We Were Made for Greater Things

Text: Ephesians 2:1-10
Theme: “We Were Made for Greater Things”
Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 18, 2012
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

IN THE NAME OF JESUS

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In the lectionary commentary series Feasting on the Word, writer Ian S. Markham provided a neat summary of our text in the following sentence: “We are made for greater things.” Ephesians 2:1-10 is a magnificent reading. It includes classic themes of Reformed theology such as grace and faith. But set aside the reading itself for a moment, and let us ask ourselves: do we really believe that we are made for greater things? Whatever the answer, I think it’s a good question for us to ask as individuals and as a church on a daily basis. Are we, indeed, made for greater things?

Your answer may depend, in part, on the perspective you hold at any given moment. If you think, as almost a Gospel truth, that your best days are behind you, then the answer is clear. If your glory days are in the past, then the answer is patently obvious. If you look only to today, tomorrow, and the future, you may not be sure if we are made for greater things – at least on this side of the grave. If you’re a pessimist at heart, you would say no. If you’re an optimist, you’d say yes. If you’re a realist, you’d say maybe. There’s this lovely little electronic postcard that’s making the rounds. It reads as follows: “Dear Optimist, Pessimist, and Realist: Thank you. While you were arguing over the glass of water, I drank it. Signed: The Opportunist.” Would an opportunist say that he/she is made or meant for greater things?

Whatever your thoughts, today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians gives us an opportunity to answer the question. We’re all opportunists now! Lord willing, we will be able to say – as individuals and as Christ’s congregation – that we are indeed made for greater things.

But before that can happen, I am persuaded that we have to get a basic fact out on the table. Not only is this fact basic, it is also all-important. We can’t sugar-coat it; we can’t deny it; we have to state it. If we don’t acknowledge this fact, we might as well go home – or, worse, we are in danger of becoming religious zealots and fundamentalist extremists instead of Christ-followers. If we don’t get this truth 100% right, then there will be uncertainty. To paraphrase the story Jesus told, we will build the “house” of our lives and our hopes for greater things on sand and not solid rock.

The basic fact is our powerlessness. Our brain waves may be registering; our lungs may be taking in oxygen; our hearts may be pumping good, red blood through our arteries and veins. We are very much alive – physically. Initially, there does seem to be some kind of power at work.

But then, banging into our eardrums, comes this startling word from the apostle Paul to the Ephesians: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”

What he’s saying, in a nutshell, is essentially this: apart from God, we are self-centered in the extreme and it killed us. Ask any recovering alcoholic worth his/her salt, and they would say that they were so self-centered in the extreme that it almost literally killed them. In their powerlessness over alcohol and in the unmanageability of their lives, they were committing timed-release suicide. They were arranging their own lights; they were directing their own show; they were playing God.

Alcoholic or not, apart from God, our occupation – indeed, our pre-occupation – will be our own cravings, our own desires, and our own thoughts. We like to think we have power and that we possess a measure of control; that it’s all about us, and our motives – although self-centered -- are as pure as the wind-driven snow. We can get aggressive about this – and even passive-aggressive about it.

For hundreds and even thousands of years, the Bible has called it sin. Here in America, in the twenty first century, our government – to wit, the National Institute for Health – calls it “Narcissistic Personality Disorder.” Here’s the symptomology. See if it sounds like what the apostle Paul was getting at in our text:
A person with narcissistic personality disorder may:
• React to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation
• Take advantage of other people to achieve his or her own goals
• Have excessive feelings of self-importance
• Exaggerate achievements and talents
• Be preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence, or ideal love
• Have unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
• Need constant attention and admiration
• Disregard the feelings of others, and have little ability to feel empathy
• Have obsessive self-interest
• Pursue mainly selfish goals

Now, we may not have all of these symptoms. But we all, most assuredly, have some of them. And I’m here to say that if this, indeed, is a clinical disorder, then it has reached epidemic proportions in American culture.

How is this disorder treated? The government suggests psychotherapy as a treatment. Psychotherapy can mean many things to many people. For most, it involves individual or group counseling. But go deeper. Psychotherapy literally means the healing of the soul.

The Apostle Paul just takes it one step further. Apart of God, you’re soul cannot be healed. Why? Because it is dead. Individual or group counseling will not help a spiritual corpse. But redemption would; resurrection would; a new life would!

Genuine Christianity is not about making cosmetic changes; it is not about tweaking one’s life to make it a smidge better and a little less self-centered than the lives of the other Joes and Janes. Genuine Christianity is a movement: it moves from death to life, from crucifixion to resurrection, from slavery to freedom, from the status quo to greater things always!

He stated it this way to the Ephesians and, by extension, to all of us:
"Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Wherever you are at it in life, whatever your individual situation may be, you are God’s handiwork. You are made for greater things!

Amen.