Building The Body Study 21 - Communication in the Body

Ephesians 6:21-24 NIV 

“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.6.21-24.NIV)

Years ago I had preached in a church in Romania when an older woman came up to me and pressed a small envelope into my hand. ‘That’s to support your mission.’ she told me. 

I tried to protest. I was a well-supported Scottish missionary. I had few money concerns. She was an elderly Romanian woman. Her pension per month was way less than an average Scottish person would spend on a night out. But she insisted. 

I opened the envelope. There was mistake a few thousand old Romanian lei inside, which was really not a lot of money at all. But what that money represented hit me hard.  

She, a woman who had little, had blessed me, a man who had much. 

I was deeply moved by it. And not a little challenged. 

There is often a scenario in Christian ministry where the rich help the poor; where the strong help the weak. And it’s right. Of course it is. 

Sometimes, however, we need to examine our motivation. We should never do something like that to feel good about ourselves, or to assuage guilt about past sins either we or our ancestors have committed. 

And we should never, ever do it so we can feel powerful and in control of those whose destinies we hold in our hand. 

That is always wrong. 

The only correct motivation is love. 

But that day? That anonymous Romanian woman completely flipped the script.  

And that’s what Paul did in these verses. He was the prisoner awaiting the verdict that would cost him his life; they were in freedom. He was in a dark, dingy place; they were in a rich port city. He was penniless; they were in a materially rich situation.

Yet Paul blesses them. 

Let me stay that again: Paul blesses them! 

He flips our script. He shakes our presumptions. He negates our biases. 

He does something we would simply not expect. 

We’re going to explore this blessing under three short and simple headings, the first of which is out first blessing: that of Encouragement. 

Encouragement  

Ephesians 6:21-22 NIV 

“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.6.21-22.NIV)

When I was a missionary, it was so encouraging to receive news from home. Emails, letters and postcards were always well received.  

One of my uncles, though, used to begin his letters with ‘Dear Paul, I hope you are well’, and then would proceed with a match report of a local football game, or would list football league tables. These were things that were important to him, so I appreciated the gesture. 

But I would never have classified them as among my most spiritual correspondence. 

These days it’s so easy for information to cross borders. So easy, in fact, that unless we micromanage the terms and conditions for just about anything we do, we have no idea where our information actually is. We could buy our groceries without realising that the data on the food we bought is sitting on a server farm somewhere in the Arctic. 

And then we come to these verses. We read them so quickly without realising what was actually going on here. Paul was sending Tychicus with the letter (2 Timothy 4:12). He wasn’t exactly popping round the corner to buy a newspaper. The journey from Rome to Ephesus was more than eight hundred miles as the crow flies. By sea it could take anything from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the weather conditions on the Mediterranean. 

And what was the purpose of this long and treacherous journey? 

To bring word of how Paul was to encourage the Ephesians. 

Some commentators have cast doubt on the origin or the recipients of this letter because they day it lacks the warmth and the personal touch of someone who ministered in Ephesus for years. 

Are you kidding? Look what’s happening here! Paul is sending someone eight hundred miles across the sea and land to say, ‘It’s not that bad, chaps. I’m fine.’ 

This shows incredible care and affection for these people. Paul is the one who is clearly disadvantaged. Paul is the one who is clearly suffering. Paul is the one whose life is in danger every day. 

Yet it is Paul who is so focused on care for the Ephesians that he worries about how they would think about his situation, and so he sends Tychicus to straighten out the story and to encourage the Ephesians.  

Remarkable. 

But Paul is not done. Apart from encouragement, he also wished Peace for them. 

Peace 

Ephesians 6:23 NIV 

“Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.6.23.NIV)

One aspect of Romanian Christianity that I absolutely loved was that in church meetings every Christian would wish each other ‘Peace!’ 

Now, I am the first to recognise that it can simply be a formalised greeting. 

 However, I was there at the end of the 1990s. Romania had been in turmoil after the fall of the communist Ceaușescu dictatorship. Their economy at economy felt like it was in free fall. Salaries were not keeping pace with prices. Not even close. 

That very act of wishing each other ‘Peace!’ could easily become a very poignant moment. 

Paul wishing the Ephesians peace was of a similar vein. As a Jew, he would not have had the absence of war in mind, but the presence of well-being. He was wishing them soundness of body and mind, calmness of spirit and soul. 

And he was wishing it to fellow believers who knew what up heaven and persecution felt like. 

I am writing these lines at the end of one of the most dramatic two day I have experience experienced. Yesterday, at time of writing, while alone in my house, I had a Lacunar stroke. I had the presence of mind to call for help from a passing neighbour who sped me to the hospital on time.  

That man saved my life. I am in no doubt about that. 

But while in the hospital, in the midst of deep confusion, partial paralysis and shock at my condition, I experienced peace: peace that I was in the right place at the right time. I knew agitation and distress would not help me. I leaned on verses like these: 

Isaiah 26:3 NIV 

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.26.3.NIV)

John 14:27 NIV 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.14.27.NIV)

Oddly, and perhaps quite incredibly after such a serious, life-threatening event, I also had assurance that I would only be one night in hospital, despite having endured something so scary, and there being a realistic prospect that I would be kept in for another three days. 

But I wasn’t. A scanning slot on an MRI opened up in the early afternoon of my second day in hospital. The results came back quickly. I passed a physiotherapy assessment, got my medication and was discharged. 

No-one is a fan of hospitals. But it really helps to face the fear of your own health and mortality if you have peace that today will not be your day to pass into heaven. 

From the moment I crossed the threshold that hospital, that’s how I felt. 

Right then, right there, I was where I needed to be. 

Paul was praying for that kind of assurance: one that comforts you of God’s hand  and plan in the midst of chaos and turmoil.  

This is a very special wish for anyone. Paul wished it for those Ephesians because they were his brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Apart from encouragement and peace, Paul also wished these dear brothers and sisters Grace. 

Grace 

Ephesians 6:24 NIV

“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.6.24.NIV)

Have you ever received a gift from someone and then realised that you have the exact same one at home? Sometimes it causes us to feel disappointed. But I don’t understand that. The reality is that many of the things we own will break down or wear out. It’s never a bad thing to have two or more of something. Maybe we need to stop measuring gifts by the worth that it is to us and start measuring them by the heart that lies behind them. 

Here we see Paul wishing grace for God’s people. But we already have grace. We are saved by grace.  

Why would he do that? 

Because we can never get enough grace.  

Think about it: can you ever get enough oxygen? Or water? Or food? Can you ever reach the point when you say, ‘Okay, so I’ll never need to eat or drink or breathe again. I have all I’ll ever need.’ 

It’s the same with grace. We need it all the time. We will never stop needing it. 

Maybe it’s to our shame because we need it because we sin. But it’s undeniable. We still need it. 

And in God we have an inexhaustible supply of it: 

John 1:16 NIV 

“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.1.16.NIV)

Romans 5:20-21 NIV 

“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.5.20-21.NIV)

So today, if you have sinned and feel you have gone too far, if you wonder if the grace of God will be enough to cover your sins, don’t be concerned:

God’s grace is enough. It is always enough. 

And there is nothing else like it. Anywhere.  

Wishing it for others should never be taken lightly. 

It is the best there is. 

Conclusion 

Ephesians 6:21-24 NIV 

“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.6.21-24.NIV)

There are certain books and writings that have extra importance not because of how well they are written, because sometimes they may not pass muster critically, but because of who wrote them, and when. 

Books by people like Richard Wurmbrand and Watchman Nee and Joni Earickson Tada have extra gravitas because of who these people are, what they endured, and the sheer credibility of their witness.  

Paul is among these people. He wrote to the Ephesians from a prison cell. There were people out to take his life and, from a human point of view, they had him in checkmate.

There was no way he was getting out of this. His race was run. 

But does Paul seem beaten down to you in this letter? 

Not one bit. 

This is an incredible letter, full of deep theology, astonishing instruction and ending on a brief moment of real affection and love. 

Paul did not just teach about what it means to be the church, he lived it. 

We would all do well to study this letter closely. Here we see what it means to be a Christian and what it means to serve God together. 

And yes, it is challenging. Yes, it is difficult. Yes, there will be some really rough days. 

But for all of them there is encouragement, faith, love and grace – more than to face any challenge. 

So tell me, Christian, will you rise to the challenge with God? 

Prayer  

Lord Jesus, thank You that I am not alone, I am part of the Body of Christ. Help me to play my part in it and to encourage others. Show me what I can do to make it stronger. Amen. 

Questions for Contemplation 

• What traces of real affection for the Ephesians do you see in these verses?  

• How does this strengthen the relationship between Paul and the Ephesians? 

• What can you do to strengthen your relationships with people in your church?