Good morning, my name's Tommy.
I'm the rector of Church of the Advent.
I'm delighted to welcome you here.
Now that we have a bulletin once again,
you'll see that the text that we'll be looking at
is printed in full in the bulletin.
And then after that, there's a section,
for those of you, some people like to take notes,
and we put a few reflection questions in
in case that's helpful to you.
We've been looking at this passage in Ephesians.
We've been looking at Paul's letter to the Ephesians
and following along in this section
where Paul talks about, in this letter,
the fact that the gospel, the good news of Jesus,
changes every aspect of our lives.
The good news of Jesus changes every aspect of our lives.
And what we'll be focusing on this morning
is the impact of that on our relationships
with the closest people around us.
The idea is this, if something this radical,
this world changing has happened,
and if that has happened to us,
if we are now in relationship with the God of the universe,
that that should spill out into all other relationships.
And if it doesn't, we should be asking questions.
So that's what we're gonna be looking at this morning.
We're gonna see this text.
It's a longer text.
I'll tell you in a minute why.
We're looking at all of it.
We're gonna see a principle here,
and then we're gonna talk about
what that principle means for us
in our closest relationships.
So let's pray, and then we'll be looking
at Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15,
through chapter 6, verse 9.
Lord, our Heavenly Father,
we thank you for your presence with us this morning
and your word.
We pray for your Holy Spirit to guide us
as we seek to understand your word.
We know that we may be coming
from very different places this morning.
For some of us, a text like this
might raise questions or even make us feel uncomfortable
or be challenging to us.
Lord, we know that you know what we need.
And so there are some of us here who are complacent,
who need to be stirred to action.
There are some who are anxious and concerned,
and we need to be reassured.
There are some of us here who, Lord, need conviction.
We need you to help illuminate areas
in our lives of rebellion.
Lord, we all need you,
and we all need your life in us, Lord.
We all need the truth of the gospel.
And so we pray that in whatever way
that happens by your wisdom,
that we would encounter you this morning.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
So first of all, let's look at the principle.
This section of Ephesians, I would say,
is very often misunderstood.
And one of the reasons it's misunderstood
is because of the way most of our Bibles are printed.
When you open your Bible to this section,
if you have your Bible with you, you can do that.
Most Bibles break this section of Paul's letter
into pieces.
And so there is a section, verses 15 to 21,
that we see as a kind of a part
sort of about the Holy Spirit
and a list of things that Paul gives us
that characterize the new life that we have in Christ.
And then there's a section break,
and then there's a new section
where Paul seems to switch topics
and to start talking about relationships.
But if you read this the way it's written,
it is meant to all be held together.
And if we read it that way,
we see the whole flow of the argument
that the Apostle Paul is making.
And I would say that fundamentally changes
not only how we read this text,
but how we apply this passage to our lives.
Because this entire passage from verse 15 on
is all about the Holy Spirit.
Right?
This is all about the ministry of the Holy Spirit
and what that does in us and in our relationships.
It's about being specifically filled with the Holy Spirit.
Filled with the life of God.
Now, all believers have the Holy Spirit.
Paul has already made that clear earlier
in this letter, in fact.
But to be filled by the Spirit
means the Holy Spirit guides you.
The Holy Spirit directs every aspect of your life.
It means you are deeply connected to God,
and God is ministering through you
in ways that are visible.
So Paul is talking now
about believers being filled by the Holy Spirit.
But that raises a question.
How exactly do we do that?
Because the verb is passive.
He doesn't say fill yourself with the Holy Spirit.
He says be filled with the Holy Spirit.
How do you do that?
It would be like saying to your kids,
instead of saying,
hey, go clean your room,
let your room be cleaned.
Right?
Like in the first example,
it's clear they need to go get at it.
But in the second example,
it's not so clear,
do they have something to do,
or should they just wait
for the room to clean itself?
Which is, I think, a mistake
that very often happens in our house.
What's the role that we have
in being filled by the Spirit?
Is this something that we do
or something that God does?
The answer is,
as it is often in the Christian faith,
the answer is yes.
It's both.
Think of the analogy of a sailboat.
I heard this from a pastor
named Andrew Wilson.
I find it helpful.
With a sailboat,
the sail has to be filled with the wind
in order to go anywhere.
But the wind is an external force
over which we have no control.
So you can't fill the sail.
Right?
But there are things that you can do
to make sure that when the wind blows,
your sails will be filled.
So you can put up your sail.
You can pull the mainsail tight.
You can adjust the jib.
These are things that you do
to align the sails with the wind
as it's blowing
to ensure that the sails
will be filled by the wind.
And I believe this is a lot like
what the Apostle Paul has in mind
when he calls us to be filled
by the Holy Spirit.
We can't control the Spirit.
But there are things we can do
to bring ourselves in alignment
with the Holy Spirit.
And I would say this is really
what the Christian life is all about.
It's about regularly,
continually adjusting
the sails of our hearts,
bringing them into alignment
with the heart and the will of Christ
so that we can be filled
and guided by His Spirit.
Right?
The promise is that the Spirit
is with us,
the Spirit is moving.
Are we aligning ourselves
such that we can be filled
by the Spirit
and guided by the Spirit?
How do we do this?
Paul gives us several ways
to adjust the sails of our hearts.
So he says,
be filled by the Holy Spirit.
And then everything he says after that
answers the question,
how can we align the sails
of our heart
so that that would happen?
The first way to do that
is fairly obvious.
Verse 19,
we worship.
Like what we're doing here right now.
We gather together
and we sing songs and hymns
and spiritual songs.
When we worship,
that brings our hearts
into alignment
with the heart and will of Christ.
We're opening ourselves up
and saying,
I want to be filled by the Spirit
just by being here and doing that.
The second practice
also makes sense.
Prayers of thanksgiving.
Verse 20,
when you stop in your life
and you reflect on the ways
that God is blessing you,
the ways that God
is providing for you,
when you recount stories
of powerful ways
that God has answered prayer
in your life,
you're aligning
the sails of your heart
with the heart and will of Christ.
You're opening yourself up
to the Holy Spirit.
Now, worship, gratitude,
you're opening yourself up
to the Spirit.
All makes sense.
But then look what he says.
The third,
this is a bit of a curveball.
The third way
that we align our hearts
in seeking to be filled
by the Holy Spirit,
verse 21,
submitting to one another
out of reverence for Christ.
So worship, gratitude,
mutual submission.
Now, the word submission
has all kinds of negative connotations
in our culture
and some for very good reason.
The Greek word for submission
literally means
to align oneself
below others in rank.
To perceive yourself
as being lesser in rank
for the benefit of the other.
So it was originally
a military term.
To behave as though
you are of a lower rank
than the others.
So it means being willing
to set aside your preferences
and to set aside your desires.
It's a willingness
to put yourself second
and prioritize
the well-being of others,
maybe at your own expense.
That's what it means.
In other words,
it means following the example
that we see
in Jesus Christ Himself.
Paul shares a very similar idea
in Philippians chapter 2.
He says to believers,
have this mind among yourselves.
In other words,
align yourself in this way,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who though he was
in the form of God,
did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself
by taking the form of a servant.
Paul says,
have that mind among yourselves.
In other words,
submission,
mutual submission,
is about becoming a servant
the way Jesus Christ
became a servant.
That means having a heart
that is properly aligned
toward Christ
and toward other people.
Now, I told you
that we were going to arrive
at a principle,
and here it is.
Your heart cannot be
properly aligned with Christ
if it is not also
properly aligned
toward the other people
who are closest to you
in your life.
Right?
If you live your life
as though most of the time
you are the most important person
in the room,
that your needs and preferences
and desires should come first,
you're never going to have
a deep sense of intimacy
and connection with God.
There's going to be
something out of whack.
Your sails are not properly aligned
with the heart
and the will of Christ.
There's going to be
a disconnect.
So that's the principle.
Now, let's look at
what this means for us,
for those of us here
who follow Jesus.
And Paul shows us
what it looks like
when mutual submission
is lived out
in three of the most
common types
of relationships.
All of these would have been
found in the home
in the first century,
and they're still today
probably three of our
most common.
If you think about
the people that you spend
the most time with,
it's probably in your marriage
if you're married,
parenting if you have kids,
and the workplace.
And he gives, listen,
he gives different exhortations
from one person to the next.
He gives specific instructions
depending on what roles we play.
But the thing we need
to understand
is that these are all
different ways
of doing the same thing.
Right?
They're different ways
of doing the same thing,
which is becoming a servant.
Putting aside our needs
and preferences
and prioritizing
the well-being of another
at our own expense.
Different ways
of doing the same thing.
So first of all,
we want to look at marriage.
Now, of course,
in this passage in general,
this tends to be
the most contentious
of the three.
You know,
I've had ways of reading
this when I was younger,
ways of reading
now that I've gotten
a little bit older.
I would say,
I think most people
who struggle
with this passage
I would say,
get married if you can
and be married for 10 years.
And be married for 15 years.
And I guarantee you
it will start to shift
how you read it
in some pretty fundamental ways.
It has, of course,
been used as a justification
for the subjugation
and abuse of women,
which is an absolute
perversion of this text.
On the other hand,
we do live in a society now,
a kind of postmodern society,
where all distinctions
are broken down,
where any distinctions
are seen as problematic
or oppressive.
And neither approach
can really be supported
by the text.
And both, frankly,
obscure the beauty
and the brilliance
of what Paul
is actually saying here.
Now, Ephesus
was a patriarchal society,
and there were
various household codes
that were already
in circulation.
The Stoic philosophers,
for example,
had written instructions
for how to order your home.
And in this society,
all these household codes
strongly emphasized
power dynamics in the home.
They were all about
authority and obedience
and keeping everybody in line.
The paterfamilias,
the male head of the house,
had a very high degree
and in some cases,
absolute authority
over the people
in their home.
They had a very high degree
of authority
over their wife,
over the children,
over the servants.
They even had legal authority
over people in their home.
And women and children
and servants
were typically seen
in society
as being inferior,
as being less than.
But then the gospel
changed everything.
Right?
The gospel comes and says,
all people are equal
in the eyes of God.
They have equal value.
They have equal dignity.
They have equal worth.
They're equally filled by
and gifted by the Holy Spirit.
And the example of Jesus Christ
begins to turn hierarchies
upside down.
As he says,
the greatest among you
shall be your servant.
So you see,
he's turning things upside down.
Whoever exalts himself
will be humbled.
Whoever humbles himself
will be exalted.
He begins to turn things
upside down.
And so what Paul does here
is to take a familiar form,
the household code,
and he subverts it.
He shows what it looks like
for the principle
of Christ-centered
mutual submission,
submitting to one another
out of reverence for Christ.
And he shows how that begins
to redefine
all of these relationships.
Now some people criticized
the early Christians
and said,
well now you're just,
you're breaking everything down
in society.
There's going to be disorder.
There's going to be chaos.
And this is Paul's way
of saying no, no, no.
But it does change everything.
For example,
he says that the husband
is the head of the wife.
Now you read that far
and that would sound
just like all of the other
pagan household codes.
But then look how he defines
what that means.
See, pagan household codes
might go on to talk about
the importance for the husband
to rule with a firm hand,
to keep everybody
under him in line.
But there's no mention
of that here.
There's actually no mention
of the word authority here.
Because Jesus Christ
has redefined what this means.
So in a Christian marriage,
being the head doesn't mean
you get to make
unilateral decisions.
Right?
Being a head doesn't mean
that your wife stays home
and you're the one
who goes to work.
Being the head doesn't mean
that you're the one
who manages the finances
and she's the one who cooks.
Right?
A Christian marriage,
in a Christian marriage,
playing this role means
you're going out of your way
to love and to cherish your wife.
That's what he says.
To love and to nourish
and to cherish your wife.
It means, as he says,
being so attuned to her needs
that it is as though
you are dealing with
a part of your own body,
that you're as familiar with
and as attuned to her needs
as you would be your own body.
And it means,
as he says very clearly,
a willingness to lay down your life,
a willingness to pour yourself out
for the sake of your wife
to see her flourish.
And the point we need to see here
is there's nothing like that
in the pagan household codes.
Jesus completely redefines
these relationships.
Right?
So in a Christian marriage
that is defined
by mutual submission,
the husband prioritizes
his wife's well-being
through his love
and self-sacrifice for her.
The wife prioritizes
her husband's well-being
through her respect
and support for him.
Now, it does not mean
that we shouldn't all love
and respect and support
one another, right?
But there is wisdom,
and this is why I come back
to say, you know,
the longer I've been married,
the more I read this
in a way that recognizes
that there is deep wisdom
that I need to hear.
And instead of getting
bent out of shape
about what Paul says to whom,
I have benefited far more
from simply reading it
as a pastoral letter to me,
giving me an opportunity
to adjust the sails of my heart
in ways that I might need to do
for the sake of my marriage
and my relationship with Christ.
Right?
So, for example,
if I'm not loving
and prioritizing my wife's needs,
I need to become aware of that.
Right?
So, for example,
if I'm expecting physical intimacy,
but I'm not doing the work
of making sure
there is emotional intimacy,
right,
where she feels safe
and cared for,
if I'm out of touch
with the mental load
that she's carrying,
you know, it's amazing.
I will talk to the most
radically militantly
theologically egalitarian couples.
You know, it's been 17 years
of marriage
and a lot of time spent
counseling couples,
running the whole spectrum
from complementarian
to egalitarian.
And I will meet with
the most radically egalitarian people
and still, almost always,
the wife carries
the massive majority
of the mental load
for the family.
It's simply a reality.
Right?
So, for instance,
if I'm out of touch
with the fact
that my wife did
all of the making
of appointments,
all of the buying
of school supplies,
and everything necessary
for back to school,
and I didn't even know
the date of the first day
of school.
Right?
If I'm out of touch
with what that's like
for her,
I need to adjust
my sales.
You know,
that's not only going
to hurt my relationship
with her,
it's,
what this is saying is,
that's going to hurt
my relationship
with Christ.
There's a disconnect there.
Right?
Or if I'm a wife
and I go out
with my friends
and I spend the whole time
complaining about my husband,
that's not only going
to hurt my relationship
with him,
that's going to hurt
my relationship
with Christ.
Right?
I need to adjust
my sales.
Right?
So the point we need
to see is,
the way our hearts
are aligned
toward those people
in our lives
is connected
to the way
they're aligned
with Christ.
If we want to be filled
by the Holy Spirit,
it's not just about
our relationship
with Jesus
and how much
we're praying,
it's how am I
orienting myself
and aligning myself
toward the people
closest to me.
We have another example
here in parenting.
Paul calls children
to obey their parents
and to honor them.
And then he says
to fathers,
and this word
could also be translated
as parents,
not to exasperate
their children
but to bring them up
in the discipline
and instruction
of the Lord.
And again,
we have to appreciate
how countercultural
this was and is.
In the ancient world,
fathers had absolute authority
over their children.
They could be as harsh
or abusive
as they wanted
and there was really
no protection
for the child
in that case.
In our society,
I would say,
to a large degree,
for probably most of us,
the pendulum has swung
pretty far
in the opposite direction.
So it's not uncommon,
right?
We do have
abusive,
controlling parents,
absolutely,
and some of us
grew up in houses
like that.
So not saying
it's not there,
but it's also not uncommon
to see parents
who believe their role
is to be highly responsive
to their children's needs
and their desires,
but to provide
little guidance
or rule or discipline.
Right?
Parents who sort of
have this underlying assumption
that children know
what's best for them
and that children
should be free
to make their own choices
without much interference
from their parents.
I remember growing up
and when I was young,
I remember a,
beginning to watch
the Nickelodeon channel.
And it was like a new thing
when we were young
and what was new about it
is that for the first time
there was programming,
you know,
before that you had
had shows with kids,
but the parents were right.
The adults were generally
good people,
right?
And they were doing
the right thing
in the lives of their children.
And generally,
it was the children
who needed to learn
the lessons.
But the thing that was
different about Nickelodeon
is that Nickelodeon
turned that upside down
and all of a sudden
you have a child-centered
perspective
and the children
are the ones who are right
and the parents
are the ones
who need correction.
Right?
And it's been interesting
to see a shift
in how we as a culture
think about parenting
that really has gone
very far in that direction.
That our job as parents
is to figure out
how to get in line with
and meet the needs
of our children
and let them guide themselves.
And see,
Christian parenting
doesn't resemble
either of these.
It doesn't resemble
the abusive patriarchal society
that this was written in,
nor does it resemble
where we are now
in the postmodern West.
Children don't know
what's best for them.
Simply put,
they need parents
who will not only love them
and meet their needs,
but guide them
and prepare them
for life as mature
Christ-following adults.
And so,
the instructions
that Paul gives
are different
to parents
than they are children.
For Christian children,
submission,
in other words,
ranking myself below,
right,
prioritize,
that means obedience.
Submission means
putting aside
what you think is best,
obeying your parents
in the Lord.
Right?
And it's very important
that he says that.
Obeying your parents,
if you're a kid,
obeying your parents
is a way of obeying Jesus.
It's a way of obeying Jesus.
It's about recognizing
the role that God
has given the parents
that you have
in your life.
And it's about honoring
the fact that even
if your parents
aren't perfect,
and we know they're not.
No parents are perfect.
Even though your parents
are far from perfect,
God uses your parents
most of the time.
Now, there are outliers,
there are cases of abuse
and neglect
and all of those things.
We're obviously not talking
about those things.
In most cases,
with Christian parents
and Christian children,
obedience is about
honoring the fact
that even though
your parents are imperfect,
God uses them
to form you
into the people
that he's created you to be.
that God works
through your parents.
For Christian parents,
submission means
putting aside
what is most easy.
It means putting aside
what is most convenient,
and it means
doing the hard work
of discipling
your children.
And that is
extraordinarily hard.
It is so much easier
to just give in
than it is to set limits
and give consequences
and hold your ground
when they push back,
which they will.
It is so much easier
when you're exhausted
at the end of the day,
it is so much easier
to veg out on your phone
than to engage your child
and to pray with them,
to read Scripture with them,
to have meaningful conversations
with them.
It's so much easier
just to let them
watch something on TV
so that you can watch
something on your phone
because you're exhausted.
And we've all been there
and we all do it
and we all get it.
It is so much easier
to stay home on Sundays
than to bring your kids
to church consistently
because it's hard
to come to church.
It's hard to come
to Sunday school.
It's hard to proactively
find programs
and opportunities
that your kids
can participate in
that are going to
form their faith.
It is so much easier
to take the path
of least resistance
because we all work
full-time jobs,
we're all stressed,
we're all exhausted,
the most important aspect
of Christian parenting
is not what you're
signing them up for
or even what you're
doing with them.
It's what they see
in you.
It's what they see
in your relationship
with Jesus.
What does mom look like
when she's worried?
What does mom look like
when she's stressed?
What does dad do
when he's angry?
Right?
It's not about being perfect,
it's not about being sinless,
absolutely.
What does it mean
to follow Jesus?
It means you're the kind
of person who admits
you're wrong.
You're the kind of person
who admits when you yelled
and you shouldn't have yelled.
It means you're the kind
of person who's regularly,
consistently coming back
to Christ to give you
what only Christ can give you.
It means you're modeling
repentance on a daily basis.
Setting an example
for your children is hard.
It is so much easier
to try to outsource it,
right, to a program
or to a ministry
or something.
But this is the role
that God has given you.
And submission,
in this case,
means putting aside
what is easy and expedient
and doing the hard work
of fulfilling that calling.
When we do that,
we align our hearts
with Christ.
And then finally,
he gives us the example
of the workplace.
He uses the language
of bondservant
or servant
or even slave
and master.
Certainly,
there was that
and in many ways,
this was,
you know,
it was not,
it's not an institution
that resembles
what we think of as slavery
on the one hand,
but it's also not
an institution
that we want to have today
in any way,
shape, or form.
There were a lot of people
for whom this was a way
that they voluntarily
entered into
being a bondservant
in order to try
to make money
and get an education
and climb a ladder.
And so,
it was employment
for many people
in the ancient world.
And so,
it is applicable,
what he says
is applicable
to all of us
who work
and have bosses
and jobs
in some ways.
So,
for Christian employees,
Paul says,
submission means
putting aside
the temptation
to do the bare minimum
just because
you don't like your boss.
Right?
It means putting aside
the temptation
to sort of fake it.
Right?
To phone it in.
It means
pouring ourselves
into our work.
It means doing our work
with integrity,
doing our work
with sincerity,
working from the heart.
And the reason
is not necessarily
because your boss
deserves it.
The reason is
because there's somebody
that you're working for
other than your boss.
The true person
that you're serving
in your job
is Jesus Christ himself.
And so,
he says,
in everything that you do,
work as though
you were working
for Christ himself
because that's
who you're working for.
And for Christian bosses,
submission means
putting aside
the temptation
to treat
your employees
unjustly,
which may be cheaper
for the company.
Right?
Behaving in unethical ways
may help your bottom line.
Right?
Expecting them to come in
and work on the weekends.
That may,
you may need to get
that project done
and you may need them
working all through the weekend
to get it done
and that might actually
make you look better.
But it means
putting aside
the temptation
to abuse your power,
to treat your employees
unjustly.
And very countercultural,
very radical,
it says,
to all masters,
to all bosses,
to all employers,
you need to lead
your people knowing
that one day
Jesus is going
to hold you accountable.
And when you stand
before him,
whatever distinctions
you had here,
master,
bond servant,
those don't matter to him.
It says,
with him there is
no partiality
and you will be
held accountable
for the way you treated
those who worked for you.
So we want to pull
all this together.
I want to pull
all of it together
because I know it's a lot
but we need to see
the whole flow
of the argument.
You are,
if you're a Christian,
someone who now
has access
to the life of God
and God's desire
and promise
is to fill you
so that you radiate
with the Holy Spirit
so that it spills
out of you
into every aspect
of your life.
God is going about
the renewal
of all things
and he does that
through spirit-filled people.
If we want to participate
in the life of God,
we need to regularly
ask ourselves,
how do I need to adjust
the sails
of my heart?
Am I aligned
with the heart
and will of Christ?
Am I regularly
putting myself second?
Am I regularly
prioritizing the well-being
of those around me?
And of course,
this will always
be a work in progress.
This will always
be something
that we do
very imperfectly
and we will fail
as often
or more
than we succeed.
So if you're sitting
here right now
feeling that tension
as you think
about your relationships,
you're in good company.
We will fail
more than we succeed.
That raises
one final question though.
What happens
if I'm in relationship
with someone
and I'm doing my best
to prioritize
their well-being
but they don't reciprocate?
What do I do with that?
And on the one hand,
this passage clearly shows
how wrong that is.
It shows that
even if your life
feels greatly unfair,
deeply unfair right now,
in whatever relationship
you're thinking of.
It means there is
someone who sees that.
I think chapter 6,
verse 9
can be applied
to the whole passage.
Your master in heaven sees
and with him
there is no partiality.
So on the one hand,
we have to recognize
you can't control
anyone else.
You can't manage
how they treat you.
You can't manage
how they think about you.
You can't control.
It's not you.
You're crossing
a boundary
that you can't cross
if you try to control
and manage
how another person
treats you.
If you try to manipulate
them into doing
what you want them to do,
you can't do that.
The only person
that you're responsible
for is yourself.
So you have to recognize
that.
You can only be responsible
for your own heart
and your own posture
toward them.
But you can take comfort
in knowing that one day
God will hold
that person accountable
if there are things
they need to be
held accountable for.
On the other hand,
if you are in relationship
with someone
who you think
is not reciprocating,
you say,
I'm doing all of this
for them.
I feel like I constantly
put them first.
I've constantly put my stuff
to the side.
I'm constantly making sure
they're okay.
And they never reciprocate.
They're just happy
for me to do that.
I feel like they're
taking advantage of me.
That happens.
I know it happens.
On the other hand,
there is someone
who understands
what that's like
better than anyone
else in existence.
Jesus Christ knows
better than anyone
what it's like
to lay his life down,
to love and to serve people
who refuse to love
and serve him in return.
In other words,
he knows what it's like
to love and serve
people like me,
people like us,
but what we see in Jesus
and what the gospel tells us
is that that does not stop him
from pouring his life
out for us.
In fact,
it's the very reason
he does it.
He knows the only thing
that will ever change
people like us,
help us become more loving,
help us become more serving,
is for him to pour his life
into ours.
And when you begin
to realize the depth
of Jesus' commitment
to love you
and to serve you
and to become
a servant for you,
even in the face
of your rebellion
against him,
that humbles you.
That softens your heart.
It strengthens you
to love
and to serve others
in your life,
not for their sake necessarily,
but for Jesus' sake.
As Christians,
we are called
to treat people
not the way
they treat us.
We are not called
to treat people
the way they treat us.
We are called
to treat people
the way Jesus
treats us.
Let's pray.
Lord,
may these truths
in your Scripture
do their work in us,
and may your Spirit
do in us
what no mere words
can do.
Lord,
we desire
to be
your people,
and that your mark
would be on us,
and that your life
in us
would be evident
because our relationships
look so different
from the other kinds
of relationships
we see in the world.
Lord,
we long for the way
we love one another
as in marriage,
Lord,
in friendship,
Lord,
between parents
and children,
Lord,
on ministry teams
that we serve on,
Lord,
with our neighbors,
Lord,
in our workplace
relationships,
Lord,
the way we respond
to angry,
unjust bosses,
Lord,
the way we respond
to people
who criticize us
or mistreat us,
Lord.
In all these ways,
we pray that we would
put your glory
on display,
and we pray
that as we do this,
we would open ourselves
up to your Spirit,
and then as we are
filled by your Spirit,
that that would become
the motivation
for us to do this
even more.
We pray for more
of your Spirit
in us,
Lord.
Help us align
the sails of our hearts
to receive you fully.
We pray this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.