Ephesians 1:3-14

I wonder if you’ll take your right hand, and cross your middle and forefingers. Got it?  Long before this little gesture came to represent promising something that you had no intention of ever keeping, or standing for a wish for good luck, these crossed fingers had a deeper meaning. Our Christian ancestors used this sign when they shook hands with others. To the uninitiated, a hand clasp with crossed fingers probably felt like the other person had a deformed hand. But to those in the know, it was a secret code. It was the sign of the cross, and it helped Christians identify other Christians in those days when you could be killed for being a Christian. And it also became a secret sign of grace! By offering a handshake to another person, and quietly crossing the fingers, Christians imparted a non-verbal blessing to even the strangers they met. Silently, they would say, “Christus Victor” which means “May Christ be victorious in your life.”And by using this little ritual with everyone they met, Christian people reminded themselves of the sacred value and dignity of the lives of all others. It was like a string tied around their finger, reminding them that their role in life is to bless and love others.

Turn right now to someone next to you and give them a handshake using the crossed fingers. And silently pray as you do, “Christus Victor!”

Sometime around 60 AD, a letter attributed to St. Paul was written to a group of churches in Asia Minor. The letter came eventually to be identified with the house church in a city located in modern-day Turkey. The city is called Ephesus. And Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is a crucially important Christian document. In it, Paul tries to lift the eyes of Christian believers above and beyond the clouds of their own daily religious battles – their pet peeves, personal interests and parochial understandings of the Gospel. Paul calls these Christians to look higher, and catch sight of God’s larger vision for the church and for the world.

And, for Paul, the larger vision that really matters, that we Christians need to take hold of, is something called grace.

We Christians love to say the word. We love to sing about how amazing grace is. But I don’t think we really understand grace. And many of us are pretty reluctant to actually embrace and live out the life of grace. So Paul writes this letter to people like us. “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus -Tellico – and elsewhere – and are faithful in Christ Jesus: GRACE TO YOU, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a love letter to you and me about grace.

You know, people today want to know how to live “right lives” – lives that are spiritually fulfilling, morally sound, psychologically healthy, personally gratifying, and socially responsible. The Bible tells us that the answer to these needs, in a word, is grace.

People today are interested in how they can build stronger marriages, relationships and families, how they can heal from life’s wounds and losses, how they can find joy in life, how they can make a difference in the world. The answer to these aspirations, in a word, is grace.

And I think people wonder and worry today – especially in our changing world – about how to find our way. How to understand and relate with people who look different, who think differently, and whose lives reflect different values than ours. Great cultural shifts have taken place during our lifetime, altering our old ideas about the relationships between men and women, between Americans and Russians, between blacks and whites. And speaking of change, did you know that within just a few years, America’s predominant ethnic group will be Hispanic, and we White Anglo-Saxon Protestants will, for the first time, become a minority group in America? Within a few years, Islam will more effectively compete with Christianity as the religion of preference in the African American community. And in the years to come, there will be more retired people than ever before! If you think it’s hard to get a good tee time now…just wait!

So how can you and I find our way through this confusing and changing world? The answer, in a sentence, is to not get bogged down in little things, but to rise up to grace.

“Grace to you…” writes St. Paul to Christians living in a sea of change. Grace! Grace! Grace! Three times Paul mentions the word in the first fourteen verses. That’s what we need to catch hold of in times like these. God’s freely and lavishly given love! We need grace. We need to receive grace. We need to give grace. We need to live in grace. We need to believe in grace.

Now, in listening to the Scripture lesson a moment ago, you probably didn’t get the full effect of Paul’s powerful use of written language in this grace-letter to the Ephesians. Verses 3 through 14  are actually written as one big uninterrupted sentence. In fact, this is an ancient hymn. It is an early Christian doxology. We might even say it’s the original version of Amazing Grace. And in this beautiful hymn, Paul outlines the life of grace.

This morning, I want to introduce you to the first component of living the life of grace. In the weeks to come, we’ll go deeper and discover more. But today, let’s begin with this: Paul points out that the life of grace that will safely and successfully lead us through these confusing times starts when you and I begin living lives that are holy and blameless before God.

Now, before you give up on yourself because you know full well that you’re not even close to being holy and blameless, come take a closer look at what Paul is saying here. You and I, Paul says, have been chosen by God to be holy and blameless before HIM!

Last week, we studied Jesus’ return to his hometown of Nazareth. The people there took offense at him. And one of the reasons they took offense was because Jesus was accompanied by people described as prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners. These certainly were not holy people like the people of Nazareth who followed the religious law and went to church every Sabbath. These certainly were not blameless people like the local folks who worked hard to make a living, and faithfully raise their children, and tried their best to be good citizens. Why, if anyone was close to being holy and blameless, it was the citizenry of Jesus’ hometown, not these riff-raff.

And yet, Jesus – in a shocking reversal of conventional wisdom – makes a surprising announcement! These seamy characters who follow him – these prostitutes and tax collectors and sinners – are actually the ones who are holy and blameless! And these fine upstanding citizens of Nazareth are anything but!

What a scandal! How can this be?

Well, the people of Nazareth, I suppose you could say, were indeed holy and blameless – when measured in human terms. They kept all the right rules. They said all the right words. They believed all the right beliefs. They lived pretty good lives. But while they may have looked like pretty hot stuff in human terms, they weren’t holy and blameless before God. Why? Because God measures holiness and blamelessness differently than people do.

Listen to St. Paul. God chose us to be…” holy and blameless before him….in LOVE.”

What was the difference between the good people of Nazareth who were missing God’s boat, and this bunch of humanity’s bad apples that Jesus declared would inherit the kingdom of God?

Why, love was the difference.

The tax collectors and sinners who followed Jesus were with him because – having been first loved by Jesus – they had now enrolled in Jesus’ traveling School for Advanced Studies in Divine Love. The “good” people of Nazareth, on the other hand, didn’t want any part of that love. They were too busy taking offense at these people. Too busy counting their sins and flaws. Too busy figuring out how to get these awful people out of their fine, holy town before they ruined it.

You see, living a life that is holy and blameless means living a life of love before God. It means learning from Jesus how to receive and how to dispense grace. God’s expectations for people are much simpler than most people think. They go like this: you’ve received God’s love through the gift of Jesus Christ – now your job is to give it away! Share it with others! Spread it throughout the world! It’s as simple as that! And to be holy and blameless is not about becoming the next Pope! It’s about learning to love! According to the Bible, to be holy and blameless before God is to be in love. It is to be a good steward of the gift of the divine graceyou’ve received!

I wonder if you’ve ever noticed something odd about those grubby people who traveled with Jesus in his School For Advanced Studies in Divine Love? They were the constant object of others’ criticism. And yet, there is no recorded instance of them ever criticizing anybody in return! They were people whose lifestyles and afflictions caused other people to shun them and do terrible things to them. And yet, there is no record anywhere of them ever turning away another person, or retaliating against those who’d hurt them. They were people who lived so far out on the edges of society that they were mostly dirt poor. And yet, the Bible tells us they generously shared everything they had, and even sold what few possessions they had to help those in need.

These prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners were learning and practicing the life of grace! And as they lived in love before God, they were holy and blameless!

Would you like to enroll in Jesus’ School For Advanced Studies in Divine Love? Would you like to learn how be holy and blameless before God in love? If you would, you’ll need to understand that this is not a school of concepts and ideas, but an institute of very practical day-to-day graceful living.

I’ve been enjoying a book by Leonard Sweet in which he says that living the life of grace requires you to take on new daily habits. As an example, here are five daily habits that have become important in his life. Perhaps they’ll give you some ideas about some down-to-earth ways for living the life of grace.

The first very practical grace-habit Leonard Sweet practices is trying to turn his criticism of others into a celebration of them. He says he has learned that he has no right to criticize another person if he can’t first celebrate the beauty of that person. “If I can’t say three positive things about someone and lift her up with prayer and thanksgiving to God, I have no warrant for complaint” he writes. What would happen in your neck of the woods if you replaced criticism with celebration? You see, that’s grace!

Second, Leonard says he tries to substitute understanding for argument. He says he no longer lets himself get into an argument with anybody unless he can first state their position back to them in such a way that they approve and agree that he understands what they’re really saying. What a wonderful gift to give to others! Taking the time to truly listen and truly understand where they’re coming from. Leonard says it’s surprising how many times this little grace-habit has required him to keep his mouth shut. What good things might happen if you practiced that habit in your life? And that’s grace!

A third very practical daily grace-habit Leonard Sweet has taken up is to listen to friends for confidence and courage, but to listen to enemies for wisdom and information. Our enemies, he says, are sometimes the best source of helping us understand how we need to change and grow. But to learn from our enemies requires us to see them as fellow human beings.

George Orwell once told the story of his experience during the Spanish Civil War. He and a fellow soldier went out one morning as snipers, looking for Fascists to shoot in the trenches across the way. At one point in the battle, a man jumped out of the trench and ran along the top of it in full view. He was only half-dressed, and holding up his trousers with both hands as he ran. Orwell says he put his gun sight on the man, and began to squeeze the trigger. But he couldn’t go through with it. Orwell says it was because of the trousers! He says he had gone there that day to shoot at “Fascists”, but a man who’s running, holding up his trousers with both hands isn’t a “Fascist”, but a fellow human being.

Jesus told us to love our enemies, and part of that is seeing our foes as fellow humans, and letting them teach us about ourselves. And that’s grace!

Fourth, Leonard Sweet says he has a choice every day. He can either spread kudos…or kudzu. Kudos are compliments. Kudzu are complaints and criticisms that spread like kudzu! And eventually, kudzu chokes the life out of everything it touches. Leonard says he’s gone into training to earn a black belt in kudos! He wants to become a compulsive complimenter! I dare say, the world is made a better place by people who look for good things to say about others.  What would happen among your family and friends if you become a champion of kudos? And that’s grace!

And finally, Leonard Sweet has taken up the grace-habit of trying to de-chip his shoulders. He asks, “Why do Christians have such a tremendous capacity to take offense? Most of what hurts and offends us are matters of the highest inconsequence.” And so, Leonard works very hard every day at desensitizing himself from taking offense at what others say and do. And that, he says, has made it possible to be a more loving friend, a more loving husband, a more loving father, a more loving neighbor. How would things be different in your life if you de-chipped your shoulders? And that’s grace!

Now these are all just little ways of living before God in love. None of them is overtly “religious”, but all of them have the power of putting people in touch with the amazing grace of God.

So join me today! Let’s sign up for the next semester in Jesus’ School for Advanced Studies in Divine Love. And as we do, God promises that he’ll make us – yes, crusty, earthy, extremely flawed US – into a holy and blameless people!

Now cross your fingers, and go love the world!