Ephesians 2:1-10.                    ‘Me’ or God??                                    18/3/12

 (1)  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, {2} in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. {3} All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. {4} But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, {5} made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. {6} And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, {7} in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. {8} For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- {9} not by works, so that no one can boast. {10} For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 Here in the midst of Lent we are confronted with a real challenge to our Easter preparations; and in fact to our whole approach to life, both in the church and out in the world. This reading here gets right down to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. Therefore it challenges us to repent of our idolatry and turn back to what and who is truly important. At the same time it surely gives us the greatest encouragement and source of hope as we struggle on as God’s people in a sinful world.

 But, of course, this is a hard message for us to receive: it is a message that we have difficulty in accepting and coming to terms with. That is because it not only flies in the face of our modern day thinking and what we are taught from infancy; but also grates very strongly against our sinful human pride, that has been there in mankind since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden.

 Sadly also, this is a message that is very much out of vogue in many ‘Christian’ circles today as well. The whole ‘uni-bapti-costal’ movement is having a big influence on Christianity in the western world today, as it panders to the whims of our greedy, selfish humanity. And if we are honest with ourselves, we will also acknowledge that this thinking has spread into our own church and our own lives, like wildfire.

 Now it is here again, that we need to realize that we are confronted with two diametrically opposed thoughts and ideas. It is not that one is just a little different than the other, and that it can somehow be accommodated to a greater or lesser degree. At the heart of the issue we need to recognise that only one view is Christian; and the other is not; even if it is couched in ‘Christian’ talk.

 Now in its simplest form, it can be brought again down the point of who is at the centre of life and our thinking; is it ‘I,’ ‘Me’ and ‘myself,’ or is it God. Now our society says very clearly that you are the most important person in the world. Our very own thinking, says; ‘move over God, I want control over my own life. Now, just because some, so-called ‘Christians’ quote the Bible and talk in nice, flowery Christian terms, doesn’t necessarily make it right. In fact it makes it all the more dangerous. When the ‘I’ is placed before God, we are anti God and destined for Hell.

 What was Adam and Eve’s real sin? Was it eating the apple, or listening to the serpent? No. It was in wanting to be like or equal to God. It was wanting to have control over their own lives. Now before they ate from the tree, what did they have? Everything! They could do anything and everything except eat from one tree. They listened to the lie: ‘If you eat from the tree you will be like God in every way. You will know good and evil.’ Yet they knew all that was good. They had it all. All they gained was knowing evil; and it killed them. Their desire to be equal with God proved to be disastrous.

 That is the same for us today. How many of us are doing the very same thing. Move over God, I want some control over my own life. Even if it is just a bit. I know what is good for me. Yes, we hear it all the time; and we even say and think it ourselves. ‘I don’t need to go to church this week.’ ‘This or that part of the Bible is not relevant to us today.’ ‘I have to accept Jesus into my heart.’ ‘If I pray in the right way and say the right thing, then God will answer me.’ ‘It is my commitment, remembering, living as a Christian that makes me acceptable to God.’ And I could go on. But notice again, the I, me, my; move over God I want my place here.

 But what does the Bible tell us in this regard. ‘you were dead in your transgressions and sins,...... we were by nature objects of wrath. In Isaiah 64 we read how our very best actions are in God’s sight, as filthy rags. No even worse than filthy rags; as a rotten, soiled and stained pair of old underpants. Our whole orientation is away from God. By nature we are rebellious, selfish people. We have no worth – no value – in ourselves. We too only deserve to die. Whenever I put the focus here, on me; on my work; on my accepting; on my ignoring what God has to say to me in his Word; then I too am listening to the lie, and I am in big trouble. Throughout the Scriptures we see that this is God’s perceptions of me and my works.

 But in contrast to this, and in spite of this, we are reminded here that, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and even this not is from yourselves, it too is the gift of God. It is not by any works that we can or do perform. We have nothing that we can offer; nothing to give. But God in his graciousness; that is, in his love for us even though we don’t deserve it, takes this me and you and gives us forgiveness, hope and worth. He makes a new creation out of you and me: a creation that is not focussed on ‘me’, but on God alone.

 Out of his goodness, he takes our worthlessness and sin to the cross and is punished and dies in our place. In return he gives us his perfection; his goodness. He freely forgives us and accepts us as his brothers and sisters. At your baptism he personally gives you all the benefits that Christ has won for you and me. We are God's workmanship. ...... raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

 All we can do: All we are called and encouraged to do and need to do, is to trust that this is so, and to live in light of it. And that is faith; and even this not is from yourselves, it too is the gift of God. So God not only has saved us, but he works in us so that can know and believe in this Good News.

 So now we are able to go forward each day with a deep sense of trust and confidence, knowing that even though we and our world sins much, God has won through for us. Instead of looking within and at the world around us, which is constantly letting us down and selling us short, we can now look to God, in and through our Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, and know that there we have everything we need. God has already given it to us, even while we were dead in transgressions. So as we continue to look to him, focussing first and foremost on him, and trusting in him we are assured that everything will work out for good, to those who love him.

 Surely, knowing that Jesus has done everything for us and for our salvation, we can go forward with hope and confidence. Since he has begun this good work in us we can go forward each day, trusting that he will keep his promise and not allow anything in all of creation to separate us from his love, in Christ Jesus.

 Knowing that, we can then set about to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do just this. Because he is now our Lord and our Saviour we will go forward now to live and act just as he would have us. Instead of ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘myself being the centre of things, God is. So what he says, we will accept, and trust that he knows what he is talking about.

 Yes, this Lenten season let us again repent of our idolatry of putting ourselves and our ideas up on a pedestal. Let us turn away again from this thought of ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘myself being the centre of things, and give back God his rightful place in our lives and in our world. Let us go forward trusting that it is by grace alone that we have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Yes this God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is certainly a great God for extending his grace to us in this way. To him therefore belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish