An Undying Love

Ephesians 6.23-14
2-26-06 DBC

An Undying Love

“Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

When Paul uses “peace” or shalom. Shalom speaks to wholeness and reconciliation. There exist perhaps a couple of things Paul uses peace in consideration of: 1. The Ephesians were once in darkness but have been put at peace with God who is in the light (5.8) Or 2. The Gentiles and Jews have been brought together in God (1.10; 1.22; 2.6; 2.14; 4.4)

The brethren consisted of Gentiles and Jews, Wives and husbands (5.22), Parents and children (6.1), and slaves and masters (6.5).

Paul concludes his letter to the Ephesians urging them to hold on and keep on keeping on; he says to them, “[grace to those who] love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

The phrase undying love is translated in other ways in other translations: in sincerity, incorruptible, unchanging, and it can mean unwavering.

Paul knew what the early believers (Ephesians) would be up against. They would face false teachers, a world system against the teachings of Christ, and a world shrouded in darkness, selfishness, greed, lust, hate, murder, and every sort of evil.

What does an undying love to Christ look like?

At the end of John’s gospel there is a narrative dialogue between Jesus and Peter (John 21.15-18). It echoes Peter’s three denials:

Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love [agapo] me?”

Peter says, “Yes Lord, you know I love [phileo] you.”

Jesus says, “feed my lambs.”

Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love [agapo] me?”

Peter says, “Yes Lord, you know I love [phileo] you.”

Jesus says, “tend my sheep.”

Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love [phileo] me?”

Peter says, “Yes Lord, you know I love [phileo] you.”

Jesus says to him, “feed my sheep.”

Jesus was calling Peter to an undying and unwavering commitment and love to him that would be evidenced by love for and to the flock of Christ (the church). But Peter was still not there yet . . . And Jesus dropped a bomb on Peter by prophesying, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst where thou wouldest; but when tho shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee, and carry thee where thou wouldest not.”


*An undying for love for Christ is evidenced by our willingness to give all of our life to Christ.
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A story by my blog friend CS. (Click here for his blog and this particular story in its entirety.):

“I’m walking in downtown Portland and this homeless guy stops me on the sidewalk. They call it aggressive panhandling. He obviously doesn’t have anything beyond a bundle of stuff that is lying beside the road. A bunch of his buddies are leaning against a building.He’s got long hair, a longish beard, and is wearing not only sandals, but this old robe that looks like it might have come from a monastery or something. It’s got a couple of holes in it and the hem is frayed.I smile at him, a little nervous, and run through a quick calculation of what is in my wallet, how much I really need today, and come up with a sum that is generous in my circumstances.

“Excuse me, sir...” he begins. (At least he’s polite.)

“...I haven’t any money for something to eat. Can you spare a few?”

“Sure,” I say, and reach for the wallet in my front pocket (I keep it there ever since I had my wallet stolen when I was 16).I hand him $6.He looks at me with sharp, clear, brown eyes, piercing eyes.

“This isn’t enough.”

I’m more than a little surprised. It’s more than I usually spend on my own lunches, and it is pretty nervy of him to ask for more when most folks would have pulled out the change in their pockets and left him looking at 62 cents in his palm.

A little offended, I ask him how much he needs.

“All of it.”

(WHAT?!!!)

I look beyond him to see if there is a cop or someone of authority in sight.

“Pardon me?”

“I want it all.”

For a moment I think about it. Maybe I could skip my own lunch. He probably needs it more than I do. This almost seems like some kind of test, so I pause, I consider. I reach into my wallet for the last $3.

“That’s not enough,” he says.

Now I am getting a little uncomfortable, and maybe a touch more than a little testy. I size him up. He’s about three inches shorter than I am, but he looks wiry, strong.

“Just what is it you want from me?”

“I want it all. I want your wallet, and your car keys....“I want your pin number for the ATM...“I want your house and your job, and your kids, and everything.“I want your life.”
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[At this point CS stops his story and tells of his church’s fire set by his son and the need for sacrificial giving to rebuild it.] He (CS) concludes with,

“I’m giving everything I have to the man with the long hair and sandals.”

*An undying love for Chirst is evidenced by love for the least of these (Matthew 25.40).

Bono Quote said [in Christian Century]:

“God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives. And God is with us, if we are with them.”

Mother Teresa said, “Where God is, there is love; and where there is love, there is always an openness to serve. The world is hungry for God.”

Jesus said, “Insasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethern, ye have done it unto me.”