Re-Order

Last Sunday our talk at Westside was entitled “Re-order”, the fifth installment in “The Rumour” series. So far we have heard the whisper of significance (Eph 1), seen a glimpse of how the good news of Jesus might translate into a different world (Eph 2), heard the invitation to personally touch what is beyond us (Eph 3), and were encouraged to decide on a way to meaningfully connect to all of this (Eph 4).

Where to next? In an extended passage from Ephesians 4:17 through 6:9, Paul begins to work out (or walk out) the implications of the Jesus story for our ethical and social lives, that is, the implications of the Jesus story for how we live, what we do, how we relate, and the rest of our practical lives.

One of the ways we could think about how Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is constructed is to see it as theology, followed by ethics, or as the big ideas followed by the practical ideas. It is important for us to see how big ideas and practical ideas are intimately related to each other, and how practice is always built on theory. Get the first part wrong (the theory or theology) and you will surely get the second part wrong (the practice or ethic). Paul uses the common image of walking for the ethical life. As we heard this past week, walking suggests that ethical life is not life built in one large or defining moment, but life built through many small and ordinary steps.

Most of us would know ethics as the consideration of right behaviour. They are the large and obvious ethical markers: speaking truthfully (not lying, 4:25), working and not stealing (4:28), sexual propriety (5:3ff). But there are also the smaller, less obvious ethical markers that can carry a very large impact. I would like us to consider the ethics of how we talk.

Consider how important language is to our ethical lives. A quick survey of this passage will show how words are basic to the well-lived life. “Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.” (4:29) “Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.” ( 5:4) Paul continually engages the idea of ethical speech in all of his writings.

Find this difficult? Then bring these two things together: talking and breathing. In 5:18, Paul tells us to resist the degraded life by being filled up with the Spirit, that is, with God himself. We are to breathe in God’s breath (Spirit) so that we can speak out grace (v.19). We have no power to speak gracious words if our lungs are not filled with the power of grace, with God himself.

This is a strong reminder that the ethical life is rooted in and expressed through our ordinary talk. And the life of following Jesus will be evidenced in the transformation of how we conduct ourselves in the most ordinary of human ways, our conversation.

Writing to the Colossian Christians, Paul makes a statement that sums up this point well. He says, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt...” (Col 4:6). The word translated “conversation” is logos, which carries rich meaning beyond the idea of simple speech. An educated or aware person in that time would have recognized that logos, commonly understood as “word”, also meant the organizing principle of things, the core logic of life and reality. It seems that the ancients had a greater appreciation for how ethics were related to speech than we do.

So try it this week: monitor your words. And realize that the Spirit of God in us is to be exhaled in gracious and meaningful speech, the center of our ethical life.

This coming Sunday we complete The Rumour series with “Continue”, our take on Ephesians 6. Join us at 9:29 or 11:11 if you can; or tune into the podcast through the week.

Bob-O