Today, we wrap up the part of Ephesians that's often called the "household code." We tend to think of the family as being one or two parents, some kids, and a dog. But in first century Rome, the household often included slaves. Many people had at least one or two. Some Roman citizens with large estates would've had far more.
So we find ourselves this morning talking about slavery, and any talk about slavery gets complicated really fast.
When we hear the word "slavery," we tend to think about how a couple hundred years ago in Africa, black tribes used to go raiding against other black tribes, and they would capture black human beings, and sell those black human beings to white European slave traders. Those slave traders would ship them across the Atlantic in horrific conditions, and the black people who survived that journey would be resold to white settlers of this new land called America. Those who were sold, were slaves for life. Their children became slaves, and their children's children.
Or, alternatively, when we hear the word "slavery," we think about modern sex trafficking in Asia, in particular. Young women are lured into become forced sex slaves through false promises of freedom, or false promises of a good job waiting for them, and then it turns into something dark and oppressive and horrible.
When we hear the word slavery, that's what we to bring to the text. Right? But we should be aware that what we bring to the text, is not how slavery worked, either in ancient Israel, or in first century Rome.
Since we're in the NT, I'm not going to talk about slavery in ancient Israel. I'm pretty sure I've written something on that topic, if I can dig it up, if you're interested later. But what matters here, today, is how slavery worked in the first century Roman empire. And before I say anything, I should add, the way that slavery worked in Rome is not how God designed creation to work. God didn't set this up. The Roman empire did. And Paul's working as one tiny, insignificant person inside this vast Roman empire. It's good to keep that perspective, also.
So, the quick summary of Roman slavery is something like this (and I'm mostly following S. Scott Bartchy, "Slavery, NT" in Anchor Bible Dictionary, here, with a little bit of Clinton Arnold, Ephesians. None of this is new, or original, or independently researched):
(1) Maybe 35% of people living in the Roman empire were slaves.
(2) There were two main sources for slaves in the first century. The first, is that babies who were born of enslaved women, were themselves slaves. The second, and maybe (?) more common (that's the kind of detail that's perhaps impossible to find), was people voluntarily choosing to become slaves. You'd sell yourself as a slave for several reasons-- to pay off debts, to climb the social ladder, to get special jobs, or to enter into a life that was more secure, and less difficult, than life as a free person (*closely paraphrasing/quoting S. Scott Bartchy here).
(3) Connected to that, and important, is that slavery was viewed as a way to improve your lot and status in life. Slaves were sometimes given positions of high responsibility and honor-- they were teachers, and doctors, and musicians. Slaves could own property. Slaves were paid. In some ways, it was preferable to be a slave than to be a day laborer. Would you rather be a musician, or out picking figs and grapes? Would you rather be a doctor, or muck out horse stalls? Would you rather take the risk that there might not be work for you on a particular day, and you and your family might not eat, or would you rather have the guaranteed food on the table, and a roof over your head?
(4) If you became a slave, that status was not permanent. On a fairly regular basis, masters would pay their slaves money for their service, and slaves would save that money up, and use it to buy their freedom. Most slaves, apparently, were freed when they reached the age of 30 (*Bartchy). When they were freed, the relationship often continued. The slave, became something like an employee to their boss. The job didn't change, and the way they were treated maybe didn't even really change, but their status changed. As an added bonus, when you were freed as a slave, you'd be given citizenship in the Roman empire. So slavery was a path to a higher status in that way, as well.
(5) Slavery in the first century had nothing to do with race, or skin color.
When we put all that together, we can hear that first century Roman slavery worked differently than we tend to think, right? Hearing that takes some of the heat and anger off any discussion of slavery. It also softens some of the criticism that's often leveled at Paul. Some people give Paul a hard time of it, because what they want Paul to say, is that slavery is a terrible evil, that shouldn't ever happen. And I think that's unfair for a few reasons:
(1) Paul is speaking as one person, who is part of this little fringe religious group. He has no power to make changes. He's not like a Billy Graham who has the ear of presidents. And he doesn't have a large following on Twitter, where he can shape public opinion. He's not part of the "Moral Majority," who can pressure the Roman Senate to drop slavery.
(2) Paul's focus is on sharing the gospel, and not on prophetically calling the Roman empire to do better. The job Jesus gave Paul to do, is to share the gospel. And Paul, as Jesus' slave, does what Jesus wants.
(3) Some slaves were no doubt abused and mistreated. But in a world without food stamps and rental assistance, slavery wasn't necessarily a terrible evil in first century Rome.
(4) Slavery was often something people voluntarily entered into.
That's all I want to say about first century Roman slavery. That's about all I know, actually, so it's easy to wrap that part up. This brings us to a second question. If Paul is addressing masters and slaves, do these verses have anything to do with us?
And the church has always said "yes" to that question. Those of us who are employees, or bosses, know that there are still power structures and hierarchies built in to work. I'm not technically a slave, but my boss tells me what to wear, and how long my hair and beard can be. She tells me when to go to work. She gives me work, and tells me I have to work until my job is done, or until I've worked 13 hours. I have to take one 20 minute break, to be taken between the fourth and sixth hour of work, and I have another 10 minute break I can take whenever. I might get done at 7. I might get done at 9. If I do a few bad things at work, I will be disciplined, or even fired. In all of this, am I a slave? No. But the line between first century slavery in the Roman empire, and employment in the United States today, is actually a bit blurry. And regardless of who is up front teaching you, in the end, when Paul talks about masters and slaves, every teacher will at some point talk about bosses and employees, and I think this is absolutely the right approach (hermeneutically).
So picture Paul traveling as a missionary to Ephesus, and he shares the good news about Jesus, and God's kingdom, with a bunch of idol-worshipping Gentiles. When people hear the good news as good news, they tend to do so in family units (at least, this was the first century norm, that we should go back to. The good news should be presented to families, and families as a whole tend to make that decision-- not always, but often). More often than not, you come to Jesus as a family. And what that means, is that a full Roman household would become part of the Ephesian church. You're gathered together on a Sunday, and it's the husband and wife, the kids, and the slaves. You have masters, and slaves, together, as being part of one body in Christ, as one church.
And Paul now turns from addressing husbands and wives, and children and parents, to addressing slaves and masters. If you're a slave, your boss is in the room. If you're a master, your slave is in the room. Is that awkward?
Christians find it easier sometimes to go to a different church than their boss. It creates awkward dynamics, when your boss worships God shoulder to shoulder with you, and prays with you, and serves Jesus with you. But Paul assumes that there's some way to make this work.
So Paul begins, in verse 5, by addressing the group who would be considered weaker, and less important. He starts with the slaves. And doing this gives slaves honor, actually. Slaves have free will, and intelligence. They can choose how they will live, and treat their master. And slaves matter to God. God cares about slaves, and about how they live as slaves. So there's no divide here between spiritual service, and earthly service. How you work as a slave, is a spiritual matter.
Let's read everything Paul has to say to slaves, and then I'll back up and go through it line by line. Ephesians 6:5-8:
(5) Slaves, obey your human lords/masters (??´???? ),
with fear and trembling,
with the sincerity of your heart,
as to Christ,
(6) not with eye service
as people-pleasers
but as slaves of Christ,
doing the will of God, from the heart/soul,
(7) with goodwill serving,
as to the Lord/Master (??´???? ),
and not to people,
(8) knowing that each of you, whatever good he may do, this he will receive/get back from the Lord/Master (??´???? ),
whether slave
or free,
Do you see, at the bottom of verse 8, how Paul talks about the Lord repaying people for whatever good they do, whether slave or free?
When we read these words, Paul encourages us to view them as relevant and practical, regardless of whether we are slaves or free. Every relationship you're in, where there are clear power structures and you're not the one on top, you can apply these verses (and so here is the clue that the church has tended to apply these verses the right way). So if you're a student in school, these verses describe how you act toward your teacher. If you're an employee, this is how you treat your boss. If you live in the U.S., this is how you act toward politicians and police. If you're in jail, this is how you treat your jailers.
The other thing I want to point out, before going through line by line, is how specific and detailed Paul is, in describing what God wants from you in these type of relationships, whether you're slave or free. Maybe this is because it's easy to slip into bad attitudes, and bad approaches to work. There's a lot of ways to get being an employee wrong, and there's a lot of things you have to do right, to work the way that God wants.
Verse 5, first line:
(5) Slaves, obey your human lords/masters (??´???? ),
The one command you need to hear, up front, is to obey. Just because Jesus is your Lord-- and it's the same Greek word-- doesn't mean that you don't have to obey you human lord. In North Dakota, there are extreme libertarians who argue that because we are citizens in God's kingdom, that the United States has no legal rights over us, and we don't have to submit. They say that Christians basically have the same status and rights as foreign ambassadors, because we are ambassadors of Christ.
That's not how God's kingdom works. When you choose to follow Jesus and become his disciples, you submit to Jesus. You choose to become his slave. You choose to make him your Master. But that doesn't mean that your human boss is somehow removed from the equation. God says, "obey." At my place of employment, this is phrased a little differently, but the meaning is the same: "Work as directed." Do what your boss, your teachers, tell you to do.
So that's the one key verb. Obey. At this point, Paul basically starts hugely expanding on how God wants you to obey.
(5) Slaves, obey your human lords/masters (??´???? ),
with respect (same word stem as Ephesians 5:33) and trembling,
You obey, with respect. It's the same word Paul uses, to describe how wives should treat their husbands. You treat them with respect. And treating your boss or teacher with respect really isn't that complicated, most of the time.
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The word here is often translated as "fear," but this jumps the gun a little bit. Paul just used the same word to mean "treat with respect." Wives don't fear their husbands, they respect them. When Paul adds "with trembling," that brings out the "fear" aspect, but we hear that second, and it adds something new to what Paul is saying. "With respect and trembling" is really two distinct, but related things, and not one big thing.
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When your boss or teacher is speaking, you don't talk. You listen. When your teacher is giving instructions, you sit there quietly. You're not disruptive. You're not trying to be funny. You're not ignoring your teacher and talking to your friends. If you finish your work, and your teacher lets you quietly do something else, that's fine. Quietly do that other thing. But you treat them with respect. Half the reason the public school system is falling apart is because students no longer treat their teachers with respect. Christian students should not be the problem.
And that all applies to those of us with bosses as well. When your boss talks, you listen. You let them finish, and then you talk. And when you talk, if they interrupt, you stop talking. Treat them with respect, as the one who is in charge. Treat them with respect, regardless of whether you think they are qualified, or competent, or fair, or reasonable. Obey with respect.
Paul then adds a second adverb to this command to obey. Obey with trembling.
Your boss has power and authority over you, and they are able to use that authority to punish and discipline you. I know a guy who was complaining to his boss about how the company was going, and the boss at a certain point just said, "It sounds like this isn't working out for you. You're fired."
If you're a student, your teacher can't rap your knuckles anymore, but they can give detention, or suspend you, or expel from the school. You can be stripped of extracurricular activities. They can go around you, and talk to your parents, and then you're really in trouble. Obey with trembling.
You want to be the kind of students, the kind of employees, who your boss appreciates, and likes having around. You don't want to be the kind of person who your boss is looking for a reason-- any excuse really-- to get rid of. When you mess up and do something stupid, you want your boss to be upset, but not thinking about firing you. Your job is the most important investment that you have (I got that from Money Rules: The Simple Path to Lifelong Security by Jean Chatzky, a book I'm going to have my kids read), and you protect that investment by obeying with respect and trembling.
Paul continues, adding on more. Obey your master "with the sincerity of your heart."
I think the idea with this addition, is that when you obey, you obey straightforwardly. There's no hidden motivations, or secretly wanting your boss to fail, or secretly despising or hating your boss. There's no half-obeying, or deliberately doing a bad job. Your boss or teacher tells you to do something, you just do it.
Paul then adds on to that, still verse 5: "Obey your master with the sincerity of heart, as to Christ."
Some of us have had multiple jobs at the same time, at some point in our lives. And it becomes difficult and awkward in that situation sometimes, because it's very hard to serve two masters. One master doesn't necessarily care about your other master, and trying to keep the other one happy. But when your two masters are your human boss, and Jesus, it's very straightforward. You obey your master, as if (*Klyne Snodgrass) your master was Jesus.
Verse 6:
(6) not with eye service
as people-pleasers
but as slaves of Christ,
doing the will of God, from the heart/soul,
When you're at work, who are you focused on, and trying to please? Your human boss? Trying to catch your boss's eye, and show that you're a valuable employee, who deserves more money and a promotion?
At every moment, the master you should really be thinking about, and focused on, is Jesus, and God the Father. When you obey your human lord, you're doing what your Lord Jesus wants, and you're doing what God wants. And all of this comes from a place deep inside of you. What God wants isn't superficial or shallow obedience. Who you are, at the deepest core of your being, is someone who obeys God, by obeying your human master. This was new to me. Is it new to you? At every point, you stay focused on Jesus.
Do we do that?
Whatever job we do, however glamorous or unglamorous, matters to God. If you're scrubbing toilets, or sweeping floors, or harvesting, or whatever-- everything you do, you do for your Lord Jesus. Ultimately, you're working for him. Your boss, ultimately, doesn't matter at all. You don't obey to please them. The end result might be that you stand out, and that you please them, but that's not why you obey. That's not your motivation. You obey to please Jesus.
Verse 7:
(7) with goodwill serving,
as to the Lord/Master (??´???? ),
and not to people,
Many people feel stuck in life, doing a job they don't want to do. Or, students, you feel stuck, because the last place you want to be is back in school. Or, you can think about the slaves Paul is addressing. Some of them would've voluntarily entered into slavery. Others felt forced because of debt, or a lack of a better option. It's easy to have a bad attitude at work, or at school, right? To those people, and to us, God says, "serve with goodwill."
Want what's best for your boss. Want them to do well, and succeed. And Paul then says, for a second time, serve as to the Lord and not to people. Your focus is on Jesus, at a very practical level.
It's at this point, that God gives a promise. Obey your human master in all of these ways, focused on serving your master, Jesus Christ, verse 8:
(8) knowing that each of you, whatever good he may do, this he will receive/get back from the Lord/Master (??´???? ),
whether slave
or free,
When you focus on Jesus, and pleasing Jesus, and doing good, the end result is that you get a second paycheck from Jesus. Do good, and Jesus repays that good, by doing some type of good for you. Paul doesn't unpack what that looks like. Does Jesus give you a heavenly paycheck of one sort or another-- some type of eternal reward? Does Jesus find some way to reward you on earth? Maybe he gives you extra strength or endurance. Maybe he heals your aching back. I don' t know. Paul doesn't say. But I trust Jesus enough in this, to not be too concerned. If Jesus does extra good for me, I will be better off one way or another, than I otherwise would.
So at any given moment at work, or at school, we all have the choice about what type of students or employees we will be. We have a choice about whether we will focus on Jesus. We have a choice about the depth of our commitment. Jesus wants us to be all-in, focused on him, serving him, committed to him. And Jesus will make sure that serving him will be worth our time.
It's at this point, that Paul switches from addressing slaves, to addressing masters. There's a lot of debate about verse 8 and verse 9 are related to each other. Let's start at verse 8, and then push forward:
(8) knowing that each of you, whatever good he may do, this he will receive/get back from the Lord,
whether slave
or free,
(9) and the lords/masters, the same things do for them,
giving up the threat,
knowing that the Lord/Master of both them and you is in the heavens,
and partiality, there isn't with him.
The debate comes down to how we understand the phrase that focused in verse 9. "The same things do for them."
What does that mean? For this phrase, I think I read all nine commentaries I own on Ephesians, and I think I saw seven different explanations. Amusingly, I'm going to give you an eighth (and this is perhaps a tiny little original contribution to Ephesians study).
In verse 8, do you see Paul says, "whatever good he may DO"? You see that verb, "do"? It's the same verb as in verse 9: "the same things DO for them."
Doing the same things is about doing good. So Paul, addressing those of you who are masters and bosses, tells you this: When you do good to the people under you, Jesus will repay you with good as well.
Bosses know that there are always lots of things that need to get done. It's their job, to get those things done. The success of the business depends on that.
At the same time, there's still room to do good to your employees. You can care about them. You can let them know they're valued and appreciated. You can show them kindness and grace, and let them take time off when a furnace goes out, or the basement floods, or a loved one is dying. Doing good to your employees comes at a cost to you. Give an employee time off, and you'll almost certainly have to work harder, or longer, yourself. Doing good to them sometimes means you can't squeeze quite as much production out of them. God understands this is a balancing act. But keep in mind, that whatever good you do for your employees, Jesus will make it up to you.
Paul then continues, by adding a second line. "Giving up the threat."
Some of us have worked places with an old school boss, who thought the secret sauce to being an effective supervisor was constant intimidation. Constantly threatening discipline. In that job environment, you go to work understanding every day, your job is at risk. You're picked apart. You understand that your boss is looking for reasons to get rid of you, always. And at some jobs, you feel that even if you're a great employee.
Bosses, you probably know that threatening and intimidating employees is the most efficient, easiest way to manage your company. All day long at work, you find yourself singing that Beyonce song: "I can have another you in a minute, and in fact he'll be here in a minute." You know that when you threaten, it gets results. But Jesus doesn't like that approach. He wants you to take the harder approach, which is the gentler approach. Find a different way to motivate your employees. I've had bosses who I would run through walls for, because they treat with respect, and appreciate me, and when I mess up, they showed me grace. When you're that kind of supervisor, your employees won't have to work quite so hard, to serve you wholeheartedly, as though you're Jesus.
Now, I think I should say one other thing. Some people (=scholars) think that if bosses aren't supposed to threaten, that they can't discipline. And I don't think that's the case, at all. If employees mess up badly, or are constantly late, or constantly call in sick, or have a bad attitude, you can absolutely discipline them. You can give them verbal or written warnings. You can suspend them without pay. You can demote them. You can fire them. What God doesn't want to see, is intimidation and threats without cause, before your employees do something wrong.
At this point, let's read all of verse 9:
(9) and the lords/masters, the same things do for them,
giving up the threat,
knowing that the Lord/Master of both them and you is in the heavens,
and partiality, there isn't with him.
Masters, you're hot stuff on earth. You're more important. But you and your employees both have a master in the heavens, and Jesus doesn't view people with the same partiality that we do. From heaven, it looks like a level playing field.
So Paul doesn't quite put a threat in here, which is interesting. But if you're tempted to be the kind of boss who doesn't do good for your employees, and who threatens, remember that you too have a Master in heaven, and that Master repays people according to how they live. Even if you're the top dog at your company-- even if you're the owner-- you have your own boss, and you too need to stay focused on Jesus. Don't lose sight of Jesus, when you're managing your company.
I want to close this morning by talking about the thing that new to me, and maybe life-changing. There's an old song, "Turn to eyes to Jesus, look full on his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."
We talk a lot about all of this. Focus on Jesus. Seek God's face. Seek God's presence, as you go life. Seek first God's kingdom. But I'd never really thought before about how that all applies to work. When you're at work, there's a sense in which you're not even really looking at your boss, or your employees. You're looking at Jesus constantly. You're thinking about your Master, Jesus, all the time. Focused on Jesus. Focused on making him happy, on doing what God wants. Focused on that paycheck from Jesus, and not the one that hits your account on Friday.
God has strong thoughts and expectations for how you live at work. It matters to him, regardless of how menial and low the work might seem to other people. Serve Jesus with goodwill, from the very heart of who you are, by serving your human masters well. Let's be models of what it looks like, to be respectful, hard-working students and employees. And those of you are bosses-- be the type of boss who employees will find it easy to serve with good will, and who will run through walls for you.
Translation:
(5) Slaves, obey the according-to-the-flesh lords,
with fear/respect and trembling,
with the sincerity of your heart,
as to Christ,
(6) not with eye service
as people-pleasers
but as slaves of Christ,
doing the will of God, from the heart/soul,
(7) with goodwill serving,
as to the Lord,
and not to people,
(8) knowing that each of you, whatever good he may do, this he will receive/get back from the Lord,
whether slave
or free,
(9) And the lords/masters, the same things do for them,
giving up the threat,
knowing that the Lord/Master of both them and you is in the heavens,
and partiality, there isn't with him.
