Ephesians: June 4, 2020 Class 10 Chapter 6:10-24

Theme: Be Armed by the Power of God

6: 10-11   It might seem strange that Paul uses the metaphor of armor for being a Christian in life.  But you need to remember that during the first century the Roman army was pretty much occupying the entire Mediterranean and beyond. The system was a conglomeration of conquered countries ruled by the Romans.  Even parts of what we now consider to be Italy were subjugated states.  The way the Romans enforced their policies and law was through the use of force by the Roman Army so a Roman in full armor was a common site.  He had to wear his armor when he was on duty for protection against unruly citizens who might want to harm him.

            Paul takes this idea and applies it to Christians.  Christianity was a very new minority religion.  When a person was a Christian they would probably encounter people in the world who would want to dissuade people from following Christ.  Armor is considered to be at once a symbol of violence and imposition but also a symbol of protection.  In this case Paul is saying that we are protected by God, but that the armor is also a way of showing people what Christ is to them.  It is a mental evangelism tool.

            But Paul also saw Christians in a war – not with the Romans but with the forces of darkness in the world, specifically the devil.  Paul wanted Christians to understand that they would have to battle those forces every day.  These are made up not only the people who would oppose Christianity, but also the people who wanted there to be injustice in the world.  Paul therefore elevates Christianity from a religion that is just for Christians to a religion that must fight for justice beyond the Christian community – not matter where it happens. 

6:12  The forces of darkness are listed here.  How might we define these forces today?

Enemies of blood and flesh (Things that can hurt you physically)	Viruses; Disease  Sex trafficking; pedophiles  Addictive substances; alcohol, drugs, cigarettes   Pirates; people who exploit you.
Rulers (People with government power)	Corrupt rulers Dictators & Tyrants: Hitler, North Korea, Russia Power structures that don’t allow people power.
Authorities (People who have position: teachers, ministers, advisors)	Corrupt Police Embezzlers: Bernie Madoff; unethical stock brokers/bankers Corrupt Government Officials Corrupt Judges Pharisees: Someone who sticks to the RULE of law for their own benefit without thinking of circumstances or justice
Cosmic Powers & Spiritual forces of evil *	Devil White Nationalism: KKK Compliancy: It doesn’t involve/touch me Prejudice/Injustice

* There was a belief that spiritual warfare on earth was also taking place in heaven.  Back then heaven wasn’t a calm place with angels but a country that was at war with the forces of darkness.  This wasn’t restricted to Christians – the Greeks also had this idea.

6: 13-17   A description of the armor of God.  Note that Paul says to take up the “whole armor.”  This is because he believed that you had to make your whole life reflect Christ.  You couldn’t do it piece by piece.  I am sure that Paul had people in his churches who were “part Christian,” who didn’t want to take on all the aspects of Christianity.  

            * The armor also helps us to deal with the bad stuff in the outside world.  Often we are overwhelmed by the stress that the difficulties and the injustice that the world brings to us.  The armor is a shield to keep us from internalizing all the craziness.  

Piece of Armor	What does this item mean to you? Why is it important?
Belt of Truth	Live by being truthful.  Truth gives us confidence that we are acting with sincerity.  People trust us.  When people instruct us truthfully, we know we’re doing it right.  Truth leads to justice – lying leads to corruption
Breastplate of Righteousness (Living right with God)	Treating all people as equal.  Not lying.  Following commandments to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Keeping a connection with God fortifies our faith.  Acting in Charity.
Shoes for your feet (Mission, Evangelism)	Going out into the world with our faith.  Telling others about God.  Community service.  Sharing with friends.  What kind of shoes do you imagine wearing when you do God’s work?
Shield of Faith (How does our faith in Christ shield us?)	We believe that God will give us power and strength to see us through the bad stuff.  Also, the bad stuff will end and God will get us to a better place.
Helmet of Salvation (The helmet is worn on the head – so this is a protections from the mental struggle of not being worthy)	We know Jesus is living in our hearts.  We know we have a Holy Spirit connection.  We believe in ourselves because God believes in us.  When we make a mistake (sin) we can forgive ourselves because Jesus has told us that we are forgiven – so we find relief from sin and we can move on and correct the mistake.
Sword of the Spirit (Word of God)	The sword cuts through things – it is also a weapon that can kill.  The Sword as the Word of God is worn on the Belt of Truth, so the word of God is cutting through lies and speaking truth to power.  The truth cuts through the dark forces in the world to bring about justice for everyone in the world.

6:18 -20  The importance of prayer: Paul asks that people be in prayer.  He asks for prayers for himself and the saints – church leaders.  Also, we should pray for each other.  It is interesting to note that he is calling himself “an ambassador in chains.”  This is why scholars think that was written from prison.   Also, even if a Christian can do nothing else they can always pray.  

            * When you can’t think of anything that you can do you can pray – which will calm you down so that you can think of something to do.

            * A quote from Teresa’s mother Edith: Just remember; Thank God for the little blessings and the big blessings will come.

6:21-22  Personal connection: Letters usually were brought to the churches by people who were visiting.  In this case Tychicus is bringing the letter to the church.  

Q. What are the ways that we can connect and find out about each other in Christ.

            * Letters, Post cards, Greeting cards, Telephone

            * Emails, Zoom, Facebook, Facetime

            * The stress we are experiencing now is that we have lost a lot of face-to-face time and we are all feeling lonely.

6:23-24  Final Benediction: Paul blesses the whole community in the name of Jesus.

Ephesians: May 28, 2020 Class 9 Chapter 5:21- 6:9

Theme: The Christian Household

            Paul is continuing the arc of this letter from the theology of Christianity, to the structure and working of the church, then to the individual in Christ, and finally to the Christian household/family.   We need to remember that a household, even one without a lot of money, was an extended one.  Most families would have three generations live together as well as servants or slaves.  And often the servants would be a family that was serving the larger family.  Slavery was usually economically driven.  Slaves were often people who had indentured themselves for money to pay off loans, or children who had been indentured for a period of time to get money.  Slavery could be for life but often the slave would transition to a paying servant after their time of indentured servitude was over.  Also the “household” would probably be running a family business of which the slaves/servants would also be working in to provide income for everyone.

5:21  Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ  

            Paul is usually associated with the phrase: Wives obey your husbands.  The above phrase makes us question just what Paul meant by be subject.  EVERYONE in the Christian community was supposed to listen and support each other.  Paul recognized that in the household people had different jobs and responsibilities that were called for.  A husband shouldn’t dictate to his wife how she should be running or doing her work – it was a waste of time.  Instead, if conflicts arose between what should be done the parties should listen to one another and work out a solution.  Working together is really the theme in this section not domination of one person over the other.

Class Discussion Points:  Paul is talking about a Partnership vs. a Dictatorship

Husbands and Wives

5:22-24  This is the section about wives listening to their husbands.  Men were the legal representatives of the family in society.  Women were allowed to own property under Roman Law; Jewish Law had a way for a woman to own property if all the male members of the family had died – this didn’t happen very often.  Since men were the legal representatives of the family the women needed to trust that a husband was going to do what was best socially for the family.  

Class Discussion Points:  This passage has often been used to suppress women.  

By taking it literally woman have been regulated to the role of a servant, not a partner, in a marriage.  

It is important for a woman to have financial freedom in order to be a good provider and have say in a marriage.

5:25-32   It is interesting to note that we have 3 verses about wives listening to husbands, but we have 8 verses about husbands listening to wives.  The joke in history/economic/sociology studies is: The larger amount of writing on a subject indicates how big the problem was.  Obviously for Paul the problem wasn’t women not listening to men, it was men not listening to and valuing the advice of women.  Paul equates the relationship of a husband and wife to the relationship between Christ and the Church. 

Q:  Paul tells men to love their wives.    

How do we show in a relationship that we love and respect each other with our spouses?

How does this carry over into our public relationships in church or in society?

* Don’t volunteer your spouse for jobs * Be respectful * Don’t open each other’s mail * Be aware of the other spouse * Be private * Don’t swear at your spouse * Follow the Golden Rule * No Double standards * Don’t open old wounds

* Don’t volunteer your friends or assume they can do things.  Maybe they can’t. * Be respectful of others time * Be aware of what is your business and what isn’t.  If someone asks you to help then do – but maybe your talents can’t help in which case you shouldn’t intrude. * Don’t swear at other people: even when you’re mad you should show some respect * Don’t remind people of stupid things they did – let them move on.

5:28    Paul says that husbands should love their wives as they love themselves.  

Q:  How do we love ourselves?  How does this compare to how we love other people?

Class Discussion Points:  When you love yourself, you love others.  Treat people how you want to be treated.  By respecting yourself you create good boundaries in your dealings with others.

Children and Parents

6:1-4   In this section Paul uses the stronger word “obey” for children.  As we know children often don’t know what is safe or good for them so demanding some obedience is a necessary form of safety and a way to teach right and wrong behavior.  

Q:  What do you think Paul means when he says to not provoke children to anger?

You want to model for your children how you should act.

When you do things in anger you make stupid choices.

If children think what they say will make their parents angry they won’t confide in them.

Q: How do we bring them up in the discipline and instruction of God and Christ?  

The way we teach and speak – by being loving and kind, explaining in terms for their age group we can help them understand life.

When possible give choices;  let them learn from their mistakes; try to understand their feelings.  

If a child forgets homework they have to deal with what happens.

Sometimes it helps to write down expectations.

Slaves (servants) and Masters

6:5-9   Paul here is telling slaves that they need to obey their owners and serve them with the love of Christ in their heart.  It should be noted that when a household became Christian the slaves often became Christian as well.  In the church, household members, servants, and slaves would all worship together.  Paul is equalizing the slaves and servants spiritually, even though they might not be social equals.  In America we don’t have slavery, but we still create barriers for people who we don’t think are worthy – and we also don’t treat groups of people as brothers and sisters of Christ.  We could extend this passage in our modern times to say that Paul is talking about the Christian relationship between employers and employees

Q:  Today what sort of behavior would be considered “unworthy of Christ” between employers and employees?

Employees	Employers
* Not caring about work * Comes late/leaves early * Takes credit for other’s work * Takes home office supplies – steals * Is verbally disrespectful of co-workers * Doesn’t attempt to work as a team * Doesn’t follow rules	* Doesn’t pay fair wages * Verbally disrespects workers * Harassment on the job * Takes credit for worker’s job as their own * Doesn’t listen to employment problems * Covers up or ignores safety issues * Doesn’t provide insurance

The opposite actions are how employees and employers should behave toward each other.

Ephesians: May 21, 2020 Class 8; Chapter 5:1-14

Theme: Live as Children of Light

5:1-2   Imitators of God/Christ:  This is a transition from the last section which outlined stopping bad habits and the rules for a new life.  Paul is reminding us to be imitators of Christ and to live in the Third Commandment: To love each other as Christ loved us.

5:3-5  Talking about bad behavior:  Paul takes the idea of living a Christian life to include not even discussing bad behavior, but it is more along the lines of the bad behavior of what people did before they became Christian.  We should discuss bad behavior to define it and to instruct others not to participate in bad behavior.  But we all talk about foolish things that we did in our youth and I am sure that there were people who would brag at how bad they were before they became Christians, without being very contrite about how their bad behavior hurt themselves or others.  As an example, I once knew someone who wouldn’t go to a specific AA meeting because most of the people would simply get up and brag about their exploits before they became sober.  He found an AA meeting that was more interested in taking the next steps in recovery.

Q: Has anyone encountered a person who boosts of their sin?  Most people said that they had encountered people who “glorify their behavior.” 

5:6-7   Deceivers with empty words.  We can see that people have been using sales’ tactics all the way back in the first century.  Paul is warning people about not falling back into bad habits by listening to words or phrases that might lead them to thinking that their old habits weren’t so bad after all.

Q:  What words or phrases do people use to get you to do something that you might not want to do?   And

Q: What words or phrases do people use to convince themselves that they can do something that they shouldn’t? 

Just one/just one time won’t matter.

Don’t you want to enjoy life?

I dare you!

This will solve all your problems

You’re such a goody-two-shoe!

You’re so righteous.

It won’t take long

It won’t hurt you or someone else.

No one will ever know.

You can afford it.

I’ve done this before and nothing bad happened.

            Also to change the pressure: Move a muscle – change a thought.

5: 8-14   Darkness vs. Light also Secrecy vs. Transparency:  Some of this gets back to conflict with Christianity as a very open religion as opposed to a mystery religion, which were very prominent in the 1^st century.  When you joined a mystery religion you had to go through rituals that were secret and at each level you were given a set of tasks that would help you attain knowledge and then you would have a ritual to level up where you would get another set of tasks.  Although we have no evidence that some churches that Paul was associated with did this it is possible that some might have been experimenting with the system.  There were some early  Gnostic-Christians sects that did start to do this, many of them were connected to Greek traditions, but they were denounced as heretical in the 2^nd century and band outright in the 3^rd and 4^th century when Christianity became a more official and acceptable religion.

            But socially sin is able to continue and spread in darkness, when people don’t know about it, so Paul encouraged people to bring sin into the light and deal with it.

Q:  In a given situation how do we find out what is pleasing to God?  

When in doubt ask a pastor or someone who you admire as a Christian.  

Write down your Pro’s and Con’s to figure out your consequences.  

     (Pro’s move you toward God.  Con’s move you away from God.) 

Pray and ask God for guidance.  

Q:  What unfruitful works of darkness exist in our day that we need to expose?

Murder

Misinformation from those in power

Pedophilia

Harassment: sexual and otherwise

Physical abuse

Bullying

Rape

Slavery

Exploitation of workers

5:15-20   How to live: Below is a list of some pointers to living a Christian life:

            Be Careful and try to act in wisdom

            Make the most of your time

            Do not act foolishly

            Do not get drunk

            Sing psalms

            Give thanks to God.

These are very similar to the General Rules that John Wesley formulated for the Methodist Societies.  (See Attachments)

  

Three Basic Rules	How do we live them?
Do No Harm	We ran out of time to do a full discussion, but it was agreed that the General Rules offer a good list of Do’s and  Don’ts.  The modern rule list is below for you to look at.
Do Good
Connect to God

General Rules of the United Methodist Church: A MODERN VERSION

How to be a Methodist and work toward the perfection of your connection to God

     The General Rules are a collection of guidelines that John Wesley put together over the years from the interactions that he had with the Methodist Societies in England.  The Societies were a sub-group of the Episcopal church that would meet weekly and try to figure out how their members could live Christian lives.  This is an updated version both in language (John Wesley lived in the 1700's) and in putting in into the social context of today.  But actually not much has changed.

Do no Harm: Avoid the Following

Don’t use God’s name to take an oath or make a promise to something that you don’t intend to honor or fulfill. Don’t use God’s name as a swear word.  

On your Sabbath Day, don’t do ordinary work.  Do something purposefully that will reset you, get you in touch with God, and allow you to feel your connection.  

Avoid Addiction:  Do not get involved with taking, buying, or selling, addictive substances or negative actions that can control you. Responsible partaking of alcohol is okay, but be aware of your addiction and seek help for it.

Don’t partake in the enslavement or exploitation of people for profit.  Pay people a living wage so that they can make a living with dignity.

Don’t indulge in anger and control for the sake of personal power.  Or in argument for the sake of domination and winning for the sake of winning.

Learn how to control your anger.  Learn how to express yourself in an understanding and reasonable manner. Learn how to compromise.

Don’t buy illegally made products, or products that have been made from the exploitation of people.  Be reasonable with your loans.  Don’t live beyond your means.

Don’t gossip about people

Don’t do to people what you don’t want them to do to you.

And don’t complain about it when it rebounds on you.

Don’t spend your money on things you don’t need.  Buy what you are going to use and need. 

Don’t do things that are not Christian in action.  Avoid acts that are destructive.  Do acts that are positive and build God’s kingdom.

Watch out for media that wastes your time and distracts you from your purpose of becoming a better, more loving and productive person.  Some items: pornography, violent video games.  

Don’t be lazy.  Don’t let yourself be unhealthy.

Don’t save your money to the point of being greedy.  We save so that we can turn around and give. 

Don’t get yourself so in debt that you can’t get out of it.

Do Good: Do the Following

Do what you can to the best of your ability to help people physically.  Feed the hungry, clothe people in want, visit and help people who are sick, help people who are in prison.

Do what you can to the best of your ability to help people mentally, emotionally and spiritually.   Be a counselor and Friend; set an example for them in your own life.  And don’t fall into the trap that you can’t help people unless you are “fully equipped to do so.”  Start the process and God will take care of the rest.

Help your fellow Christians and those who are trying to be Christians.  

Give them employment and support their businesses as best you can.

Be as productive in your life as you can.  In your job and in your home. 

Be patient with your life.  Give things time to develop.  Don’t complain when things get hard to do.  Keep relying and connecting with God and your fellow Christians for strength.

Don’t worry about what other people say about you – that you are too good or too caring.  Remember that the opinion of the world isn’t important.  It is the opinion of God that is.

Nurture Your God Connection: Don’t Neglect These

Find a church and attend it.  Give yourself a chance to worship with others and to be strengthened by their faith.   

Give yourself a Sabbath: Time to connect with God.

Read and study the Bible.  Question and work with it.  How does it fit into your life?  Allow yourself to read commentaries or attend Bible class to work through the difficult bits.

Take communion so that you are reminded that you are sitting at the table of the world.

Remember that every meal is also a communion with your family or friends.

Take time to pray daily and don’t be afraid to pray with your family for things.

Don’t be afraid to deny your self what is bad for you and to substitute for the bad stuff what is good for you.

Ephesians: May 14, 2020 Class 7 Chapter 4:17-32

Theme:  Two Ways of Life  (Gentile vs. Christian)

            This section is addressing the Gentile-Christians who were not raised in the Jewish tradition.  It's trying to create an equalizing of the two moralistic traditions.  Just as the Jewish-Christians had to accept people who were not from the tribe of Abraham into the fold, the Gentiles also had to accept that belonging to the covenant meant that they had to rethink some practices.  Although Paul doesn’t specifically mention some practices we can guess from the generalities what he is talking about.

4:17-18  Futility of their minds; Hardness of Heart:  This is probably a reference to the philosophical practices in the Greek tradition.  Although we owe a lot to the Greeks for their championing of the different ideas of rational thought (we wouldn’t have modern science without it) actual ethics and social obligation and responsibility were often left out of it – it was considered that a rational person would be a good citizen – but there wasn’t much discussion of what a good citizen looked like.

            The Jewish religion on the other hand was very long on ethical behavior toward your neighbor, but it was mostly restricted to Jewish people interacting with Jewish people.  This is why Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan was so challenging, because it asked the audience to think outside of who was the “normal” neighbor. 

Q:  How do we discriminate others based on education or other things?  

* Lack of education

* Race/Color

* Knowledge

* Mental or physical abilities or disabilities

* Other religions

* Other areas of the country

* Women earning less money than men for the same job 

Q: What neighbors do we exclude or harden our hearts to in life?  

* Different Opinions

* Political Divide

* Social-economic level

* Levels of Licensing in professions 

* People who are married and don’t have children

* People with addictions

* Unwed mothers

* LGBTQ

4:19  Licentiousness, greedy to practice impurities:  Paul is probably referring to the idea of the practice among some religions of temple prostitution.  Sleeping with a low-level priest or priestess was a form of fertility rite, and of course the temple received a fee.  But there were other social practices, such as funeral feasts where people got very drunk and would not remember where they slept that night.  There was a certain amount of moral forgiveness, but also of permissiveness.  This did not line up with Jewish morality and the idea of living in a covenant.  

Also, these behaviors distracted people from the life of Christ.

Q:  What bad life practices keep or distract us from following God and Christ?

* Bad Habits – like overeating

* Being negative about self or others

* Exclusivity

* Workaholic

* Video Gaming

* Binge Watching TV

4:20 – 24:  Stopping your old bad habits with Christ:  This is a progression that Paul puts forward.

                                                                        

Paul’s Progression	How do we experience it?
1. Hear about Christ	Sunday School; Periodicals; Mission Examples; Someone comes to your aid; Invitation to church
2 Taught about Christ’s truth	Examples from friends;  When God provides you something you need; Experiencing God’s presence; Watch people who are a model of how to live in holiness.
3. Taught to put away former life with its bad habits	Good habits keep you from bad habits Read the Bible; Bible Study Get involved with mission
4. Renewed in the Spirit of the mind	Prayer; study Being with other Christians in a positive way
5. Create a new self that you live in in holiness	Try to be the best Christian you can be by being: kind, positive, sympathetic, knowledgeable, motivated & motivating, willing to always learn & improve.

4:25 - 32:  Rules For the New Life

Paul’s Rules	How do we experience?
Be truthful to one another leads to . . .	Respected; you become believable & trusted; people go to you with problem; you try to help
Being angry is okay, but help each other	Understand that there is placed and displaced anger.  See that anger is often an indication that something is not right.
Don’t let anger control you	Try to fix what is wrong. Work toward the common good.
Thieves give up stealing: Slaves were notorious for stealing, but other kinds of theft were related to high-interest rates and foreclosing on land or possessions	Bernie Madoff Medication prices Exploitative employment practices  Scams to defraud
Do not disparage, but build each other up	Put someone down vs. Build someone up Elitism vs. Inclusion
Don’t do something that would disappoint God	Don’t fall into bad habits – try to stay in good habits
Put away bitterness, anger, wrangling slander& malice	These keep you from being kind and put you into a negative mental condition.  Also you fall into a me vs. the world mentality
Be kind, forgiving and compassionate	These put you into a positive mental condition and keep you in connection with people.  You are part of the world and working with it not against it.