Under Construction: Built on Grace. Ephesians 2:1-10. 06/23/2024.
Under Construction: Built on Grace
Ephesians 2:1-10
Rev. Rhonda Blevins
June 23, 2024
You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else, but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through 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 ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.
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Deep and wide, deep and wide,
There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.
Deep and wide, deep and wide,
There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.
I learned the beloved children’s song, “Deep and Wide,” when I was growing up in the Southern Baptist Church near my childhood home. I didn’t think too deeply about its meaning, but I certainly enjoyed singing the song! Later on, as I reflected back on the song with its simple lyrics, I began to imagine that the “fountain flowing deep and wide” was a reference to the grace of God.
So in preparation for this message, I decided to do a little research on this little song, to see if the internet shares my opinion about the “fountain flowing deep and wide” referring to the grace of God. I discovered that the song was written by a fellow named Sidney Cox, a major in the Salvation Army. The original version he wrote was more like a hymn rather than a children’s ditty. The original lyrics were more involved:
There’s a wondrous fountain, filled with living water,
Flowing from the Saviour’s wounded side,
There’s an invitation to the heavy laden,
To this fountain flowing deep and wide.
Then the refrain:
Deep and wide, deep and wide,
There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.
Yes, ‘tis deep and wide, deep and wide,
There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.
That’s the first verse. Listen to the last verse and see if you agree with me that this song is about God’s grace:
There is life abundant—gift from God our Father—
Source, whence every need may be supplied—
It is offered freely, without price or money,
Drink from heavenly fountains, deep and wide.
I’m more convinced than ever that the “fountain” in this song is the fountain of God’s grace!
I’m thankful for my Southern Baptist upbringing, which introduced me to the concept of God’s grace.
When I grew a little older, I participated in “Sword Drill,” sometimes called “Bible Drill.” We kids had to memorize the books of the Bible, in order. We had to memorize specific Bible verses, and we had to locate them quickly in the Bible when called upon in competition with our friends.
One of the verses we had to memorize was from the scripture text we read together a moment ago, Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
This is an important verse in Southern Baptist theology—it underscores the concept of salvation through grace and not works—a concept I still appreciate, though I understand it differently now than I did back in my Southern Baptist days. Back then, I understood the idea of “salvation through grace” to refer merely to the afterlife. These days, the meaning of “salvation through grace,” to me, is so much broader. Not only are we saved by grace in the afterlife, we are also saved by grace in the NOW-life.
Last week, we began our “Under Construction” series as we explored some ideas from chapter one of (presumably) Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Using Paul’s language, we considered “theological insight” as our foundation to a life of faith. Then the frame was the “enlightenment” that comes from knowing God. Then we added on hope, blessings, and power as the adornment we add on to the frame—the “good stuff” of life.
What we didn’t address last week was the build site or site development. Before you build any kind of structure, you’ve got to have solid ground underneath, right?
Jesus talked about this in the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builder (Matthew 27:24-27). Jesus equated those who practiced his teachings to the wise man who built his house upon a rock—those who did not practice his teachings were like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. (What does that say about us on this great sandbar known as “Florida”?)
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the ground on which a life of faith is built, the solid rock undergirding the entire structure is summed up in one word: grace. Grace—that concept introduced to me years ago as a kid in the Southern Baptist church.
Now, you may have heard about Southern Baptists in the news last week. Among the newsworthy decisions representatives made at the annual convention, messengers voted, by a margin of 6,759 to 563, to oust First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia because of their belief that women can serve as pastors. Their excommunication of churches that believe women can serve as pastors has become an annual event. Last year, the SBC excommunicated Saddleback Church (a mega-church founded by Rick Warren) as well as a small church in Louisville, Kentucky—a church with a talented female pastor who happens to be an acquaintance of mine.
Here's the thing: I am so thankful that Southern Baptists introduced me to the very notion of grace, but as I grew older, they also showed me the folly of a selective application of said grace. It seems to me that a majority of Southern Baptists do not view God’s grace as being applied equally to men as to women, which is why they want to limit the role of pastor to men only.
This reminds me of something Paul said in one of his letters to his young apprentice, Timothy, in what we now call the book of 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Paul offers a litany of ways people will dishonor God:
For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
Then Paul sums up what this will look like within the church in verse 5:
Holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them!
Denying women the role of pastor denies the very power of God to call women to that work. So, countless women like me, take our call elsewhere, to churches and denominations that affirm the power of God to choose whomever God wants to serve as pastors. Churches like Chapel by the Sea! Thanks be to God!
This brings me to the first question I want to pose to you today is this:
Is God’s grace deep enough and wide enough to cover even women?
Another denomination made the news recently besides Southern Baptists—the United Methodist Church. For several years, there has been a growing rift in the United Methodist Church, mostly related to gay clergy and gay marriage. As progressive, LGBTQ-affirming Methodists grew in power, thousands of the more conservative churches disaffiliated from the UMC—over 7,600 since 2019—amounting to over one-quarter of UMC churches. On May 1, after years of infighting, the UMC voted to strike down its ban on gay clergy as well as its ban on same-sex marriage.
Now, I wasn’t always a proponent of same-sex marriage or gay clergy. But my own journey, as a woman called into ministry from within a denomination that didn’t affirm my call—that journey of growing to understand God’s grace and God’s power to be deep enough and wide enough for even a woman—that journey gave me a more expansive understanding of God’s grace. How about your understanding of grace?
Is God’s grace deep enough and wide enough to cover even LGBTQ folks?
When we talk about grace, it’s hard not to mention one of the most beloved hymns of all time, “Amazing Grace.” The hymn was written by John Newton, an 18th-century Englishman whose life underwent a profound transformation. Newton, you may be aware, began his career as a slave trader, captaining ships that transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. His participation in this brutal trade left a deep mark on his conscience. Then in 1748, during a terrible storm at sea, Newton experienced a spiritual awakening which eventually led him to renounce his former ways. He came to understand God’s grace as profoundly transformative and boundless, capable of redeeming even a wretch like himself. Newton’s transformative journey from a life steeped in sin to one of faith and redemption inspired the heartfelt verses of “Amazing Grace,” which reminds us of God’s infinite mercy and forgiveness to all people, even racist slave traders.
This story prompts two more questions for us today:
Is God’s grace deep enough and wide enough to cover even black folks?
Is God’s grace deep enough and wide enough to cover even racist folks?
One final story. This story is about a person who is still living. This individual was born to loving but imperfect parents. The person grew up and made unique contributions to the world, while also making some mistakes along the way. And as fate or perhaps, God, ordained it, that person ended up worshiping with us today. That person? You. You, with all your imperfections. You, with all the mistakes you’ve made along the way. You. Beautiful, work-in-progress, you.
Final question:
Is God’s grace deep enough and wide enough to cover even you?
Sometimes, when I pose a question for you, I’ll leave you to contemplate the answer. Not today.
The answer to this final question, and every other questionI’ve posed today, is this: absolutely, positively, YES!
Yes! God’s grace is deep enough and wide enough to cover even women!
Yes! God’s grace is deep enough and wide enough to cover even LGBTQ folks!
Yes! God’s grace is deep enough and wide enough to cover even black folks!
Yes! God’s grace is deep enough and wide enough to cover even racist folks!
Yes! God’s grace is deep enough and wide enough to cover even you!
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
God’s grace—this unmerited favor—is the air we breathe. God’s grace is the energy—the animating force of our very existence. God’s grace, to use our “building” analogy, is the solid ground on which our entire lives are built. And unlike in humankind’s economy, in God’s economy, there is equal measure of grace for all people throughout all time.
Back to the Apostle Paul. In his letter we call 2 Corinthians (12:9), Paul tells his friends about something he calls the “thorn” in his flesh—some kind of weakness or difficulty which has been the subject of much speculation among devout readers of the Bible. He writes that he prayed “three times” for God to take away that “thorn” in the flesh. But instead of taking the “thorn in the flesh” away, God told him this:
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
I don’t know what weakness you’re struggling with. I have no idea what the “thorn in the flesh” is for you. I don’t know about regrets you have, mistakes you’ve made, or about the skeletons in your closet. I do know that if you’re human, there’s a shadow lurking somewhere.
Whatever the nature of your shadow, know this:
God’s grace is sufficient for even you.
And if that’s true, then it stands to reason this:
God’s grace is sufficient for “those people” too.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found.
Was blind, but now I see.