{"id":1477,"date":"2022-12-19T12:59:20","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T18:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/?p=1477"},"modified":"2022-12-19T13:03:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T19:03:44","slug":"engaging-the-living-word-ephesians-115-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/2022\/12\/engaging-the-living-word-ephesians-115-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging the Living Word &#8211; Ephesians 1:15-23"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-modular-content-collection><h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">The Nourishing Vocation Project<\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Engaging the Living Word<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=521203279\">Ephesians 1:15-23<\/a><\/h4>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6>What is this particular text?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Part of a letter<\/li>\n<li>Prayer<\/li>\n<li>Theological discourse that includes\n<ul>\n<li>Faith<\/li>\n<li>Saints<\/li>\n<li>Spirit<\/li>\n<li>Power of God in Christ vs. all other powers<\/li>\n<li>Jesus &#8211; Head of the Church<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>How does the text function within the scriptural story?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>General letter for the whole church<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>How can this text function in the church today?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Addresses the relationship between politics and religion\/faith<\/li>\n<li>Identifies the limited nature of any government authority, relative to Christ: Christ is above all<\/li>\n<li>Wrestles with valid political authority and authority of God<\/li>\n<li>Reminder that the nation is not God<\/li>\n<li>There is a distinction between God and empire\/country: the empire\/country is not God, nor is it God&#8217;s equal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What does the text do to you? How do you react to the text? What feelings does this text engender in you?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Typical of Pauline texts that have lengthy, interwoven themes, it is somewhat overwhelming<\/li>\n<li>Inspiring<\/li>\n<li>Confusing<\/li>\n<li>Comforting: God is God, and we are not (nor are the powers that are beneath God)<\/li>\n<li>Raises questions, i.e. what does &#8220;spirit of wisdom and revelation&#8221; mean?<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Spirit of wisdom and revelation&#8221; &#8211; brings to mind the &#8220;laying on of hands prayer&#8221; from the baptismal liturgy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What do you have to say to the text?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>A good reminder of God&#8217;s authority<\/li>\n<li>Re-focuses us on the source of our hope<\/li>\n<li>I wonder how those who first received this message heard it<\/li>\n<li>Amen!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What do you see through this text from the story itself?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Prayer<\/li>\n<li>Promise and Certainty\n<ul>\n<li>Christ is both our hope and our certainty<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Reminder of God and God&#8217;s power and authority<\/li>\n<li>Jesus is the Head of the Body<\/li>\n<li>Both a personal and communal message<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What do you see from within your church\/community\/world? (2022)<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Challenging times challenge hope<\/li>\n<li>Appeals to a false sense of hope\/security<\/li>\n<li>Spiritual practices center our hope in Christ<\/li>\n<li>Crises of our current time\n<ul>\n<li>Ideologically divided society<\/li>\n<li>Christian nationalism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What do you see within yourself?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Hope, like faith, is a gift<\/li>\n<li>Hope can be hard when there are both personal and public crises<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What is the context &#8211; textual and historical?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>General letter to the church<\/li>\n<li>Written to the church at Ephesus &#8211; maybe by Paul, maybe &#8220;in the spirit of Paul&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Does not address specific problems or concerns<\/li>\n<li>This text follows the greeting and blessing and precedes teaching about oneness in Christ and Paul&#8217;s ministry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What questions does this text raise for you?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;For us who believe&#8221; &#8211; what do we do with this kind of exclusivism?<\/li>\n<li>What does &#8220;glorious inheritance&#8221; mean for the living of this life?<\/li>\n<li>What do the references to &#8220;power&#8221; mean?<\/li>\n<li>How does this message for the whole church apply to specific congregations today?<\/li>\n<li>How do we think about Jesus as the &#8220;Head of the Body&#8221; today?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What words\/themes seem of particular import?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Faith<\/li>\n<li>Remember<\/li>\n<li>Pray<\/li>\n<li>So that&#8230;.<\/li>\n<li>Eyes of your heart enlightened<\/li>\n<li>Hope<\/li>\n<li>Power<\/li>\n<li>Head<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What is the Gospel\/transforming Good News within this text?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>God is God, and we are not<\/li>\n<li>Our hope is in Christ<\/li>\n<li>We have an inheritance<\/li>\n<li>God&#8217;s power is manifested in Christ<\/li>\n<li>All things are under Christ<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What is the as-over-againstness of this text?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Hope can be elusive<\/li>\n<li>Political and other powers can shake our assurance in the power of God<\/li>\n<li>Hope has to have some connection to the living of this life<\/li>\n<li>There are a lot of things that tempt us with illegitimate power and false hope<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>Who does this text say that Jesus is, or if not Jesus, then who does this text say that God is? What does this text say about God?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Lord<\/li>\n<li>Filled with the power of God<\/li>\n<li>One raised from the dead<\/li>\n<li>Seated at God&#8217;s right hand<\/li>\n<li>Above all<\/li>\n<li>Head of the Church<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What have others said about this text?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;This is a rich text, packed with theological nuggets.&#8221; &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workingpreacher.org\/commentaries\/revised-common-lectionary\/all-saints-day-2\/commentary-on-ephesians-111-23-3\">Mark Tranvik<\/a>\u00a0Professor of Reformation History and Theology, Luther Seminary<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Along with the gift of revelation, Paul prays for the gift of spiritual insight. He asks that his readers be illuminated by God, that God&#8217;s dealings and intentions be understood in the areas of hope, the inheritance of the saints and of the workings of God&#8217;s power.&#8221; &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lectionarystudies.com\/christmas2ee.html\">Bryan Findlayson<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;God&#8217;s hope is the great survival strategy of this age.&#8221; &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/citycalledheaven.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/ascended.html\">Paul Bellan-Boyer<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>What will I teach or proclaim?<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Our hope is in Christ<\/li>\n<li>No powers of this world can overpower Christ<\/li>\n<li>God is who God claims to be<\/li>\n<li>God&#8217;s hope is for this life and the next<\/li>\n<li>Christ-centered hope changes everything<\/li>\n<li>God gives and sustains a spirit of wisdom and revelation in us and for us<\/li>\n<li>We are called to be Christ-centered hope for the world\n<ul>\n<li>Speak Truth to the illegitimate powers of the world<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/files\/2022\/09\/Ephesians-1.15-23.docx-1.pdf\">Downloadable PDF Version<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nourishing Vocation Project Engaging the Living Word Ephesians 1:15-23 What is this particular text? Part of a letter Prayer Theological discourse that includes Faith Saints Spirit Power of God [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8561,"featured_media":1212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/files\/2022\/11\/NurishingGraphicF-fullimage-e1692651216451.jpg?fit=500%2C375&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8561"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1477"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1483,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477\/revisions\/1483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}