“Jesus Changes Our Families & Work (Ephesians 6:1-9)” | 11/24/24

Ephesians 6:1-9 | 11/24/24 | Will DuVal

Last week in our study through the book of Ephesians, we wrapped up chapter 5 with a discussion of MARRIAGE. It’s the text I like to use when preaching wedding homilies. I’ve been blessed to officiate 15 or 20 weddings now, and I’ve probably shared from Ephesians 5 almost a dozen times. And whenever I do, after I’ve read the passage (“submit to one another out of reverence for Christ…”), I like to open the homily in this way; it may sound familiar to some of y’all; I like to invite the bride and groom and EVERYONE in attendance to answer this question: 

“What is the DIRTIEST word you know? …Perhaps the most offensive term in our 21st c. American society is: SUBMISSION. …In our culture, which values expressive individualism, personal freedom, and radical autonomy as our chief virtues, their OPPOSITE – submission – has arguably become the most objectionable word in the English language today. And yet, try as we may to re-translate, re-interpret, or just plain re-WRITE Scripture, we can’t get around it – in marriage, and in the Christian life in general, God calls to SUBMIT. Indeed, this is the very essence of Christ’s calling on our lives, as his disciples; Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily, to follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Lk 9:23)

So the most IMPORTANT command, arguably, in all of God’s word - “submit” - is also the HARDEST, and the most repulsive for so many; this is what keeps sinners OUT of heaven: their stubborn REFUSAL to “submit”, to surrender, to God. 

But as we’ve already seen, God calls us to submit not only to HIM, but to one ANOTHER, within the Christian community. And then last week Paul called WIVES to submit to their HUSBANDS. And now this morning, he continues his line of exhortation, and actually strengthens it, by enjoining not just SUBMISSION… but OBEDIENCE. This is an even TOUGHER calling, in Ephesians 6.

Within the CHURCH and within MARRIAGE, it was “submission”; but now we turn our attention to two different relationships - child-to-parent and employEE-to-employER - where God’s word calls for OBEDIENCE.

Jesus Changes our FAMILIES & our WORK. He gives us direction FOR these relationships - relationships of AUTHORITY; that’s what they are, and God is informing here, both how we steward as well as how we submit TO authority, depending on which side of the desk we’re on (in the workplace), or which seat we occupy at the DINNER TABLE (within the family). Remember: Ephesians 1-3: Gospel PRINCIPLES; Ephesians 4-6: Gospel PRACTICE. How do we APPLY the truths of the gospel - who Jesus is… and who WE now are, “IN Christ”... - how do we live it out, in everyday life. As CHILDREN, and as PARENTS. As workers, and as bosses. Super practical stuff this morning. Super RELEVANT; how many of y’all are someone’s CHILD? PARENT? Someone’s EMPLOYEE? BOSS? Okay - this sermons for YOU!

Let’s read it.

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  I invite you to STAND… Ephesians 6:1-9.  Hear the word… 

  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 

  4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

  5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 

  9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.” 

  [This is the word of the Lord… Seated…]

  Here’s your OUTLINE (it actually parallels LAST week’s perfectly): Paul addresses four different subjects here - children, parents, workers, & bosses - and to each he writes a different command, and then he offers each party two REASONS for compliance.

  4 different entities, 4 exhortations, 8 explanations. 

  But before we dive in, I want to point out one interesting thing to note here about even Paul’s organization of his admonitions, which is that those of LOWER status, lesser power - the kids and slaves - are addressed FIRST and more extensively than their superiors (Paul did the same thing LAST week too, when he addressed the WIVES first); WHY?? 

  Tim Keller explains (“Our Work and Our Character”, 2010; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-DwK-Rzci0 ): “Many Greek and Roman writers also wrote household codes, that is, codes of conduct for wives and husbands, parents and children, masters and servants; that’s what Paul’s doing here… But when the Greeks and Romans addressed members of the household, they didn’t even TALK to the slaves or children; they addressed the masters and parents. Paul not only addresses the slaves and children, he addresses them FIRST! In fact, he talks to them more than he talks to their superiors! He’s treating them with DIGNITY, as if they were responsible agents.” 

  This was UNHEARD of in the ancient world. AS was what Paul is going to SAY to these parents and masters. All of the rules that were written OUTSIDE the Bible governed the behavior of the CHILDREN, the SLAVES. The idea here that there should be a standard, a right & wrong, for the PARENTS, for the MASTERS… that was unheard of, RADICAL. Radically HUMANIZING, on the one hand, and HUMBLING on the other. Radically empowering, for workers and kids, and radically equalizing, for bosses and parents. 

  So let’s look at it; the FIRST entity, exhortation, explanation Paul makes is:

  #1- Children OBEY our parents (WHY??) - because it is RIGHT & it is REWARDED. (vv1-3)

  Now, quick contextual note; commentator Clinton Arnold explains (415): “The ‘children’ Paul speaks of are those still in the home. They are old enough to understand instructions from their parents and [CHOOSE] whether [to] obey or go their own way. They are still being ‘brought up’... and have not yet gotten married and left the home (5:31). This would place the age range of the children from early elementary to the late teen years…”

  Now, I point that out because God’s calling, his COMMANDMENT (number 5 in the OT’s top 10) to “honor your father and mother”, quoted here in vv2 & 3: that’s binding for LIFE. The Bible never puts an age stipulation on that one. But what about the charge here to “OBEY” your parents? I know some adults - I’m talking in their 50s, 60s… who never cut the umbilical cord. Who never “leaved and cleaved” when they got married. Who still “OBEY” their parents, more than they honor their SPOUSE. 

  When I do premarital counseling, I always ask the couple: “Do both sets of y’all’s parents understand that their word, their counsel, is no longer BINDING in your life, your marriage? That you are LEAVING that family unit, and CLEAVING to, forming a NEW family unit, where the groom-to-be is gonna be the new pater familias, head of the household? Cuz if you haven’t had that conversation with your parents, you NEED to.” That’s HARD for a lot of parents; it’s hard for a lot of KIDS! But it’s important. We HONOR them for life; we OBEY them for just the first SEASON of life, til we are “brought up” to adulthood. 

  And before Paul even gets to WHY of obedience - “for this is RIGHT” - he addresses the HOW; HOW do children obey? “In the LORD”. Arnold notes (416): “Paul appeals to the children to have an obedience that transcends the parental ‘because I said so’ to a motivation rooted in a respect for the Lord Jesus himself. [So that’s part of the WHY - obedience “in the Lord” means, like last week, “out of reverence for Christ”. But what about the HOW? Arnold goes on… But] There [is] ALSO an element of divine enablement implicit in this expression.”

  Just AFTER this passage, in v10, Paul is gonna encourage us to “be strong IN the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Same phrasing - “in the Lord”. But there, it clearly means that our strength must be found IN the Lord. 

  I think the same holds true here in v1 for children; KIDS: how are you gonna obey an imperfect parent? Or even a GOOD one, but one who nevertheless asks you, undoubtedly, to do stuff you don’t WANT to do. Kids: you need THE LORD, the strength of HIS might; the strength to SUBMIT. Sometimes that takes SUPERNATURAL strength. But that’s a very unpopular super-power, isn’t it? 

  My kids love playing pretend, where everybody’s got a different SUPER power. I have never heard them fight over who’s got the super power of SUBMISSION. And yet, kids, in REAL life, you oughta be PRAYING for it. 

  Parents - we oughta use this as an opportunity to help them SEE their sin. 

  My daughter is probably the least sinful person I know. Truly. But how do I KNOW that she still needs Jesus, needs a SAVIOR? Because when I ask her to put the book down and go to bed, she says, “PLEEEASE, one more page…”, instead of “Of COURSE, Dad; and by the way, thank you for the opportunity to OBEY you and be BLESSED for it!” When she’s having fun playing the piano and Polly asks her to watch Bo so she can cook dinner, often Ellery will grumble. 

  Now that might not seem like much - most of us would KILL for kids like that, and rightfully so - but it’s ENOUGH. It’s enough to take the opportunity to help the see their sin, “You know, Sweetie, sin isn’t just when your brother sneaks lollipops out of the pantry, or the other brother chases the dog around the house with his dinner fork. Sin is resisting, protesting the authority that God has graciously placed over you as well. Instead of JOYFULLY obeying out of reverence for Christ. And because of that sin, you too need a Savior. And if you’re EVER gonna have a CHANCE of obeying the RIGHT way, it’s gonna HAVE to be “in the Lord”, in the strength of HIS might; the Holy Spirit GIVING you that joyful heart of submission. 

  So kids: you obey because it is RIGHT. Colossians 3:20 says, “Children, obey your parents… for this pleases the Lord.” It actually says, “obey your parents IN EVERYTHING, for this pleases the Lord”. Now, I mentioned this LAST week, with v24 of ch5, where Paul charged wives to “submit in everything to their husbands” - what it DOESN’T mean, CANNOT mean, is that the wife, or in this case in ch6, with the CHILDREN - it DOESN’T obligate them to obey if it would cause them to SIN. Now, that’s hopefully a pretty RARE, exceptional case. Teenagers: you might not AGREE with your parents decision to confiscate your phone for getting a “B” on your report card; that might seem overly HARSH to you, and maybe it IS - I’m coming for the parents in a MOMENT, in v4. But you handing the phone over is clearly NOT sinful, so you DO it. 

  But there ARE parents out there who ask their kids to sin. Kids: if they ask you to LIE, and say you’re 12 so you can still eat off the kids menu… THEN you don’t have to obey. “Sorry, Mom, Dad: Revelation 21:8 says “all liars - their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death”; I’m not RISKING it! I’ve gotta answer to a higher authority.”
  But what Paul MEANS in Colossians 3:20 when he says, “Children, obey your parents in everything” is that this command doesn’t just apply to SPIRITUAL matters. I suppose you could imagine a child - a really PRECOCIOUS one - arguing, “Well, Mom, Dad, you’ve gotta read that passage in context; Paul was writing to the CHURCH. So when it comes to CHURCH matters - if you tell me to get ready for CHURCH, I’ll obey; but get ready for SCHOOL? I can still sleep in.” 

  No, you obey in EVERYTHING, Paul says, for this pleases the Lord. 

  And not only does it please HIM, not only is it just the “RIGHT” thing to do, but if you need EXTRA motivation: you will be REWARDED for it. Paul points out: the 5th commandment was actually the FIRST one that included a PROMISE with it: “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” In the OT context of Exodus 20, and Deuteronomy 5, that meant the Promised Land of Canaan. But today, we await a BETTER “Promised Land” - HEAVEN! - where we won’t just “live long”; we’ll live ETERNALLY! Where it won’t just “go WELL” for us; we will enjoy FULLNESS of joy in God’s very presence, where there are pleasures FOREVERMORE, Psalm 16:11 promises. 

  You wanna be REWARDED? “Honor your father and mother”. 

  But SECONDLY, now, Paul addresses the Parents, who are exhorted to CONCILIATE our children because we want them to KNOW & FOLLOW CHRIST. (v4)

  Paul phrases his exhortation negatively - “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger” - but the best ANTONYM to that is conciliate, which means “to overcome the distrust or hostility of; to placate; to win over”. 

  That’s what we’re called to DO, parents, our most important job of all: to “win our kids OVER”... to Christ. To raise them to know and follow HIM. 

  But let’s dissect v4 now, word by word. 

  First, why does Paul address “FATHERS”, specifically. He could have used the same generic word for “parents” that he did in v1, but now he says, “FATHERS”. 

  Two reasons, I think. For starters, I think Paul knew we’d naturally STRUGGLE with it more. That in general, moms tend to be more gracious, while we Dads are more prone to “provoking our kids to ANGER.” 

  But I think the BIGGER reason Paul says “Fathers” here, is that as we saw LAST week, the husband, father, really IS called to LEAD his family, and therefore he will ALSO be called to give ACCOUNT for that leadership one day. Both Mom and Dad will one day stand before the Lord and answer for how they stewarded, shepherded, their childrens’ hearts. But as head of the household, the buck stops with DAD - he is held MORE accountable; he has the WEIGHTIER responsibility. 

  Next word: “provoke”; what does it mean to “provoke” your kids to anger? Arnold interprets it this way (417): “This passage teaches that fathers need to exercise a sensitivity and care in how they interact with their children, and especially in how they discipline them. Fathers should carefully weigh the potential impact of their words and actions before responding to their children. This passage effectively rules out reactionary flare-ups, overly harsh words, insults, sarcasm, nagging, demeaning comments, inappropriate teasing, unreasonable demands, and anything else that [is] provocative.”

  Another commentator adds (in Keller, “Work and Family, Jan 22, 2012): “Paul’s ruling out excessively severe discipline… abuse of authority, arbitrariness, unfairness, constant nagging and condemnation, humiliation, and all forms of gross insensitivity to a child’s needs and sensibilities.”

  But Keller points out that there are actually TWO ways of making your kids angry: by OVER-disciplining them - the descriptions I just read - but you can ALSO UNDER-discipline them, can’t you. And it’ll “provoke them to (just as much) anger”. Keller says, “If you’re indulgent, if you’re too undisciplined personally to be consistent with your children, or if you’re afraid of their disapproval, so you always GIVE IN, so you’re really spoiling your child, that is a perfect way to raise a child who is always ANGRY. Anyone with this incredible sense of entitlement is gonna grow up and find that the world is nowhere NEAR as compliant to their wishes as you were.” The REAL world DOESN’T revolve around them, and they’re gonna be MAD about it!

  So if we don’t wanna PROVOKE them, how do we do the OPPOSITE? How DO we “conciliate” them, “win them over”? 

  Paul tells us in v4: we “bring them UP” - it’s actually the same word in Greek that he used in ch5, v29, when he said, “you don’t HATE your flesh; you NURTURE it”. Paul says here, “Fathers: NURTURE your children.” And the ROOT of the word really means to FEED, so not just “nurture”, but more specifically, NOURISH them; FEED your kids. 

  Feed ‘em WHAT? A regular, daily diet of the “discipline and instruction of the LORD”. Jesus said, “Man doesn’t live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). Paul says: “Parents- you need to feed THAT to your kids!” 

  And I think Paul ALSO, subtly, encourages us to do so in age-appropriate ways here, with his word choices of “discipline” and “instruction”. The first, paideia, is found five other times in the NT, FOUR of them in Hebrews 12, where the context is GOD’S discipline of US, His children, through SUFFERING: 

  ““My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

      nor be weary when reproved by him.

  6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

      And he chastises [literally, he BEATS] every son whom he receives.”

  … For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant…”

  So discipline in that sense involves corporal punishment. And we know when it’s age-appropriate, that kind of discipline is BIBLICAL: 

  Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son,

      but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him”. 

  Proverbs 22:15 “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.” 

  Proverbs 29:15 “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame…”

  Now, I say “age-appropriate”, because “the ROD” is all my 2-year old BO can understand at this point in his development. That is the ONLY kind of discipline that has ANY effect on him. Elijah’s FOUR; we’re already starting to ramp down the rod with him, because he’s a smart kid, and he understands and learns more from other consequences. We haven’t spanked Ellery in YEARS. 

  Every child is different, and as parents, we have to KNOW our kids - what helps them learn and grow, and what just “provokes them to anger”. But at EVERY age in a child’s development, there HAS to be a place in our parenting for DISCIPLINE. 

  But our kids ALSO need INSTRUCTION. Strong’s Lexicon defines this word as “warning through TEACHING [which] improves a person's reasoning so they can reach God's solution ” (https://biblehub.com/greek/3559.htm). This word is used only THREE times in the NT, including 1 Corinthians 10:11, where Paul reminds us of the rebellious Israelites in Moses’ generation, who God made to wander around the desert for 40 years as discipline, but then Paul says, “They should serve as an EXAMPLE to us; these things were written down for our instruction”. 

  In other words, parents, how do we “INSTRUCT” our children? Through God’s WORD! We “bring them up”, we NURTURE and NOURISH them with every word that has come from the mouth of GOD. “Train a child UP in the way he should go,” Proverbs 22:6 instructs parents, “and even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

  And AS he is growing older, you give him less and less “discipline” and more and more “instruction”. 

  Last point I want to make here to parents: the parallel passage from the household code in Colossians restates the verse THIS way: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” (3:21)

  I just point that out because not ONLY do we avoid “provoking them to ANGER” - and remember: Paul’s got the LONG game in mind here; your kids might not ENJOY your discipline in the SHORT term; “For the moment ALL discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”; they’ll THANK you for it ONE day! Cuz you’re SAVING them from LOTS of anger LATER in life - but not only are we mindful of their ANGER, we’re also sensitive to their DISCOURAGEMENT. 

  You wanna “conciliate” your kids? WIN THEM OVER to Christ? ENCOURAGE them. Every single day. Whether they’re TWO or SIXTY-two - find an excuse to ENCOURAGE your kids, your grandkids… and this one can of course go both ways, can’t it? Kids: encourage your PARENTS. Did they screw up? Sure. Nobody bats 1,000 as a parent. But nothing makes you grateful for your parents quite like BECOMING a parent yourself, does it? THEN you understand: “Oh, this is hard! Yeah, my parents made mistakes, but I think maybe they were doing their BEST.” 

  Encourage them. HONOR them. 

  But now we come to the SECOND set of relationships, those within the workplace. And Paul BEGINS, once again, NOT with the BRASS, but with the rank and file, not with those in the big corner offices, but with those stuck down in the MAILroom. And Paul orders them… order US:

  3) Workers OBEY your bosses because it is CHRIST-HONORING & REWARDED. (vv5-8)

  Now, first we need to address the elephant in the room. Because Paul DOESN’T actually write to “workers” and “bosses”, generally, he addresses “SLAVES” and “MASTERS”. Which of course for US, today, always raises questions. The most OBVIOUS of which being: “Why didn’t Paul just PROHIBIT slavery altogether?!” And I could go about answering that in a couple of ways. I could point out that the slavery of the antiquity was very different from the chattel slavery of the Antebellum South that we’re most familiar with - it wasn’t RACE-based, it wasn’t PERMANENT, and in many cases, it was actually restorative and empowering; slaves were often educated, taught skills, aided financially. But at the end of the day, it was still SLAVERY. 

  I could point you to the passages where Paul DOES seem to look down on slavery. In his letter to Philemon, owner of the runaway slave Onesimus, Paul explains how he personally led Onesimus to CHRIST, and then he asks Philemon to receive him back “no longer as a SLAVE, but more than a slave, as a beloved brother”. 

  Paul advised the Corinthian church, “Were you a SLAVE when you were called [to Christ]? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)” (1 Cor 7:21) 

  In other words, being free is of course BETTER than being a slave, but according to Paul, what’s more important - ETERNALLY more important - than your social status is your SPIRITUAL status. “I don’t care if you’re a slave or you’re free” socio-economically, Paul says, “I care that you’re a slave to CHRIST and you’ve been set free from your SIN!”

  “More than one-third of the population of Rome in the first century was slaves” (Arnold, 419), and Ephesus wasn’t much different; we’re talking tens of MILLIONS of slaves. So if Paul had to choose - prioritize his time and energy - between going after the social institution of slavery, or going after peoples’ spiritual enslavement, that was an easy decision for him. Paul was a steward, first and foremost, of the GOSPEL. But of course, as we’re seeing all throughout the second half of Ephesians, the gospel has practical implications for ALL of life - Jesus Changes EVERYTHING! - including slavery. And it was Christianity that would ULTIMATELY bring an end to slavery not only in the Roman Empire, but in America as well; it was the Bible-preaching evangelicals of the Second Great Awakening who launched the abolition movement. Because an evil like slavery CAN’T coexist for long alongside REAL, transformative, lived faith in Christ. 

  So even though we no longer battle institutional slavery, praise God (although there are STILL an estimated 50 million people worldwide trapped in slavery illegally, ONE million of them right here in the U.S.; but that’s a different sermon for a different Sunday), Paul’s OVERARCHING point in vv5-9 here concerns how we steward or submit to AUTHORITY in the marketplace, regardless of context, slavery or not. Arnold notes (432): “Paul’s instructions… have equal applicability to a variety of authority relationships” in the workplace. 

  And his FIRST instruction is to WORKERS: to OBEY your boss. And Paul offers the same two MOTIVATIONS for obedience that he did to the children in vv1-3: it is Christ-honoring, and you will be rewarded. He repeats the phrase “as unto the Lord” or “doing the will of GOD” three times. Paul put it this way in Colossians 3: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (vv23-24)

  Whether you OWN the factory or you work on the assembly line… whether you PERFORM the surgeries or you mop up the blood afterward… WHATEVER you do, do it like you’re working for the LORD - like you’re making that widget for HIM… like HE’S on the operating table… like you’re cleaning that floor for HIM. Because you ARE, according to Paul; “you ARE SERVING the Lord Christ.” After all, God owns EVERYTHING, doesn’t He? The money in your client’s account - that’s GOD’S money. The kids in your home, stay-at-home moms – those are GOD’S kids. And EVERYTHING exists for His GLORY - the money, the kids, the planes you’re making at Boeing: build ‘em like GOD’S gonna be flying in ‘em. Like they belong to Him, cuz they DO. 

  There is NO SUCH THING as “SECULAR” work; it’s ALL sacred, cuz it’s ALL for GOD. 

  In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul calls us, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” If we can even eat and DRINK “unto the Lord”, in a way that brings him glory, we can DEFINITELY build planes, fix computers, clean toilets in a Christ-honoring way. 

  And what IS that way? How do we obey our bosses in a way that HONORS Christ and will therefore be rewarded by him? 

  Paul gives us FIVE ADVERBS here, that ought to describe our work - you might wanna write these down, and then tape them up in your CUBICLE at the office, as a LITMUS TEST, to hold yourself accountable every day - ask a COworker to hold you accountable, what a great WITNESSING opportunity, “Hey, we’re working through Ephesians at church, and I’m feeling pretty convicted that I don’t always give 100% here in the office, I don’t work like JESUS is my boss. So I’m gonna start intentionally praying and working TOWARD that, but I’d really appreciate some accountability with it…” - if you want a PAY RAISE, go have that conversation with your boss tomorrow morning. Cuz as a believer, you’re probably already giving the CLOSEST to 100% anyway, and the fact that you’re still not CONTENT, that you wanna raise the bar even HIGHER - speaking as a BOSS, we LOVE employees like that. That’s who I wanna promote. 

  So here are Paul’s 5 adverbs: we work… 

  1) RESPECTFULLY (v5) - “obey your [bosses] with fear and trembling”. Reverence, respect. Like you would if GOD was the boss. You wouldn’t talk back. You wouldn’t crack jokes about him with the other employees at the water cooler. You RESPECT him, not only because he holds your occupational FATE in his hands - he decides whether you make it through the next round of layoffs or not - but because you understand and respect the weight of responsibility and leadership that he carries. It’s not always EASY being in charge. If most workers had their boss’s job for a DAY, they’d probably obey with a lot more fear and trembling. You’d RESPECT them a whole lot more. And even if you wouldn’t - you say, “Pastor, you don’t know MY boss; he’s the WORST, most incompetent…” - No he’s not. Your boss is GOD. 

  2) We work SINCERELY (v5) - “with a sincere heart”. It’s ASTOUNDING how HIGH Paul raises the bar here, for Christian work. You can be the most efficient, productive, even RESPECTFUL worker in the office, but if it doesn’t come from your HEART, you’re still not honoring the Lord. Because God’s not just after our behavior; he wants our HEARTS, he cares about our MOTIVES. “MAN looks on the outward appearance” - your earthly boss may be satisfied with the work you put in - “but GOD looks on the HEART”, 1 Samuel 16:7 declares. So even AS you’re obeying your boss, your MOUTH may be saying, “Yes Sir,” but what’s your HEART saying? If your HEART’S not in it, if you can’t obey SINCERELY, then it’s either time to find a new job, OR, more LIKELY, for an attitude adjustment. 

  “Sincerely” doesn’t necessarily mean “EXCITEDLY”. You don’t have to be STOKED about it - we’ve got some special ed teachers at this church, who wake up every morning knowing, “There’s a pretty good chance I could be ASSAULTED today by an autistic teenager who can physically overpower me”; we got some COPS who literally put their LIFE on the line every day; some custodians who DO scrub toilets, some MOMS - you don’t have to work at the HOSPITAL to clean up blood and puke and bodily fluids; moms do it for FREE. God never says, “Get EXCITED!”, but he does say, “Be SINCERE”. Be devoted to your work. Put your whole HEART into it. As unto the LORD. 

  Third, we work MODESTLY (v6) - “not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers”. We all know those employees who work hard as long as the BOSS is around. But the minute he’s gone…

  And when he’s watching, they love to make a big SHOW of their work, make sure the boss knows how much they contribute to the team. 

  Paul says: don’t be like that. Do good work ALL the time… and do it QUIETLY. Modestly. Trusting that GOD is watching, that GOD will reward you, even if your boss doesn’t. 

  Fourth, we work CHEERFULLY (v7) - we “render service with a good will”, a good ATTITUDE. It means working “heartily and ungrudgingly” (dictionary.com). 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us that “God LOVES a cheerful GIVER,” one who gives from the HEART, “not reluctantly or under compulsion”. But here in Ephesians 6, Paul’s saying that God ALSO loves a cheerful WORKER. One who WORKS willingly, not just cuz you HAVE to, but because you GET to. Do you have THAT kind of attitude, as you’re driving into work - “I GET to sell insurance today, to folks who NEED it, to keep their families SAFE and protected... I GET to fix cars today, and give people the GIFT of transportation.” ALL work (if it’s not illegal or immoral) is GOOD, meaningful, KINGDOM work. So do it with a good will. 

  And fifthly, we work respectfully, sincerely, modestly, cheerfully, and we work HOPEFULLY. “Expectantly”. Why? Because we “know that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord”. No good work goes unREWARDED by our Father in heaven. 

  So, Warren Wiersbe concludes (621): “The best way to be a witness on the job is to do a good day’s work.” 

  David Guzik concludes: “It should be said of every Christian that he is a hard worker and gives his employer a full day’s work for his pay; to do anything less is to steal from your employer.” (Enduring Word, Ephesians, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/ephesians-6/ ).

  May we obey our earthly masters, and so bring HONOR to our heavenly Master. 

  Lastly, #4 - Bosses RESPECT our workers because God is LORD and JUDGE. (v9)

  After addressing the slaves, Paul now says, “Masters, YOU do the same to them” - in other words, treat your SLAVES respectfully, sincerely… “as you would CHRIST”; if JESUS was your slave, how would you treat him? You see why slavery couldn’t SURVIVE under Christianity!?

  Specifically, Paul exhorts masters to “stop your threatening”. The Greek word for “master” here is “kurios”, it’s the SAME word used of Jesus when we call him our “LORD”; he’s our MASTER. Jesus OWNS us; we do NOT belong to ourselves, we were bought with a PRICE, the highest price of ALL - his own BLOOD, his LIFE. 

  Even still, consider how Christ LEADS us; does he THREATEN us? “Come follow me… OR ELSE!” No, it’s a gracious INVITATION. The Bible calls Jesus our SHEPHERD, not our RANCHER. You know the difference? Ranchers go behind the herd, pushing and prodding, yelling and threatening. Shepherds are out in FRONT of the flock, lovingly LEADING by example.

  Paul says: be a boss like THAT. Like CHRIST. 

  And why do we DO it, bosses? What ought to motivate OUR obedience to God’s command HERE, to treat our workers well? V9: we “know that he who is both their Master and ours [i.e., THE LORD; that HE] is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.” In other words, Paul says, “I don’t care HOW high up you are on the corporate ladder, the social food chain… Donald Trump has a BOSS. And I’m not just talking about the American voters. There is just one, “capital B Boss”, and he is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t care if you’re a slave or or a master. When you stand before him one day and give account for your life - and you WILL, because he IS Lord and Judge - he’s not gonna ask to see your tax returns. He’s not impressed by how much money you make, but by what you’ve MADE of the money you make - how’d you steward it? God’s not impressed by how many employees you have reporting to you, but by the report YOU will give of how you’ve LED them. Cared for them. 

  CONCLUSION: And lest it feel like Paul’s being hypocritical, telling Masters not to THREATEN… but then concluding this section by threatening THEM - “Don’t forget that YOU’VE got a Master TOO, who you’re gonna have to answer to…”; that’s not ALL he’s saying here in v9, in conclusion. He’s ALSO saying, “Consider what kind of Master YOU have, what kind of LORD Jesus is, to you; if even the Son of God came not to be a RANCHER, but a SHEPHERD, and willingly, lovingly lay down his LIFE for his sheep, how much more ought we do the same,” earthly bosses. We do it ALL because of the GOSPEL. 

  Kids, honor your parents, following CHRIST’S example, who humbled himself and obeyed his Father even unto DEATH on the CROSS for us. 

  Parents, bring your kids up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, just as God HIMSELF brings US up to fear and follow Him. 

  Workers, obey your bosses, as if Christ HIMSELF is your boss, because he IS. 

  And bosses, treat your workers WELL, just as CHRIST, your master, has treated you. SAVING you, serving you. 

  
  Let’s pray.