“Not of our deserving”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Ephesians 1: 1-10 (Forward, p. 10) CEV p. 1222

There can be nothing of boasting when it comes to our salvation, our new place or standing with God. It is entirely of God’s doing, of His free will and choice, and not in the least of our doing or merit. It is entirely an act of His mercy, a free and undeserved gift of His grace.

The apostle Paul, in his incredible run-on sentence (in the Greek, verses 1-1-14 is just one sentence), unwraps this a bit:

a) God chose us, not because of who or what we were, but because of Jesus Christ. And He chose us to live with Him and be His holy, innocent, and loving people. This is quite an honour indeed. And interestingly, seeing as this choice was made before the world was even created, none of us could have had any part in it.

b) God forgave us, again not because of anything that we’d done, not because we deserved it—we didn’t—but because Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.

c) God has bestowed upon us wisdom and understanding, and a knowledge of His mysterious ways. Again, it was not something that we discovered, but was revealed, uncovered to us by God. Humans often exalt themselves over their discoveries and their learnings, but when it comes to the things of God, it is entirely through Him and through Him alone. As Jesus said to Peter following Peter’s epic declaration of Him as Messiah, ‘flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).

d) And fourthly, finally, God will finish all that He has planned, bring it all to completion and restore all things. And, presumably, we, as believers, will be part of that.

All this harkens back to one of the earliest and most fundamental principles of AA and the other Twelve Step programs, namely that we are powerless

to help ourselves. It is God who does it in us. (As Jesus famously said, ‘without me, you can do nothing’, John 15:5b). And so, it is God who works in and through us, to work and will His good pleasure. What we can, and should, do then, is to try to discern His will, and then cooperate and work with Him. Amen.

Forward notes: “As a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (verse 10).

“The end of the world as we know it is on a lot of people’s minds as we live with the effects of climate change, the fears of wars, and more virulent pandemics. Much of the entertainment and media we consume presents various apocalyptic scenarios, from zombies to nuclear fallout. People have been predicting the end of the world for a long time now, and it gives me comfort and hope to read spiritual writers from the 1950s and 1960s who addressed the fear of imminent nuclear war.

“As Christians, we are called to be faithful stewards of creation and people of peace and to trust in God’s plan for the fullness of time. In our broader culture, the apocalypse is portrayed as threatening and scary, but the letter to the Ephesians reminds us that God’s ultimate plan is to gather up all of creation into Christ. We are called to act on behalf of creation and one another out of trust and hope, not fear.”

Moving Forward: “Reflect on this passage from Ephesians. How does it affect your perception of the apocalypse?”