I never cease to be amazed at how scripture surprises me. Over the last two years we’ve preached through Exodus, Acts and now we’re finishing up Ephesians.
Each of these books (especially Exodus and Acts) have had some seemingly difficult, boring or irrelevant passages in them. Exodus and Acts had more because they are narratives. Each time I would come to one of these passages I would get frustrated that I had to preach it. But, like I said, the scripture never ceases to amaze me. I have found that out of those passages come some of the most amazing truths, stories and thoughts about faith and mission.
Yesterday morning at church I had the “privilege” of having one of these difficult passages again. This time it was Ephesians 6:1-9. Yeah, just what I wanted to do was speak about slaves, children and also go back to last weeks topic of submission.
But, like I said, I am always amazed at how the scripture comes alive when you wrestle with it and engage it deeply. This is especially true when you do it in community.
I was able to work through this passage with three gifted women in my community and they actually helped me preach it yesterday and I can honestly say that I really love this passage. I’d consider it a real privilege to preach it again.
If you are interested, you can listen here. Anna, Shannon and Shanna really did a great job of picking up my slack!