Daily Devotion – September 1, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison

Ephesians 4:25-5:2
4:25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.
4:26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
4:27 and do not make room for the devil.
4:28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.
4:29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.
4:31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,
4:32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,
5:2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Words to live by, of course. All good things. But imagine the radicalness of these ideas for a moment.

“Be angry, but do not sin.” Clearly anger is NOT sinning – but nursing it through a whole day and night is making room for the devil, and that is bad.

“Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, SO AS TO HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE WITH THE NEEDY.” (emphasis my own)  It is not enough for a thief to give up stealing for a living. The former thief now works honestly IN ORDER TO give to the needy.

“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up.” Well, gossip and speaking ill of one another is out, then. I need to watch what I say, even to my family members, so that my words are always for building up and not tearing down. I am always to co-create with God a trustworthy world.

It is difficult, when we are angry or afraid, not to let our anger lead us to sin. If we are angry or afraid for quite a long time, it is nearly impossible to not gossip or attempt to slyly ruin the reputation of the person who scares us or makes us upset. It happens all the time. And if we engage in that, we have become the very thief the writer is warning us about, one who steals what doesn’t belong to him (gets a good reputation at the expense of someone else that he is tearing down). This advice so often quoted from Ephesians is complex, and we can find ourselves addressed by it very easily.

What is the answer? Caring enough about the relationships in our lives that we take care of them, being honest AND tender with them at all times. After all, those relationships are not just for us. They are all gifts from God for the sake of the world that God loves. They are meant to build up the whole community so that it can thrive as the Kingdom of God.

Gracious God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us both gifts and talents as well as a missional vocation for the use of them. Help us to remember that how we live with one another directly impacts the Kingdom of God that you have placed so near that we can almost touch and see it.   Amen.