In today's verses, Paul furthers the theme of submissiveness. Paul is in a region controlled by the Romans, and in this Asia Minor province, only about three percent are citizens of the Roman Empire. Paul, a member of that elite group of people, is living in Ephesus and was born a Roman citizen. Some who are citizens of the Empire, purchased their citizenship or gained it through military exploits, but Paul inherited citizenship by birth. Therefore, the ordinary person in Ephesus would give Paul respect because he was among the elite of the elite. Regardless of Paul’s freedom because of his Roman citizenship, he writes to people about him being a slave to Jesus Christ, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. (Romans 1:1) The word servant in Greek is synonymous to slave. Because of his special position in society, Paul did not have to be submissive to the ordinary people in Asia Minor. The vast majority of the common people were not citizens and the rest were slaves—almost thirty percent of the people. However, because of Jesus’ intervention into Paul’s life on the road to Damascus, Paul became his slave. All of his life, he would bow to the authority of Christ even when he experienced much difficulty and pain as Christ’s servant. In the above passage Paul asks children to “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” He reminds them that this is a commandment from God’s own hand. Being submissive to parents as a child has its rewards, enjoying life without a lot of conflict. Paul instructs the fathers, who possess considerable rights in the Roman and Greek cultures to not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Of course the best instruction a Christian father could give a child is to emulate Jesus Christ, portraying in their lives the attributes of the Holy Spirit. Encouraging his children to be united IN CHRIST, and for them to Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:1-3) A child who grows up this way will be an attribute to the kingdom of God. Children should be submissive to their parents, and fathers should be submissive to Christ, teaching children the ways of the Kingdom. Sons and daughters are without power in the world of the Romans. Citizenship and power come to them with maturity. But in the Christian world, as Joel’s prophecy reveals, Christian children will be filled with the Holy Spirit. All children are precious in God’s sight, and Christ highly regarded the preciousness of little children who lack power in the world. He used little children as an example of how to know God. “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:36-37) To know the Lord you must appreciate the insignificance of a child for the child cannot be first in life. Therefore to be robed with the humility of a child, you will learn of Christ, for the Son of Man is a servant to all of humanity.
We see now in the above focus, Paul moving from the powerlessness of children to the slave and his position in the culture of the Roman Empire. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. As with children who are powerless, the Christian slave is also encouraged to submit to those who have power over them. Children will not have their full rights until maturity, but they are encouraged to submit to their parents. Slaves normally will never gain their full rights in the Roman Empire unless they are able to pay their way out of slavery, but still Paul asks them to submit to their overseers willingly. They have no biological connection as children to their parents, yet Paul says, submit to them in obedience to their will. Slaves made up almost 30 percent of the Asia Minor society and many slaves were part of the early church. James in his lecture to the early church was angry about the preferential treatment given to the rich and elite in society. Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? (James 2:5-7) As James knew so did Paul know, the poor are the most honored in the church, for they have nothing to gain in this world, but eternal salvation. Likewise, slaves are honored greatly in the Kingdom of God because the world will never be their home, for the world has rejected their right to be free and live where they desire to live. Therefore, the slave’s hope is placed in a life that he or she will never experience here. Paul, the elite of the culture, places himself in the venue of a slave. His life demonstrated a life of dedication to his Master, Jesus Christ. He was derided, beaten with rods, stoned with rocks, jailed, placed in chains many times. He said he lived without adequate clothing and shelter and faced danger in and out of the cities. He was abused by the most common of men, yet he was a member of the elite three percent where he ministered. He served Jesus in and out of season: when fed, when hungry, when safe, when threatened, when without clothing and shelter, when without basic amenities. Why should a citizen of the powerful Roman Empire experience a slave’s life? Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. For the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19:23) Paul knew what it meant to be a free man, doing his own will, carrying on with life as he wanted. But the road to Damascus stopped all that. No longer would he do his own will, but he would become a slave, leaving his old life of freedom behind him. Not only that, he would be a slave who would face much terror in his life and finally he would be killed in Rome, ending a life that was not his own but Christ’s. Because of the way he lived his life, he had the authority to say to the slave, Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
Finally, Paul talks to the masters, those who have absolute power over others. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. How should they treat the slaves? The same way the slave treats them, Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people. Both slave and master serve the same Lord, and both will be rewarded according to whatever good they do to others. The conventions of the world then exist today: some are in slavery, some are powerless. Some work daily, but do not have enough wealth to experience their share of amenities. Some people have an excess of goods. Their garages and storage bins are filled to the brim with worldly goods. Others do not have any more goods of this world than what they can carry on their backs and in their hands. Food and comfort often come to them sparingly. The world is not just, and it never will be, for men and women do what is right in their own eyes, such as said in the days of Judges, Is there no God in the land? In so many of our lives today there is no God in the land. As we approach the Christmas season, how much is God in our land? We look at Paul’s writing about slaves, and we might even criticize his words. But Paul had God in his land. He proved that through his pain and misery, yet he was willing to place God front and center in his life and serve only him. When he talks about being a bond-slave, he is talking about a life where there is no way of escape. He is talking about a Master in his life who demands obedience from his subjects. Jesus is talking about this kind of relationship in his parable about a master entrusting his wealth to his servants. He gave one man five bags of gold, to another two bags of gold, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. (Matthew 25:16-19) When the master returned, he rewarded the two who had doubled his investment in them. Well done, good and faithful servant! (21) But to the one who failed to be a faithful servant, working hard for his master, he did not reward him for avoiding his responsibilities to his master, throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:30) Harsh words, strong, horrific judgment given to the unfaithful servant. We see in the focus of this breakfast, Paul talking about the responsibilities of those who have little power: children and slaves. Their task in this world is rather difficult, especially for the slaves. Not many bags of gold given to them, but still the master holds them responsible to work for him with the life they have been given. They have an awareness of life around them through their senses. They know they are alive because they can see, hear, feel, taste. This is the gold they have been given. We can grumble about them being slaves and how unfair that life is, and of course it is unfair and should not be so. We might despair that there are so many poor among us, and true that is so unfair, but that is the world we live in, not that poverty should be tolerated by the rich and comfortable. But Paul talks about a spiritual life, an existence that we cannot know by our physical senses. This life and the spiritual realities of it come from Spirit-taught words. Not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:13-16) Because of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the poor, slaves, and hurting, they have the mind of Christ. They are able to view the world with spiritual eyes; their faith in Christ’s works gives them an anticipation of another life that will be blissful and fulfilling. They constantly are being Spirit taught. The Bible clearly states that all people who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are slaves, servants of the Most High. God is in the land of the believer. The manacles of this world cannot enslave the saved, for salvation has brought the title of children of God to all who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ. A conundrum for the servants of God: free, yet slaves. However, dear breakfast companions, being under the yoke of God will bring much reward to you as faithful servants. Today, display the works of God through the fruit of the Spirit and you will have a fulfilling life. You will be an obedient slave with joy in your heart. Amen!
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