Ephesians Chapter 4 – Intro Video
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Hi, I’m Cody Sandahl.
I am not ashamed to admit that I am a certified – and certifiable – geek. When I was in college I was playing around with some early text-to-speech programs from Microsoft. And it had these little characters – I still remember using Merlin the Magician – and you could type in phrases and listen to the computer turn your text into speech. Keep in mind this was a long time ago, so instead of sounding like Siri or Google Now, it was a little more like “Danger Will Robinson, Danger!”
Even if you just mashed on the keyboard randomly, it would attempt to say it. This sounds silly, but it actually became a big hit. Even my non-techie friends loved to type things in for Merlin to say. But, you know, hearing Merlin say “I love you” wasn’t quite the same as a girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse saying that. Typing in the exact words my brother used to tell a joke – well, let’s just say Merlin doesn’t have a good sense of comedic timing. This little virtual robot would spout off anything you told it to say, and it was amusing, but it wasn’t meaningful.
As I read Ephesians chapter four I am reminded of Merlin. Because Paul writes over and over again how we are one – one Body, on Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. BUT in v7 he reminds us that we aren’t the same – “grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” God didn’t make us to be a bunch of Merlins spouting off the answers he typed in himself. He made us uniquely.
Our unity isn’t found in being identical – it’s found in our one God and father of all. We’re in God’s family, together. But just as I am different than my brother or my parents, we who are in God’s family are different, too. That’s not a bad thing, it’s by design.
As you read chapter 4, try to think about this from two different angles – is there anyone with whom you really don’t want to be “one?” And on the positive side, how has God uniquely made you? What makes you “you” and not just a virtual Merlin? Enjoy chapter 4.