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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany

January 16, 2023

Invitatory

I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

Reading - Ephesians 4:1-16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said,

‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;

  he gave gifts to his people.’

(When it says, ‘He ascended’, what does it mean but that he had also descended^* into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Meditation - Winnie Smith

Today on our secular calendar, we celebrate and honor the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. Reading the letter to Ephesians this past week, I couldn’t help but think of King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, penned in April, 1963. One of his most famous pieces of writing, this letter was a response to one written just days before by a group of white clergymen in the Birmingham area. That letter called for unity, for activists to participate in conversations and to use the court system to further their cause, rather than protesting publicly. It was an implicit rebuke of King’s work, and he responded by explaining the moral responsibility people have to break unjust laws and to take direct action against injustice. In a way, it, too, was a call for unity - unity against segregation, against complacency, against a system of oppression.

In his letter, King defends his methodology: “the purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation…Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.” Ephesians 4:11-13 states, “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” See the connection here? God’s vision for the world was one of unity but not sameness. It was one of dialogue, not monologue. Just as an individual body is made up of countless invisible cells and numerous organs and limbs, the body of Christ is made up of every person who believes in him. The Church is not one specific place or thing, but a collection of diverse people, beliefs, understandings, and desires, which - when working properly together - build upon one another into the full stature of Christ.

As people living today, in January 2023, we understand the complexity of a diverse world. We are faced with it and all its complications every day on the news and in our own lives. Clashing political parties, warring countries, discordant ideas about how best to solve problems - these are normal, everyday occurrences for us. These differences push us further away from those with whom we disagree, and they seem to only increase the dislike and anger on every side. But reflecting on King’s words and on those to the church at Ephesus, I wonder if we can shift our understanding and tone around division. Can we find its use? Can we take some of the vitriol out of our dialogue and instead listen for the small voice of unity that exists between us all as people? Can we shift our thinking so that we do not see lines being drawn and sides being taken, but instead see the many seemingly-misfit pieces that ultimately come together to form a remarkable puzzle? It’s a lofty goal, I know. But if we continually offer prayers to God and show up at God’s table to receive the gift of renewal, and if we really take that gift seriously, maybe then we can begin to recognize the unity in our diversity and the beauty of the dialogue that that diversity opens up. 



The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy Name,

     thy kingdom come,

     thy will be done,

         on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those

         who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

     and the power, and the glory,

     for ever and ever. Amen.