Who Leaves Parting Gifts

The Gracious Gift of Spiritual Maturation

5.12.24 [Ephesians 4:1-16] River of Life (The Festival of Ascension))

Happy Mothers’ Day. For most of us, Mothers’ Day is an easy affair. Get Mom something thoughtful, spend some time with her, and don’t make her cook—unless she insists. Celebrating moms isn’t just easy to do, it comes pretty naturally for most of us. Even if we don’t know what to get her, we know why we want to make her day great.

Our moms have done so much for us. More than we could ever repay or thank them for. More than we know. She put you first. Bringing you into this world. Staying up so many late nights. Changing so many diapers. Feeding you even when you were fussy. Holding you when she could even hold her own eyes open. Comforting you when you were miserable. Your mom gave you so much of her energy, affection, and patience—especially in those early years.

As you grew up what your mom did for you changed. But her love for you didn’t. She was still there for you. Wiping away snot and tears, doubts and fears. Great moms strike a difficult balance. They’re quick to pick you up when you’re down and just as quick to remind you to pick up your room. They’ll correct you when you get out of line and have your back like nobody else. What great moms do for their children is difficult, demanding, but also invaluable.

Moms don’t do this work because someone’s hovering over their shoulders. They want to do these things for their kids. Sort of. They do all these difficult and exhausting things, and even all the not-so-glamorous things because they love their children and want them to grow to become contributing members of society. They not hoping to do all these things for their children forever. The goal is to raise up their kids to be hard workers, good friends, and, God-willing, great parents in their own right.

But it’s not just moms who want their children to become mature and meet the needs of the people around them. Christ does too. That’s one of the points that Ephesians 4 drives home. Christ wants his people to be united & mature. What does that look like? He does not want to see us tossed around like infants by the winds and waves of false teachings or deceitful shortcuts. Christ wants us, his people, to be united & mature. Christ wants us to grow in the knowledge of who he is and what he has done. Christ wants us, his people, to be united & mature. He wants us to be active in service, humbly, gently, and patiently meeting the needs of the people around us. Christ wants us, his people to be united & mature. He wants us to be able to speak the truth in love.

Our Ascended Lord wants us to know and live and speak the truth of his love. That’s why he gave all these gifts to his people.

The first gift laid out for us in this text is the gift of a united foundation. (Eph. 4:4) There is one body and one Spirit. You were called to one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

Our life comes from the same source. God’s love for the world in giving his one and only Son has made us one. Our hope is found in the same God and Savior—our Lord Jesus Christ. God has made us his own in the same way—through the waters of Baptism. In Baptism, God became our Father, Jesus became our Brother, and we were given the Holy Spirit to dwell in us as (Eph. 1:14) a divine guarantee of our eternal inheritance.

In every facet of the faith, God has acted out of pure grace for us. His love for us surpasses even our mothers’ love for us. We have not contributed anything beyond a deep need for redemption. We have not earned or deserved our salvation. (Eph. 4:6) God, who is over all, has done it all for us.

God the Father was gentle and patient with sinners, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance and faith. God’s own Son descended and humbled himself to death so that we might have peace with God. God’s own Spirit has called and enlightened us with his Word so that we might trust in the mercy and grace of God. God did it all.

As good as all that mercy and grace sounds, it’s hard for us to trust and believe. So when someone claims that God is gracious because he saw our potential, that appeals to us. We know people who act that way. When another tells us that God has shown us mercy so now we owe him, that makes some sense. We know people who operate that way. When a new person tells us that God just wants us to be happy, it puts a smile on our faces. We hear people talk like that. We want grace to fit into our world and way of thinking. But God’s mercy and grace wreck our world and remake it.

God’s mercy and grace shut down any sense that any of us are basically good people. No one sees potential in toxic, narcissistic people. Sinners are worse than that! Sinners are radioactive to righteousness. Abominable to a holy God. But God is good. So God loves selflessly and sacrificially. God patiently bears with people who have wronged him. God is good.

But God is not good to us so that we owe him. That farce breaks down quite quickly. What do we have that God wants? Needs? What can we do that God can not easily do for himself? And he would do it better.

And while God intends to bring us everlasting joy, that does not mean that our temporal happiness sets his agenda or binds his will. This, too, is a deceitful scheme that comes from Satan. Remember the price that God paid for our sins. Why would he want to see any of his beloved children return to the vomit of sin and wickedness? Why would God approve of any of that? The Author of Life cannot be in favor of any kind of sin because every kind of sin ultimately only leads to (Js. 1:15) death.

God does not want us to be tossed back and forth by every wind of teaching. Many claim to speak in God’s name but directly and habitually contradict what God has clearly said in his Word. Many claim to speak for Jesus but utter what itching ears want to hear instead of speaking the truth in love. Christ wants us, his people, to be united & mature. So he has given us his gifts. He has apportioned grace to each one of us.

One of the gifts that he has given us is the gift of godly leaders. Your mother, in an effort to grow and mature you, put you in the hands of capable people. Teachers. Coaches. They could not love you like your mother did, but she brought them into your life so that you could grow and mature. Christ has done that through his leaders. Apostles, those who witnessed his death & resurrection firsthand. Prophets, those who speak for God to his people. Evangelists, those who speak of God to those who are not yet his people. Pastor-teachers, those who shepherd, mentor, rebuke, correct, and train God’s children in righteousness. Not one of us would know Jesus as our Lord and Savior without these gifts. Each of us has come to know God’s will for our lives through these leaders. We know the hope that we have through these gifts of Christ.

But Christ did not give these gifts so that we could just possess an intellectual understanding of sin and grace. Christ did not send these leaders just for our learning. Christ wants us to be equipped for works of service. Active. Christ wants us to become mature.

So Christ gave us Apostles like Paul who implore us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received. He reminds us that Christ was the humble servant of sinners and enables us to do the same. He points out Jesus’ patience in bearing with his delusional and doubt-riddled disciples. He highlights how Jesus spoke the truth in love to all sorts of different folks. Yet, no matter who they were or what other people thought of them, two things never changed. Jesus never changed the truth or his love.

He was clear about sin, whether he was talking to a serially divorced Samaritan woman or a rich young Jewish ruler. He didn’t appease crowds or placate individuals. The truth is the truth is the truth.

Yet, he always spoke the truth in love. He loved crowds who followed him even when he was trying to get away for a moment. He loved people who came to him looking to pick a fight or paint him into a corner. He loved his brothers and his enemies. He loved his disciples, those who crucified him, those who mocked him, and the rebels who were being crucified alongside him.

He didn’t love them differently—some more than others. How he demonstrated love to them wasn’t exactly the same, but he loved them all the same. He loved them to the end. He loved them enough to suffer for their sins. And not only theirs, but ours, as well.

This is how Christ our Head has set the pace. Christ loves you and has apportioned his divine power and love to you to serve in this world. To grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. To build up the body of believers. To speak the truth in love in all circumstances. To humbly, gently, and patiently bear with one another in love. This is what maturing Christians do. This is what a life worthy of the name Christian looks like. This is the direction we, the body, have been given from Christ our Head. This is how we are built up in love.

So what does this look like? The maturing body of believers will always be studying the Scriptures. Catechism class wasn’t your graduation. If you remember your Sunday School stories, great! Teach them to others who do not yet know. If the memory is fuzzy, read them again so that you can learn them anew.

The maturing child of God is constantly applying the living Word to how they live in this world. How does God’s Word expose the sin in my heart that isn’t seen in my actions? How does a clearer understanding of my need for a Savior increase my gratefulness? How can I live like Christ more and more? How can I exercise greater self-control? How is God calling me to be generous or gentle, patient or perseverant? How can I lighten the load of those the Lord has led near me? How can I let my light shine in this world so that people will praise my Father in heaven? How can I speak the truth in love to someone whom I don’t want to risk making mad? How can I speak the truth in love to someone who is hard to love?

How can any of us do any of these things? Because of Christ. He has joined us together. He holds us together. He grows us through his Word and strengthens us for these tasks. He has apportioned grace to each of us for this work. And he makes us worthy of this calling. Just as he did for his disciples. Remember how many times these men let him down and didn’t understand God’s plan or will? Yet, on Ascension Day, they praised God and returned to Jerusalem with joy. How did they do this? Because of Christ’s gifts of grace, the same kind of grace he has apportioned to each of his people.