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.