If
God Had To Start Over
Rev. Dr. Mark Porizky
5/27/06
Ephesians 1:1-14
Paul,
an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To
the saints who are in and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just
as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and
blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his
children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to
the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In
him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With
all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his
will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as
a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in
heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an
inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who
accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that
we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of
his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal
of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
Iggy was on death row when my sister, Janet Saltmarsh, first saw him. She
says as she walked the long corridor, past the dozens of others facing an
imminent demise, Iggy watched her through the bars of his cage. Right away,
Janet said, she knew that Iggy was the one she had come for.
She paid the animal shelter $50 and took Iggy, the new family dog, home
with her.
But Janet said that adjusting to life with the Saltmarsh family wasn't as
easy for Iggy as she thought it would be. He must have been abused in the past,
because he cowered every time she approached him. And even though my sister
saved him from the gas chamber with the intention of feeding him, playing with
him, loving him, and even spoiling him, he apparently tried to run away two or
three times.
Finally, Iggy got past the
desire to run away. Then he began to
develop other problems, like acute separation anxiety. I guess he decided that
since he no longer wanted to leave, surely those around him must be planning to
leave. Every time my
sister goes outside, Iggy goes a little nuts. He shadows her every step, and if
she steps outside without him—even for a moment—he sits at the door and
whines. When I was in
The imaginary fence...was real. Iggy had just jumped over their electric dog fence. He shocked himself rather than let Janet leave. I was amazed. Clearly, Iggy has some abandonment issues to deal with.
If I could speak Iggy's language, I would say to him, "Relax.
Everything is going to be OK. You are part of a family, and they love you and
will take care of you. Whatever happened in the past is past. You're with a
family who loves you now. Your life
is different. Enjoy it."
That's what I would say if I could speak dog.
Unfortunately I don't speak dog. I
tried saying it to him in English, but I don't think he gets it. So, for now, at
least, Iggy remains cute, but kind of neurotic.
In the church, I have met a few Iggys. In fact, there have been times in
my own spiritual life when I have related to God exactly the way Iggy relates to
my sister: Timid, cowering, wanting to run away, yet afraid of being
abandoned—and not having a clue about what it means to be part of God's
family.
Today we're beginning a new series on the book of Ephesians.
For the next 10 weeks we will work our way through the book of Ephesians.
Today we'll look at the passage I
read just a few minutes ago, Ephesians 1:1-14.
The opening passage here in Ephesians offers the reader (or listener)
three important ideas about our identity as Christians. These
three truths are offered to you that you might experience a greater sense of
spiritual confidence than you have ever known. Here's the first thing I want you
to realize.
1. You've been on God's mind from the beginning.
Paul
says,
(v.
4) God chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world,
Scripture says God chose us.
Long ago. Before I talk about
what it means to be chosen, recall a time in your life when you were not chosen.
It doesn’t take me very long to remember the horrors of my fifth grade
year.
Before I began fifth grade, my family moved to a new town.
During the summer before school began I ran afoul of the two most popular
kids in school. I did the
unthinkable, I bragged about my baseball skill, and then struck them out in a
little league game. Bragging, by the
way, is not a good way to make friends when you are the new kid in town.
These kids got even with me by making sure that I was always the last kid
chosen for any game, all year, on the playground.
Your remember how playground sports work.
All the kids line up, the two most popular kids are captains, and then
they would start choosing sides. Well,
they wouldn’t choose me. After
everybody else was chosen, one of the two would first look up and down the
block, hoping against hope that another potential teammate was
approaching—someone's brother, someone's sister, even someone's grandmother.
When he was convinced that no one else was coming, he would point at me and say,
"OK, I choose Porizky."
Somehow, I didn't feel chosen. In fact, I had the feeling that if it
hadn't been for the playground rule that everybody plays, I wouldn't have even
gotten to play at all. Just talking
about it reminds me of the misery and shame I felt.
I’m pretty sure most of us
can relate to this feeling; we all know what it is like to be the last chosen,
maybe the least talented in at least some area—academically, athletically,
musically, and so on. But there is an area where we never need feel that way:
our relationship to God. Probably all of us have wondered, at one time or
another, If they had it to do all over again, would they choose me? Would they
hire me? Would she marry me? Maybe some of you have even thought, If God had it
do over, would God save me again?
Some of us believe that we have been such a disappointment to God that
God would probably have been better off not to have saved us in the first place.
The
message from Ephesians 1 is the exact opposite. The message of Ephesians is that
God accepted you into the body of Christ not because God was forced to, but
because God wanted to.
We
are part of God’s plan. From the beginning, God has wanted us to be a member
of God’s family.
(v. 5) He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of his will.
You are part of God’s plan. From
the beginning. Furthermore,
2. You belong to God, and that will never change.
Ephesians defines our relationship with God in permanent terms. It says,
first of all, that we have been adopted.
(v. 5) He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus
Christ.
The citizens of
For example, this occurred when the Roman emperor Claudius adopted Nero,
whom he wanted to be his successor.
Adoptions were irrevocable. In fact, a
father could disown his birth son, but could not disown his adopted son. It was
a permanent relationship. Paul said, "You've been adopted into the family
of God. Get comfortable; you're here to stay."
God speaks of his
relationship to you in permanent, irrevocable terms. You belong to God, and that
will never change. Thirdly...
3. Everything we need, we can have.
Iggy doesn't get it. My sister’s family wants him. They
chose him. They bought him and
adopted him. As far as they are concerned, his last name is their last name,
Saltmarsh. He will never be hungry. He will never be cold. He will never be
alone for very long. But he doesn't get it. After three years he hasn't stopped
cowering around certain people. He hasn't stopped hoarding his food, or
panicking at the sight of a car leaving the driveway. Does he really think that
my sister saved him from the gas chamber in order to abuse him or abandon him?
Doesn't he realize that she is committed to giving him whatever he needs?
Obviously not. At least not
yet, anyway, though my sister and her family are still trying..
Sometimes believers are just as slow to grasp God's goodness in their
lives. God did not bring us this far to abandon us. He didn't save us with the
intention of leaving you all alone. Listen to what Paul said....
(v. 3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
(v. 8) he has lavished on us all
wisdom and insight.
It’s important to realize
that Paul isn't talking exclusively about our physical needs; he is referring to
our spiritual and emotional needs as well. God will pour out blessing upon
blessing in your life, giving you all the joy you need, all the love you need,
all the patience you need, all the mercy you need, and on and on.
Too many of us have probably spent most of our Christian lives trying to
manufacture these things on your own, and feeling that most of the time God was
ticked off that we don't do a better job at it. You've probably spent most of
your Christian life thinking that God doles out blessings only with great
resistance, only to the most deserving. The truth is, God wants to shower
kindness upon you. Everything we need, God wants to provide.
Today I am challenging you to view your relationship with God in a new
way...in a non-adversarial way. God isn't mad at you. God isn't disappointed in
you. God isn't sorry to have chosen you. God didn't choose you because God had
not other choice. God chose you
because he wanted to. And if God had to start all over, God would choose you
again.
Why? Because you have been on God’s mind from the very beginning
of time. You belong to God, and that will never change.
(Pause)
Today is Father’s Day. Our
son, Joshua, makes me proud to be a father.
What amazes me most, however, is how much I have become my father.
What do I mean by that? Well,
here are just a couple of the phrases my dad used to say, that have become my
own:
Don’t ask me, ask your mother.
Who said life was supposed to be fair?
You call that noise "music"?
No, we’re not there yet.
As long as you live under my roof,
you’ll live by my rules.
Because I said so. That’s why.
I’m not just talking to hear my own
voice!
What part of NO don’t you
understand?
I don’t care what other people are
doing! I’m not everybody else’s father!
And my personal favorite:
If you’re gonna be stupid, you’ve
gotta be tough. (Pause)
I am my father’s son. Over
the years, his words have become mine.
And I am my heavenly Father’s son.
Over the years his words have become mine.
Why? Well at least in part
because I know that I was chosen, since the very beginning, to be God’s very
own beloved, and that will never, ever change.
Believing that, I can do great things for the
So can you.
Will you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church,
Web Site: SAPC-CT.HOME.ATT.NET
Office Email: SAPC-CT@ATT.NET
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