These words still have much meaning for us, as the Church, today. We still have a responsibility to study and know God's word, to learn from Jesus' teachings and examples, to spread the Word for Him and to serve Jesus as His body. I feel that sometimes we, as Methodists, have come under much scrutiny because we are not as verbal and visible with our faith as other denominations. Do we believe that we have a responsibility to know God and His Word? Do we believe that we are called to bring others to know God? Do we believe that we are the body of Christ? The answer is YES, we do believe all these things that Paul addressed in his writings. I think the criticism from the outside world comes because we are not always purposeful about how we show our faith. I believe that our faith is not any less meaningful than others, we just have a more intrinsic definition of "being faithful" means to us. I grew up in the Methodist Church and I freely admit to being very set in my beliefs, but after reading this passage I am trying to look at myself through Paul's eyes to see if he would be praising God for my life. I see a constant struggle to remove myself from my "comfort zone" and make my faith more apparent to others. Past experiences have made me a strong believer that God has a plan for my life, but can people see that on the outside? Do I live my life as an example of Christ's love to those around me? Am I being obedient to God in bringing others into my faith? Am I fulfilling Jesus as a member of His Church? I am going to challenge myself daily to be in prayer for myself and others to find new ways to show God's love to everyone in everything we do. I hope you will do the same. We are all here to do God's work and reap the ultimate benefit of eternal life in Heaven, don't we want everyone we know to be there too?
What do you think Paul would have to say about our church if he were here today?
Christianity is a religion. Salvation, the product of our Christianity, is a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Trinity. Elements of this vital relationship are rich familiarity, unwavering trust, deep love and appreciation. All the way through the Bible, we're told that the condition of the "heart" is so important. The heart is where this vital relationship takes place. The first mention of heart is found in Gen 6:5 in the time of Noah. God said of man that "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually". The sixth Beatitude, Matt 5:8,"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." In Proverbs, our book of wisdom "heart" is spoken of 75 times in 31 chapters. Eph 1 :18 reads (depending on your translation) "By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light....". On a wall at home, is a prayer, "Angel of my heart, help me be humble,kind-hearted ,and tender like Thee". As we will soon blog--Eph 3:17, "May Christ dwell in your hearts by faith." It starts in the heart, grows from the heart. May my heart enlarge itself to receive and welcome the things of the LORD. Amen
ReplyDeletePaul is proud of what the Ephesian church is doing in relation to Jesus Christ. They are providing a witness. I agree with Kim that as Methodist we don't always feel comfortable about sharing our witness. The truth is we try to fulfill what we think is a witness. Some think they must know a lot of scripture. It is always good to know God's word, but we don't have to be "scripture quoters" to be an effective witness. All we really have to do is to share how we feel about Jesus and what he has been doing in our life. That doesn't mean that our witness has to be dramatic, like Paul's. Most of our relations with Jesus are not dramatic, but they are very ordinary daily encounters. A witness is someone who gives a first hand account of how Jesus has and is working in their life. Most of us need to know that we can meet Jesus in the everyday walk of life. Our simple sharing of how God helped us through the loss of a loved one or how one was able to endure a difficult situation may be all that someone needs to help them realize that Jesus is there for them as well. I think we need more from us Methodists of how Jesus is impacting our lives. A hurting world needs to know about the comfort, strength, courage, and presence that Jesus offers to each one of us. You may be the one that God will use to touch the need of someone you come in contact with today or this week. May God bless you and give you the courage to have a genuine witness.
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