Ephesians 2:21
“In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Focus Thought
Paul ends Ephesians 2 by emphasizing that we are a community. We are individuals who have been brought together to form One Nation, One Family, and One Temple. As such, we are called to be “plugged in,” not only into Christ and into the church, but also into the needs of those around us.
The Next Step
There’s a certain Peanuts comic where Lucy has a wishbone and wants to use it to make a wish. Unfortunately, as everybody knows, it takes two people to break a wishbone or else a broken-wishbone-wish becomes null and void. And so Lucy decides to recruit Linus, her wimpy, blanket-dragging brother, to help. Before they start, Lucy explains to Linus how a wishbone works and she takes it upon herself to be an example and to make her wish first. She closes her eyes, clinches the wishbone in her hand, and says:
“I wish for four new sweaters, a new bike, a new pair of skates, a new dress and $100.”
Linus has been watching her intently the whole time. And on his turn, just like Lucy, he closes his eyes, grips the wishbone, and makes his wish:
“I wish for a long life for all of my friends. I wish for world peace. I wish for great advancements in medical research.”
About that time, Lucy snatches the wishbone from Linus and throws it away, yelling, “Linus! That’s the trouble with you! You’re always spoiling everything!”
Linus spoils everything.
Linuses always spoil everything…for the Lucys.
When our little life with our little dreams and our little wants and our little needs come in contact with someone who cares more for those around him than he does for himself, it causes us to realize just how self-centered we really are at times.
It’s no mistake that Paul heavily emphasizes the idea of “community” at the end of Ephesians 2. He avoids the pitfull of having the blessings of God spawn a “gimme, gimme, gimme” mentality. Instead of continuing in the vein of what God has done FOR us and running the risk of puffing us up, Paul closes the chapter by emphasizing what God does AMONGST us. He brings things around full circle, pointing out that what God does, He does in us all and for the good of us all.
Paul describes us as a nation without boundaries, as members in a family of success, and as a holy house where God’s Presence can dwell. But we become all of these things by plugging in to Christ, by plugging in to the church, and by plugging in to the needs of those around us.
In Charles Shutlz’s comic strip, Linus and Lucy are both plugged in, but to drastically different things. Lucy is plugged in to what is happening in her closet; Linus is plugged in to what is happening in his world. Which one are you?
Here are some things to do this week:
Read
Read Ephesians 2:19-22. Take it slow. Think about what Paul is saying. Read it in a different versions to get a better grasp of what is being said.
Compare
Compare the ideas that Paul covers in the above verses (the church as a community, individuals coming together to work as one, seeing everyone as an equal, etc.) with how Luke describes the Early Church in Acts 2:44-47. It appears that the Early Church did more than just shake each other’s hands each Sunday morning. In these few verses, they literally live out everything that Paul describes.
Take Note
Notice the last phrase of Acts 2:47. That’s the end result of “plugging in” to the needs of those around you.
Take Action
Live out Ephesians 2:19-22 and Acts 2:44-47 throughout this week. Specifically, the “focusing on those around you” part, not so much the “selling everything you have” part (although, if you feel led…). By taking action, be on the lookout for Acts 2:47 opportunities all around you. How can your sensitivity to someone else’s need impact that person’s eternity? After all, to quote the cliché, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
