He is Our Peace October 24

“He is our peace.” Ephesians 2:14

“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. Luke 12:37

Piety

Let us pray. God, we speak of you with terms like power and might. Yet you reach out to us in love and friendship. Help us to recognize the need for obedience because the reward will be the peace that comes from the life of Jesus. Help us to understand that we will not measure that in temporal terms but rather in our spiritual life. Amen.

Study

St. Paul gives us a summary of the life and impact of Christ in one paragraph. The NAB points out that this passage, starting at Ephesians 2:14, includes elaborate imagery that “combines pictures of Christ as our Prince of Peace, his crucifixion, the ending of the Mosaic law, reconciliation, and the destruction of the dividing wall such as kept people from God in the temple or a barrier in the heavens.”[1]

As the dividing wall comes down, we are led by Christ into a new relationship with God. St. Paul explains that in “Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ.” In becoming “near,” we continue to get the sense of our God wanting personal intimacy with us, not just as friends but as members of the same family.

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.

In addition to redefining our relationship to God, Christ redefines his leadership style as well by establishing servant-leadership as the model.

The vigilant servants will be rewarded with the Master waiting on them. They are told to: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.”

The Bible is replete with such calls to “gird your loins.” Paul, when writing the letter to the Ephesians, was in prison and looking every day at his Roman guards in their uniform when writing this letter. To gird your loins during the Roman Era meant to draw-up and tie your lower garment between your legs as to increase your mobility and agility. This prevented the loose ends of the tunic from becoming snagged on something or entangled with your feet which would cause you to stumble or fall down when moving about quickly.

So Paul is telling us to secure anything that will cause us to stumble or fall down when moving about quickly in your Christian duties. We should always be spiritually sharp, alert and ready to respond with spiritual mobility and spiritual agility.

Action

Our job duties, therefore, must include constant vigilance. To address injustice, we have to know it exists. If we close our eyes, we will miss it. If we are distracted, we will miss it. But if we keep our lamps lit, we will see where we must work. Then, we will be able to react swiftly to the need, whether it is of a neighbor or of a people half-way around the world from us.

Dietrich Bonheoffer introduces us to a concept called “spontaneous obedience.” Jesus calls and Peter and Matthew follow him. They don’t ask questions. They don’t put up barriers. They don’t set forth conditions. They obey. They answer. Only later do they understand what the call really means. Their constant vigilance for the Messiah pays off. When the Messiah comes, they are ready to quickly go about their Christian duties.

Jesus wants nothing less than that same swift obedience from us. The servants in today’s Gospel are ready to respond. They exhibit spontaneous obedience when the Master comes home. For that, they are rewarded with the merciful and caring actions of a servant leader willing to give Himself and His life for us.

[1] http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/ephesians/ephesians2.htm#foot8