Sermon Tone Analysis

Ephesians 4:3-6

 

! Introduction

            For the past two or three years I have been involved with a group of leaders from the EMC who were trying to help bring peace because of some of the differences in belief in that conference.

We were aware that there was some diversity in views on the peace position, acceptance into membership of people who had been baptized as infants and the issue of women in leadership.

Our assignment was to put together a document which would help us maintain unity in the midst of diverse views on these and other issues.

Our group was called the Harmony Project and in December of last year the document we produced was accepted as conference policy.

It took a little longer to get agreement on that document on unity than we expected, which seems funny.

The difficulty was in trying to be clear that unity is God's will for His people and that in seeking unity, we must nevertheless not compromise God's truth.

In every church in which I have been pastor, I have had to deal with differences of opinion.

In some cases things went fairly well.

People disagreed on some significant issues, but were able to continue to work well together.

In some cases, people became so upset that they left the church.

I have also struggled with the question of unity at the level of my involvement with ministerial groups with other denominations.

In those settings, I have heard some pretty intense debate and have also seen people quit attending because of disagreement.

In those settings, I have learned to continue in relationship with people I did not necessarily agree with.

I have even organized worship services together with Anglican, Catholic, United Church and other denominations.

The question is, how far can such co-operation and striving for unity go?

In May 2007 MCC and Conrad Grebel University College hosted an academic dialogue with religious scholars from Iran and Mennonite scholars from North America.

Was this event faithful to what it means to be God's people?

The Washington Post reported that Rick Warren has participated in dialogue with the Islamic Society of North America.

Not everyone has looked favorably on his participation.

Last week we looked at Ephesians 4:1- 2 where we were told that we need to live a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called.

At that time we learned that humility, gentleness, patience and bearing with one another in love are all part of what it means to live worthy of our call.

In Ephesians 4:3, a fifth item is added to this list and that is to "maintain unity."

Since we noted last week that living worthy of our calling is pretty important, it is also important for us to understand what it means to maintain unity.

Difference will surely exist.

How do we walk in a way that is worthy of all that God has called us to in Christ when we recognize that there is difference?

!

I.       The Foundation of Unity

            One of the things we notice in this text is that we are not called to create unity, but to maintain unity.

There is a difference between maintaining something and creating it.

You cannot maintain what does not exist.

So the implication of the call to unity is that it already exists.

In Ephesians 4:3-6 we have a description of the unity that already exists.

!! A.   The Unity of the Spirit

            The unity that already exists, we are told in verse 3, is "the unity of the Spirit."

The weekend after Labor Day there is a unity among most Manitobans that is directed against the Saskatchewan Rough Riders.

The spirit of animosity towards anything green unites us.

We have one heart about that issue.

As Christians, it is not a common feeling or one heart about an issue that unites us.

It is, rather, the living Spirit of God who is present with every believer.

We are united not by adherence to a creed, or agreement about truths or even warm feelings expressed in the same direction.

We are united by all having the same person living within us.

Wood points out, “'One Spirit' indwells the body of Christ.

By him the body lives and moves (1 Cor 12:13).

The Spirit is its soul; apart from him it cannot exist.

The same Spirit fell on the Jews at Pentecost and on the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius."

One of the great challenges of large corporations is to instill in all employees a loyalty to the corporation and a heart that is dedicated to the work of the corporation.

If the heart of the president could be put into every manager and employee that corporation could accomplish great things.

As Christians, that is exactly what we have.

The Spirit of our master does live in every heart and that gives us a very powerful foundation for unity.

We do not need to create that unity, but we do need to maintain it.

!! B.   The Unity of Our Faith

!!! 1.     One

            Verses 4-6 contain what some have called a creed.

It is centered around the word "one" which is repeated seven times in these verses.

The idea of "one" is that it cannot be meaningfully divided.

When "one" is divided, it is no longer whole.

"One" is the idea of being whole and complete which means that the words associated with "one" in these verses speak to the foundation of unity which is ours.

Although it appears that the unity described here is confessional, it is not the confession of a creed, but the confession of a relationship which is described here.

The relationship described here centers around the Trinity.

Verse 4 mentions the Spirit, verse 5 the Son and verse 6 the Father.

It is in an appropriate relationship with Father, Son and Spirit that we have the foundation for our unity.

Wood puts it this way, "Paul’s thought ascends from the realization of unity in the Spirit to the focus of unity in the Son and thence to the source of unity in the Father."

In fact, we could say that it is the example of the Father, Son and Spirit who are three persons, yet one, which gives us our model for unity.

!!! 2.     Spirit

            We have a foundation for unity because the one Spirit of God has placed us all into one body, which is the church.

The use of the word body instead of church reminds us of that unity.

Churches can have various locations, and meet in different groups, but a body, by its very nature is one.

When we recognize that we are brought together into one body by the same Spirit, we recognize that we have a foundation for unity.

That same Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance, as we learned in Ephesians 1:14.

He is the one who assures us that we are all headed to the same place.

We have one hope that keeps all of us focused and becomes a powerful motivation for maintaining unity.

I have often thought that since we are all going to meet in heaven we must get along now.

In heaven there won't be a room for Mennonites and another for Baptists.

There won't be a room so just our friends can have fun together.

There won't be a room for each group of people who have the same theology.

We will all be in the same place and since that is where we are headed, we must live in unity now.

!!! 3.     Lord

            Our unity also is grounded in the one Lord Jesus Christ.

The text says we have "one Lord, one faith, one baptism."

Wood suggests, "The three expressions may well be intended to convey a single idea, as Scott has surmised, i.e., “one Lord in whom we all believe and in whose name we are baptized.”

In other words, it is faith in Jesus Christ alone marked by identification with Christ through baptism that puts us into relationship with the one in whom alone we have been set free from sin and been given eternal life.

In my relationship with other Christian denominations, this has become for me the foundation on which I am able to relate, participate and worship with people from many denominations.

I have often wrestled with this but have concluded that although I may disagree with many theological and practical matters of what it means to be Christian, at the center is one common person, Jesus Christ, whom we all worship and serve.

On that foundation, I have decided, I will continue to maintain unity.

!!! 4.     God

            God also is one and is the Father who is over all and through all and in all.

God being one was an important part of the confession of faith of the people of God in the Old Testament whose key verse was Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one."

The statement that there is one Father over all is not a declaration of universalism.

Rather it is an expression that it is the desire of God who is faithful to Himself that everyone come to know Him and follow Him.

Barth says, "Because God is one, his people are one and are to live on the basis and in the recognition of unity."

!

II.

Making Every Effort In the Bond of Peace

            So the basis of unity which we have is a unity found in relationship to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Unity is an expression of the desire of God and has been brought to us through Jesus Christ and is a reality to us in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

These verses declare unequivocally that we have unity.

As we have seen the foundation of our unity is found in relationship to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In the same way, keeping unity must be in relationship with one another.

That isn't an easy thing because we know that there are many things which can disturb that unity.

!! A.   Make Every Effort