SPEAKER_01 0:10

Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you abide in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Welcome to Pillars Abide in Me podcast, a weekly opportunity to abide in Christ through weekly pillar sermon and worship reflections. I'm Trish.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

And I'm Christian. Hear these words from the book of Ephesians. I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner 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. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord. You must no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ, for surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and diluted by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God, in true righteousness and holiness. So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Those who steal must give up stealing. Rather, let them labor, doing good work with their hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is good for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and live in love just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to live a life. Isn't that interesting? He locates his authority to make a claim on their lives, living their lives in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called, in his status as a prisoner. Paul says, by the power vested in me as a prisoner, live your lives in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called. Paul says, because I'm a prisoner. That makes no sense. Unless it makes sense, a gospel sense, a power is made perfect in weakness sense, a blessed are the meek sense, a lose your life to save it sense. I think there's something to that actually. He's not locating his authority to make demands on their lives, on the status structures that exist in our systems of honor and shame, which can pretty much be reduced to money, power, and charisma. Buy it, take it, woo it. In other places, he's like, I've got the pedigree and I don't care. It's worthless. In one way, it's the gospel inversion at play. In another way, and I think in an even more important way, it's not about his status at all, whether rich or poor, strong or weak, charismatic or duller than a spoon. It's not about status, it's about location in Christ. I, therefore, the prisoner, in the Lord. I like the way our friend Todd Billings puts it in his book titled Union with Christ. God's gracious, loving call is, in fact, a threat to our autonomy, our deep and pervasive strategies to keep hold of our lives rather than losing them for the sake of Jesus Christ. It's not about prisoner or emperor, it's not about wise or foolish, it's not about PhD or high school dropout. It's not winner and loser, it's not right or wrong, it's not boss or employee. It's about in the Lord. So whatever you do, whatever status they give you, remember where you are in the Lord. Paul doesn't beg them to live a life in manner worthy of the calling to which they were called, because he's smarter or richer or stronger, has more degrees or more friends or more influence. He says, I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

For our part as a pillar community, we love to be praying for you. So feel free to reach out to us at abide at pillarchurch.com. Let's pray. You have given yourself to us, Lord. Now we give ourselves for others. You have raised us with Christ and made us a new people. As people of the resurrection, we will serve you with joy. Your glory has filled our hearts. Help us to glorify you in all things. Amen.