Building up the body

Sermon:

Dear God,

We thank you for this day,

May your Spirit be at work in our hearts as we unpack this beautiful passage today. Fill us with understanding and love,

We pray in Jesus name,

Amen

Have you been called by God?

Back in the 90’s every household had one single telephone, and I guarantee it looked something like this (Slide). Each day the phone would ring and you’d have no idea who was calling, you just ran to the phone and picked it up saying, Hello, Joe speaking, I would say it in a way that expressed my hopeful heart that the person calling wanted to talk to me.... Alas, Muuuum, the phones for you....

So during this time when I was being taught about God’s call and reading these passages all those years ago, I got in my head that the next phone call was going to be God. I was sure of it… When that phone rang, I would charge at it to beat my siblings to it, so that they wouldn’t take God’s call away from me. Sadly again and again… Muuummm it’s for you...

Needless to say the enthusiasm wore off and I gave up on waiting for Gods call.... As a nine year old I thought, well God if you don’t want to call me, then fine I wont talk to you.

Oh the mind of a child!

Well thankfully today, we are blessed by this passage in the book of Ephesians (Slide) as Paul, the author focuses now on the details of God’s call to us. So take comfort, you can turn your phone off, God is not going to ring it. Because Paul is showing us that God has already called us, and that we have an obligation to respond to it.

This morning we reach the 4th chapter in the letter to the Ephesians and here it takes a turn in it’s focus. Paul moves on from teaching about what God has done for us in Christ, as he now exhorts us on how we are to respond to this grace of God. From this point on, the letter becomes highly practical in its application.

And today, we will see in the first half of chapter 4, that God’s call to us, can be summarized in these three points.

We are:

Called to maintain unity (Slide)

Called to be ministers (Slide)

Called to maturity (Slide)

Called to maintain unity (1-6) (Slide)

Now you might be thinking, have I been called? When did that happen, because I don’t remember talking to God on the phone?

Now the answer to the question of when did God call me, depends on what theological point you want to make…

See Paul has taught us so far that

he chose us in him before the creation of the world (1:4) (Slide)

he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ (1:5) (Slide)

you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth (1:13) (Slide)

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, (1:13) (Slide)

And so anyone of those moments is a true account of when God called you.

And in his first three Chapters to the Ephesians Paul goes to lengths to qualify all of those points as he teaches the church about what God has done for us in Christ. We’ve heard this preached over the last few weeks.

So our first step for getting into today’s message is to understand Slide) that you have been called by God.

Which should make us all stop and think, well if I’m called by God, then what am I doing about it? Has my life changed as a result of God’s call?

Well to answer those thoughts, Paul instructs us in this passage on what we are to do as a result of God’s call...

Paul says,(Slide) live a life worthy of the calling you have received. And That is basically it, nice and clear, live in such a way that is worthy of all that God has done for you.

Now, Paul is pivoting the focus of the letter here. This is the cross over section where Paul has taught us about God’s work and what he’s done for us, to now how our living must change as a result of God’s work. From this point of the letter on-wards Paul will go on to teach us what worthy living will look like.

However, Paul doesn’t just move onto do this and that, rather he puts our efforts to live worthy lives in its context, which is that we are first called. For we must never forget that our worthy living derives from God’s call because (Slide)our worthy living does not determine our calling.

Know this, You are not called because of your worthy life, you are called because God chose you. It’s not based on what you’ve done but only based on what God has done. And so, Paul says live a life worthy of your call.

But what does a worthy life look like?

Paul says (Slide)Be completely humble, and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.

And it’s not just that he said we are to be humble and gentle, he also models it. For Paul started this section in a different way to how he started the letter. Paul doesn’t appeal to his identity as an Apostle like in chapter 1, rather he appeals to his identity as a prisoner (Slide). Which is a very lowly position, especially when he’s reached the point of his letter that he now wishes to exhort people in how they are to live. Because Paul, like Jesus does not tell us how to behave through authority, rather both do so through humility.

See many of us in this church have at sometime or another had people who work for us in some way or form. I once taught in a primary school and had 30 little humans to command each day. Others of you may be CEO’s, managers, or coaches, or a mum or dad, or even a team captain. We’ve all no doubt felt the effect of someone using their high ranking position as a means to get things done, I know I have, Son - pack up your toys - I am your father. Jimmy sit still on the mat - I am your teacher. Generally playing the authority card works the first time, but it becomes weary soon after that.

Therefore, Paul here knows that the proper way to build up the church is through humility, gentleness and patience. (Slide)

See these three virtues, humility, gentleness and patience are not only intertwined with one another but they are foundational for how we should behave a people called by God.

(Slide)For it is through all three virtues that one can bear with one another in love

And that’s because Bearing with one another in love is long suffering gentle patience with a humble heart. To bear in love requires us to listen and pray, refraining from casting judgement on others and gently drawing others towards Gods word.

But there’s a danger here too, for we must not be so long suffering that one becomes indifferent with sin. Churches that follow the path of liberal theology tend to be tolerant of just about any form of behavior or theology. Conversely, churches that take a more conservative path where people hold the truths of scripture to be precious, often find people who are ready to pick a fight over every minor point of dispute of theology or a behavior in a person.

See bearing with one another in love is that we are not to be so long suffering that we never rebuke, admonish or exhort each other away from sin. And not so short suffering that we judge everything people do. We can’t ignore sin, but we can’t also nit pick at people. For we need to maintain unity. We need an environment where sin can be shared and dealt with, but not judged.

And this is a fine balance, which Paul says is only achieved (Slide) through making every effort to keep unity through the bond of peace.

A bond of peace that Paul describes as: (Slide)

One body

One Spirit

One hope

One Lord

One faith

One baptism

One God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

See, to accept this seven fold statement is to accept that you are not more important than the other people in the church. Because this statement identifies that God is the one who has brought us into this new life, not us.

See I can’t be more important than you if we are to be (Slide)one body, (Slide)one Spirit. I mean I could try, but I’m only going to hurt the one body by doing so. Rather I ought to be humble and see myself as the same as everyone else. Because we all have just the (Slide)one hope.

That hope is Jesus. Jesus is our one hope of being reconciled with God, through casting our sin upon Jesus who died the death we deserve. For it is Jesus who takes the punishment of our sin from us, so that we can be forgiven. Jesus is our one and only hope, there is no other way, no other hope to deal with sin except through Jesus.

Now if that’s new to you this morning/evening, take heart for this hope is good and true, and you are welcome to share in it for God is calling you right now to accept him as Lord and live with a sure hope of living with our Lord in heaven.

For Jesus is our (Slide)one lord, whom we have only the (Slide) one faith, we don’t share our faith with Karma, you know, having faith in what goes around comes around, nor do we put our faith in luck, hoping that by chance I’ll get to heaven. No we have a sure faith that our sins are forgiven through Jesus.

So we have one sign of entry into this faith, that is (Slide) one baptism. Baptism with water is only outward sign of entry to the faith. There is not a fee, nor any amount of work that you can give or do to grant you entry. Rather God only requires you to be washed by water in his name. For we have only (Slide)one God and father of all.

See God is the one who holds all these 7 statements in unity. Paul is deliberately using words and symbolism to express the unity that reflects God. Which is important to remember, because we are not called to make unity, for that’s already been done by God. Rather we are called to maintain unity, through the bond of peace that is the unity of God.

Therefore our first point today is that Paul is describing how we are to live according to God’s fullness, according to his unity as we live lives worthy of the call we have received.

In other words, we need to get the the relationships within the church in good order, because outwardly the church has work to do, which is why the second point today is that we are all called to be ministers.

Called to be ministers

Did you know that you are called to be a minister of God?

All of you are called to minister, not just Darryl, or Becky or I. No each of you are ministers according this passage. For that is the work of the one body. See verse 12 (Slide), is the purpose statement. God’s people equipped for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

But before we get there, let us first look to Verses 7 - 10.

Because there is a seemingly odd little throw back to the words of an old Psalm, Psalm 68:18 to be precise (Slide). Paul is appealing to a Psalm that gives hope to Israel of the all powerful and conquering God of Israel. It’s describing the future reign of God’s kingdom on earth, and in it, David the author of the Psalm described Jesus. Which is what Paul is pointing out. Paul is saying Jesus is the one whom has ascended on high.

Now For those of you old testament nerdy folk like me, you may have noticed that Paul doesn’t quote the psalm exactly. Rather he flips the order of who gave the gifts. in the Psalm, (Slide) the ascending one receives gifts from men, yet in Paul’s writing the ascending one gives the gifts. We don’t exactly why he did this, however this is an example of Paul interpreting and summarizing the old testament passage. For the Psalm does end with God being the giver, (Slide) for it says the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people Ps 68:35

So in effect Paul is summarizing a long Psalm into a single sentence for the church to understand that Jesus is the God of Israel and that Jesus gives power and strength to his people.

So what is this power and strength that is given to his people, well Paul describes it as Grace in verse 7 (Slide)

And this grace is to manifest itself in Gods people (Slide) as works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up …

The word service is important to highlight here. For it comes from the Greek word, (Slide) διᾱκονία, which is also translated as ministry. Therefore we should understand that ministry is synonymous with service, and this is evident in the different bible translations choosing to use either word. All that is to say, ministry and works of service is the outworking of the one body of Christ which is made up of each of us,

ergo we are all called to be ministers.

Thankfully, to enable and help the body to do ministry or works of service, God has given the church another gift, verse 11 (Slide), which is certain types of people, we can call people-gifts. Specifically he gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These roles are there to equip the body of Christ, to equip the church for works of service. And unsurprisingly, we note that Paul himself wore each of these titles as he shared the gospel and taught others about Jesus while setting up churches and caring for them throughout his life.

These roles are specific roles are given to specific people, but not for the purpose of restricting the work to those who are in these roles. Rather that those in the roles are there to equip the church to do them as well.

Kind of like personal trainers of the church world.

Because these roles also, show the breadth of what ministry entails.

One might ask, what is a Ministry or a work of service?

Well we can look to the titles given by Paul:

The Apostles and Prophets draw us to God’s revelation of who he is. That role continues today in the form of scripture.

The Evangelist shares God’s word with those who do not believe in God.

The Pastor cares for a flock of God’s people like a spiritual doctor.

Teachers explain Gods word to others.

This shows us that works of service are works that grow others in the knowledge and grace of God. On a Sunday that can look like: reading God’s word, preaching, singing, helping in Kids ministry, serving on the sound desk, bringing morning tea because all of this culminates in a service of worship to God for the growing of the church.

But it’s not just Sunday, on Monday, it’s sharing God’s word with colleagues at work. Helping your neighbor through a tough moment in life. Sharing God’s wisdom with someone beside you.

For the scope of ministry or works of service is much wider than the Sunday gathering, but not neglectful of it either. And we ought to praise God for giving us these people gifts who equip the people of Christ that we can all go about doing the work of ministry in each of our lives.

That is to say we are all called to ministry. And to some, God especially calls to lead the church for the purpose of equipping the church to continue the work of the church.

Therefore people who are in Pastoral Ministry, such as Darryl, Becky and myself are not here to do the work of Ministry on behalf of the church, rather we are here to equip the church to do ministry. That the church will become mature, attaining to the whole measure of Christ.

Which is our last point of the passage today, (Slide)

Called to maturity

We are called to maturity. And the one thing we see about maturity is that it involves growing up. Much like moving on from our experiences of young love.

(Slide) Young love is a curious thing, not only to experience ourselves but also to watch in other people. See when people fall in love, and I’m including myself in this, every word spoken by the object of their love is a sweet delight, every text message is poured over and read and reread. Every touch feels magical and precious. It’s like lightning going off.

But then... the first disagreement. Oh no! The first cancellation of plans, the first disappointment, like when you find out they like mint slice. Oh my goodness the heart cant take it. Tears in the pillow, mum on the phone.

The point I’m making here is that those dreamy days of picking daisies in the field and taking long walks on the beach, were always rocked terribly when the other person lets us down. See young love is volatile, its exciting, fun and scary, but its volatile,

And so Paul, doesn't want our relationships with each other in the church to be like how I’ve described young love. Up and down with emotion, (Slide) “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” See that kind of life leaves us unstable as to whether you have said the right thing, or learned the right lesson.

Rather A stable life is one that is not rocked by waves and blown by wind, which is kind of like the life of a (Slide) giant container ship travelling from port to port. No matter how big the storm, how rough the waves, container ships keep chugging towards their destination. They feel the wind and waves yet continue moving forward. Such is the steady lives that Paul is encouraging us to have.

For we must anticipate the reality of sin and how it manifests as (Slide) cunning and craftiness in the lives of people. In fact, Paul began our passage to exhort us to humility, and that’s because when we are not humble, we are, each of us cunning and crafty, pumping ourselves up, benefiting our own agenda, maybe because when we are not humble, we think we are worth more, or we think we deserve more.

Rather we need to live steady lives, because we need to, (Slide) speak the truth in love, growing and maturing to be the body of him who is the head, that is Christ.

And super sadly the church throughout history has many examples where God’s call to maintain unity has fallen short. Too often, those who lead God’s churches all over the world, forget or neglect these passages, and what a tragedy it is when this happens.

Church, there are currently heated debates going on across the wider denomination of the Presbyterian church. Debates, in which their topics are worthwhile in their pursuit of understanding, however, debates that should never neglect the call to maintain unity. I would suggest that if we find ourselves in a debate on doctrine or theology, and we fail to be humble, gentle and patient and loose our unity with a fellow believer, then it does not matter if you are ultimately right or wrong on whatever the topic of the debate was, if we loose unity with a brother or sister in Christ, we show ourselves as an immature infants tossed back and forth by the waves.

For Church, we have been called, and that call requires our response, a response to live worthy of our call.

Today we have seen that our calling from God drives us to maintain unity with each other, Our call drives us to do ministry or works of service, and our call drives us to grow to maturity. we have been called, and we need to ask ourselves, am I living worthy of God’s call?

And maybe that a challenge for each of us, how does my life reflect this passage?

And to motivate us for this call, let’s end with the words of Paul (Slide)

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

Let’s pray,

Dear God,

We praise you and thank you that you are the one who calls us. We thank you that it is not because we are worthy, but only because you are worthy.

God would you help each of us live lives worthy of our call. That we would continue the work of the body and do works of service so that the body may be built up in love.

Thank you for those who equip us to serve,

but above all thank you for Jesus who died for our sins that we have been forgiven.

We praise your name,

Amen.