Welcome to our Sunday morning service at 10 am at Clevedon. Join us in person or watch the live stream on our YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxBzxjBb3xU8ra2NHwvD_9A  (The service can also be viewed at any time afterwards.)

You can read the Reading for today, and the Reflection, below:

Body Building                

Ephesians 4:1-8, 11- 16

1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people." 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

You’re gathered in someone’s house, surrounded by a mixed group of people. Some come from Jewish backgrounds, while others are more used to worshiping the gods of Rome or Athens.

You see women, men, young and old, and possibly even some slaves.

Perhaps the only thing you all have in common is that you share the extraordinary testimony that this crucified and risen Jesus has touched your life. And now, you’re wondering what your future looks like together.

A small group of people are coming together to hear the scripture read, to pray, to share food, and to share their skills, gifts, and resources in ways that serve their communities and witness to Jesus and His commitment, especially to the poor.

 It might be easy to overlook, but our reading today begins with a reminder that Paul is writing this letter to the Ephesians from prison. He refers to himself as "a prisoner for the Lord."

Where is the Good News being proclaimed? In a prison. From a prison.

And if the Gospel can be proclaimed in a prison, then yes, God is also present in your small, diverse, uncertain gatherings.

The Gospel—the Good News of Jesus—is proclaimed in the most unlikely of places.

Let’s think about the big picture for a moment. Those Jewish Christians in Ephesus would have known the great stories of their scriptures: God present, lifting and creating from chaos; God present with the Hebrews in their imprisonment in slavery, in the imprisonment of the desert, and in their captivity in Babylon.

And now, as they listened, they heard about God present at the stable for animals at Christmas time. The Good News announced to shepherds.

All that time Jesus spent with tax collectors and sinners—the kind of people who might expect to end up in prison.

The calling of fishermen as His first disciples. The first proclamation of His resurrection by a group of women—Mary, the first witness of the resurrection, may well have had the job of hairdresser.

Paul is back in prison.

Don’t we start to see a pattern here? The Good News in the most unlikely places.

Wherever we are, even in the most difficult situations where there seems to be no future, there is still a powerful proclamation of the Gospel: "I, therefore, a prisoner in the Lord."

Some of the most profound messages this church has received over the last century have come from prison.

Nelson Mandela wrote from prison.

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote from a jail in Birmingham. He wrote the letter on the margins of a newspaper, which was the only paper available to him, and then gave bits and pieces of the letter to his lawyers. He wrote,

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis, also wrote from prison:

"The Church is the Church only when it exists for others... not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell every person of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others."

So we start with a message today about a calling: to live for Christ, to exist for others.

As unlikely as it is, this message from prison focuses on calling.

There is no place, time, or point in our lives where we are not being called, even in prison.

How are we to speak when we are in Ephesus? To each other? And to people who know nothing about this new faith?

"I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Paul writes to us about our life together in a world that is largely ignorant, partly hostile, and partly indifferent to the message of the

Gospel.

We are told that among us is a diversity of gifts—we each have something to offer for the good of the whole, "to equip the saints for ministry."

The word "equip" is a really interesting one. The word comes from the Greek katartismos, meaning "to reconcile," "to set bones," "to restore," "to create," "to prepare."

We grow in our own faith, we use our gifts to grow together, and we grow as the body of Christ. And we equip each other for ministry, whether that’s in prison or among the people and communities we are part of.

Sometimes I think we undervalue this Spirit-led witness found in the simple act of coming together. The very effort you made this morning to come to church, to listen on our YouTube channel.

A couple of Sunday nights ago, I was talking to the father of one of the children at our HATCH Sunday evening dinners.

The family had driven from Pukekohe, and he said words to the effect  "I’d forgotten that places like this existed anymore. I’ve never come across them before."

I found this interesting and asked him what he meant.

He said, "There’s that old guy over there—he must be in his 80s—and then that mother with the new baby, and here I am with my kids, and we are all lining up to have dinner together."  A young man who was doing his community service as part of a Duke of Edinburgh-type award is serving us dinner.

He said that there is no other opportunity, no other time in his family’s life where they do this—where they can mix with a whole diverse community of people.

Maybe this is an important witness:  It was way back then in Ephesus. A place where katartismos is happening. New bones are being set. Reconciliation, restoration, creation.

This body of Christ is formed by us together.

Last week there was an article in the New York Times. The writer was reflecting on the fact that he had 300 friends on his Facebook page but not a single person he could call to meet for coffee. Maybe Social Media creates a new kind of prison.

Sin divides us. We hear almost every day about the devastating effects of division, isolation, and loneliness.

I think every human society is in desperate need of communities of faith where belief and practice come together. 

Our Communion this morning. This Sacrament. Reminding us of the sacred importance of coming together. Building one another up.

Coming together today. Forming and growing as the body of Christ.

AMEN.