Living Where the 'Rubber hits the Raod'

Living Where the ‘Rubber Hits the Road’

Introduction

<Ephesians 5:21-6:9 (NIV)>

A.      We live our Christian lives in two realms...life within the Christian community…and our every day life...

Have you ever stopped at one of those music machines that some stores have where you can pick the kind of music you want to listen to. I’ve tried that…salsa…rock…jazz…hip hop…rapp…country…meditative…meditative reminds me of those times we all crave. Times where you can feel safe, secure, free from temptation…free from trials…free from difficulties… living the Christian life at those times is easy. And then there are those other times…those other times, they dominant most of our lives…the times when we have to live out our faith in the big, bad, tuff world…where going to really rough…it’s where the tire hit the road, you could say…like this…<clip 1>

B.       Spirit-filled living is one thing in theory but it has to be lived out in every day life.

C.      You should know that when Paul wrote these words he didn’t divide what he said into neat little verses or even paragraphs…he dealt with themes…his present theme starts in verse 21 – submission – them he fleshes this theme out in various real life situations. He may be talking marriage, he may be talking family, he may be talking the work place, but he’s always talking about the same theme: submission.

D.      Our objective in studying this passage is to find out how we can live where the rubber hits the road…

I.   <How submission relates to the spirit-filled life.

A.      Submission is the fullest expression of spirit-filled live.

   B.   Spirit-filled living is easy at church but in our every day relationships life is tuff. <clip 2>

1.      This clip shows how many of us feel about living out our faith in every day life.

2.      The problem is that people often reserve their worst behavior for the people that matter most to them – far from worship services and those who will take note of it.

   C.  Because living the spirit-filled life in every day life is so tuff, Paul describes how submission should be exercised in life’s closest relationships.

3.      Between husbands and wives.

4.      Between children and parents.

5.      Between slaves and masters

II.    <The basis of Paul’s teaching on submission.>

   A.  Submissiveness helps us to be Christ-like <v. 21>.

B.  Submission was not Paul’s ‘new idea’ – it started with Christ himself.

1.      As a boy, Jesus submitted to his parents (Lk. 2:52).

2.      Later Jesus tried to implant this same attitude in his disciples when he washed their feet (Jn. 13:13-16).

C.  All our relationships can be improved by the influence of Christ.

   D.  When you allow yourself to be guided by the HS you will submit to one another because the Spirit will teach you to follow the example given by Jesus.

1.      This is opposite to our natural practice of self-preservation and self-promotion.

<III.   How to be submissive in every day life.>

A.      Wives towards their husbands <vv. 22-24,33>.

1. To be submissive is to be like Christ.
2. What was Christ’s submissiveness like: affection, interaction, loyalty, unity, cooperation, love (4:15,16).
3. “Head” here means savior, protector (v. 23).
4. A wife’s cooperation with her husband never extends to the point of sinful actions but in everything reasonable and moral (v. 24).

B.       Husbands towards their wives <vv. 25-33>

1. These verses dealing with the wife/husband relationship seem too heavy handed toward wives but I see them teaching mutual respect.
2. No where are husbands given the right to feel authoritative over their wives.
3. The co-ordinate to a wife’s submission is not a husband’s superiority, but his love.

John Stott: Submission and love are two aspects of the same thing.

1. Husbands are to be submissive to their wives – like Christ is to the church – He suffered and died for it!

If you as a husband will wear a crown it will be a crown of thorns…C.S. Lewis once said that the real danger in married life is that husbands will too easily allow their wives to usurp that crown, that is, the crown of suffering and subordination.

1. In a mutually submissive marriage, the issue is not, who obeys whom, or who can control whom!

Long time EMC minister and college professor Arden Thiessen said this: I have sometimes said to romantically inclined young men, “As long as you think of a woman as someone to rule and control, you are too unspiritual and immature to get married”…and I agree…

1. When it comes to the relation between husband and wife it’s a matter of submission, deferral, love and respect – both ways! <v. 33>

C.      Children toward their parents <6:1-3>.

1. Children should obey because it is right – almost all cultures over the centuries to the present day agree on this – so does Paul (1).
2. Children should obey because it is God’s will (2).
3. Children should obey because it is accompanied with a promise from God – the society where there is family order will be solid and stable.
4. Children are not to obey “any command” no matter how hideous, only that which is ‘in the Lord.”
5. Note: This does not justify the horrendous abuse that sometimes occurs in the name of parenting.

D.      Fathers (parents) towards their children <6:4>.

1. While it is assumed in most cultures that parents have a responsibility towards their children, this must be done carefully – children should not be provoked to anger.
2. But still, parents should not just throw up their hands and let nature take its natural course, they are to teach their children Christian truth.
3. The word “discipline” is used at this spot by many translations causing many to understand this verse as an exhortation for punishment, actually the word means training (Like the NIV) and teaching self-control and guiding towards maturity.

E.       Slaves toward their masters <6:5-8>.

Historians estimate that in the first century there were approximately sixty million slaves in the R.E. Which meant that  half the population were owned by the other people.

1. Paul’s mention of slaves suggests two things:

·        There were slaves, and masters no doubt, in the Christian church

·        He is raising them to equal status to other citizens

1. Paul teaches them to see themselves as free people.
2. They were to see themselves as having volunteered to be servants of Christ, working for a cause that has eternal significance.

F.       Masters toward their slaves <6:9>

1.      Paul tells masters to treat slaves the same way that slaves treat them.

2.      He tells them to stop threatening them and using their power to coerce them.

3.      Masters are to remember that they, too, have a master.

4.      Paul raises masters and slaves onto the same plane, both are servants of Christ.

5.      Before the Roman courts and in the culture of the time masters may be seen as superior, but before God they stand on level ground (v. 9b).

When masters started treating their slaves as equals and fellow Christians this odious social institution of slavery collapsed.

Conclusion

<Amazing grace video clip>

This video clip from the movie Amazing Grace – the story of James Wilberforce’s battle in Britain to abolish slavery – illustrates why Paul’s message about submission was needed, and why it still is!

The overarching point of Paul’s words are captured by Wilberforce…

“…under God all men are equal!”

<There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

-         Galatians 3:28>

Are we living in submission to one another…do we truly see others as our equals?

…our husbands?…our wives?…our parents?…our children?…our employers?…our employees?