Alive in Christ

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Ephesians 2:1-10 (NRSV)

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through 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 ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards 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 the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

John 3:14-21 (NRSV)

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’

Message

This morning we enter our fourth Sunday in the season of Lent. This is the oldest and most sacred time in the Christian Year. In our Christian history it was Easter and the preparation time for Easter that was among the holiest of our practices. This was the time for all of us to look again at our lives. As Terry reminded us on the first Sunday in Lent, this is a time of

Reflection

Preparation

Correction and

Renewal.

On the second Sunday in Lent, we were call to this life in Christ which directs us to deny ourselves as greater or lesser than anyone else. We are to deny ourselves as god and welcome Christ Jesus as our Lord, the perfect exemplar of the selfless and loving path to God. We were to then take up this cross of the Christian life, that is to take up this way of Jesus which was the way of a convicted criminal. This way of Jesus that broke down the inequalities of his society and called all people to a full relationship with God. And we were asked to follow.

Last Sunday, the third Sunday in Lent, we had our Conference minister the Reverend Dr. Mary Susan Gast with us. She brought us the message of the Divine Economy. The abundance of grace and love in Jesus Christ given to all who will welcome this love into their lives. It is there for everyone - fully there.

This morning we are challenged to reflect deeply on what it means to be alive in Christ, really alive, eternally alive.

In the Letter the the Ephesians, the writer is reminding believers what it means to be a church of the way of Jesus Christ. He reminds them that there is evil in the world, it is real. How did evil get to be in the world? Most theologians would say that it came through human’s choice to act against the will and vision of God. My grandmother would say that it came through an evil being, the devil. The problem with this of course that we hold no responsibility if the devil made us do something.

This passage from Ephesians does say there is evil in the world. The passage does say that there are people who act in ways that are evil. The passage also says that God’s love and mercy are far more abundant. If a person chooses to turn his or her life around, God will be there with mercy and love to help them face the life path they have chosen.

Consider the greats of our faith. So many of them had such imperfect lives that we look simple in comparison. Abraham, a person who tried to pawn off his wife as his sister in order to get in good with the king of Gerar (Genesis 20:1-2). Jacob was the one who tricked is father for a blessings, tricked his brother out of his inheritance, tricked his father-in-law out of a large flock (Genesis 27-28) and later became the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. Moses, a murderer ( Exodus 2:11-12), became the liberator of a people, And so many more, King David, Jonah, and in the Christian testament there are Peter, Paul, and yes, Mary just to name a few.

God has abundant mercy and love if we will only turn around and embrace this way of God. The writer says Eph 2:10 For we were created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life...

The Gospel declares that the love of God is so vast and this world so important to God that God came to be among us in the person of Jesus. It was the incarnation of God’s abundant love that both frees us and judges us. We have seen in Jesus the way we are to live. We now know that it is possible to live in the world and in relationship with God. If you seek to do this, you will have life that is truly alive. You feel it. You know it when you take meals to the rotating Shelter. You feel it when you bring what you can to FISH. You know it when you help with the Memorial Garden, or visit with one another in Shephard Hall. To be in Christ is to touch life that is really alive. The Gospel writer says that we have eternal life in Jesus Christ - now. That is the amazing thing. That life in Christ , that life that is eternal is glimpsed in us, now. It is through us that the work of Christ continues, the eternal work. And as each new generation comes into being,, the story is new again.

God sent Jesus out of love for the world. There are churches that teach that the world is all evil and just a station on our way to the great heavenly eternal life. They have missed the fullness of this passage. Jesus comes to the world because God so LOVED the world. This world is worth everything to God.

And with the coming into the world, light has come. We now know how we are to act with one another. We are to act justly, not less than another, not greater than another. We are to act with one another the way Jesus acted with kindness and with courage.

We do this because, as the writer to the Ephesians puts it, this is what we are created in Christ to do.

That “we” in Ephesians was not we as individuals. In the letter to the Ephesians it is the “we” of the church. “We” as a church are created in Christ. We through our baptism have become a new creation. We no longer belong just to ourselves. We recognize that God has loved us and welcomed us as children of God. We belong to God.

That “we” of the church made new creations in baptism were called to act as Christ in the world. And each church even in the time of Paul had it’s own character and with that its own mission.

We, too, church have been called to be alive in Christ now, to let the eternal break through us that we together can bring the good news of Jesus Christ, the news that the world can be a place where all people are welcome into relationship with God. A place where fairness and truth bring healing and hope. And every church in the time of the Ephesians discerned how they would live out the service of being part of the Body of Christ in their time and place. Every church today must still discern how we are to live out our mission and ministry in this Jesus.

Next Sunday, we will have a listening session to think about the mission and ministry that we are called to do in this time and place.

A colleague of mine gave me these three criteria for discerning the mission and ministry of a church.

Does the ministry and mission unify us in our Christian effort?

Does the mission and ministry build us up in numbers or/and in faith?

Does the mission and ministry practice good stewardship of our resources, our buildings, grounds, our volunteer energy and time?

Each of these takes as its foundation Jesus Christ. It is with faith in the Holy Spirit that we discern what it is that we are to unite in doing which will build us up and use our resources well as we live out our call to be Christ’s people in this time and place.

God so loved this world that God came to be among us in this world. God came that we might have life and have it abundantly NOW. It is now that we are to go out into the world and share that life with others. It is not a life that promises an easy road. It is not a life that promises wealth or health. It is a road the promises glimpses of the eternal. It promises that you will know it when you feel it, think it, see, it, you will know that you have glimpsed something greater than yourself. And for a moment we stepped into eternal life, right now, in this time and place, for God so loved this world.

Alive in Christ

Listen to the sermon on your computer. Just click on the link above, to listen to this sermon.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NRSV)

John 3:14-21 (NRSV)

Message

Listen to the sermon on your computer.

Just click on the link above, to listen to this sermon.