Who is in charge in your home, and why does that question so often poison our relationships? Reflecting on the Letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 5-6), this sermon uncovers the Apostle Paul’s revolutionary principle: ‘submit to one another’, words that sounded like an earthquake in the world of Roman patriarchs. Husband, wife, parents and children are not arranged here into a hierarchy of power but invited to imitate Christ, who washed his disciples’ feet and gave his life for us. Listen and find out why the question of who is boss in the family may simply be the wrong question.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Paul begins with: "Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us" (Ephesians 5:1-2). How does this call shape the way we read his later instructions on marriage and family?
- The oldest manuscripts have no verb in the sentence about wives; it is borrowed from the verse about mutual submission (Ephesians 5:21-22). What does this tell us about how to understand the whole passage on home relationships?
- Why were the words about a husband's self-sacrificing love and fathers not provoking their children so revolutionary for Greeks, Romans and Jews in the first century?
- The speaker argues that the question "who's the boss here?" should not be at the center of our relationships. In what situations at home do you most often catch yourself thinking about who is right or who is in charge?
- Samuel Brengle, facing eighteen pairs of boots, remembered Jesus washing His disciples' feet. What in Christ's example helps you most to humble yourself toward your loved ones when it seems it's not your turn?
- What concrete act of service toward your spouse, parent or child can you do this week so that your family reflects a bit more of Christ's love and self-giving?
