The Sermon in a Nutshell: October 25

This week we finished our time in the book of Ephesians by looking at Ephesians 5:21-6:9. The sermon drawn from this text was called “The Church & Me: Called Out To Heal.” This Passage in Ephesians is one of the more controversial passages in the New Testament today. The phrases “wives submit to your husbands” (5:22), “children obey your parents,”(6:1) and “slaves obey your masters” (6:5) have been and are misused to justify women being treated as somehow “less human” than men, parents stifling their children's individuality, and the exploitation of people's labor for the benefit of the few. When we come to a controversial section of Scripture like this, it is important that we dig our heels in and take a fresh look at it so that we can see what it is really trying to teach us. As we take a closer look at this passage, it becomes clear that this passage is essential to our growth in our Christian walks. You see, this passage isn't about Paul telling women, children, and workers that they exist for the benefit of the men in their lives. Rather, this passage speaks to all of the most basic social relationships we find ourselves in.
In Ephesians 5:21-6:9 Paul speaks to wives and husbands, children and parents, employees and employers and supervisors and tells all of them to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (5:21). The passage goes on to show what this looks like in the lives of husbands, wives, etc. To summarize Paul's teaching, submitting to one another means keeping Christ in the center of all of our relationships. So wives aren't blindly commanded to submit to their husbands, rather they are to follow their lead just as the church follows Christ's lead (5:24). Husbands aren't to simply love their wives, they are to love their wives as Christ loved the church (5:25). Parents aren't given free reign over their children, they are commanded to raise their children to know the Lord (6:4). It is in the context of parents raising children in the knowledge of Christ that children are commanded to obey their parents. Finally, both slaves and masters, employees and employers are reminded that they share a common master to whom they must both submit and give their obedience.
The reason God gives us this teaching through Paul in Ephesians is that sin has made a mess of our relationships. Sin drives a wedge between people where God intended for them to be united in love. Part of the good news of the salvation offered in Jesus Christ is that God is healing all the relationships that sin has broken and in this process, the church is called out to heal. So as husbands follow Christ's example of self-giving love, marriages are healed. As wives follow Christ's example of freely chosen submission to the Father, marriages are healed. As parents raise their children to know Jesus and as children follow this instruction, families are healed. As employees do their work in a way that honors their Heavenly Boss, the workplace is healed. As employers and supervisors lead by example, just as Christ did, and treat their employees with integrity, the workplace is healed.
My prayer for you this week is that your eyes would be firmly fixed on Christ so that you not only obey His commands but that you also follow His example. As you do this, know that you are taking part in God's healing ministry of salvation. Amen.