Have you seen the movie The Incredibles? It’s a cute little movie that Disney and Pixar put out a few years ago. It is about a family of superheroes. They have gone underground, because one of them rescued someone who didn’t want to be rescued and sued the superhero. So the government ruled that superheroes were no longer allowed to be super. They could only be like everyone else. But they weren’t. They didn’t fit in. They couldn’t hide who they really were, even though they tried. It is a terrible feeling when you find yourself in a situation where you don’t fit in or belong. Have you ever had the experience where you feel like you just don’t fit in or belong? It is a horrible feeling. It is a terrible experience.
I am sure that most of us can relate to that. Unfortunately most of us know what it is like to be left out. We know how it feels to be the last kid chosen on the team. We have experienced that time where you were different from everyone else, and all the awkwardness that comes along with that.
But this is an issue that isn’t limited to kids alone. Because adults can and do, have this experience too. Although we would prefer that we don’t, and so we pretend that we don’t. But adults have this kind of thing happen to them too. We like to compare ourselves to other people. As long as we come out on top in the comparisons we feel good, but if the other person comes out as better than us, than we feel bad. So life becomes one big competition where I am simple trying to outdo the person next to me. We try to be the best or have the best, not because we value quality, but because it allows us to see ourselves as better than others. And if we are better than others, well then we have value. But that is no way to live.
It seems that with each passing day we find ourselves living more and more in a world where the value of people is being reduced. Your value is based on what you do, or on what you produce. We live in a society where more and more people are reduced to numbers. So we find ourselves as nameless, faceless numbers. We have employee numbers, Student numbers, Social security numbers, account numbers, credit card numbers. When a person is reduced to a number or value based on what they have or do, well it is easy to fell lost.
We know this isn’t exactly right. We know, because inside of us there is something screaming that there is more to life than our numbers, grades, jobs or what we produce or even having the right behavior. There is more to a person, and more value to a person than what they do. So what do we do with this?
Wow. That’s kind of a bleak picture isn’t it? Hey. Way to go, Pastor. Nothing like starting out a brand new year on a positive note. Right? You know, just because you are disappointed in the bowl games yesterday, doesn’t mean you have to drag the rest of us down too. Well, if this were all that was there, then I suppose it would be a terrible note to start the new year. But it is not. And that is the point of this text from Ephesians today.
This whole life thing that our God gives to us a great blessing and a gift. It is not just something to be endured or survived. But it some to be experience, lived to the fullest. We live in a creation that is beautiful and vast. We live as a community of faith where we have a family who really loves and cares about us, no matter what. Life lived in relationship with one another and with our God is awesome. It is, well, Incredible. And this is what our text points us to. But it does it in a way, that when you pause to take a moment to understand it, will take your breath away.
Ephesians 1:3-14 is a single sentence in the Greek. That is 201 nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions and conjunctions all working together to show us, to give us a glimpse, to allow us to see the awesomeness of our God, and just how incredible he is.
So we begin with God. That is a good place to start. The Scriptures begin that way. In the beginning God… God so loved… God said. It is easy for us to lose sight of beginning with God. He is main, he is central. It is all about him. So this is a good reminder. God is the beginning, with the big things, like creation. And with the little things too, whether those are things that cause us to wring our hands, or things that bring joy and warmth to our hearts. So we begin with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.
God blesses us. This is who God is. This is what God does. And the blessings that he blesses us with, well they are no small potatoes. But everything that we have, we have from our God; house and home, food, clothing, our bodies and lives, our families. He also gives to us forgiveness, life and salvation. He gives us himself and is always with us. Our God daily and richly blesses us with more blessings than we could ever count.
God chose us. He chose you. He chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world. He didn’t choose you because of what you do, or how much stuff you have, or how good of a life you live. He didn’t choose you reluctantly, or because he felt sorry for you. But he purposely, joyfully, wonderfully chose you, to be his own dearly loved daughters and sons in the waters of Holy Baptism. He chose you to be his. And you are.
God destined or predestined, depending on your English translation. But the point here is this was no mistake. Life is not just random chance. Your life is not just random. But that God destined, means that there is a place where he wants you, a purpose that he has for you. You are valuable. God chose you. He has plans for you; in what you do with your life to bring him glory, and to live in his love and salvation in Jesus. You are not here randomly or by mistake. But this, is the body of Christ. You belong here. We need you.
God gives grace freely. It is his joy to do this. We do not have it by right. But we have it because of who our God is, and the love that he has for each one of us. We have it for the sake of Jesus. Who loved us so much that he gave up his life on the cross that we would have forgiveness and healing and restoration in our relationships with God and with one another. God delights in you and it is his joy to give this to you freely for the sake of Jesus. This is what grace is.
God doesn’t just give us this grace, but he lavishes it on us. Paul is very fond of this word. Of the 78 times you will find it in the New Testament, Paul uses it 45. He uses the word “lavish” lavishly. It is a way of illustrating with words how much God gives to us. This means that we can’t run out of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love. These things God pours out into our lives lavishly. There is an endless supply. Every time we ask for forgiveness. We receive it. Every time we ask for help, it is given. Every time we need a second, third or fourth chance, it is there. God is lavish with his grace.
God makes known to us the mystery of his will. That is, he lets us in on what he is doing in our world. He lets us in on the ways that he works and the things that he does. He does this through his word. He lets us in on the actual work as he invites us to join him.
God gathers up, bring to fulfillment. This gathering up is being gathered up into or under Christ. It is only in Jesus that we are truly healed and whole. It is only him that we experience life in abundance and in the way that it was meant to be lived. Just as God has brought us together in Jesus, and into this community of faith, so too he is working in our world to bring back, to restore all of creation back to himself. We, who have been reconciled back to our God, also get to be ministers of reconciliation as we share God’s love and grace and mercy and forgiveness in Jesus with the world around us.
So when you consider all of this, well I think that you have to include that it is, well incredible. In a world where we don’t always feel that we fit in or have value or something that is noteworthy that others should look up to, we always have the love of our God in Jesus. That gives to you great value. You matter. You are important.
Where this really has an impact on a community is when they see themselves this way, and they see one another in the same way too. If God loves me this way, then I know he loves you this way too, so that should impact how I see and treat you. It is really a wonderful thing. Not a bad way to start a new year. Not a bad way to do ministry either.
May you grow in your knowledge and understanding of God’s incredible love for your and may that be a source of identity, comfort and strength. Now and always. Amen.
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