You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
We are in Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3 verses 7 through 13 we'll be considering this
morning. Along with what Will said, I would encourage you to continue to prepare your
hearts as we complete the Lenten season over the next week or so. Mark your calendars for
those Easter Holy Week services. They are very special services. Please make plans to attend.
I'm excited about that. I hope you are too. I told one of our members this morning that
God and His love and kindness gave us Easter. It happened, but it's also happening. We have a
reminder every year we get to celebrate this amazing news of Jesus defeating death, rising from the grave.
It changed the entire course of history, and we celebrate it each year. It happened,
but we also celebrate that it's happening in the coming weeks. So continue to prepare your hearts
for that. Ephesians chapter 3 verses 7 through 13, Paul's going to continue to draw out for us
what this mystery of the gospel is, what it looks like in our lives. He's going to help us to see
more of what God intended as He reveals and works the gospel into our lives as believers. So look with
me at Ephesians 3 verses 7 through 13. Paul says this,
of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the
working of His power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given
to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is
the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the
manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have boldness and access with competence through faith in Him. So I ask you not to lose heart
for what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Let's pray together. Father, this is your word.
This is your time. These are your people. And I ask that you would be present with us, that you would
bless us in a unique and special way during this time, not because of what I say, because of
anything that I might be or the way that this pulpit is represented, but only because of your truth.
May my words be your words. May the truth that is proclaimed here take hold in the lives of these
your people. I pray these things in your heavenly and righteous Son's name. Amen. One of the primary
philosophies of ministry when you work with junior high students is the managing and the organizing of
chaos. The wiring of the brain of a junior higher is this combination of random attention levels,
spurts of energy going in all kinds of different directions. There's this crazy cocktail of hormones
that's constantly brewing in their bodies. And especially for junior high boys, this is true
when we play games. We know, myself and Winnie, any staff member that we have, we train them to know
that when you work with junior highers, when you play games with them, you've got to know that at some
point chaos is going to ensue. Like all of your structure is going to fall apart. And if you like
structure and rules in a game, forget about it with a junior higher. Chaos is going to ensue. Things are
going to go crazy at some point. This is never truer than in the first 20 minutes of junior high life.
If you come across the street to the lodge on Wednesday nights, from six o'clock till about 620,
is kind of a hangout free time for our junior highers. And you ought to sign a waiver before
you enter the gym because it is chaos. There are dodgeballs, there are kickballs, there are
basketballs, there are volleyballs, there are finger blasters, there's shoes flying, like whatever they can
find is being thrown or shot or dodged, whatever it is. You really should come take a look sometime.
If the students are amped up enough, if they've had enough caffeine, the normal use for each ball
will change. You can see it in the eyes of some of these junior high boys. A basketball will roll his
way and he'll take it. And in his eyes you can see, I don't want this to be a basketball. I want this to
be a kickball. And he'll do it. He'll turn a basketball into a kickball. There was one time when I entered into
the gym and I was struck by one of those basketballs that had turned into a cannonball and I realized
very quickly the importance of using athletic equipment for what it's meant to be used for, right?
You don't use volleyballs for basketball or basketballs for dodgeball. Each ball has their intended use.
The instinct, my instinct is to intervene to remind the students of the intended purpose and plans
for each of those balls, all of the athletic equipment that's there. The intent for Paul as
he now speaks to the Ephesians is the same. It's almost as if he's refereeing a game, but instead of
dodgeball or kickball, Paul's going to lay out for the Ephesians, he's going to lay out for us what the
purpose and plan is for the church. You see, for many of us, our sinful tendency is to lose sight of or
confuse why it is that we exist as a church. Our sinful tendency is to think primarily about ourselves,
to focus on our own personal individual relationship with Christ. Paul's going to show us how our sin,
the beauty of the gospel, and the resulting nature of our mission as a church, including even, Paul says,
our suffering, is all for the glory and the growth of God's kingdom. Paul's going to frame for us the
nature of his ministry, but he's doing so to exemplify, to point us and show us what the church should look
like. So, with this loving, pastoral, but declarative voice, Paul's going to tell the Ephesians two things,
two primary things regarding his ministry. So, if you're taking notes, start with this. Paul's going
to tell them the purpose of his ministry, the purpose of the church, why it is that we exist.
Paul tells the Ephesians, and he tells us that the church exists for a two-fold purpose. The first is to
reach the world with the gospel of grace. The gospel that Paul explains that he is a minister of is one
that is marked primarily by grace. He is first marked by grace. Paul is first a recipient of it,
is what he tells us. In verse 8, he calls himself the very least of all the saints. The emphasis that
Paul is placing is clearly upon God's favor and God's mercy. A more literal translation of this
descriptor, very least of the saints, would sound something like this in the original language,
that Paul would say he is the lesser least of all the saints. As he's known to do now in Ephesians,
Paul's going beyond conventional grammar. He's going beyond conventional speech to make a clear point
about where he stands before the Father. It'd be easy for us to assume, though, that Paul's just using
some kind of pious hyperbole, right? That he's saying, well, this is what I used to be like. He's just being
humble. How could we think that with all the great things that Paul has done, the churches that he's
planted, the great obedience that he's shown, the suffering that he faces, how could he say that he's
the lesser least of all the saints? Well, Paul's reminding us that he and each of us is members of
Christ's body. Although we grow in our obedience, we continue to be the least of all the saints.
Paul knows that even our best, most honorable, most godly moments earn us nothing before the
Father, that we continue to be the least of all the saints. The only thing that we add to our
spiritual ledger before the Father is debt. For Paul, the great apostle, and for each of us, this
must mean a posture of humility and a posture of brokenness. We must be constantly aware that we are
servants of Christ. We live in this never-ending cycle, right, where we see our sin and we experience
God's grace, and we see our sin again, and we experience God's grace. It's this never-ending
cycle. It's in this cycle that we're constantly aware of our weakness. It's in this cycle that we
are regularly dependent upon God's grace. Sinclair Ferguson said that it's in this dependence that
we begin to see ourselves as servants rather than masters to our fellow believers. What does Paul say
he dwells with? He dwells with the saints. He's the least of the saints. He's recognizing his place in the
kingdom. He never separates the two, though. He recognizes that we are both sinners and saints.
We are simultaneously marked by our sin, but we're also reclaimed and made righteous by God's grace.
This means that we must have an attitude of servanthood towards each other and those outside
of the church. It's because of this truth that Paul starts with of our brokenness and our restoration
that we live lives. We must live lives that are marked by love, that are marked by compassion,
that are marked by gentleness and kindness. Why do we do all of it? Because Christ did it first.
When we sacrifice, when we give, when we serve, when we love, when we show compassion and kindness
to our neighbors, we are giving and experiencing the kingdom as Jesus founded it for us.
Jesus, who was the greatest of all creation, became the least. The one true heavenly king took on flesh.
He came to earth and he died for his people. Paul's purpose and our purpose is to model that same
love. It's all because of that same love, because of the unmerited favor that God showed us in Christ.
This is what Paul calls the unsearchable riches of Christ. They are unable to be tracked out,
unable to be traced. The love of God which was displayed to you, Southwood, was unfathomable.
You can't understand it. It doesn't make sense. Your heart and your mind can't comprehend why God
would love you in this way, but you respond in it and because of it. So, the first purpose of our
ministry is to reach the world with this gospel of grace, to live out of our humility and our
brokenness. The second half of our purpose that Paul tells us is to offer the light, offer light to
the darkness that plagues all men. Chapter 2 told us about the dividing wall of hostility that existed
between God and the Gentiles and how Jesus broke that down. But now Paul is telling us to go beyond
that, to take the light of the gospel and carry it to all people and to all places. We've seen the light,
we've experienced the light, now we go as light bearers into the world. We've been shown the glory of
Christ. Now we get to take it to all of the world, to every part of our lives, to apply the gospel
where we live and we work and we play. We get to partner with God. We get to join Him in this process
of reversing the fall, of taking back what was His, taking back what was lost and damaged. So, this means
some challenging things for you, for us. It means we don't just sit here in the pews, receive God's Word,
and then go about our business. It means that the gospel needs to be taking hold in every corner of
your life. It means that you should be on the cutting edge of reconciliation. It means that you
should perform your work with utter integrity, that you should live honestly in your relationships.
It means that you should take up the fight against injustices. You should declare truth to your
children and to your children's friends about the broken and cynical generation that they're a part of.
It means that you should honor others with love. You should work for social change. You should grow
a garden. You should cook good food. You're bringing beauty and glory back into the world,
into all the places that have been touched by the fall.
And while you do this, you're constantly remembering, constantly renewed by the humbling reality
that God chose you to offer this light to first.
You're carrying what you have first experienced. You are God's light bearers to the whole world.
If you watched the national news or glanced at headlines this week, then you know Starbucks made
the news. After starting in their home market of Seattle, Starbucks just this week rolled out a
nationwide campaign called Race Together. The idea is for all of Starbucks baristas at all of their
locations along with the cup of coffee that they serve to start a conversation about racial
reconciliation. They can write a note on the cup. They can share a quote. They can offer a quick thought
about the problems that are plaguing our country and our community. Now, as you can imagine, this has
caused a lot of controversy. Some think it's a great idea. Some think it's a great way to get people
talking, but there are other people who just want to receive their coffee or they don't want to have that
conversation with Starbucks baristas. Despite the pushback, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks,
is standing strong. He released a memo to his employees this week, and this is what the memo said.
He said, I'm asking you to perform the small gesture of writing Race Together on a cup,
and if a customer asks you what this is, try and engage in a discussion. Tell them that we have
problems in this country with regard to race and racial reconciliation, and that you believe that
we're better than this. We believe the country is better than this, and if this makes you have a
conversation with a customer about the need for compassion, the need for empathy, the need for
love for others, if you can do that with one customer one day, you're making a significant difference
as we move forward. Now, I'm not here to give you the official position of Southwood's leadership on
Starbucks on this move that they've made or mine and Will's official position. I'm not here to
criticize or challenge Starbucks. I'm here to criticize and challenge you as Christ's church.
Listen again to the last part of what Howard Schultz said. He said, if this makes you have a
conversation with a customer about the need for compassion, the need for empathy, the need for love
towards others, if you can do that with one customer one day, you're making a significant difference
as we go forward. My first thought as I heard about what this coffee company was doing was,
forgive us, Father. Forgive us that we have coffee companies doing what we should be doing
as a church. Forgive us for not starting better conversations. Forgive us for not having compassion,
empathy, love, cultural awareness, and sensitivity. Forgive us for missing the purpose of your church
and the reason that you have placed us in this world. Now, Southwood, you need to know that you
are doing lots of great things. I believe in you. You are engaged in the city. You're engaged in the
lives of your neighbors and your friends. But until we have spread the light to everyone, what is the
glorious, amazing gospel of grace, until we've spread it everywhere, coffee companies are going to do it in
our stead. Lead the way in your workplace. Lead the way in your children's schools. Lead the way in your
friendships and in your neighborhoods. Love what God loves by bringing it into the darkness. Don't let
others do it for us. Step in. Lead the way. Be light bearers. Paul has told us that the ministry,
his ministry, his ministry and the ministry of the church, has this purpose of advancing the kingdom by
reaching the world with the gospel and taking light into the darkness. He answers for us this second
question then of what is God up to then when He works? Why are we doing all of this? What is God's
plan? So the second thing that Paul tells us is what God's plan is for the church and for ministry here.
Ultimately, Paul tells us that God is, His plan is to display power and to raise up glory in our midst.
God is working to display power and to raise up glory in our midst. To better understand this idea of
power and glory being proclaimed, we need to look back and remember this principle that Paul's been
building upon of the heavenly places. Look with me at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20 where God,
Paul told us this about God. He says that God worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. It was emphasized at the beginning of
Paul's letter that God is firmly established in heaven and that Christ upon His resurrection
was seated in His right place with God. He was seated in the heavenly places.
The second chapter of Ephesians in verse 6, we are told that God did what? That He raised us up
and He seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So just as God was faithful to
raise up Christ, we were merited with all of Christ's obedience. We were merited with His
resurrection and His conquering of death. So we were seated with Christ in heaven. But the idea continues.
Look at verses 9 and 10. They say this,
To bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and the authorities
in where? In the heavenly places. Do you see this repeated theme of the heavenly places that first we're told of
God's dwelling, Christ's dwelling, and our dwelling? But now that we're told that as the church,
we are to proclaim back to the heavenly places the glory of God, that His plan the entire time was
from earth as citizens of God's kingdom here, we are to proclaim back to the angels and God Himself
what is the glory, the majesty, the holiness, the mercy of God.
This glory, we're told, is seen in the manifold wisdom of God, and it's shown even in our suffering as God's people.
A few important applications that I want us to draw out from this plan that God has for His church,
three big applications. The first is this, is that the church, the church by its very nature exists in what one
commentator calls colorful hues. The church exists in colorful hues. The proclamation of the gospel
that Paul has been spreading is not just intended to bring individuals in the kingdom, but to actually
create this ever-broadening, ever-expanding, always-diversifying place called the church.
We as the church are the theater in which God displays His manifold witness, wisdom, excuse me.
The wisdom of God is this most wonderful counsel of God, His sanctifying power, His predestinating
will, His sovereign election. And how has it worked out? It's worked out in manifold ways, in diversity,
in many facets. This means that if we as the church are properly reflecting the wisdom and the revelation
of God that we claim to have seen, then we must embrace what it means to belong to a people who are
diverse, what it means to belong to a people who don't look like us sometimes, who do different
things, who have different interests, who look and smell a little bit different than us. There are two
major ways that Paul wants to see diversity in his church. The first is through our sin and our
brokenness. This means that there's no filter, no type or degree of sin in which you or I or any other
person may not struggle with. It means that we welcome anybody who's sick into this place. A hospital
doesn't turn someone away because they're too sick or because of some particular illness, right? So too,
should we never turn our attention and our hearts away from the brokenness, the sinfulness,
the doubts, the messiness, the worry that relationships with the world will bring us.
We must have diversity in our sin and our brokenness. The second way that we should have
diversity is in our racial and social makeup. Paul tells us that the church is going to be filled with
people from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, every life stage, every personal history,
and varied financial backgrounds. And this is something that we should long for, that we should
celebrate, we should praise God for. It means that we should champion and embrace ways to diversify
where and when we can as a community. I want you to think for a second about the people that are sitting
next to you in the pew. It's okay to judge them for a second because I'm going to ask you some
questions, okay? Do you think that they live a similar lifestyle as you? Do you think that they desire
the same things as you? Do you think they have the same general needs that you do in your life?
I would expect you to say yes, that's okay. I would expect us to be a group of people who are
generally like-minded, who have similar interests, similar needs, similar desires. But I want you to
think about your next-door neighbor now, or the parents of your son's friend at school, or the people
on the sidelines of the soccer field, or who are in theater practice with your kids. Are they a little
different? Do they talk a little different? Do they come from a little less pedigree than you do?
And do you feel like we're missing something at Southwood without them? You should. There should be a
hole in your heart, there are empty places in our pews, and there should be a desire within the life and
the body of this church for a more diversified group of people. Because this, Paul says, is one of the
infectious implications of the gospel, that you're so amazed by the fact that you were saved that you
can't help but get more people in here. You can't help but get more people who would also be amazed by
the fact that they were saved, that you would desire to show God's manifold witness to the world.
The second application of this plan of God to display His power and His glory is that we might see in the
face of our suffering our need and the glory of heaven. I don't intend to give a full explanation or a
great thesis on the topic of suffering this morning, but I think it's necessary for us to recognize what
Paul's saying. This primary point at the end of our passage, and it's this, that our suffering is ultimately
intended for the glory of God and His church. There are all kinds of mysteries, uncertainties,
frustrations, hurts, and scars that result from our suffering. But God's promise is that nothing else, if
nothing else, that they would cause us to long and desire more for heaven, that they would cause us to long
and desire more for God's healing grace. Look at what Brian Chappell says about Paul's suffering.
He says,
From an earthly perspective, his, that is Paul's suffering, hinder his ministry, they endanger his life,
and spoil his reputation. But from heaven's perspective, he sees that God uses even suffering
for the great glory of bringing us together for the praise of our Savior. Listen to this.
This is the ultimate sign of our genuine calling. We are so enraptured by grace that we would be willing
to die to self and live for God so that we might bring together many centers of many kinds to be a
witness to the Savior in heaven and on earth. This is the infectious implication of the gospel.
That we would desire so greatly for God's kingdom to expand that we would recognize God's purposes
and even embrace the suffering that we have in our lives so that more might be added to the number
of God's kingdom. But this is foolish and unwise. The world looks at us and is confused. They laugh. Why
would we embrace our suffering? Who would embrace their suffering? The Easter story that we're going to
celebrate in the next few weeks tells us that there was one person who did. Jesus embraced his suffering.
He said, though he desired for the cup to pass, his desire was that his father's reign would increase,
that his father's kingdom would increase, and Jesus would endure the greatest pain, that Jesus would
endure the greatest suffering on our behalf. His pain and suffering, his torture and torment,
are what now give us hope. They give us hope that God is actively working in our suffering,
that God is drawing us to himself in our suffering, and he is advancing and growing his kingdom through
our suffering. Suffering, Paul tells us, results in the growth and the glory of God's name and God's kingdom.
Ultimately, Paul's message as he describes the purpose and the plan of God in the life of a believer in the
church is that our faith, this church, is not about Jesus and me. It's about Jesus and us, that we exist as
a corporate gathered group of people. Our chief desire should be for the glory of God and the gathering of many
types of people to God, people of different tastes and interests, backgrounds and struggles.
Faith, Paul tells us, is not an isolated, one-time transaction with God, but rather an engaged,
regular, integrated relationship where many different people come together for one common
interest, and that is the glory of God. By showing love, by showing grace and favor to all those that
Jesus died for, we are displaying the manifold wisdom of God. And we are proclaiming to those on earth
and to our Father in heaven what is his glorious and mighty reign. God's desire is that we would be
willing to die to self and to live for the sake of God's glory and the others of this community.
The greatest implication of the gospel is not just that God died for you, but that he died for us,
for the entire world. May we worship God, may we live as his followers and embrace his mission
to this end. Will you pray with me?
Father, this doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense that you would die for people like us,
that you would choose to display your glory in this way through weak, through broken, through messy
people. But Father, it's what you chose to do because that's how you are going to receive the
greatest glory. So I pray that you would prick the hearts of these people and that you would help
them see the greater body that they are connected to, that you would also prick their hearts and lead
them to share the gospel with others, with their neighbors, with their friends, and with their family.
And Father, would you give us a perspective on our suffering? Give us a perspective on what it is
that you're doing, not only in our hearts, but in the life of your church. And grow in us a desire for
your kingdom, for lost souls, that people might know you as we know you. Thank you, Father, for your
love and for your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.
For more information, visit us online at southwood.org.