Helpless - Ephesian 2:1-10

It was about midnight in March of 2003 as our C-17 aircraft began descending over enemy airspace.  I was strapped into a nylon webbing seat in full body armor and combat gear with my rifle between my knees, one of about a hundred soldiers crammed into the cargo area of this particular aircraft.  We sat quietly, bathed in the eerie red lighting used to illuminate the back of the aircraft to reduce the light signature when we should land.  I tried to doze a bit, but was too keyed up to fall asleep despite my exhaustion.

 

As executive officer of Barbarian Company, I had spent the last month working 20-hour days prepping our men and equipment for deployment to Romania in advance of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Then when we arrived in Romania, I turned around and did it all over again to get us ready for our air movement into Northern Iraq as part of the invasion force.  This was my second operational deployment, but I was nervous, nonetheless. 

 

Suddenly, the quiet was broken by an audible alarm.  The pilot began to juke the aircraft wildly and then broke into a steep, spiraling descent.  The pilot was avoiding enemy air defenses.

 

I sat there keenly aware of how utterly exposed I was.  On the ground, I could move, shoot, and fight.  Here, if high velocity lead started crashing through the thin aluminum skin of the aircraft, I had nowhere to go and nothing to shoot at.  Because we were a light infantry unit, we didn’t even have parachutes we could use to bail out, if necessary.  There was nothing I could do.  I could only pray the Lord’s prayer, focusing extra emphasis on the clause, “Deliver us from evil.”  I was totally, and utterly helpless.  Useless.  Dead insofar as my ability to act on my behalf.

 

Ultimately, the pilot would prevail over the unseen enemy, delivering us safely to our destination, completely unaided by me. 

 

In his Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul paints us in much the same way.

 

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

 

St. Paul describes us as walking in our trespasses and sins, which is the Biblical way of saying we live and abide in our sinful nature.  And rather than living out the purpose for which God created us, to exercise dominion over the creation as faithful and obedient creatures following his law, we follow the sinful passions of our flesh, indulging in the sinful desires and temptations of the body and the mind, such that even our “good works” are tainted by sin.  And because of this we are children of wrath, subject to the curse of the law.  And in this fallen state, we are slaves to another spiritual power, that of sin, death, and the devil. 

 

In short, we are spiritually dead.  Incapable of living righteously in accordance with God’s will.  We are useless.  We are incapable of acting on our own behalf for the purpose of salvation.  We are helpless. 

 

And yet, though we are dead, there is one who has beaten death, who can resurrect us to life with him.  Jesus Christ, son of the Most High God, who died for us and satisfied the curse of the law, that we might live with him and through him.  It is he, whom God has sent, who has prevailed for us to deliver us from the power of sin, death, and the devil. 

 

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

 

In this short passage, Paul emphasizes two things to us.  First, he emphasizes that it is through God’s love and mercy that we are rescued for our spiritual deadness.  We see the repetitive mention that it is God who is rich in mercy, who extends his love toward us.  And this love is extended by his grace, not by any merit or work initiated by us.  It is by grace, defined as God’s unearned kindness or favor, that we are saved. 

Second, he emphasizes that this salvation which is extended by grace, is done so through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  In this short passage, Paul references the person of Christ no less than six times, as the person who has affected all the aspects of our salvation for us. 

 

So, even though we were dead, we were made alive together with Christ, raised up with Christ, seated with Christ in the heavenly realms in Christ, so that in the coming age he might show the riches of his grace toward us in Christ. 

 

It is Christ whom God sent from his side in heaven down to us.  It is Christ who was made incarnate with us.  It is Christ who lived among us, and spoke of God’s mercy toward us, and healed us, and died for us.  It is Christ who descended into the grave with us, yet who was raised from death from the grave for us, and who brings us with him by God’s grace to live with him in the presence of God the Father.  We are saved solely on account of Christ’s work. 

 

Paul, again, uses the rhetorical device of repetition to emphasize that we are rescued from our spiritual deadness through God’s grace.  He takes the phrase he made earlier – by grace you have been saved – and now expands upon it again. 

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

 

Paul emphasizes that the gift he extends by grace is not received on account of any work that we have done or any merit that we possess.  It is extended simply as a gift and is received only through faith in Christ Jesus who through his own life, death, and resurrection, has delivered us from our sin.  Though we were helpless, Christ has prevailed on our behalf, and the gift he offers is received simply through clinging to him in our faith. 

 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Now, freed from our spiritual deadness, we are restored in Christ to be the creatures we were created to be.  We are his forgiven and redeemed people, freed from the stain of sin, freed to live for him and do the works that he has prepared for us.  Though we may sin, we cling to Christ, confident that he has broken the hold of sin, death, and the devil for us, that we might be forgiven and restored anew until the immeasurable riches of his grace are made fully manifest to all mankind. 

 

May you rest in the assurance that though you are helpless, God has sent his Son to rescue you from the power of sin, and that his grace is made efficacious by faith in Christ.  Amen.

 

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”  - Isaiah 52:5

Famished

It was December of 2000, and I was headed home for a two-week respite from the US Army Ranger School.  I had been at Ranger School for about seven weeks, and in that short amount of time I had already lost about 45 pounds from a lean frame.  Days typically lasted 20-hours or more while requiring students to undergo physically demanding field training under highly stressful conditions.  The typical Ranger Student expends somewhere around four to five thousand Calories per day while eating only one to two MRE’s consisting of about twelve hundred Calories each.  The result is rapid weight loss and a ravenous appetite. 

My mom cooked my favorite meal, steak and mashed potatoes for dinner.  I devoured every morsel I could, cleaning my plate and going back for seconds and thirds.  I was making up for weeks of caloric deficiency.  I was more than hungry, I was famished. 

Today I am similarly famished, though it is not a lack of food that has me feeling starved.  It is righteousness I desperately crave, and that I sorely lack. 

I daily feel the weight of inadequacy as I evaluate the Husband and Father that I am against the Husband and Father that I should be.  I agonize over how to be a good Son in a situation that is out of my control.  I dwell on the sins of my past and how the consequences of things I have long repented continue to impact the people I love most in the world.  I realize that I don’t love my neighbor the way I should, or bear the name of Christ the way I am called.  I desperately hunger and thirst for a righteousness that I can never produce in myself, try as I might.

In my misery, I turned to Matthew 14 and was reminded of the abundant provision that God has made for people such as me.  I was reminded of the Feeding of the Five Thousand.  Matthew narrates:

“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.  But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’  But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’  They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’  Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing.  Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And they all ate and were satisfied.  And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.  And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

The feeding of the five thousand occurs immediately after Jesus learns of the murder of his relative, John the Baptist.  It is this news that drives him to seek solitude, most likely to grieve.  It is at this time that Jesus finds himself surrounded by the crowds, who seek to gather around him.  And yet, even in his grief and pain, Christ has compassion on the crowds.  Ever the servant-leader, Jesus looks not after himself, rather he spends the day healing their sick.  The depth of his love and compassion would ultimately be demonstrated as he willingly goes to the Cross where he will suffer and die for them and us. 

The disciples evidently did not understand their Master’s example, nor the role that they would play in his continuing ministry.  And so, with evening approaching, they appeal to Jesus to send the crowds away, that they might not grow faint from hunger but go to the surrounding villages to find food. 

But this would not be what Jesus has in mind.  Then and now, Jesus does not turn away his saints to be cared for by the world.  The world which is equally in bondage to sin is not equipped to care for the needs of his saints.  The world has no word of comfort, no promise of forgiveness of sins or eternal life to offer.  There is only one capable of meeting their needs.  And so, Jesus rejects the disciples’ pleas. 

“They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.” 

In this brief response Jesus teaches his disciples the role that they would have in his continuing ministry.  The disciples would not be called to send the saints to the outside world, but to provide for them.  We see in this moment that Christ has established his Church to care for the needs of his saints, and to continue to serve it in his name. 

We see in this account the great provision that Christ has made for his people.  Jesus’ ministry did not end at the Cross, or at the Empty Tomb, or in Jerusalem at his Ascension.  Christ’s ministry continues to this day through the hands of his Church.  It will continue until Christ returns in glory to gather his saints into his presence, that we might dwell with him eternally. 

The crowds were famished.  But though the disciples appeared to have meager means to satiate their hunger, in Christ, the five loaves and two small fish were more than enough to feed all to their satisfaction. 

Though I am famished, having no righteousness in and of myself, I am certain that Christ’s Church, operating by his authority and command, can satisfy my hunger for righteousness.  In his death, Christ died that the penalty owed for my sin was paid, once and for all, for all time.  In his resurrection, Christ defeated the power of sin, death, and the devil over me.  In my baptism, I received the imputed righteousness that comes from Christ, the promise that I have died to sin and have been raised to eternal life in him.  In the rite of confession and absolution, I know that when my Pastor declares my sins are forgiven, it is as though Christ himself has declared me righteous.  Each Sunday, when I receive the Lord’s Supper, I receive the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, shed for me for the forgiveness of my sins.  Through the means of grace of Word and Sacrament, distributed by the Church, my hunger pains ebb and I am satiated, knowing that I have attained through no merit of my own the righteousness of Christ.

Christ speaks to us also when he commands his disciples, “You give them something to eat.”  Not only are we in the care of the Church, but we are the Church.  We have been commissioned by Christ to partake in his ministry.  When we as parents, spouses, friends, and co-workers take advantage of the opportunities before us to proclaim Christ crucified it is as if we are feeding the crowds.  When we declare the forgiveness of sins that is available to the sinner, who is starving for reconciliation, and ministering to their most basic need, it is as if we are distributing the loaves of bread and fish till all are satisfied.   

Let us therefore gladly participate in the ministry to which we have been appointed.  When we see the many people around us that need to hear of the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, let us not say, “Send the crowds away.”  Let us joyfully begin the work of distributing the spiritual food that nourishes us to eternal life as Christ has urged us.  Though they be famished, let us fill them to satisfaction with the news that Christ died for sins, that we might live. 

 “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you O God.”