Pastor's Ponderings: Ephesians 1:5-14 Bible Study (week of October 19, 2026)

October 19, 2026: Ephesians 1:5-6

Good morning, dear friends who are participating in the weekly Bible Studies. We really have just started our bible study of Ephesians; however, we are discovering that even a few verses hold a wealth of cultural and theological thought from the mind of St Paul. It is good for us to remember that letters were the common way for people to reach one another, and that Paul had traveled much more than most people would in their entire lifetime. Though Paul certainly stayed in some communities longer than others, the reality was that he was "on the road" in his mission work for Christ longer that ten years. By the way, that is longer than the average clergy person in the ELCA remains in one call setting before they move on. For prayers in the coming week, please pray for Camille who is suffering with sciatica pain. She is receiving treatment, and please pray for Regina who still has ahead of her, more treatment, and another surgery on her eye. This has been a difficult time for her. She is accustomed to being much more active than her vision permits right now. Also, continue to hold Joyce and Larry in your prayers as they celebrate their son, Andrew's life.

Today in our passage of a few verses, we learn a great deal about God's adoption of His human creation. So, let's start with what we know about adoption in our own times. I grew up with a cousin, Wes, who my mother's sister had "taken in" to raise. Wes was never officially adopted, but to this day, he is a part of that family. Of course, you are all aware that Melody and I have adopted five children in the years of our marriage. They came out of a variety of very difficult circumstances, and came to us as very young children, two years and under, except for our daughter who was nine when we adopted her. We can tell you that every one of these children became the children of our family, with no sense of difference or love from the children who were born to us prior to these adoptions. Somehow, we knew that each of them would be our child from the moment that we first met them. I believe that they were all born to be our children. I say that because a birth grandchild of our family was released for adoption. We were certainly blessed when it took the form of an open adoption situation, but from the moment we met the adopting parents, we knew that she had been born to be their child, and our thinking on that has never changed. So..... when Paul speaks of adoption by God, what are his experiences in the Roman culture with regards to adoption. First, it is important for us to know that under Roman law, a father in the family was the ultimate authority, making any and all decisions about the children who were born in his family. He had the unquestionable authority, literally, over life and death for his children. He could also give them up for adoption by another Roman family. He could also make them slaves and sell them if that was his wish. He could have them beaten, or any other terrible treatment which, as their father, he was entitled to do! That is important to know in the light of these few verses today. There was a rather complicated process to give up a child for adoption by another family. It involved a more or less symbolic drama between the two families. The new family would purchase the child, and the birth family would receive that money, and then quickly act to take their child back with another exchange of money. It would happen a second time, and then finally a settlement would be agreed upon, and the new family would head off to the local magistrate to make the whole thing legal. The reality of this, is that could happen even if the child was an adult with debt, and when the adoption of the adult child in the family was complete, all debts that adult child had created, or any other legal actions against them would disappear. In reality, a male child had no authority of his own, no matter how much prestige he may have garnered in his life, until his father died. In reality this was one of the very harsh realities for children in the Roman culture of Paul's time. However, this takes us to a new reality through Jesus Christ, through whom the adoption price was paid for each of us. The language and understanding of adoption by Paul certainly shaped the way in which Paul wrote, and spoke, about our adoption by God. When you and I become adopted by God through Baptism, the price of our adoption has already been paid. That is necessary so that you and I can join our new family, the Body of Christ, the church, and the Light and Truth of the Kingdom of God without the burden of sin, because we have been adopted by God, and the adoption price has been paid already by the death of our Savior. When we speak in our Baptismal Sacrament about the gifts that we receive, forgiveness, life with God, and Salvation, that is our new reality when we have the holiness in our life with which the Spirit surrounds us, all the gifts of God for the people of God in our newly adopted life, are ours forever. I will share with you in the end of our time today, that my excitement and joy at every adoption brought me to tears, because now I knew that child was mine. I am more than confident that God has that same excitement and joy for every Baptism, every renewal of faith, every hope in our new life, and the hosts of heaven sing in thanksgiving at each person's adoption through our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Thanks for being with me today. With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim

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October 20, 2026: Ephesians 1:7-8

Good morning, though the morning seems to be quickly slipping away. I have started writing a pastor's report for the Church Council and will continue to do so. but that means taking the time to discuss pending issues, and decisions which need to be made. Thank you for your understanding. Prayer requests continue from yesterday, with the addition of our Josiah's search for a phlebotomist position. We are hopeful that he will soon have a full-time position with benefits. Like the general job market, there is work out there in Tucson, but it is not always easy to find, apply for, and to get hired. Thanks for your prayers for Camille, Regina, and Josiah today.

Today our passage has two more verses, 7 and 8. these seem like very small portions of Paul's letter, but they are indeed packed with the richness of Paul's theological understanding of our Savior. In the reading this morning, we will encounter three gifts of God.

The first is deliverance. The Greek word for this is apolutrosis. In the Greek it means ransom. It is the word used for God's continual rescuing of His people. It is the work of God which people in Paul's time, or today, are unable to accomplish on their own behalf. It was true for the Hebrews in Egypt. It was also true in the time of the prophets when Israel, filled with infighting, and failure, was unable to bargain their way out of being conquered and taken away in exile. It was God's action through the Persian King Cyrus, with the LORD's encouragement, that caused them to be set free to resettle the promised land once again. Getting set free from sin and its burden is precisely what Christ came to do, and succeeded in doing, when he paid the blood price for humankind's sinfulness. Jesus was the unblemished sin free Son of God who paid the price for sin and set humankind free through faith. The philosopher Seneca said of himself, that he was "homo non tolerabillis", a man to not be tolerated.

He both welcomed his vices and despaired in his failure to move away from them. He needed liberation from those vices, and that is exactly what Jesus accomplished for all of creation.

The second gift of God through Christ is forgiveness. For most people it is evident that every choice, sinful, or not, has consequences. People have known that since the garden. What do Adam and Eve do when God comes to walk in the garden after they have eaten the fruit? They hide! There are consequences for every sin. Most people are able to hold that truth in their lives, while those who chose to try to live in righteousness with God, come to know the consequences of that kind of choice. Jesus came and opened the way to God through his sacrifice on the cross. Even when people of faith make sinful choices, the love of God and His forgiveness through Jesus Christ continue to work their way of love in their lives, in spite of that sin.

The final two gifts are wisdom and sound sense according to our passage today.

In the Greek, the two words are sophia and phronesis. Basically, these two are wisdom and common sense. You and I know that if we had both of these, we would be perfectly well equipped for life. However, there are times in all our lives when we speak or act like we are unfamiliar with these two gifts that Christ brings to us. Paul believes that Jesus brings us the wisdom to deal with our encounter with the Holy of God's presence and desire, while common sense also comes from Jesus to deal with the day-to-day complications of living in this world. Both become the foundation of prayers when the Holy or the common sense are feeling unwieldly and difficult. When that happens, we turn to our Savior in Heaven through prayers. These both bring to us the completeness of Christian character. However, when the world keeps us so busy that we fail to give time and consideration to these two gifts of God in our lives, it is almost always that these both take a back seat to the choices we are making, when what is really needed is the gifts which Christ brings to aid us in understanding the divine way, and then to follow Him throughout our lives when we are faced with the difficulty of our lives and choices.

I admit that philosophy was not my favorite undergraduate course, but it is arena of thinking that enables us to see the benefit of welcoming Christ into our lives.

I will be back with you tomorrow morning. Thank you for studying with me today.

In Christ's love, Pastor Kim

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October 21, 2026: Ephesians 1:9-10

Dear Bible Study friends,

Just a couple of reminders this morning before I begin the study on these two verses of chapter 1. This coming Sunday is our coffee and donut fellowship at 9AM. I hope that you will be able to join us for conversation, and if you have them, questions you may have about all that is happening with the sale of the church. I am busy with the bell choir at that time, but I am certain there will be a council member available to help get an answer for you. On Friday, Oct 30, we will be going out for our Foodies of Faith. This month we will meet at 11:30AM at Casa Molina del Norte at 2455 North Campbell. Parking is behind the building, and for those of you who have signed up for a ride there, I will be in touch with you to set a time for your pickup. The next carry-in meal is on November 1 after worship. Our theme is your favorite food of the season. (hint: think Thanksgiving) Melody and I will be bringing turkey. I guess it will get roasted on Halloween, which means that November 1, is All Saints Sunday, our time to remember God's heavenly saints who have preceded us to the new life which is ours in Jesus Christ when we finish our time on earth. If you are able, in remembrance, bring a red flower to place on the altar for worship that day. Our Gospel group will also lead worship on November 1. In the life of the church, we are headed to the end of the Church Year in November and will begin the new Church Year on the first Sunday of Advent. Looks busy. And we will probably sign the closing in mid-November for the sale of our building.

Today we are in chapter one of Ephesians on verses 9 and 10. In this passage we really get into Paul's thoughts about the nature of God, and how God has worked to complete His plan for all of creation. First of all, we are told by Paul that God has worked to complete this plan in secret, getting everything ready for the revelation and completion of the plan which He has always had in mind. It includes you and me, and the people of God for thousands of years. This mystery of God's plan, according to Paul, is revealed in Jesus Christ, and yet it still remains incomprehensible to people who have not come to know the Savior in their lives.

There is an example of this in the movie Gandhi. While a young clergy person sits on the top of a passenger train, he is approached by a man of a different faith community. The man has many questions about Christianity, but most especially about the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion when believers consume a person's body and drink his blood. There we hear the lack of comprehension of a person who does not know Christ in their life. We might like to think that people today are more sophisticated, yet few outside of the Church understand the intimate relationship between Christians and God's Son, and even in the Church there are differing understandings of what the Sacrament means. In the Reform churches the value of the meal is to be understood as remembrance, while in the Roman Catholic churches the presence of Christ is seen as literally transforming the bread and wine (transubstantiation) into the literal body and blood of Christ on the altar where the meal is consecrated, and then there is the Lutherans. We believe that in some mysterious way the Holy Spirit brings the presence of Christ into the bread and wine of the Sacrament. Those two elements do not change in appearance or character, yet the Christ of God, our Savior becomes present in them. (This is called transubstantiation) So even in the Body of Christ, the whole Church, the understandings of what and how God brings Christ to us varies. Is it any wonder that those outside of the Christian community don't understand.

For Paul, the mystery (secret of God's plan for His creation) is revealed when it became apparent through Christ Himself that God's Grace and Love are meant for all people, both Jews and Gentiles. (We are Gentiles unless you have Jewish heritage in your life too.) All of the history of the world, from times of drought and famine, to times of severe weather and destruction, to the many wars of history fought to wield power and gain land and resources, sinfulness and goodness, heart break and joy, divorces and marriages, splits in churches and unity between congregations have all been a part of God's working toward the fulfillment of His Holy mystery and purpose for all that He has created. We know from Genesis that God saw his creation as "good", the way he had planned it to be, yet it only took freedom of the will, with which all people have been created, to make a choice in the Garden of Eden that meant that God's creation harmony had been skewered by Adam and Eve, and not long after them, by their son Caine who murdered his brother Able. That, and all the sinfulness since, has meant that God's Plan had to take detours in order to get back on a track that would return it to harmony. It is Christ who restores the harmony which has always been a part of God's Plan for the fulfillment of His creation. The Plan's process continues to work its way through the problems so that its fulness and completeness shall be reached at some point. You and I are an important part of all of this since we are the ones called by the Spirit to spread the Good News of God's Son, Jesus Christ. These are the things of which Paul speaks in these few verses. I am certain that some person in the life of the Church's scholars has written a major doctoral thesis on the driving power for fulfillment that God's Plan, Jesus Christ, reveals to us every day.

Thank you for being with me this morning. Today, you and I can both be a part of the fulfillment which God's Plan seeks.

With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim

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October 22, 2026: Ephesians 1:11-14

Good morning as I work at home for a while this morning. I was sick with a bug yesterday, and Jared started with it this morning. It has been running through the family. One thing about having young adults living in your home, they bring in all the special health treats that they get exposed to at work and at school. This week's reminder is that the newsletter will be coming out on November 1. That means you need to be aware of things happening on that Sunday. (Gospel Music, No Bells, Carry-in meal after worship, and it is All Saints Sunday) Thank you to the prayer chain for their prayers for me to get better, and I am much better this morning.

Today we continue in chapter one of Ephesians. Please remember Paul's answer to the mystery and purpose of God's plan. Simply put, it was, and remains today, that both Jews, and everyone else in the world was to be welcomed into an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and God's Spirit action in people's lives. Today in our reading, Paul continues to expand his thoughts for the Ephesians on the presence of the Holy Spirit, but the majority of this passage is about how God has moved His plan through the world, beginning with Jews. Their longstanding relationship with God since the days of Abram and Sarai, creates a bond and relationship with God. The evidence of God's election happens and is revealed in the Old Testament. It is the story of that bond and relationship moving forward, and sometimes backward. Throughout the years of the Jews involvement with God, God names them His Elect People, and numerous times God acts to save them, sometimes from themselves, and sometimes from the action of others like the Pharaoh in the days Moses, or to restore them to the promised land after God's choice to remove them from their land. The Jews growing faith traditions in their time of exile, cause God to set His judgement aside and bring them back to the land He had promised them. In their election by God there is never, at any time, doubt that the Jews are a stiff necked people, liking to do things their own way, often to God's dismay, but God is steadfast in His election of the Jews, promising through the prophets to bring from the line of David, a Messiah, who you and I know as Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Only Begotten Son of God. It is in honor of God's creation plan, and self-revelation, that Jesus comes to His elect people, but just as they have done many times, the powerful political and faith leaders, along with many of their people, choose to reject Jesus, and destroy Him. We might say for the sake of God's mystery plan, which began to be revealed when Christ reached out to the gentiles in His own life and ministry revealing God's willingness to look beyond the elect, never forgetting His choice of the Jews, but because of their rejection of the promised Messiah, that God's plan must grow to include others who can receive it, and celebrate it, giving thanks to God for His loving presence with His people, both Jew and gentile. So, in our passage for today we need to know more about how the Holy Spirit uses Paul in his mission to the Gentiles to present the living Christ to them, and to open their thinking so they can know that they are indeed a part of God's Plan.

So, let's slip back to Paul's work on behalf of God with the gentiles, that is you and me too. First, Paul brings to the gentiles the Word of God. The Word reveals God's truth for all people, and it also unveils the Good News and brings light into the lives of everyone who received and lived according to the Word, Jesus Christ, and His teachings. Second, the gentiles are sealed by the Holy Spirit. (through Baptism, the Affirmation of faith for those who were old enough to speak their mind) Historically, in the Greek culture it was common for a business deal to be sealed with some sort of promise. It becomes more easily understood when you and I think about how we buy a car, today particularly a used one. Ten years ago, I spotted our van on a used car lot. We drove it, loved it, and sealed the sale deal with an exchange of money so that the van would not be sold to someone else before we could arrange the financing. This is what the Holy Spirit does. She marks the faithful now so that we are fully promised that the "deal" in Jesus Christ is ours. Its completion is coming in the future, maybe today or tomorrow, and a thousand years from now, or even longer, but we know that no matter what happens for us, the joy that we know now in Christ's love, will pale to what we will experience and know when we are in Christ's heavenly presence. The really good news for you and me, along with everyone who has come to Christ in the past, is that Christ's Spirit never leaves us on our own, She is always in, with, and around us, until the end of the age, keeping us filled with today's joy in Christ our Lord.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. I hope you know that you are participating in this study by Her Spirit-presence and power in your life.

With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim