The congregation at Ephesus, as elsewhere, would have been a minority in the population of that prosperous and pagan city; it’s interesting that Paul distinguishes them from that population, not initially so much as Christians but as Jews; he urges them not to behave as Gentiles that is non-Jews. I think he does so as the Christians, like the Jews, saw themselves as a special nation, set apart by God from others around them. The licentious behaviour and greed which the congregation is urged to eschew was not typical of the Jewish community. It was pagan religious practice that was apparently characterised by sexual practices of which Paul so disapproves. Whether this characterisation is entirely fair must be questionable, as Christian writers are the main evidence for it. It perhaps does not matter too much as Paul’s more positive urging is that the Christian community distinguish itself by self-restraint and honesty rather than chastity. It is excess and dishonesty that is at the at the heart of pagan behaviour; their religion is not based on any ethical principle, in strong contrast to the Judeo-Christian God who is above all the creator of a world which should run on principles of justice and love.
Our position now, in the Church of England, or as one of many Christian churches in this country, is not so dissimilar to Paul’s Ephesian church. We are, the census tells us, a minority in a population that is largely non-religious, and where it is religious it’s increasingly non-Christian religion and especially Islam, that is observed. No one could suggest that Islam was characterised by licentious behaviour. But one does not need to be very old fashioned to observe greed and instant gratification as characterising much secular behaviour, behaviour which is only exacerbated by the increasingly extreme divide between the rich and the poor.
Our Christian, especially our Anglican, response to this situation is coloured by our history and much of our present status, at least our formal, established status. Not so long ago, perhaps longer than a hundred years, but for centuries before that Christianity and the state were inextricably intertwined, although not altogether inextricably. Since the French revolution, in most countries, although not this one, church and state are devolved. However, even where there is a strong divide and a history of anti-clericalism, the legacy of the church is huge in social, political and intellectual life. Think of the number of schools and hospitals that were Christian foundations or how much of our law and social mores are based in the work of medieval theologians. Look around any village or city and see how the church or the cathedral is the most imposing building, a focus if not always one that is full of people.
There is a case for saying that Christianity, at least in this country and Europe too, has become the victim of its own success. We have promoted the dignity of the individual, and our rights as humans and people have exercised their right to stay in bed on Sunday morning or watch the telly on Sunday evening. As a society we are trying to reinvigorate a sense of community and common purpose, both of which are at the heart of Christianity, but which are essentially alien, or at least inimical, to our rights as individual citizens.
Has St Paul any helpful advice for us? His views on the place of women or sexual practice, homo- and hetero- sexual are not, I suggest helpful. But it’s not my purpose tonight to enter that debate, because I believe there is a much less controversial way in which Paul can be very helpful.
It is above all honesty that Paul recommends to the Christians in Ephesus; honesty in their everyday dealings with one another- not cheating or stealing, but more importantly honesty to themselves and their calling. This entails, for example self-restraint rather than excess and forgiveness not anger, as these truly characterise our essential Christian calling. We are to be kind to one another and forgiving because God in Christ forgives us. The point is summed up in the verse which follows our reading this evening: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us…”
This is I suggest how we should distinguish ourselves from the pagan society in which we live. It is unfortunately advice to which the Church of England-at least in its public face- is not paying a great deal of attention.
To love one another may seem rather introspective and even exclusive, and to some extent that is true, but it seems to me that unless we show honesty and love with our own community and affairs we can hardly expect to influence others. The best, and probably only way of converting others to Christianity will not be by simply telling them about God’s love, but actually showing them what it means, first in how we handle our own affairs and, growing out that, what we do in society.
There are, of course many loving Christians, and many are to be found in this church, which is going to need them in the coming months. And the Church and this church have valuable outreach to the needy around us. The task is to reduce the “wrath and anger and clamour and slander” that manage to fill the media and the way to do that is to love one another and those outside the church doors better. Amen.