Good morning, Church of the Advent. My name is Jeff. I'm one of the pastors here. If this is
your first time with us this morning, I just want to say welcome. I hope to meet you soon,
if I haven't had the privilege yet. I wanted to wish you a happy All Saints Day. I don't know if
you knew it or not, but Monday, actually, was All Saints Day, and this is the Sunday that we
celebrate and commemorate All Saints. And All Saints is the day in the church calendar
when we reflect together on our union together with the whole church, all saints, all believers,
across time and space, language, and culture. And we think back to the Christians across the ages who
have come before us and set an example in the faith. And we also look forward to the day when
we will be united with all believers in the new creation. So multiple times throughout the book
of Revelation, we get this vision of this great multitude from every tribe and tongue and nation
that no one could count. And that is what we are looking forward to, our communion with saints.
And so this movement across time and space gives us perspective for the present moment where we
experience the communion of saints in the church today. That's what All Saints is about, and it's kind
of captured in this prayer, this colic that we just prayed a few moments ago, which says,
Almighty God, you have knit us together in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body
of your Son. But I don't know if you're like me. I get kind of skeptical of stuff that sounds too
ethereal and overly spiritual. You know, is all this talk about communion with the saints across time
and space through Jesus' mystical body? Like, is that too, are we being too spiritual? Are we being
too ethereal when we talk about those things? You know, sometimes I think Christians can be critiqued
for being so heavenly minded that they are of what? Of no earthly good. That they are so focused on the
world to come that they ignore the earthly realities and the problems of this world. And some Christians and
churches throughout church history have probably been rightly deserving of this critique. But our New
Testament text this morning in Ephesians 1 shows us that if Christians are, in fact, overly unconcerned
with the earthly realities of this world, it's not because they have thought too much of heaven,
but too little. But too little. Our New Testament passage helps us to see that what unites us to the
saints across the ages as our common inheritance in Christ. Through our baptism into Jesus, we have
been adopted into God's family as his sons and daughters, and therefore we are recipients of a
gloriously rich inheritance awaiting us in the age to come. And far from making us too heavenly minded
on ethereal things, this inheritance is actually the only thing that makes us of any earthly good at all.
And that is because, and this is what we're going to look at this morning, that's because it makes us
radically secure, deeply loved, and greatly empowered. Radically secure, deeply loved, and greatly empowered.
First of all, Ephesians 1 shows us that our inheritance in Christ makes us radically secure.
The word that Paul here uses in Ephesians 1 for inheritance has a rich Old Testament background.
In the ancient world, in the Old Testament, inheritance most commonly, most often refers to land.
The land that you inherited from your parents, from your father, was everything. It was your income,
it was your savings, it was your retirement plan and 401k, it was your financial and social security.
And throughout the Old Testament, God promises Israel an inheritance of land from Genesis through
Deuteronomy. And then in Joshua, they actually enter that land. They enter the promised land.
All throughout the history of Israel, they dwell in the land. Israel grows into a kingdom.
And of course, after many generations of disobedience, they forfeit their right to this inheritance.
And so God takes them from their land and sends them into exile.
And so a live question in the first century in Paul's day was this.
When is God going to restore our land?
When is he going to restore our inheritance, our security?
And this is also a question for us today too.
We may not all be looking to purchase a piece of land, but all of us long for security.
All of us long to know that we're secure because we live in a world that is insecure,
that threatens to take things from us.
And so we look for security through financial security, through a stable job, through savings.
We look for security in relationships by finding emotional security.
And these are all good things, by the way, but they don't meet our deepest desires.
They don't meet our deepest longings for security.
Paul here in Ephesians 1 says that our deepest longings for security are fulfilled
in the inheritance that we have in Jesus Christ.
Verse 11.
Verse 11 says that in him we have obtained an inheritance.
This phrase in him is repeated like over a dozen times in Ephesians chapter 1.
And it is a phrase that Paul repeats all throughout his letters.
In him is this language of union with Christ.
And the inheritance that we have in Christ is nothing less than the renewal of all creation
and the resurrection of our bodies.
Some of us may have grown up with something like a lifeboat theology.
That the world is kind of this sinking ship that's doomed to destruction.
And so therefore God's plan of salvation is to get as many souls off this ship and get them into heaven.
And so it's this view of heaven that's kind of disembodied and ethereal.
Somewhere where we are up in the sky floating on clouds and playing harps.
I don't know if this sounds familiar to you or not.
But in Revelation 21 we see something completely different than this.
We see Jesus sitting on the throne saying behold I am making all things new.
And all things means every square inch of the physical material world.
Plants, animals, rainforests, rivers, mountains, flowers, birds and trees and even our own bodies.
Now we don't get a ton of detail about what exactly this looks like.
But what we do get is poetic imagery throughout scripture that stirs our hearts with hope.
So Isaiah talks about the wolf and the lamb who one day are going to lie down together and cuddle.
That in God's new creation animals will no longer experience the curse of the fall.
Isaiah also talks about swords being beaten to plowshares.
That there will no longer be any war or violence or conflict.
Amos talks about new wine dripping from the mountains and flowing from all the hills.
Revelation talks about it being a wedding feast.
This is God's good world being liberated, rescued and redeemed from the effects of sin and the fall.
And I don't know about you but this is a world that I really want to live in.
And friends if you're in Christ this is your inheritance.
And this is a hope.
The hope of this inheritance is radically secure.
It's radically guaranteed.
And that's what Paul tries to show us in verses 11 through 14.
That it is an inheritance that is guaranteed both by the eternal purposes of God and by the presence of the Spirit.
So in verse 11 he says,
In him we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
Paul says here that our inheritance was actually secure before time began.
Now I think that for some of us, maybe some people we know, this idea of predestination can be troubling or confusing.
But the Bible almost always talks about predestination as it does here to bring us deep comfort and assurance.
From time to time I think many of us may kind of doubt the assurance of our salvation.
I know that I have.
At times I've wondered, am I really a Christian?
Am I really saved?
Am I really eternally secure?
Am I really in Christ?
But often these doubts are usually based on my own feelings.
Like on my own subjective experience.
Because I don't feel close to God.
Or I don't feel like my faith is active or fruitful.
But verse 11 reminds us that the security of our inheritance isn't based in our subjective experience.
But in the objective sovereign plan of God.
Who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
And our inheritance is also guaranteed by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
This is what he says in verse 13.
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.
This language of being sealed by the Spirit is the language of baptism.
We're going to do some baptisms in a moment.
And Tommy is going to say these beautiful words to those being baptized.
You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever.
That's what Paul is talking about here in Ephesians 1.
Through baptism the Holy Spirit says to each of us,
You are in Christ.
You're his.
And there's a lot more where that came from.
That is what it means to have an inheritance in Christ.
It is the guarantee that though we taste the new creation now through the Holy Spirit,
one day we're going to feast on it.
Brian Chappell in his commentary on Ephesians says this,
The Holy Spirit who has already enabled you to taste the sweetness of God in the gospel is giving you a foretaste of the glory that awaits you.
He is the deposit of God, of the full redemption that is ahead,
given to assure you that what you face in this world is not without purpose.
And what you most cherish is not in jeopardy.
Even when you cannot do everything right, even when things seem all wrong, you are all right with God.
Because he who chose you is working out everything in conformity with a purpose of his will to the praise of his glory.
And in a world of insecurity, there is no greater assurance than this.
If you ever doubt the assurance of your own faith, of your own salvation, look not to your own feelings,
but to the eternal purposes of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
So our inheritance in Christ makes us radically secure.
And it also makes us deeply loved.
Deeply loved.
Paul continues on from talking about the guaranteed assurance of our inheritance to the glorious riches of our future.
Verse 15 says,
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
And then he tells us what he prays for.
He prays for, verse 17,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him,
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.
So this is a prayer for spiritual insight, that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes and give us wisdom,
even though we have the Holy Spirit as a deposit of our inheritance.
We need the Holy Spirit to continually enlighten our eyes and our hearts to see.
To see what?
To see verse 18.
To see that you may know the hope to which he has called you.
What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints?
This riches here, riches, is inheritance language.
It is cash money.
That's what he's talking about.
And it's interesting because in verses 11 through 14,
Paul is clearly talking about the inheritance that we have obtained in Christ.
But here in verse 18, if you notice,
here in verse 18 he says,
I pray that you would know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
Of God's inheritance in the saints.
So which is it?
Is it our inheritance?
Or is it God's inheritance?
Yes.
Yes, it's both.
Throughout scripture we see that God promises inheritance to his people
and that God's people are his inheritance.
Let me just give you a few examples.
Exodus 19, God says to Moses on Mount Sinai,
to the people of Israel,
if you obey my voice and keep my covenant,
you will be my treasured possession.
Psalm 78 says that he chose David his servant,
Israel his inheritance.
Jeremiah 10 says he is the one who formed all things
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance.
The Old Testament reveals that God's purpose in redemption
is to form a people who he loves, treasures, and delights in.
That's your inheritance.
And then in the New Testament,
we see that this inheritance centers on Jesus,
who is the heir of all things.
Hebrews 1.1 says,
long ago, at many times and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days,
he has spoken to us by his son,
who he appointed heir of all things.
Through his death, resurrection, and ascension,
Jesus has rightfully become the king
and appointed heir of all things.
And as we become united to Jesus by faith through the gospel,
the New Testament teaches that we become co-heirs with Christ.
Romans 8.16-17 says,
the Holy Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God.
And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
What are the riches of God's glorious inheritance?
It's all the saints.
It's all of us.
It's the church.
It's the whole church united across time and space,
ethnicity, language, and culture.
And this is one of the richest ways
to think about God's love towards us.
If I'm being honest,
probably my greatest spiritual struggle
is believing that God loves me
as much as he says he does in his word.
There are probably a thousand reasons
why I doubt, underestimate, and trivialize
the depth of God's love for me.
And 999 of them have to do with me.
But this right here shows us
that not only do we have a glorious inheritance
to look forward to,
but also that we are reminded of the depths of God's love,
that we ourselves are the glorious inheritance
that God looks forward to.
The communion of saints is what fills God with delight
as he thinks about his future.
He is like a kid on the night before Christmas.
who can't sleep
because he is so excited about Christmas morning.
That is how he feels about the church.
That is how he feels about you.
He cannot wait to spend all of eternity with us.
You are his treasured possession.
You are deeply, deeply loved by God
because you are a co-heir with Christ.
Baptism means adoption.
And adoption means inheritance.
And inheritance means that God says to you,
you are my beloved son.
You are my beloved daughter,
and in you I am well pleased.
And it is knowing that we are deeply loved
that actually empowers us
to live out the communion of saints.
It actually empowers us to treat one another
as co-heirs with Christ.
But sometimes loving one another in the church is hard.
Sometimes we treat one another as less than this,
as less than co-heirs.
And I think sometimes we treat Christian community
as kind of this zero-sum game
that I can only gain if you lose.
And therefore, I have to make sure
that I look better than you.
It might motivate me to criticize you before others.
But sins like gossip and slander
aren't just morally wrong.
They are out of step with our identity
as co-heirs with Christ of the new creation.
I know this is gonna be cheesy,
but look to the person on your left.
Look to the person on your right.
I know this is a cheesy, awkward moment,
but just do it.
That person is God's own inheritance.
That person is God's treasured possession.
Do we treat one another as if that's true?
Like, do we actually treat one another
as if our brothers and sisters of Christ
are gonna inherit the new creation along with us?
The basis of our relationship with others in the church
is that we are fellow heirs
of the same glorious promises,
that we are deeply loved by God,
and therefore, we must love one another.
So our inheritance in Christ makes us radically secure.
It makes us deeply loved,
and it also makes us greatly empowered.
Greatly empowered.
Paul continues praying for the Ephesians
in verses 19 through 23.
So he says,
I pray that you would know
the glorious riches of God's inheritance in the saints.
And then he says,
and I pray that you would know,
verse 19,
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power
toward us who believe.
According to the working of his great might
that he worked in Christ
when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority
and power and dominion
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age,
but also in the one to come.
And he put all things under his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills all in all.
What in the world is Paul talking about here?
He's talking about the ascension.
He's talking about the ascension of Christ,
the exaltation of Jesus
after his resurrection at the Father's right hand
where he reigns as king over all creation
and intercedes for us as our great high priest
and empowers the church by his spirit.
I don't think we think often enough
about the implications of the ascension
for the Christian life.
There are many,
but one of the things is that the ascension
is the objective evidence
that to be heavenly minded
is to be, by definition,
to be of great earthly good.
The ascension helps us see
that in heaven
is one who is fully divine
and yet fully human.
Jesus Christ stands
in the throne room of heaven,
fully God,
but with a fully human physical body
with ears
and eyes
and toes
and a belly button.
That's what the ascension means.
This is the greatest affirmation
of what it means
to be human,
that the ascended humanity
of Jesus
in a physical body
means that the goal
of the Christian life
is not somehow
to transcend
our bodily,
earthly existence
for a more spiritual,
ethereal one,
but that we are to live
our earthly,
physical life
empowered by the spirit,
lived
with the incredible power
of God
toward us
who believe.
In the midst
of this world,
God's power,
his immeasurable power
towards us
is for us
in embodied life
in this world,
in this world
of diapers
and email
and soccer games
and tacos
and also
sickness
and suffering
and pain.
In every part of life,
we have access
to the power of him
who is seated
at the Father's right hand
in heaven
far above all
authority
and power
and dominion.
That is our inheritance,
that in the ascended Jesus,
we are radically secure,
we are deeply loved
and we are greatly empowered
and this is a reality
that shapes
our everyday life.
There's so many implications
that we could talk about
but I wanna just talk about one
as we close.
You know what I've noticed
about young kids,
especially those
who can't talk yet?
What I've noticed
about young kids,
those who know
that they are deeply secure
and deeply loved.
You ever seen a kid like that?
What I've noticed
is that those kids
take risks.
They try stuff
they're not good at yet.
They learn how to walk.
And they fall a lot.
They're terrible
at speaking English
but they like
keep trying to talk to people
because they know
dad's got me,
mom's got me
and I am deeply secure
in their love
even though I can't
fully articulate that yet.
How would you live your life
if you knew
that you were radically secure
and deeply loved?
How would you live
your life
if you knew
that the ascended power
of Jesus
was available
to you
by the Holy Spirit
right in the midst
of your ordinary life?
I think it would lead us
to live lives
of redemptive risk.
To live lives
of redemptive risk.
This past week
several of us
traveled to Greensboro,
North Carolina
to attend the
convocation and synod
for our diocese.
It's the annual gathering
of the group of churches
or regional group of churches.
And we were at this church
in Greensboro,
North Carolina.
And it's an all-day conference
so they got us
squeezing some coffee
and bathroom breaks.
And during one of the coffee breaks
outside the church,
I noticed that
the cardboard sleeves
for the coffee
had been colored
by hand
with markers
and pencils.
And I asked a woman
behind the counter
and I said,
what's the story
behind these coffee sleeves?
And she said,
actually,
those are colored
by our employees.
I'm the founder
and the president
of this coffee shop
and we employ adults
with physical
and mental disabilities.
And I asked her,
I said,
wow,
I want to hear more.
So I asked her more
of her story
and how it got started
and she said that
her teenage son
has a disability
and couldn't find a job.
It's hard for adults
with disabilities
to find jobs
and he was sitting
at home all day
watching TV
but yet she knew
that her son
could still
contribute meaningfully
in the world
and so she just said
from the Lord,
she sensed the Lord
was calling her
to start a business
to give adults
with disabilities
a place to have
meaningful work.
And so she started
a coffee shop
even though she knew
nothing about coffee.
She was a counselor
by training
but she thought,
all right,
I'm going to learn
about coffee
and we're going to
make a coffee,
we're going to
grow a coffee shop.
And the business
grew and grew
and now they're
actually the number
one coffee shop
in Greensboro
because they make
good coffee
and because people
love what they do.
She said,
we have over 40 employees
over 90% of which
are adults
with disabilities.
And what struck me
about this woman's story
is the incredible
amount of risk
this must have taken.
To know nothing
about coffee
and yet to say,
I'm going to
start a coffee shop.
to employ
people who
aren't often employed.
But what I couldn't
help sense
in her voice
and her story
is that this risk
was rooted
in her faith
in Christ
and her knowledge
of her inheritance
and inheritance
where she was
radically secure
and deeply loved.
And so she was free
to take a risk
in this world,
a redemptive risk.
How would your life
look if you knew
at the core
of your being
that you were
radically secure
and deeply loved?
What kinds of
creative work
and redemptive
projects
might God
call you to do?
The great witness
of all the saints
who have gone
before us
is all the risk
they took
to carry on
the mission
of the church
and to love
the poor
and the marginalized
and their generation.
To take the gospel
to unreached places,
to plant new churches,
to seek out
and love
those who are
on the fringes
of society,
to face suffering
and imprisonment
and martyrdom.
But they did it
because they knew
that they had
a secure inheritance
in Christ
and that that inheritance
empowered them
by the power
of the Holy Spirit
because of the ascended
Lord who reigns
in heaven.
And now
it's our turn.
It's us
as the communion
of saints
right now
to live into
our inheritance
today
which starts
in our baptism
and is fulfilled
in the age to come
and that plays out
in the midst
of our ordinary
earthly lives.
And one day
we will experience
the glorious riches
of our inheritance
in Christ
that are promised
to us
and God
himself
will experience
the glorious riches
of his inheritance
in us,
the church.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven,
thank you for this
vision
of what it means
to be
radically secure
and deeply loved
by you.
Thank you
for the inheritance
that we have
in Christ.
Thank you
for the saints
who've gone before us.
Lord empower us
by your spirit
to live lives
of love
towards our brothers
and sisters in Christ
to treat them
as co-heirs
and to live lives
of redemptive risk
on behalf
of our neighbors
that we might
see your church
grow
and your kingdom
advance in this world.
Amen.
Thank you.