Who is my Master? - Ephesians 6:5-9

Who is my Master? Ephesians 6:5-9 20210221 As a bondservant of Christ, I am to render service as to the Lord! Introduc)on Leander was not always a slave. When he was a young boy, nearly 20 years ago now, he lived with his family in a land far away from Ephesus. However, his country was seen as rebellious towards Rome and in order to make them subject to the emperor a series of raids were conducted. They were horrific in their effect. In the raids families were torn apart. Fathers and older sons were killed while those ciRzens of his childhood land who were seen as useful for the slave market were taken away. This is what had happened to Leander and his siblings. Even though his brother and sister were brought to the same slave market as he, in Miletus, he hasn’t seen them since they were each sold away to different masters. Sad at Rmes, he has been grateful that his master, Marcus, has been good to him all these years and Leander prays the same goodness is being shown to his brother and sister. It is really hard to know though how they are treated as masters can do as they please with their slaves. Leander has heard the stories from the other slaves in the house and those he has talked with around the city. He has frequently heard from his master’s friends as they discuss around the banquet table how they “keep their slaves in their place” or boast of the punishments they inflict on them. It makes him shudder to think of the beaRngs that are endured. Just last week he saw a poor slave who had been stabbed in the eye as his master became caught up in a fit of rage over his carelessness in cleaning the floor. The master had declared to the poor slave that he would not miss the dirt now especially if he wanted to keep his remaining eye! Leander remembers how he was punished more frequently when he was young while he was first learning his posiRon in the house. Now though he rarely receives anything more than a stern look from Marcus if he is out of line. He does his duRes diligently and is given much in the way of freedom. But even in Marcus’ house some of the slaves are treated in a way that Leander shudders to think about. He is glad that his coarse hair and clearly masculine features have kept him far away from some of the duRes of the house. Now that he is a man, he is safe from being subjected to the exploitaRon of those younger and more effeminate slaves. When he thinks about the whole enterprise of slavery, he is very confused. It is his lot in life but the authority wielded by masters is so unnatural. He has been thinking about this almost without ceasing since yesterday. You see Leander became a ChrisRan, almost three years ago now, and the church that he is a member of gathers when he and other slaves like him are able to come together. The ChrisRans meet and some of which are slave masters. They all come together to celebrate their salvaRon through Jesus Christ. However, the divide in the church is so obvious – slaves and masters! He thinks - How does this work? How is it supposed to work? “Praise be to God” Leander whispers; it was almost like the Apostle Paul knew the church in Ephesus was struggling with these quesRons because just yesterday as Leander sat and listened to the elders read a lecer Paul had sent, this topic was addressed. Near the end of the lecer, in a secRon on how relaRonships are to be conducted as ChrisRans within a household – as plain as day - a secRon was included on slaves and masters! God’s instrucRon, as it was given, was for Leander to remember that he belongs to Christ! He was purchased by the blood of Christ and no macer where he might find his posiRon in this life, whether it is as a slave or a free man he is to serve as he would serve Christ. The more he considers this the more he knows it is freedom in the greatest sense of the word. Freedom from the debt of sin! He belongs to Christ because Christ paid for him with his blood! Christ his Master has set him free from the bondage of sin and now because of his belonging to Christ, he can freely serve his earthly master. Suddenly, Leander thinks what if Marcus were to become a believer? Perhaps his witness through serving Marcus would be seen – if – truly carried out as if he were serving Christ? – Leander says to himself, “Not only would I be freed of the tyranny of slavery if I served this way, I’d also be showering the love of Christ on my master.” Leander prays, “Lord not that it is required but what a blessing it would be to have Marcus become a believer! Lord you have given Marcus a heart that is already more favorable and kinder than the other masters but he is sRll a slave to sin – give him freedom as you have given me freedom. Make him yours as you have made me yours.” Leander can’t help but smile, thinking once again of the elders reading Paul’s lecer. It spoke directly to him as a slave and as a believer but of course it also addressed ChrisRan masters. If Marcus were converted - he could also do the will of God from his heart and render service with a good will as to the Lord! Leander realizes that he will never forget the message of the lecer – so much was in it but for him: As a bondservant of Christ, he is to render service as to the Lord. Explana)on 1. Brothers and sisters, I put together the story of Leander to help us understand our passage more clearly. I came up with the ficRonal story of Leander to tell what an Ephesian bondservant may have been like. a. But the story of slavery is more complex than a simple story can tell. b. It has been present in every corner of the globe where ever people have been found from just ader the beginning of creaRon. i. Slavery is complex and the story of Leander tells just a small slice of the story. c. But I told it because if you are like me, as a modern reader of the Bible, when we come across the topic of slavery in the Holy Scriptures, we are most naturally inclined to think of the industrial slave pracRces found in our own country’s past. i. When that is in our mind, we are prevented from considering the household relaRonships this passage should bring to our mind first. ii. This secRon of Ephesians is following right along with instrucRons on how households are to operate within the church – how households are to operate as believers. iii. We looked at the husband-and-wife relaRonship two weeks ago, last week parents and children, and now we wade into an area of household relaRonships, largely foreign to us, and that is the relaRonship between slaves and masters. 2. I know that as we move into this area it challenges us in new ways. In the other relaRonships, husband-and-wife, parent and child, a reliance upon the closeness of those relaRonships was able to carry some of the weight of what bound them together. a. In the relaRonship between bondservants or slaves and masters, clearly present in the background - is a dependence upon the social construcRon of the Rme that bound them together. b. As we do not have immediately available to us a context for slaves and masters inside a household, we need to move into the text with our eyes open for how we can find applicaRon today. I would like to do this in two disRnct ways. i. First is to clearly state that slavery in all its forms found throughout the course of history up unRl this present day are an aberraRon of God’s design. We must clearly declare that slavery in all its forms is an aberraRon of God’s design for human interacRons. 1. From this place consider how we might be conRnuing the ongoing promoRon of slavery through our acRons, become aware of them, and commit ourselves to the ongoing aboliRon of slavery. 2. We do this by idenRfying the social construcRon of our Rme that sRll binds people to slavery. ii. Second is to take a look at the gospel centered approach of the slave and master relaRonship being addressed in Ephesians 6:5-9 and to apply it where it most naturally impacts us in our employee employer relaRonship. The Ongoing Effort to Abolish Slavery 1. v5 Bondservants and v9 Masters. a. I want to start here because it is so profound to think about how this relaRonship is no longer present in the church! b. One of the criRcisms of the Bible over the ages has been that it never outright condemns the pracRce of slavery. However, if you study the Bible and God’s design for those whom he has called to himself you quickly realize that slavery will not survive indefinitely in a thriving ChrisRan sefng. i. As modern readers we want the outright condemnaRon. But what we forget or do not understand is that as we read the Scriptures, we are not reading about a people who are making up a dominate posiRon in the earthly sense of the term. ii. Even as the Scriptures in the New Testament were being recorded the believers were very much in a minority and oden persecuted posiRon. iii. But the truths being proclaimed were earth shacering nonetheless. Why? Because the truths being proclaimed were bringing God’s righteousness to bear on the insRtuRons of man – to prove this I will ask a quesRon of you: 1. Who is in this local church? Our answer does not include slaves and masters! A local church was being addressed with the lecer to the Ephesians or at least churches that idenRfied with the city of Ephesus – and there at that Rme were bondservants and masters. 2. But here we can no longer say bondservants and masters! That is a profound change. c. So, although the Bible has been wrongly used to promote slavery it has been more prominently and rightly used to bring down the insRtuRons of slavery over Rme – to abolish slavery. 2. Church, this is where I want us to press ahead in our ability to apply the truths of Scripture to slavery in the places it sRll exists today. Where are these you might say? a. Slavery is complex and the answer is far wider than we can fully tackle – slavery sRll exists in an industrial sense for mining and manufacturing, child soldiering, sex industry, and the list goes on. i. People enter into slavery through kidnapping, indenturing themselves, human trafficking in its many forms, as the fallout of war and so on. b. Much of what I just briefly menRoned are occurrences from foreign lands. But remember slavery is complex and takes various forms of severity and restricRon of freedom. I will ask a few quesRons to help lead us to a vantage point where we can see where slavery is sRll thriving today near to us or at least near to our decisions. i. First quesRon, who here is willing to pay the true price of food producRon necessary to bring delicious and nutriRous groceries into your home? ii. Who here is willing to protect the women and children in your home from sexual exploitaRon? iii. I ask these two quesRons because they relate to human exploitaRon and slavery in the current age and can rather easily be Red to the place we live and decisions we make. 1. So, let’s deal with them by taking them in order: The first quesRon was regarding the true price of food producRon. How does this quesRon relate to a modern form of slavery? a. You see wherever there is an arRficial suppression of the actual prices paid for a commodity an extreme pressure is present to reduce the expenses involved to produce the commodity so a profit can sRll be made. b. Our food supply is no excepRon. I’ve been farming with my father-in-law and with my brother for nearly 10 years. Once I started filling out the hiring paperwork, I soon discovered that the documents being presented to me as “supposedly official” were far from it. I didn’t know how bad the problem was unRl I signed up to be an E-verify employer – first Rme I used it 1 out of 14 employees had a legal status. Mind you this is a voluntary program it is not a requirement but I signed up because I didn’t want to encourage human trafficking. c. What I saw happening and what conRnues to happen is that illegal labor is present in our country and is heavily used in the agricultural industry in the producRon of our food. Since commodity prices are not a reflecRon of the true cost of producRon a downward pressure is present to force costs cufng wherever possible. This causes many to rely upon the cheaper and unregulated labor force of illegal immigrants. d. These people come because it is difficult to find work in more impoverished naRons and in looking for a becer life, they oden contract with human traffickers to help get them across the border and to a locaRon where they can work. This incurs a debt. The newly arrived worker is beholden to the smuggler and since they are in the United State illegally, they exist by remaining outside of any encounters with the law by using the black market, by moving when necessary, and by keeping the flow of money through working for whoever will hire them. This all happens beneath the surface. e. We, ChrisRans opposed to slavery, promote this behavior by not thinking much about the enforcement of our immigraRon laws, so they remain lackadaisical, and vulnerable people come in search of a becer life. f. We also promote this behavior by not paying acenRon to what goes into the actual cost of the producRon of our food and only focus on paying the lowest price. g. Lastly, we promote this behavior by ignoring the sojourner who lives in the land with us and not caring for them as we should. 2. The next area we will touch on, in an effort be aware of modern forms of slavery, has to do with the sex trade. I asked who would be willing to protect the women and children in their home because women and children are most at risk to this type of slavery. a. Now not necessarily our own children or women near to us but they represent the demographic most at risk to human trafficking because they are the ones who are being exploited in the sex industry. b. This form of slavery exists because a widespread appeRte for sexual misconduct exists. c. We are aware that pornography is a real danger to the homes of anyone with an internet connecRon or who has access to a cell phone. And it is widely proven that those who consume pornography are much more likely to find other ways to exploit women and children in the sex trades. d. It increases the appeRte for sexual misconduct. i. You might be saying how did we get here? ii. We are dealing with the topic of slavery and this is an area that human exploitaRon and slavery are sRll widespread around the world. e. We need to be aware of this and be careful to not promote slavery in this way. How? By remembering that as a bondservant of Christ, you are to render service as to the Lord. f. You would not give yourself over to another in your mind or in physical union because it would be outside of doing the will of God from the heart (v6). g. Likewise, we must protect those who are vulnerable to the sex trade by not going along with exploiRve behavior when it is talked about by our peers or encouraged at their parRes. h. Bear in mind it would always be wrong to work in this industry – as a ChrisRan you cannot have anything to do with the spreading of pornography or any sexually explicit material. i. We can help protect women and children by providing legiRmate jobs for those who have worked in this industry in the past. i. As challenging as it would be, beloved, we would have to rise to that challenge to bring traffickers and the trafficked exploiters and the exploited into the care of the church as they seek Christ. Transi)on: Those were just two areas – just two. We must be mindful of the power of the gospel to rescue people from slavery and conRnue always to work towards the aboliRon of slavery in the forms it sRll exists today. The passage has another applicaRon in direcRng our interacRons in the work place. This is what we will turn our acenRon to now. The Ongoing Effort to Render Service As to the Lord 1. v5 Bondservants and v9 Masters. a. Both were given instrucRon in how they were to be as ChrisRans. The remarkable thing to me is that they were to be Christ-like in their conduct regardless of whether or not the other was a ChrisRan. i. How were they to do this? The answer for both lies in their understanding of who they are in Christ. ii. This is no different for us. iii. The closest thing we might be able to relate to bondservant and master is employee and employer – but it is not a perfect correlaRon for when you consider our representaRve Leander or Marcus you don’t think employee employer. 1. However, it is what we have – it is what we are familiar with. iv. What governs the employee employer relaRonship? How is the employee or the employer supposed to be? No macer which posiRon you may have - as a bondservant of Christ, you are to render service as to the Lord. b. Much like the church in Ephesus, which had bondservants and masters, we have employees and employers in this church. I’m speculaRng but the church in Ephesus likely had more bondservants than masters and we also have more employees than we have represented employers. Look at the text with me: 2. v5a Bondservants – the subject is the bondservant or if we bring it over to our closest comparison we would say the employee. a. v5b Obey your earthly masters – this is what is commanded. The employee is to follow the rules of the workplace. Many of us work for companies that have established work rules. We are not constantly hanging on the words of our boss but can reference the employee handbook or the contract. I personally find this form of obedience greatly reduces my care and compassion for my employer. i. v5c with fear and trembling – The word here, translated for fear, is one we have seen previously, actually twice two weeks ago. In Eph 5:21 “submi8ng to one another out of reverence for Christ.” it was translated as reverence and in Eph 5:33 “…and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” it was translated as respect. ii. v5d with a sincere heart – When we take this relaRonship between a bondservant or slave and a master and apply it to our employee and employer relaRonship this is one area; I believe we can readily idenRfy with. Having a sincere heart is internal, it is the condiRon of our heart as we approach the relaRonship. b. v5e as you would Christ – The best help I believe we have from this passage is this comparison we have with Christ. In order to approach another sinful human and keep up obedience, respect or fear, and in sincerity is challenging – to recognize that we might be able to do this instead as we would Christ immediately has a sodening effect. It melts the iciness in the relaRonship, if any exists, and it takes away the hardness in the heart. i. v6a not by the way of eye-service – None of this is to be done just when the eye of the master is on the bondservant. As you would Christ reminds us once again of a reward that may come much later on when we are before our true Master in heaven. 1. v6b as people-pleasers – This can be a danger for us in the least of expecRng ways. Fearing man over fearing God. Is an ever-present danger. ii. v6c but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, v7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man – Picking up with but and going through the end of v7 is where the main theme of our passage is found today. It is what governs this relaRonship that was supposed to be between a bondservant and a master. It is what v9 refers back to when it says the master is to do the same. As one of my professors is fond of saying, it is worth many cups of tea as you ponder over the magnitude of what is being conveyed here in these 27 words. 1. Jesus went to the cross and gave up his life as the perfect atoning sacrifice for sinners everywhere in every staRon of life. Next to him – on Calvary was the thief who had nothing to give to his new Master! But what did he do? He confessed his unworthiness, repented of his sins, and trusted Jesus with his life. He did this not to a man but did it with a full sincerity of his heart to the Lord. It was his best and only service. Jesus rewarded him by paying for his entrance into heaven. 2. So, when we are placed in a situaRon which seems impossible to us – either as an employee or an employer we are to remember that we belong to Christ. If we are a ChrisRan, he is our Master. SomeRmes that means we will have to stand up for truth and pay the earthly consequences of defying the rules of man in order to obey God. Other Rmes that will mean we serve beyond what is expected of us by our employer because although they sign our check, we are actually working for the one who created them in the first place. c. v8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. – As we work in this manner, we know our Lord is keeping an accurate account. 2. v9a Masters – we can put such great stock in our Rtles but our idenRty is in Christ and therefore we are exhorted as employers, as business owners, as managers to… a. v9b do the same to them – for we are also bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man. i. v9c Therefore threatening has no place for Christ never threatened us but loved us to the end! b. v9d knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no parCality with him. - Here do you see our equality in Christ? Our staRon in this life is not measured in such a way that improves our staRon in heaven – but rather our conduct is what is noRced. So, we can get our hands dirty, we bleed, we live as Christ lived sacrificially and fully to the end for we belong to him! Transi)on: The bondservant and the master the employer and the employee either way our conduct is to be as a bondservant of Christ, for he purchased us with his blood from the slave market des)ned for hell, we are to render all our service as to the Lord Conclusion I’m not sure where you have tried to place this passage in the past as you have looked at it and studied it. But as a church we must now admit that the exploitaRon of humans in the many and varied forms that occurs is an afront to our loving heavenly Father. In the first century church of Ephesus Paul carefully directed the applicaRon of the gospel to the believing bondservant regardless of what kind of master he had. Paul carefully directed the master to apply the gospel of Jesus Christ in his conduct towards his slaves. Over Rme as ChrisRans have been faithful to apply the gospel to their conduct, they have seen whole aboliRon movements come about. Praise God we can no longer find slave ships bringing human beings made in the image of God to the shores of our land to be sold in slave markets. But we must also pray for God to show us how we must conRnue to apply the gospel to our conduct in order to defend the weak, the exploited, and poor. For they sRll get smuggled in - crammed into shipping containers, hidden in vehicle compartments, and conducted along dangerous routes. I urge us to consider our role in discouraging the exploitaRon of slavery in its many forms sRll found on the planet today. For as we end our message today our great moRvaRon must always be to declare Christ and declare ourselves as His bondservants ready to render our service as to the Lord wherever He directs our path!