Eugene and Irma's Wedding

Live worthy of your calling

Ephesians 4:1-6

Marriage is like a cup of tea,

It starts off all hot and steamy, full of anticipation, full of hope of comfort and joy, the setting of the experience usually would suppose that your about to sit down and relax, kick your feet up and enjoy the warmth of your hand wraped around a mug, the cold storm is outside, yet your settled and calm by a fireplace.

A cup of tea is a good time, unless that is, someone distracts you while your making the perfect cup and now it’s overbrewed. Or you forgot to get more milk and now your having it but not as you like it. Or worst case scenario too much milk is poured and the beverage looses both heat and flavour.

A cup of tea can even leave us with a bitter taste. We might sweeten it up with sugar and lemon juice but that just ends up with a completely different cup of tea than what we hoped for.

And if you allow me to continue the analogy of a cup of tea, you will see that our passage this morning is like the ingredients to forming the perfect brew.

Our author Paul is concerned for the church to rightly understand what unites them together in order that they would live their lives in a worthy manner.

Or if you were speaking of a cup of tea, Paul describes the ingredients to make the perfect cuppa, and he also gives a set of markers for understanding what the experience of the perfect cup of tea should feel like.

Starting with the experience of what it should feel like Paul speaks of living our lives in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

He describes this manner, this experience as being humble, gentle, and patient

Three virtues that truly go against the natural grain of a life that seeks to serve oneself. You see, Paul is saying to the church that living worthy lives look like lives that serve others above themselves.

And as you two, prepare your hearts to enter into this next chapter of your lives, as you anticipate the experience of this cup of tea. Know that at for each of you, you should anticipate a life of serving one another, humbly considering the other’s needs above your own.

Living gently, and patiently as you both adjust a lifetime of habits and previous experiences. Bearing with one another in love, Paul continues the description of what life should look like. Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Words that we can each use to help us orientate our hearts expectations of what to anticipate in the realities of our relationships, either in marriage or towards one another as friends.

So as you both look forward to spending the rest of your life together, just as you look forward to enjoying that hot cup of tea, anticipate an experience of humility, gentleness, patience and love. That is the joy that is to come for that is the life that is lived worthy of the call.

But we must ask, what is this call? and how can we have the guarantee of experiencing life as Paul describes it?

And that’s where Paul goes onto explain the ingredients that go into forming this wonderful experience of our relationship with one another.

The bond of peace Paul says, is made up of 7 elements. Specially 7 because that’s the number of completion. And specifically 7 because each ingredient explains the unity of our God.

One body

One Spirit

Called to the one hope

One Lord

One faith

One baptism

One God and father of all.

This bond of peace, these 7 creeds of one. Are the ingredients we require to understand our calling. To understand what sets us a part from this world, and what compells us to live humble lives.

For like any good cup of tea, the right amount of leaves, combined with the right temperature of water, mix of milk, length of brew time, weight of mug, dash of lemon. All draw us to further anticipate the warmth and experience of drinking it.

Just as it is with life, especially in marriage, we aren’t two bodys, but rather one body that as you serve one another, build eachother up as two become one in marriage. There is one Spirit at work in both of you, shaping you, guiding you both to live humbly, gentle patient loving lives.

You both share in one hope. The hope of living eternally with our God in heaven, enjoying him forever. Him who is our one Lord.

That we have the one faith, which requires only one baptism, one purification to cover the life of sin that we bring into a relationship. For you do not need to repurify yourselves through baptism again but rely on the power of Jesus’ blood to purify you as you repent and seek forgiveness in God’s name.

The one God who is father of all, over all and through all and in all.

See we have one God. Yet we will often try to serve many, and this is why this creed is so important because many gods are out there, little g gods that try to vie for our devotion. Which we need to help one another to spot them, notice them as they steal our thoughts and hearts.

A couple of weeks ago, I sat with Eugene and Irma at the table with our freshly brewed cups of tea.

As we were talking, Eugene noticed that Irma’s bag was sitting longer than she would typically enjoy it. He paused the chat and lovingly directed Irma to take the moment to remove the bag so that she would have a great tea.

And that is the exact example of what is need in a marriage.

A marriage needs both parties to look out for the other, gently, patiently restoring each other as we stray from the ingredients that unite us in the first place.

When other god’s creep into a marriage, when one forgets that they are no longer their own but half of someone else, when either of you forgo the Spirit’s wisdom, forgo the reading of God’s word, if you loose hope in the eternal joy of living with God forever.

Pause the conversation and address the issue, because just as Eugene helped Irma to enjoy her cup of tea. The both of you can look forward to enjoying a life that is worthy of the calling that you recieved.

Let’s pray.