26ff help us understand this, for there Paul tells us that the Spirit works with us in our prayer. In the midst of suffering we’re often at a loss to know what we should say. In those times, Paul tells us, the Spirit comes to our aid, putting our inarticulate thoughts into meaningful prayer, speaking to God on our behalf.

Despite the noise of opposing voices, God’s work continues to make inroads on the kingdom of darkness. When Jesus stood on the hills of ancient Israel with a handful of his followers, he said, ‘On this rock – the rock of faith – I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). He was speaking to a small group of humble, un-influential men.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the legitimate ruler of the world. No, much, much more: the universe. Nothing in all creation will prevent the return of the King.

As we conclude this series from Ephesians, let’s hold on to the shield of faith, promote the word of God with greater confidence, and most of all, pray – for one another and for others – that we will stand firm, continuing to live under God’s gospel, and taking his gospel to those around us.

If you will excuse a personal note, you may find it helpful to purchase copies of my book, The Jesus Story: Seven Signs as a refresher for yourself and to pass on to others. It’s available through Amazon.

A prayer. Almighty God, give us grace so that we may cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came amongst us in great humility: so that on the last day, when he comes again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

© John G. Mason

Every day we make decisions. It’s part of being human. Many decisions are simply personal preference – the clothing we wear, or whether we prefer tea or coffee. But we know there are some decisions where we have a sense of obligation – a sense of duty. Such obligations need to be awakened. Consider the exhortation we read in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1: Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

In Ephesians chapter 6 Paul continues the theme of family relationships. Significantly, he speaks of obedience in the Lordconcerning a child’s relationship with their parents.

Obedience. Many today don’t agree with the notions of obligation or duty. Behavior today has become subjective – people doing what they feel is right for them. It’s one of the reasons why there’s so much ambivalence about sexual matters, or about honesty and justice.

Think about it. When a young child questions an expectation of their parents, they are typically told, ‘Because we say so’. But the time comes when the growing child will question such authority. They will want to know if there is a better reason.

It’s here where many parents come unstuck. Developing children need to be instructed in the Lord and, in turn the nature of the relationships that follow – not simply as rules and regulations, but out of the relationship of love that the Lord has for us and, in turn that parents have for their children. They need to come to know God who, though we were dead through our trespasses, in his mercy has made us alive together with Christ. Without such knowledge children may as well do as they like.

“Honor your father and mother” – this is the first commandment with a promise: “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth”, Paul continues (6:2-3).

The promise. Paul conflates the two different versions of the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long” (Exodus 20:12) and, “that it may go well with you” (Deuteronomy 5:16). The first four of the Ten Commandments are usually understood to refer to our duty to God, and the second six, our duty to our neighbor. Significantly, the Jewish world understood the first five to refer to our duty to God and the second five to our duty to our neighbor. Thus, to honor parents is tightly connected to honoring God, and speaks of children developing and growing in their understanding of God within a relationship of love.

Furthermore, so important is the exhortation of obedience for children that Paul promotes it as the first, or primary commandment with a promise. Significantly, it’s the only commandment with a promise and is best understood as a general promise, with reference to a stable society. Martin Luther observed that a stable society is dependent on a secure and safe family life, where growing children learn to obey their parents within a loving framework.

Now it’s important to note the caveat that Paul includes here: children are to obey their parents in the Lord. That is, children are not called upon to obey their parents in matters that conflict with the Lord’s instruction.

Parents. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, Paul writes (6:4). These words would have shocked the Roman world where the father was the autocratic head of the family, with untold power over his offspring – including killing a newborn or selling them into slavery. Parents – for the word can be translated mothers as well as fathers – are not to abuse their children in any way, victimizing them and arousing anger and hatred.

Rather, parents are to equip their children in the knowledge and love of the Lord. The words of Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 through 7 come to mind: Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.

The single most important educational influence on children is their parents. It’s built into the very nature of the parent’s relationship in the child’s experience. Children don’t stop learning when they get home from school: they are learning every waking hour of the day. It’s one of the strong reasons children need to be guided in their use of their phones and social media as well as tv viewing. The best people to instil fundamental attitudes and form children’s self-identity and moral lives are parents. Yes, it’s hard work and requires sacrifice. But it is our duty and the rewards are great.

So, we should never give up talking about our convictions. Create an atmosphere of learning in a relationship framed by genuine love, care and fun – when you’re at home or going out, when you put them to bed and when they wake up. There’s no point in sending your child to church if you don’t go yourself; there’s no point in telling your child to pray and read the Bible, if you never do yourself; there’s no point in telling your child not to lie or swear, if you do yourself.

The home. Think about the time you spend on your phone or in front of the big screen. Use the precious conversations at bed-time and around the dinner table. Answer their questions about life – about right and wrong, life and death, about drugs and alcohol, about climate anxiety, about God. Speak as plainly as you can about what Jesus means to you. These are crucial times. Their educational experiences at home will live in the memories of our children for a life-time.

It’s in the home, as we instruct our children about God and Jesus Christ, that they learn their own value and self-esteem as a boy or girl, made in the image of God. It’s in the home they are socialised: they learn how to get on with other people. It’s in the home, they learn to respect authority and discipline. It’s in the home, they develop as individuals and find their individuality accepted, appreciated and affirmed.

Parents (as well as grandparents and uncles and aunts) are well placed to blend the demands of society and the needs of the child in a way that fully affirms the dignity of the child and yet also makes that child ready for society, to mix with other people and not just to be a self-centered little island.

The big picture. In Ephesians chapter 5, verse 21 through chapter 6, verse 5, Paul sets out the balance of selfless and responsible attitudes that are vital in marriage and family life.

So much more could be said about this important and complex section of Paul’s Letter. You may want to follow up with your local church ministry team.

As Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

A prayer. Almighty God, our heavenly Father, whose Son Jesus Christ shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home: bless our homes, we pray. Help parents to impart the knowledge of you and your love; and children to respond with love and obedience. May our homes be blessed with peace and joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

In ‘What Are People For?’ an essay in his 2002 The Art of the Commonplace, Wendell Berry wrote, “Marriage, in what is evidently its most popular version, is now on the one hand an intimate ‘relationship’ involving (ideally) two successful careerists in the same bed, and on the other hand a sort of private political system in which rights and interests must be asserted and defended”.

Now, twenty-four years later, what is the future for marriage? Today’s views contrast sharply with the joys of marriage found in the Bible – a relationship that is framed by a husband’s and wife’s experience of God’s love and forgiveness.

In his Letter to the Ephesians chapter 5, verses 21 through 33 Paul the Apostle takes up the theme of marriage which he frames in a most unexpected way – Christ’s love for the church. The complex and costly relationship between Christ and his people provides the ultimate picture of marriage – something that is a great mystery, Paul writes in verse 32.

Consider his surprising words to husbands – lengthier than his words to wives. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,…

This radical injunction would have shocked the ancient world. And, to stress the point, Paul says three times that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved his people (verses 25, 28 and 33).

Significantly, the New Testament never uses eros, especially about marriage. Rather than eros, which is about self-gratification, the New Testament uses agape, a word without rapturous, mystical experiences. It’s the word used to express God’s love for us – as in John chapter 3, verse 16. Rather than wanting to take, the word agape speaks of a selfless, self-giving love, committed to making sacrifices in the best interests of others – and, in God’s case, bearing the pain of the sins of the unlovely.

So, when Paul says husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, he isn’t speaking of some passing infatuation, let alone a domineering, controlling attitude. He’s talking about a faithful, trustworthy and lifelong love that is committed to serving his wife’s best interests. Not her selfish whims.

Consider what Paul further says, in the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.

Let’s think about it. When we become a Christian, we become part of Christ’s body. When a man and a woman marry, they become united: one new flesh. For his part, Christ loves his body, feeds it, cares for it, promoting its maturity. In the same way, a husband is to love his wife, nourishing her, and promoting her maturity.

As Paul says, this is a profound mystery, because the parallel is itself profound. It means that the very best model we have for the relationship between Christ and his people, is marriage. Or to put it another way, the very best things we enjoy about marriage – intimacy, trust, confidence, understanding – give us a tiny glimpse of the intimacy, understanding and love that Christ has for his people, stretching into eternity.

What might this look like in practice? When disagreements occur, a husband needs to take the initiative in resolving them. It also means husbands are to take responsibility in the spiritual realm – encouraging Bible reading and prayer in the home and attendance at church. The spiritual health of a family is important. Like Christ, a husband wants his wife to be spiritually radiant (5:27).

Which brings us back to verses 21 and 22 and God’s words to wives through Paul. How important it is that we read these words in context, for the word to wives flows in a tight construction out of the words to all God’s people: submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, wives to your husbands as you are to the Lord.

Now today, the very mention of submission arouses anger and hostility. And we need to be honest here. In too many cultures women have been, and are exploited and treated as chattels by their husbands. We need to remember that a radical feature about Jesus of Nazareth was the fact that he treated women with courtesy and respect in an era when women were treated as second-class citizens. Furthermore, it was Paul the Apostle who wrote that there is no inequality between men and women: In his Letter to the Galatians chapter 3, verse 28, he writes: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

So, to return to the words in Ephesians chapter 5, wives to your husbands, let me say what they don’t mean. With the qualifier, as you are to the Lord can’t mean submitting to anything that God forbids, such as abuse, or moral, physical or emotional control.

We can now begin to see how Paul’s words to wives and to husbands go together. He is setting out a relationship where the wife delights in honoring and respecting her husband, and where a husband makes loving his wife his life’s work so that she can become the person God intended her to be.

Anne Atkins in her book, Split Image (1987) observed: “The husband gives up everything, not only to please his wife but to make her beautiful, holy, happy, fulfilled, and reaching her maximum potential. They are like an actress and her agent; if she has a good agent she will put herself completely in his hands; if he is a good agent he will spend his time developing her talents and furthering her work. He exists to serve her”.

Last Wednesday we touched on the previous section in Ephesians chapter 5 where we read that God’s people are lights to the world, not because they now follow a new set of rules, but because of their new relationship with Jesus Christ. No marriage is perfect. So, in the same way that God has forgiven us we need to be able to forgive one another.

We are to shine like lights in the world. Our lifestyle is a vital part of our witness in a world of darkness. How important it is that, if we are married, we display the light of God in our relationship with one another.

Prayers. Lord God, you have consecrated marriage to be a sign of the spiritual unity between Christ and his Church; bless your people who are married that they may love, honor, and cherish each other in faithfulness, patience, wisdom, and true godliness; may their home be a place of love and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your holy word. May it be a lantern to our feet, a light to our paths, and strength to our lives. Take us and use us to love and serve all people in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

Commenting on how we understand Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Rebecca McLaughlin writes: ‘We hear a call to care for strangers in need. But Jesus’s first audience heard more. They heard a story of love across racial, religious, and political difference, in which the moral hero was their sworn enemy’ (The Secular Creed, 2021: p.11).

And we might add, yet how many in the wider community today are even aware of the parable of the Good Samaritan let alone understand its significance for us? Even more importantly, how many today know the Jesus of the historical Gospel accounts?

The key to everyone’s understanding lies in the ministry gifts that Paul the Apostle highlights in chapter 4 of his Letter to the Ephesians.

Having written of the unity of God’s people – there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all (4:6) – he moves on to the theme of diversity. In their unity, God’s people are not monochrome but rather, to change the metaphor, can be likened to the instruments of the heavenly orchestra because of the variety of gifts he gives each one of us. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift, Paul writes (4:7).

Having rescued his people through an act of extraordinary and undeserved grace (2:5, 8), God gives to all his people a grace or gift for the building up of the Christian community. Drawing from Psalm 68 which is associated with the Jewish Pentecost and the receiving and giving of the law through Moses to the people, Paul uses it as an analogy for Christ receiving the Spirit and now giving the gifts of the Spirit to God’s people.  Furthermore, as Christ descended from heaven, taking on human form and dying the death we justly deserve, he has now ascended, being raised from the dead to heaven where he now holds supreme power at God’s right hand (Philippians 2:5-11).

From this position God in Christ now gives each one of his people back to the church as a gift. Consider verse 11: The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,… These declaratory gifts are set out first because they are essential for the growth of God’s people.

The apostles were a unique, select group, called and sent by Jesus himself – men who had personally met with the risen Lord Jesus Christ and who were commissioned and equipped by him to reveal and proclaim him to the nations. They would have a true understanding of the significance of his life, death and resurrection. Their unique ministry, together with that of the prophets, is foundational for the church (Ephesians 2:20).

The prophets are also one-of-a-kind in the Bible in that God has uniquely spoken through them. Thus says the Lord characterized their ministry. We therefore need to beware of all who bring new ideas claiming to be prophets.

In some circles much is made of the phrase, ‘apostolic succession’, applying it to bishops and sometimes to church-planters. It is said they stand in the succession of the apostles through the laying on of hands. But Paul is not suggesting this. The biblical way to speak of the apostolic succession is to relate it to the preaching and teaching that is consistent with what the apostles and prophets proclaimed and taught.

Paul next references evangelists (4:11). While all God’s people are called upon to play a part in testifying to their faith. God calls some to have a special ministry as evangelists – being gifted in evangelistic speaking or effective evangelistic equipping of God’s people.

From its inception Christianity has been global, and key to this movement isn’t force of arms but a message. We often forget Jesus’ words, ‘the fields are white (ready) for harvest (John 4:35). With his reference to the gift of evangelists, Paul underlines God’s purpose to rescue men and women and build his church. Every congregation needs to pray for, identify and support evangelists amongst them.

And there is another gift: pastors and teachers. Because Paul omits the definite article before teachers, he indicates that the gift of pastor and teacher is paired. A pastor is a teacher and a teacher a pastor. To teach God’s Word is to pastor God’s people. To be an effective Christian pastor, God’s Word needs to be explained and applied.

The pastor and teacher is given by God as a gift to guide and grow his people. The services for the ordination of ministers in the 1552/1662 Book of Common Prayer reflect these principles from Ephesians, applying them to ministers and bishops. They’re not super-holy people; rather, they are gifted as pastors and teachers.

Paul explains God’s purpose in giving these declaratory gifts to his people: To equip the saints (literally, the holy ones)for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (4:13).

God is committed to building his church, not just in number but also in maturity. And this is achieved primarily through the ministry of his Word. Evangelists have the task of reaching the wider community. Pastors and teachers are to equip God’s people so that we can all play a part in ministries to one another that promote our unity in Christ and our growth in knowing him. God wants us to become a healthy and mature body of people in our walk together with Christ.

Furthermore, he doesn’t want us to be fickle in our faith, tossed to and fro by every new teaching that arises, new teaching that might at first appear biblical, but which in fact takes us in a new direction that is not biblically-grounded – as happens in churches that are carried along by the culture.

In a world where progressive voices are subverting the Judaeo-Christian message, how much more do we need to grow in our knowledge of God and in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Essential to our growth and our voice in the wider community are the declaratory ministries of God’s Word. The ministries of evangelists and pastors and teachers are essential. We may pray for the ministers of our church, but do we also pray we can discern and support those in our midst to whom God has especially given the gift of evangelism?

And, if you will pardon a personal note, have you obtained a copy of my book, The Jesus Story: Seven Signs? It’s written as a refresher for God’s people and as a book to be passed on to people you know who don’t know what to believe. If you are in the US, you can use the link below. It’s available everywhere through Amazon.

A prayer. Lord Christ, eternal Word and Light of the Father’s glory: send your light and your truth so that we may both know and proclaim your word of life, to the glory of God the Father; for you now live and reign, God for all eternity. Amen.

© John G. Mason

One of the outcomes of the rapid development of cell phones is the extraordinary capacity for connectivity we all have. In nanoseconds we can reach people around the world while we sit on a train or wait for a bus. Yet there’s an irony. How often do we see people in twos or threes or more, sipping coffee or eating out together with their phones out? Their proximity to one another does not necessarily mean community. And how often does social media subvert meaningful communication: research is regularly revealing the destructive forces at work on personalities.

Created in the image of God we are designed for meaningful and joyful community.

Come with me to The Letter to the  Ephesians where a central theme unfolds: God is building a new society of people drawn from all the nations of the world. In chapter 4 he develops expectations for this new community. It’s a theme he is excited about.

Humility. Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, he writes in verse 1. On the night of his arrest, Jesus said to his disciples, “A new commandment I give you: that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Our problem is that we keep failing in this. Yet relationships amongst God’s people are so important that Paul tells us we need to work at them. He exhorts us:  Lead a life worthy of your calling, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4:2-3).

Consider the flipside of humility and gentleness: conceit and insensitivity. Wrapped up in themselves conceited people dismiss anyone for whom they have little regard. No, says Paul, you are called to humility and gentleness. These aren’t signs of weakness, but rather strength: it is only the strong who can be humble and caring.

To these qualities he adds patience, literally, longsuffering. The flipside is the quick-fire temper that explodes at the least provocation. Most of us have areas of our personality where we respond out of all proportion to a situation. It’s as though we have minefields in our lives. Some have very few mines and relate naturally and easily to others – even when they disagree. Others, however, have personality mines that explode when they encounter someone with whom they disagree. Indeed, it only takes one ‘walking minefield’ to destroy the morale and endeavor of a community.

How then can God’s people develop a genuine community? We have a resource and a model that no-one else has: the character of God. God is not without his points of conflict with us, but he is patient and has provided the means whereby he can forgive us. He doesn’t hold grudges and he doesn’t let his anger turn into bitterness.

If we call ourselves God’s people, we are to reflect these qualities in our relationships with one another. In fact, this is a request in The Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. We ought to be known as people who are forgiving, having a charitable spirit in all our relationships. It is inconsistent with our calling to be argumentative and explosive, bitter, resentful and complaining.

Now Paul is not saying that we should be long-suffering because we’re prepared to put up with anything. In verse 15 he says: But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,… Being long-suffering doesn’t mean there is no place for admonishment or exhortation. We are called to be non-judgmental. The quality we are to adopt is the spirit of love: love for God and love for one another: lead a life worthy of your calling.

Unity. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all (4:4-6).

How easy it is in life, even when we are at church, to forget the awesome, cosmic plan of the triune God – namely to draw together his people from throughout time and from all nations. Just as God is one, so his people are one, united through the work of the Spirit. As Jesus indicated to Nicodemus (John 3), it is the Spirit who gives us new birth and who awakens us to the binding power of the hope the Lord Jesus Christ holds out to us.

Furthermore, there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The one faith and one baptism are linked with one Lord because the Lord Christ Jesus is the object of our shared faith. We are not governed by a heavenly Committee but by a person – the exciting, mighty and powerful figure, Jesus Christ. He is the Lord who brings us together.

Paul lifts our gaze and our wonder to God the Father when he says there is one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all (4:6). In his Delighting in the Trinity Michael Reeves says, “It is only when we see that God rules his creation as a kind and loving Father that we’ll be moved to delight in his providence”.

Community. Indeed, because from eternity the triune God exists in relationship and because God has made us in his image, we are made first and foremost for relationship with him and, in turn with one another. No wonder we long for deep and lasting, meaningful and genuine relationships. It’s an essential part of our DNA. The starting point is our relationship with God.

Furthermore, as Paul has been explaining in chapters one through three, even though we have messed up and broken our relationship with God, such is his nature that he delights to love and give new life.

Surely we will want to pray that God’s Spirit and God’s Word will enable us to begin to experience the riches and beauty of God’s love and awaken us to a genuine love for him and for one another.

Tertullian, a 2nd century North African theologian and apologist wrote of the church of his time: “Look,” they say, “how they (Christians) love one another” (for they themselves, Romans, hate one another); “and how they (Christians) are ready to die for each other” (for they themselves, Romans, are readier to kill each other).

Most people I meet long, deep down, for meaningful relationships. Yet in a world where we are all encouraged to explore our self-identity, again and again, we experience proximity without community. How much more then should we bear witness to genuine community in our relationships with one another as God’s people, especially in the church we attend. But first we need to have a true relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who brings us and binds us together as his people in a new and true community.

A prayer. Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants grace by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and by your divine power to worship you as One: we pray that you would keep us steadfast in this faith and evermore defend us from all adversities; through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

How can we weather the challenges of our divided and uncertain world?

Come with me to Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 through 21 where the curtain over Paul the Apostle is drawn aside, and we are given a glimpse of him at prayer.

I kneel before the Father, he begins, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. Genesis chapter 1 tells us that God created us in his image, and it is therefore true to say that all humanity has its fatherhood or parentage in God. However, as the Bible unfolds, we see that there is a very special relationship between God and those who are personally drawn to him. Paul is echoing what Jesus taught his disciples: we can call God, ‘our Father’.

This really is an extraordinary privilege – to be able to call God ‘Father’. In fact, when we think about it, there is no higher honor that God could give us, for it means we stand in a very special relationship with him as his adopted sons and daughters. This awesome truth stands at the head of Paul’s prayer. And he prays that we might experience this awareness in our lives, so we can relax and enjoy the amazing privilege of being God’s special people at every twist and turn in life. Three themes stand out.

Inner strength. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit…

The work of the Spirit goes to the heart of our being. Despite what cosmetologists and exercise gurus want us to think, the truth is that our physical bodies are wasting away. The time will come, when as far as our physical body is concerned, there is little hope for the future. But Paul wants us to understand that it’s not all downhill.

If God is at work in our lives, changes for the better to our inner being can occur. It’s here we see the counter-cultural way God works as opposed to the way that the world expects him to work. The world expects God to work with great displays of power. Tempted to think this way too, we might say that God’s power is to be expressed in self-confidence, self-assertion, success. And when it comes to churches, it is thought that God’s power will be seen in high-powered church growth and in dramatic answers to prayer.

But God has a different plan. For the present he chooses to work in secret, changing us from the inside out, not the outside in. It’s an important distinction most of us miss. Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us at the very root of our character and our lives. He prays that God’s Spirit will so work in our lives and so teach us that we will be strengthened in our appetite for God and our love for and loyalty to Jesus. He wants us to focus our hope on Christ, to drop sinful habits and develop a new framework for living.

Paul says he wants to see the whole of our inner life affected by the Spirit — our hearts and affections, our will, our minds and decisions. It’s radical and it’s painful. Once the Holy Spirit starts to work in our lives, begins to probe, to question, to challenge, to discipline and to develop us, it hurts. For when he takes the Word of God and reaches to the very depth of our being, the Word becomes like a scalpel in his hands.

Transformation. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love(3:17).

This is the only place in the whole of the Bible that speaks about Christ dwelling in our hearts. Dwell means ‘settle down’, or ‘putting down roots’. Mixing his metaphors Paul prays that we will be well-rooted trees withstanding droughts, and well-built houses that can withstand hurricanes.

There will be many things in us with which Jesus Christ will not be comfortable. Repairs and renovation are needed in our lives. And anyone who has done house renovation and repairs knows it takes longer and costs more than originally expected.

Knowing that this kind of life-changing transformation is what God wants and knowing that it requires God’s power in our lives, Paul prays that God will do what is necessary to make our lives a fit home for his Son.

Christ’s Love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (3:18-19).

With imagery that awakens us to the complexity and profundity of God’s love – the breadth and length, and height and depth – Paul prays that we will know the love of Christ. He wants us not only to know but also to experience God’s love so that we may be able to say, and really know it and feel it in our hearts, ‘the Son of God gave himself for me.’

This genuine experience of Christ rarely comes to anyone who is not spending time in the Scriptures – for example, meditating on Ephesians chapter 1 through chapter 2, verse 10. The kind of mind-shift we need to prompt us to do this usually requires large explosive power. Sometimes God give us a wake-up call through hardship, bereavement or tragedy. Sometimes it’s not until we see material possessions for what they are, unsatisfying tchotchkes or knick-knacks, that we begin to comprehend the reality of God’s love.

Indeed, it’s only when God’s power is at work in our lives that we will begin to see what it meant for him to take on human form and enter our world, what it cost for him to suffer and die in our place. I pray, says Paul, that with all of God’s people, you experience the power of God’s love in your hearts, and knowing that experience, the fullness of joy with the transcendent Lord.

Beyond Imagination. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (3:20-21).

Paul’s words here startle and encourage us. Our thoughts and imaginations are lifted beyond time and space to the Lord himself. Significantly, the focus of God’s powerful work is amongst and through his people.

Too often we forget God’s awesome cosmic purposes. We focus too much on ourselves. Maybe we are content to swim in the shallows of faith rather than in the deep, clear waters of God’s love. For in his love God has far greater expectations for us than we can even begin to imagine.

A prayer. Almighty God, who taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit: so enable us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and always to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

© John G. Mason