This week, we continue to explore our Christian life together. What does this life together look like? What does it mean to be united in faith in the midst of our differences? As we live this life together, God continues to sustain us and keep us united.
As we continue this conversation, we continue to look at the words of both Paul and the gospel-writer, John (Ephesians 4:25-5:2 and John 6:35, 41-51). In writing to the Christian community at Ephesus, Paul is obviously concerned with the ways in which the community of believers live and share together. John offers us a further look at Jesus reflecting on the Bread of Life and what it means for us to partake of his presence.
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As I mentioned last week, Paul makes a shift here in the middle of the letter to the Ephesians. He transitions from his intentional praise of God and all that God has done for us to talking about what this new life we are called into looks like in practice. In other words, he starts talking about ethics.
I think most of us have some concept of what ethics is when we hear the word. We may think about ethical behavior or even systematized codes of ethics. The most simplified way we might think of ethics is the moral principles by which we govern our lives and our interactions with one another.
As we consider our readings from Ephesians over the last few weeks, we see that this is pretty much exactly what Paul is focusing on. God has called us into one body. God has called us, in the many forms and experiences we have, to join together in community, to be united with others in a single body made up of many different parts.
Recognizing how difficult a thing this was (and perhaps always has been), Paul here gives us a simple list of what we should do and what we should not do. In some ways, this list calls to mind the Ten Commandments that any Jewish members of the community would have been aware of, but these simple rules are similar to ethical codes and morals that even non-Jewish members would recognize as beneficial to the community.
Get rid of lying and tell the truth.
Be angry with sinning but don’t remain angry with each other.
Don’t steal for a living but work for a living so that you have something to share.
Don’t speak in ways that tear down, but use words to build up one another.
Put aside bitterness, anger, and slander, and be kind, compassionate, and forgiving.
None of these things is terribly difficult, and yet we as people tend to have such a difficult time doing these simple things that would make life so much easier for everyone. To be honest, these are pretty good rules for living in community with others regardless of religious beliefs. Living with other people is easier if we tell the truth, share with one another, build one another up, and show kindness and compassion to one another.
Think about it. Try to imagine living as part of a community where the standards of living were to lie, steal, cheat, tear down, and destroy your neighbors. Not only does that not sound like a very pleasant way to live, it would be nearly impossible to accomplish anything as a community. How can a body that actively works against itself continue to grow and thrive?
Sadly, it may not be as difficult to imagine such a scenario as I wish it were.
But of course, the case that Paul is making is not just that we should act this way because it is the best way to live in community together, as good a reason as that may be. Paul’s argument is that we should act this way because God has forgiven us and offered us all the same grace. Now for those who are not believers, that may not sound like much of a reason, but we must remember that Paul is specifically writing to a Christian community made up of both Jewish and non-Jewish members. He wants them all to recognize that regardless of background they are called into the same community. And as those who have been called and believe, they are expected to be imitators of the one who has called them, who has joined them, who has nourished and sustained them.
“Be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to each other, in the same way God forgave you in Christ” (Ephesians 4:32, CEB).
It is not enough that this is simply a good way to live, but we as Christians have specifically been called to offer the same kindness, compassion, and forgiveness that we have received from God. Because we have received, we should share.
Paul is speaking here explicitly of our lives together, but he is also reminding us that living our lives in this way will change the world. What happens when we are kind not only to those in our church and community, but those who are on the margins or even those who are actively opposed to goodness in the world?
What happens when we show compassion to those who are hurting without stopping to ask first if they are a Christian?
What happens when we forgive those who have hurt us even if we are not in community with them?
To be fair, this is not a blanket recommendation to forgive your abusers or to play nice with oppressors. As we read the story of Jesus that Paul is calling us to imitate, we see that when choices had to be made, Jesus always sided with those on the margins, those who were hurting, those who were oppressed over those who were in power.
In situations where persons are being hurt, oppressed, or marginalized, where can we do the most good, offer the most kindness, show the most compassion?
Paul helps us think this through as he continues this line of thought.
“Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love, following the example of Christ…” (Ephesians 5:1-2, CEB).
As Christians, we have been called into a new way of living. No longer should we live as the world teaches us to live -- self-centered, self-serving, greedy, and judgmental. We should live lives in imitation of the one who came to show us that God loves us, wants to be in relationship with us, and wants us to live in positive relationships with one another. That is the model we see in the life that Jesus lived -- a self-giving love that calls us into communities of mutuality and care. We are sustained and nourished together in the community that we call the church.
Turning to our Gospel reading this week, we find Jesus continuing to talk about the nourishment that God provides to us. Following the miraculous feeding that Jesus accomplished, the people continue to follow him, seeking more signs and miracles. Jesus has been telling them that earthly bread will fill them for a time but will ultimately leave them hungry again. Instead, they must feast on the bread of life. This is a spiritually nourishing bread that satisfies the spiritual hunger of those who have felt empty and alone. Those who have been aching and feeling separate from God can once again know the fulfillment of that relationship. People do not need to live lives disconnected from God. We can feast on the bread of life.
In the history of the church, we have considered this to be both physical and metaphorical nourishment. On the one hand, we might consider the mental and spiritual nourishment we receive in studying the life of Jesus. How can we be fed and nourished by what we read in the life of Jesus? How do the stories and teachings we find in the gospel stories feed us in ways that leave us feeling satisfied so that we cease to hunger and feel alone?
In a more physical sense, we also feast at the communion table. When we do, we are reminded of the ways in which we are connected to Christ and the ways in which we are connected to one another. We are nourished and made whole, and we return to the table regularly to be filled anew.
And when we take Paul’s injunction that we as the church are the body of Christ seriously, we may feel led to feed and nourish others as well. I heard a woman speak at the World Diakonia Fellowship in Atlanta back in 2009, I believe. This gathering was intended for those who identify with the servant ministry of the church from around the world and from all different denominations. But this particular speaker was a lay woman from San Francisco.¹ She had not been a believer or attended church for many years. In a new relationship, she started attending different churches. She was feeling that emptiness but couldn’t put a name to it. One Sunday, she was in an Episcopal Church. In receiving the bread and the cup at communion, she felt convicted. She was receiving the body and blood of Christ. At the same time, how was the body of Christ that is the church being offered to others in the same way? She became a member of that congregation and over the next few years started a food ministry in the church that was set up during the week on the communion table. Now, not only is the congregation fed and nourished from that table, so are others in the local community.
The psalmist tells us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” When we read these stories, when we come to the table, we are reminded of how good God truly is. Paul reminds us that we are called to be imitators not only of Christ but of God. He reminds us that because we have been forgiven, we should also forgive. If we taste and see how good God is, how can we pass up sharing that goodness with others?
Jesus tells us that this new life is for “whoever eats this bread.” It is not offered to only a few. It is not offered to a select group. It is offered to whoever will eat it. It is meant for everyone.
As a community called and nourished by God, we seek to live lives of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. We seek to imitate God’s goodness and to live lives of love just as Christ loved us. We seek to nourish the world because we have been fed by the bread of life, bread that is offered for all to partake.
We do this not just to make our church and community better, but that all the world may be made better through us.
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¹ See Sara Miles, Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion.