Spiritual Relationships

Good morning, my name's Tommy.

I'm the rector of Church of the Advent.

I'm delighted to welcome you here.

Now that we have a bulletin once again,

you'll see that the text that we'll be looking at

is printed in full in the bulletin.

And then after that, there's a section,

for those of you, some people like to take notes,

and we put a few reflection questions in

in case that's helpful to you.

We've been looking at this passage in Ephesians.

We've been looking at Paul's letter to the Ephesians

and following along in this section

where Paul talks about, in this letter,

the fact that the gospel, the good news of Jesus,

changes every aspect of our lives.

The good news of Jesus changes every aspect of our lives.

And what we'll be focusing on this morning

is the impact of that on our relationships

with the closest people around us.

The idea is this, if something this radical,

this world changing has happened,

and if that has happened to us,

if we are now in relationship with the God of the universe,

that that should spill out into all other relationships.

And if it doesn't, we should be asking questions.

So that's what we're gonna be looking at this morning.

We're gonna see this text.

It's a longer text.

I'll tell you in a minute why.

We're looking at all of it.

We're gonna see a principle here,

and then we're gonna talk about

what that principle means for us

in our closest relationships.

So let's pray, and then we'll be looking

at Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15,

Ephesians 5:15

through chapter 6, verse 9.

Lord, our Heavenly Father,

we thank you for your presence with us this morning

and your word.

We pray for your Holy Spirit to guide us

as we seek to understand your word.

We know that we may be coming

from very different places this morning.

For some of us, a text like this

might raise questions or even make us feel uncomfortable

or be challenging to us.

Lord, we know that you know what we need.

And so there are some of us here who are complacent,

who need to be stirred to action.

There are some who are anxious and concerned,

and we need to be reassured.

There are some of us here who, Lord, need conviction.

We need you to help illuminate areas

in our lives of rebellion.

Lord, we all need you,

and we all need your life in us, Lord.

We all need the truth of the gospel.

And so we pray that in whatever way

that happens by your wisdom,

that we would encounter you this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

So first of all, let's look at the principle.

This section of Ephesians, I would say,

is very often misunderstood.

And one of the reasons it's misunderstood

is because of the way most of our Bibles are printed.

When you open your Bible to this section,

if you have your Bible with you, you can do that.

Most Bibles break this section of Paul's letter

into pieces.

And so there is a section, verses 15 to 21,

that we see as a kind of a part

sort of about the Holy Spirit

and a list of things that Paul gives us

that characterize the new life that we have in Christ.

And then there's a section break,

and then there's a new section

where Paul seems to switch topics

and to start talking about relationships.

But if you read this the way it's written,

it is meant to all be held together.

And if we read it that way,

we see the whole flow of the argument

that the Apostle Paul is making.

And I would say that fundamentally changes

not only how we read this text,

but how we apply this passage to our lives.

Because this entire passage from verse 15 on

is all about the Holy Spirit.

Right?

This is all about the ministry of the Holy Spirit

and what that does in us and in our relationships.

It's about being specifically filled with the Holy Spirit.

Filled with the life of God.

Now, all believers have the Holy Spirit.

Paul has already made that clear earlier

in this letter, in fact.

But to be filled by the Spirit

means the Holy Spirit guides you.

The Holy Spirit directs every aspect of your life.

It means you are deeply connected to God,

and God is ministering through you

in ways that are visible.

So Paul is talking now

about believers being filled by the Holy Spirit.

But that raises a question.

How exactly do we do that?

Because the verb is passive.

He doesn't say fill yourself with the Holy Spirit.

He says be filled with the Holy Spirit.

How do you do that?

It would be like saying to your kids,

instead of saying,

hey, go clean your room,

let your room be cleaned.

Right?

Like in the first example,

it's clear they need to go get at it.

But in the second example,

it's not so clear,

do they have something to do,

or should they just wait

for the room to clean itself?

Which is, I think, a mistake

that very often happens in our house.

What's the role that we have

in being filled by the Spirit?

Is this something that we do

or something that God does?

The answer is,

as it is often in the Christian faith,

the answer is yes.

It's both.

Think of the analogy of a sailboat.

I heard this from a pastor

named Andrew Wilson.

I find it helpful.

With a sailboat,

the sail has to be filled with the wind

in order to go anywhere.

But the wind is an external force

over which we have no control.

So you can't fill the sail.

Right?

But there are things that you can do

to make sure that when the wind blows,

your sails will be filled.

So you can put up your sail.

You can pull the mainsail tight.

You can adjust the jib.

These are things that you do

to align the sails with the wind

as it's blowing

to ensure that the sails

will be filled by the wind.

And I believe this is a lot like

what the Apostle Paul has in mind

when he calls us to be filled

by the Holy Spirit.

We can't control the Spirit.

But there are things we can do

to bring ourselves in alignment

with the Holy Spirit.

And I would say this is really

what the Christian life is all about.

It's about regularly,

continually adjusting

the sails of our hearts,

bringing them into alignment

with the heart and the will of Christ

so that we can be filled

and guided by His Spirit.

Right?

The promise is that the Spirit

is with us,

the Spirit is moving.

Are we aligning ourselves

such that we can be filled

by the Spirit

and guided by the Spirit?

How do we do this?

Paul gives us several ways

to adjust the sails of our hearts.

So he says,

be filled by the Holy Spirit.

And then everything he says after that

answers the question,

how can we align the sails

of our heart

so that that would happen?

The first way to do that

is fairly obvious.

Verse 19,

we worship.

Like what we're doing here right now.

We gather together

and we sing songs and hymns

and spiritual songs.

When we worship,

that brings our hearts

into alignment

with the heart and will of Christ.

We're opening ourselves up

and saying,

I want to be filled by the Spirit

just by being here and doing that.

The second practice

also makes sense.

Prayers of thanksgiving.

Verse 20,

when you stop in your life

and you reflect on the ways

that God is blessing you,

the ways that God

is providing for you,

when you recount stories

of powerful ways

that God has answered prayer

in your life,

you're aligning

the sails of your heart

with the heart and will of Christ.

You're opening yourself up

to the Holy Spirit.

Now, worship, gratitude,

you're opening yourself up

to the Spirit.

All makes sense.

But then look what he says.

The third,

this is a bit of a curveball.

The third way

that we align our hearts

in seeking to be filled

by the Holy Spirit,

verse 21,

submitting to one another

out of reverence for Christ.

So worship, gratitude,

mutual submission.

Now, the word submission

has all kinds of negative connotations

in our culture

and some for very good reason.

The Greek word for submission

literally means

to align oneself

below others in rank.

To perceive yourself

as being lesser in rank

for the benefit of the other.

So it was originally

a military term.

To behave as though

you are of a lower rank

than the others.

So it means being willing

to set aside your preferences

and to set aside your desires.

It's a willingness

to put yourself second

and prioritize

the well-being of others,

maybe at your own expense.

That's what it means.

In other words,

it means following the example

that we see

in Jesus Christ Himself.

Paul shares a very similar idea

in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

He says to believers,

have this mind among yourselves.

In other words,

align yourself in this way,

which is yours in Christ Jesus,

who though he was

in the form of God,

did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself

by taking the form of a servant.

Paul says,

have that mind among yourselves.

In other words,

submission,

mutual submission,

is about becoming a servant

the way Jesus Christ

became a servant.

That means having a heart

that is properly aligned

toward Christ

and toward other people.

Now, I told you

that we were going to arrive

at a principle,

and here it is.

Your heart cannot be

properly aligned with Christ

if it is not also

properly aligned

toward the other people

who are closest to you

in your life.

Right?

If you live your life

as though most of the time

you are the most important person

in the room,

that your needs and preferences

and desires should come first,

you're never going to have

a deep sense of intimacy

and connection with God.

There's going to be

something out of whack.

Your sails are not properly aligned

with the heart

and the will of Christ.

There's going to be

a disconnect.

So that's the principle.

Now, let's look at

what this means for us,

for those of us here

who follow Jesus.

And Paul shows us

what it looks like

when mutual submission

is lived out

in three of the most

common types

of relationships.

All of these would have been

found in the home

in the first century,

and they're still today

probably three of our

most common.

If you think about

the people that you spend

the most time with,

it's probably in your marriage

if you're married,

parenting if you have kids,

and the workplace.

And he gives, listen,

he gives different exhortations

from one person to the next.

He gives specific instructions

depending on what roles we play.

But the thing we need

to understand

is that these are all

different ways

of doing the same thing.

Right?

They're different ways

of doing the same thing,

which is becoming a servant.

Putting aside our needs

and preferences

and prioritizing

the well-being of another

at our own expense.

Different ways

of doing the same thing.

So first of all,

we want to look at marriage.

Now, of course,

in this passage in general,

this tends to be

the most contentious

of the three.

You know,

I've had ways of reading

this when I was younger,

ways of reading

now that I've gotten

a little bit older.

I would say,

I think most people

who struggle

with this passage

I would say,

get married if you can

and be married for 10 years.

And be married for 15 years.

And I guarantee you

it will start to shift

how you read it

in some pretty fundamental ways.

It has, of course,

been used as a justification

for the subjugation

and abuse of women,

which is an absolute

perversion of this text.

On the other hand,

we do live in a society now,

a kind of postmodern society,

where all distinctions

are broken down,

where any distinctions

are seen as problematic

or oppressive.

And neither approach

can really be supported

by the text.

And both, frankly,

obscure the beauty

and the brilliance

of what Paul

is actually saying here.

Now, Ephesus

was a patriarchal society,

and there were

various household codes

that were already

in circulation.

The Stoic philosophers,

for example,

had written instructions

for how to order your home.

And in this society,

all these household codes

strongly emphasized

power dynamics in the home.

They were all about

authority and obedience

and keeping everybody in line.

The paterfamilias,

the male head of the house,

had a very high degree

and in some cases,

absolute authority

over the people

in their home.

They had a very high degree

of authority

over their wife,

over the children,

over the servants.

They even had legal authority

over people in their home.

And women and children

and servants

were typically seen

in society

as being inferior,

as being less than.

But then the gospel

changed everything.

Right?

The gospel comes and says,

all people are equal

in the eyes of God.

They have equal value.

They have equal dignity.

They have equal worth.

They're equally filled by

and gifted by the Holy Spirit.

And the example of Jesus Christ

begins to turn hierarchies

upside down.

As he says,

the greatest among you

shall be your servant.

So you see,

he's turning things upside down.

Whoever exalts himself

will be humbled.

Whoever humbles himself

will be exalted.

He begins to turn things

upside down.

And so what Paul does here

is to take a familiar form,

the household code,

and he subverts it.

He shows what it looks like

for the principle

of Christ-centered

mutual submission,

submitting to one another

out of reverence for Christ.

And he shows how that begins

to redefine

all of these relationships.

Now some people criticized

the early Christians

and said,

well now you're just,

you're breaking everything down

in society.

There's going to be disorder.

There's going to be chaos.

And this is Paul's way

of saying no, no, no.

But it does change everything.

For example,

he says that the husband

is the head of the wife.

Now you read that far

and that would sound

just like all of the other

pagan household codes.

But then look how he defines

what that means.

See, pagan household codes

might go on to talk about

the importance for the husband

to rule with a firm hand,

to keep everybody

under him in line.

But there's no mention

of that here.

There's actually no mention

of the word authority here.

Because Jesus Christ

has redefined what this means.

So in a Christian marriage,

being the head doesn't mean

you get to make

unilateral decisions.

Right?

Being a head doesn't mean

that your wife stays home

and you're the one

who goes to work.

Being the head doesn't mean

that you're the one

who manages the finances

and she's the one who cooks.

Right?

A Christian marriage,

in a Christian marriage,

playing this role means

you're going out of your way

to love and to cherish your wife.

That's what he says.

To love and to nourish

and to cherish your wife.

It means, as he says,

being so attuned to her needs

that it is as though

you are dealing with

a part of your own body,

that you're as familiar with

and as attuned to her needs

as you would be your own body.

And it means,

as he says very clearly,

a willingness to lay down your life,

a willingness to pour yourself out

for the sake of your wife

to see her flourish.

And the point we need to see here

is there's nothing like that

in the pagan household codes.

Jesus completely redefines

these relationships.

Right?

So in a Christian marriage

that is defined

by mutual submission,

the husband prioritizes

his wife's well-being

through his love

and self-sacrifice for her.

The wife prioritizes

her husband's well-being

through her respect

and support for him.

Now, it does not mean

that we shouldn't all love

and respect and support

one another, right?

But there is wisdom,

and this is why I come back

to say, you know,

the longer I've been married,

the more I read this

in a way that recognizes

that there is deep wisdom

that I need to hear.

And instead of getting

bent out of shape

about what Paul says to whom,

I have benefited far more

from simply reading it

as a pastoral letter to me,

giving me an opportunity

to adjust the sails of my heart

in ways that I might need to do

for the sake of my marriage

and my relationship with Christ.

Right?

So, for example,

if I'm not loving

and prioritizing my wife's needs,

I need to become aware of that.

Right?

So, for example,

if I'm expecting physical intimacy,

but I'm not doing the work

of making sure

there is emotional intimacy,

right,

where she feels safe

and cared for,

if I'm out of touch

with the mental load

that she's carrying,

you know, it's amazing.

I will talk to the most

radically militantly

theologically egalitarian couples.

You know, it's been 17 years

of marriage

and a lot of time spent

counseling couples,

running the whole spectrum

from complementarian

to egalitarian.

And I will meet with

the most radically egalitarian people

and still, almost always,

the wife carries

the massive majority

of the mental load

for the family.

It's simply a reality.

Right?

So, for instance,

if I'm out of touch

with the fact

that my wife did

all of the making

of appointments,

all of the buying

of school supplies,

and everything necessary

for back to school,

and I didn't even know

the date of the first day

of school.

Right?

If I'm out of touch

with what that's like

for her,

I need to adjust

my sales.

You know,

that's not only going

to hurt my relationship

with her,

it's,

what this is saying is,

that's going to hurt

my relationship

with Christ.

There's a disconnect there.

Right?

Or if I'm a wife

and I go out

with my friends

and I spend the whole time

complaining about my husband,

that's not only going

to hurt my relationship

with him,

that's going to hurt

my relationship

with Christ.

Right?

I need to adjust

my sales.

Right?

So the point we need

to see is,

the way our hearts

are aligned

toward those people

in our lives

is connected

to the way

they're aligned

with Christ.

If we want to be filled

by the Holy Spirit,

it's not just about

our relationship

with Jesus

and how much

we're praying,

it's how am I

orienting myself

and aligning myself

toward the people

closest to me.

We have another example

here in parenting.

Paul calls children

to obey their parents

and to honor them.

And then he says

to fathers,

and this word

could also be translated

as parents,

not to exasperate

their children

but to bring them up

in the discipline

and instruction

of the Lord.

And again,

we have to appreciate

how countercultural

this was and is.

In the ancient world,

fathers had absolute authority

over their children.

They could be as harsh

or abusive

as they wanted

and there was really

no protection

for the child

in that case.

In our society,

I would say,

to a large degree,

for probably most of us,

the pendulum has swung

pretty far

in the opposite direction.

So it's not uncommon,

right?

We do have

abusive,

controlling parents,

absolutely,

and some of us

grew up in houses

like that.

So not saying

it's not there,

but it's also not uncommon

to see parents

who believe their role

is to be highly responsive

to their children's needs

and their desires,

but to provide

little guidance

or rule or discipline.

Right?

Parents who sort of

have this underlying assumption

that children know

what's best for them

and that children

should be free

to make their own choices

without much interference

from their parents.

I remember growing up

and when I was young,

I remember a,

beginning to watch

the Nickelodeon channel.

And it was like a new thing

when we were young

and what was new about it

is that for the first time

there was programming,

you know,

before that you had

had shows with kids,

but the parents were right.

The adults were generally

good people,

right?

And they were doing

the right thing

in the lives of their children.

And generally,

it was the children

who needed to learn

the lessons.

But the thing that was

different about Nickelodeon

is that Nickelodeon

turned that upside down

and all of a sudden

you have a child-centered

perspective

and the children

are the ones who are right

and the parents

are the ones

who need correction.

Right?

And it's been interesting

to see a shift

in how we as a culture

think about parenting

that really has gone

very far in that direction.

That our job as parents

is to figure out

how to get in line with

and meet the needs

of our children

and let them guide themselves.

And see,

Christian parenting

doesn't resemble

either of these.

It doesn't resemble

the abusive patriarchal society

that this was written in,

nor does it resemble

where we are now

in the postmodern West.

Children don't know

what's best for them.

Simply put,

they need parents

who will not only love them

and meet their needs,

but guide them

and prepare them

for life as mature

Christ-following adults.

And so,

the instructions

that Paul gives

are different

to parents

than they are children.

For Christian children,

submission,

in other words,

ranking myself below,

right,

prioritize,

that means obedience.

Submission means

putting aside

what you think is best,

obeying your parents

in the Lord.

Right?

And it's very important

that he says that.

Obeying your parents,

if you're a kid,

obeying your parents

is a way of obeying Jesus.

It's a way of obeying Jesus.

It's about recognizing

the role that God

has given the parents

that you have

in your life.

And it's about honoring

the fact that even

if your parents

aren't perfect,

and we know they're not.

No parents are perfect.

Even though your parents

are far from perfect,

God uses your parents

most of the time.

Now, there are outliers,

there are cases of abuse

and neglect

and all of those things.

We're obviously not talking

about those things.

In most cases,

with Christian parents

and Christian children,

obedience is about

honoring the fact

that even though

your parents are imperfect,

God uses them

to form you

into the people

that he's created you to be.

that God works

through your parents.

For Christian parents,

submission means

putting aside

what is most easy.

It means putting aside

what is most convenient,

and it means

doing the hard work

of discipling

your children.

And that is

extraordinarily hard.

It is so much easier

to just give in

than it is to set limits

and give consequences

and hold your ground

when they push back,

which they will.

It is so much easier

when you're exhausted

at the end of the day,

it is so much easier

to veg out on your phone

than to engage your child

and to pray with them,

to read Scripture with them,

to have meaningful conversations

with them.

It's so much easier

just to let them

watch something on TV

so that you can watch

something on your phone

because you're exhausted.

And we've all been there

and we all do it

and we all get it.

It is so much easier

to stay home on Sundays

than to bring your kids

to church consistently

because it's hard

to come to church.

It's hard to come

to Sunday school.

It's hard to proactively

find programs

and opportunities

that your kids

can participate in

that are going to

form their faith.

It is so much easier

to take the path

of least resistance

because we all work

full-time jobs,

we're all stressed,

we're all exhausted,

the most important aspect

of Christian parenting

is not what you're

signing them up for

or even what you're

doing with them.

It's what they see

in you.

It's what they see

in your relationship

with Jesus.

What does mom look like

when she's worried?

What does mom look like

when she's stressed?

What does dad do

when he's angry?

Right?

It's not about being perfect,

it's not about being sinless,

absolutely.

What does it mean

to follow Jesus?

It means you're the kind

of person who admits

you're wrong.

You're the kind of person

who admits when you yelled

and you shouldn't have yelled.

It means you're the kind

of person who's regularly,

consistently coming back

to Christ to give you

what only Christ can give you.

It means you're modeling

repentance on a daily basis.

Setting an example

for your children is hard.

It is so much easier

to try to outsource it,

right, to a program

or to a ministry

or something.

But this is the role

that God has given you.

And submission,

in this case,

means putting aside

what is easy and expedient

and doing the hard work

of fulfilling that calling.

When we do that,

we align our hearts

with Christ.

And then finally,

he gives us the example

of the workplace.

He uses the language

of bondservant

or servant

or even slave

and master.

Certainly,

there was that

and in many ways,

this was,

you know,

it was not,

it's not an institution

that resembles

what we think of as slavery

on the one hand,

but it's also not

an institution

that we want to have today

in any way,

shape, or form.

There were a lot of people

for whom this was a way

that they voluntarily

entered into

being a bondservant

in order to try

to make money

and get an education

and climb a ladder.

And so,

it was employment

for many people

in the ancient world.

And so,

it is applicable,

what he says

is applicable

to all of us

who work

and have bosses

and jobs

in some ways.

So,

for Christian employees,

Paul says,

submission means

putting aside

the temptation

to do the bare minimum

just because

you don't like your boss.

Right?

It means putting aside

the temptation

to sort of fake it.

Right?

To phone it in.

It means

pouring ourselves

into our work.

It means doing our work

with integrity,

doing our work

with sincerity,

working from the heart.

And the reason

is not necessarily

because your boss

deserves it.

The reason is

because there's somebody

that you're working for

other than your boss.

The true person

that you're serving

in your job

is Jesus Christ himself.

And so,

he says,

in everything that you do,

work as though

you were working

for Christ himself

because that's

who you're working for.

And for Christian bosses,

submission means

putting aside

the temptation

to treat

your employees

unjustly,

which may be cheaper

for the company.

Right?

Behaving in unethical ways

may help your bottom line.

Right?

Expecting them to come in

and work on the weekends.

That may,

you may need to get

that project done

and you may need them

working all through the weekend

to get it done

and that might actually

make you look better.

But it means

putting aside

the temptation

to abuse your power,

to treat your employees

unjustly.

And very countercultural,

very radical,

it says,

to all masters,

to all bosses,

to all employers,

you need to lead

your people knowing

that one day

Jesus is going

to hold you accountable.

And when you stand

before him,

whatever distinctions

you had here,

master,

bond servant,

those don't matter to him.

It says,

with him there is

no partiality

and you will be

held accountable

for the way you treated

those who worked for you.

So we want to pull

all this together.

I want to pull

all of it together

because I know it's a lot

but we need to see

the whole flow

of the argument.

You are,

if you're a Christian,

someone who now

has access

to the life of God

and God's desire

and promise

is to fill you

so that you radiate

with the Holy Spirit

so that it spills

out of you

into every aspect

of your life.

God is going about

the renewal

of all things

and he does that

through spirit-filled people.

If we want to participate

in the life of God,

we need to regularly

ask ourselves,

how do I need to adjust

the sails

of my heart?

Am I aligned

with the heart

and will of Christ?

Am I regularly

putting myself second?

Am I regularly

prioritizing the well-being

of those around me?

And of course,

this will always

be a work in progress.

This will always

be something

that we do

very imperfectly

and we will fail

as often

or more

than we succeed.

So if you're sitting

here right now

feeling that tension

as you think

about your relationships,

you're in good company.

We will fail

more than we succeed.

That raises

one final question though.

What happens

if I'm in relationship

with someone

and I'm doing my best

to prioritize

their well-being

but they don't reciprocate?

What do I do with that?

And on the one hand,

this passage clearly shows

how wrong that is.

It shows that

even if your life

feels greatly unfair,

deeply unfair right now,

in whatever relationship

you're thinking of.

It means there is

someone who sees that.

I think chapter 6,

verse 9

can be applied

to the whole passage.

Your master in heaven sees

and with him

there is no partiality.

So on the one hand,

we have to recognize

you can't control

anyone else.

You can't manage

how they treat you.

You can't manage

how they think about you.

You can't control.

It's not you.

You're crossing

a boundary

that you can't cross

if you try to control

and manage

how another person

treats you.

If you try to manipulate

them into doing

what you want them to do,

you can't do that.

The only person

that you're responsible

for is yourself.

So you have to recognize

that.

You can only be responsible

for your own heart

and your own posture

toward them.

But you can take comfort

in knowing that one day

God will hold

that person accountable

if there are things

they need to be

held accountable for.

On the other hand,

if you are in relationship

with someone

who you think

is not reciprocating,

you say,

I'm doing all of this

for them.

I feel like I constantly

put them first.

I've constantly put my stuff

to the side.

I'm constantly making sure

they're okay.

And they never reciprocate.

They're just happy

for me to do that.

I feel like they're

taking advantage of me.

That happens.

I know it happens.

On the other hand,

there is someone

who understands

what that's like

better than anyone

else in existence.

Jesus Christ knows

better than anyone

what it's like

to lay his life down,

to love and to serve people

who refuse to love

and serve him in return.

In other words,

he knows what it's like

to love and serve

people like me,

people like us,

but what we see in Jesus

and what the gospel tells us

is that that does not stop him

from pouring his life

out for us.

In fact,

it's the very reason

he does it.

He knows the only thing

that will ever change

people like us,

help us become more loving,

help us become more serving,

is for him to pour his life

into ours.

And when you begin

to realize the depth

of Jesus' commitment

to love you

and to serve you

and to become

a servant for you,

even in the face

of your rebellion

against him,

that humbles you.

That softens your heart.

It strengthens you

to love

and to serve others

in your life,

not for their sake necessarily,

but for Jesus' sake.

As Christians,

we are called

to treat people

not the way

they treat us.

We are not called

to treat people

the way they treat us.

We are called

to treat people

the way Jesus

treats us.

Let's pray.

Lord,

may these truths

in your Scripture

do their work in us,

and may your Spirit

do in us

what no mere words

can do.

Lord,

we desire

to be

your people,

and that your mark

would be on us,

and that your life

in us

would be evident

because our relationships

look so different

from the other kinds

of relationships

we see in the world.

Lord,

we long for the way

we love one another

as in marriage,

Lord,

in friendship,

Lord,

between parents

and children,

Lord,

on ministry teams

that we serve on,

Lord,

with our neighbors,

Lord,

in our workplace

relationships,

Lord,

the way we respond

to angry,

unjust bosses,

Lord,

the way we respond

to people

who criticize us

or mistreat us,

Lord.

In all these ways,

we pray that we would

put your glory

on display,

and we pray

that as we do this,

we would open ourselves

up to your Spirit,

and then as we are

filled by your Spirit,

that that would become

the motivation

for us to do this

even more.

We pray for more

of your Spirit

in us,

Lord.

Help us align

the sails of our hearts

to receive you fully.

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.