In the thick of it.

I have to say that, in an unexpectedly fresh way, the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Ephesus has blown my mind. Not that I didn’t know any of this stuff before, but its freshness has caught me unawares.
When I went to have my eyes tested the other day I didn’t think there was anything really wrong with them; maybe not 20/20 but pretty good nonetheless. However, when the optician put various lenses in front of my eyes I was amazed by the sudden clarity. Nothing had changed but it all looked excitingly new all of a sudden.
Apparently I have 20/16 eyesight at best.

This is the effect that Ephesians 1 has been having on me from the very first words right up to the last sentence of the chapter.

“At the centre of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” Eph 1: 22-23

Galileo transformed our whole understanding of God’s creation with one ‘simple’ observation. He said that rather than the entire universe rotating around the Earth, our solar system was rotating around the Sun. Now, you may be shrugging your shoulders and thinking to yourself, “er… yeah.” But this was originally rejected as a demonic suggestion. Now of course we readily accept it as true and it informs our understanding of God’s creation; because of it we grasp God’s constructional genius and design work.

These last few verses in Ephesians 1 resound with the same ground breaking cry as Galileo’s observation. Here Paul reminds us that the ‘church’ does not revolve around the world, navigating around popular opinions and social conventions. Instead the ‘church’ is the centre of it all; not at the centre, it is the centre!
This isn’t just an kooky idea, it’s the truth and therefore we cannot be sidelined, just as you cannot ignore the Sun no matter how much you try. However, if the Sun fades all life on Earth ends. The same is true of the church, when God removes us [in the rapture] that is it; show’s over. We are therefore integral to life on Earth. Regardless of whether the Sun is still shining, without the church there would be no life.

Has this Paul’s words transformed or refreshed your view of the church?

A while back I made a colleague at work smile when he asked me to describe where my church was located. I tried to think of a landmark that he would be familiar with. “It’s the church which Zanzibar nightclub is next to.” I told him. He paused for a moment and then laughed. He liked the way that my description suggested that the church was of more importance than the night club. I did not say that we were next door to the nightclub as though we were neighbours to this mighty landmark. My description was that the club was next to the magnificent landmark which is the church.

Because we are here so is God’s presence. We are not peripheral; we are central because God is with us.
You may only be 9 years old playing football in the school yard with friends, but because Christ is in you the world revolves around you as you reveal God’s grace and favour.
You may just be an insignificant office worker, but that does not truly describe you; you are life, you are God’s church, you are hope and light.
You may be enjoying the summer time of retirement, having an afternoon of uncelebrated success on the bowling green. But you are not there just for your own pleasure; you are there for God’s as he places you along side those who need to hear His message of life.

Jesus, be the centre.