Zealous for Unity
Notes
Transcript
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
ACTS - Unity - One Triune God—harsh words, lack of patience, wounds, grudges—forgiveness, power at work in us—Examine ourselves as we study/listen.
Introduction
Introduction
A story is told of Prince Edward Tudor, the son of King Henry VIII, and how while he was exploring outside the palace, he came across another boy—poor Tom Canty—who was the exact same age and looked exactly as he did. After saving him from the one of his brutal guards, he invited him into the palace where they had the great idea to switch into each other’s clothing so they could pretend to be each other—just for fun! After switching clothes, Edward noticed the bruise on Tom’s hand, and off he went to scold the guard once again. Unfortunately, due to wearing Tom’s clothes, the guard mistook the prince for the pauper and threw him out of the gate.
While out, Prince Edward found out how the other half lived. He found Tom’s father to be abusive when Tom didn’t bring enough money home from begging. He was mocked, harassed, and beaten. Living conditions were terrible for those of little wealth. Laws were often twisted and then enforced harshly and unjustly against the powerless. No one believed him, obviously, when he tried to tell him his true identity; everyone just thought he was insane. But there was one man—Miles Hendon—who, though he also thought Edward was crazy, treated him with care and dignity. Despite all that happened to him thought, the prince never ceased to act princely.
In the palace, the same idea was believed about Tom. Everyone there thought he had gone mad. Tom had no idea how a prince should act. He couldn’t speak correctly, eat correctly, walk correctly. It was like Edward was a completely different person! However, Tom was determined to take on the role of a prince until the true prince returned. He studied how a prince was to converse, eat, walk, etc. It wasn’t long into the switch that King Henry VIII, died and Edward—uh, Tom—was to be made king. At the last second, just before the crown was placed on his head, the true prince showed up, proved himself to be who he was, and took the throne as King Edward VI. Tom Canty and Miles Hendon were given special privileges for their kindness and friendship.
Sometimes, we probably feel more like Tom Canty than Prince Edward. While in some ways, we could say that both were imposters of the other, we identify more with Tom who is a pauper seeking to live as a prince than we do with Edward—a prince living as a pauper. In reality, we are somewhat both. We have been taken out of the domain of darkness and placed into the kingdom of the beloved Son as adopted children of God. At the same time, as princes and princesses, we are living in a broken world that is abusive and harsh. In our heavenly realm, we are seeking desperately to live as royalty, and in the earthly realm, we are seeking to navigate darkness as children of light.
And in both of these, Paul has called us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
This morning, we are moving from identity to activity. For the first three chapters—and the last sixteen weeks—we have been talking about our identity that is found in Christ, with Christ, and under Christ, so that in whatever we think we are, it must first and foremost be associated with our unity to Christ. Now, we are seeing how our identity leads to activity—and in doing so, we find that all our activity must be done in a manner that is worthy of the calling by which we have been called.
As we open up Ephesians 4:1-6, we see once again that our identity is enshrined in our togetherness—our unity. Thus, whatever our activity, it cannot—must not!—undermine the unity of the Church that is built upon the gospel. Paul gives us four links that join together to create unity within the Body of Christ. The first link is the conviction in our walk. The second link is the companionship in our walk. The third is the confidence in our walk. Finally, there is the connection in our walk. Just like any chain, it is only as strong as it’s weakest link; we want and pray then that each link remains strong.
The Conviction in Our Walk
The Companionship in Our Walk
The Confidence in Our Walk
The Connection in Our Walk
The Conviction in Our Walk
The Conviction in Our Walk
The first link in our chain of unity is the conviction of our walk. Earlier, in my introduction, I used a phrase whose words I chose very carefully: “Whatever our activity, it cannot—must not!—undermine the unity of the Church that is built upon the gospel.” I said it that way because the true Church—the invisible Church—is indeed built upon the gospel of Christ Jesus. However, not every visible church or denomination still holds to that gospel truth. As Christians who belong to a gospel-rooted community of believers, we are not called to preserve unity at all costs. Our conviction is to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, and that includes walking in unity—but unity only with those who hold fast to the gospel. To pursue unity with those who deny or distort the gospel is not to walk worthily, but to walk dangerously.
That being said, unity must still be a conviction. Look at what Paul wrote:
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
I want you to look down at your Bibles for a moment. I want you to take a pen or a pencil and underline the word “I,” because that is an emphatic “I.” What Paul actually says is something more akin to “Therefore, I urge you—I, the prisoner in the Lord...” There is a strong conviction that Paul had when it came to walking in a manner worthy of our calling. This isn’t just Paul transitioning from his prayer into our responsibility. This is a firmly held conviction that he is pressing the church of Ephesus to make their own. In fact, he was seeking to make all his readers—including us today—to make this conviction our own.
That’s often how convictions work. They are someone else’s convictions before they’re our own. We become inspired by the passion of others. We hear the emphatic language from another. Suddenly, the Spirit begins to warm our hearts to the words of this man or that woman—even of a child at times. And conviction is born in us. Beloved, let me ask you—what would it look like for you to live with conviction? What would it look like for you to passionately proclaim that conviction—to emphatically express what you believe with all your heart? To say what you mean and mean what you say? To no longer hem and haw, bashfully lower your head as you speak of the great wonders of the Lord? To no longer apologize for believing that our great God is stronger than the person who scares you the most, is wiser than the person who intimidates you the most, and is more powerful than the scariest circumstance you could imagine?
Think back to how Paul ended what we consider chapter 3.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
This leads Paul into his unapologetic conviction that he calls on his readers to have. “God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…therefore, I urge you—I, the prisoner in the Lord—to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” If we want to walk in a manner that is worthy, we must walk with conviction—a conviction that points backwards to who is with us and one that points forward to what we must do. Without conviction, we will not walk in such a way.
I was recently reading Andrew Wilson’s book, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post Christian West, and he wrote a little phrase in chapter two that I probably would have passed over without a second thought, if I had not been thinking about this point in this sermon. In reference to Hilary Mantel’s trilogy on Thomas Cromwell, he wrote, “We know that Christendom will become Europe and that God’s providential control of all things will change from a conviction to an assumption, and then to implausibility,” (p. 34). A conviction to an assumption, and then to implausibility. That’s not just a European problem; it’s a church problem. Many have moved from conviction to assumption. “Sure, of course God can do anything.”
Church family, that’s not conviction. That is not a deep-hearted belief that causes us to spring into action. That’s an assumption based on ho-hum doctrine that we’ve grown accustomed to. Assumptions don’t propel us to courageous acts. They don’t focus our faith and obedience. And if we aren’t careful, the assumption of “of course God can do anything,” will turn to implausibility, “but I don’t believe he will.”
The Companionship in Our Walk
The Companionship in Our Walk
But we don’t just need conviction in our walk. We also need companionship. How ought we to walk? Or another way to ask it: with what ought we to walk? Paul wrote,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
There are three companions that join us in our walk: humility, gentleness, and patience. Each of these words have the word “with” before them. “With” is a word of accompaniment—companionship. They’re like American Express—you don’t want to leave home without them. When looking at these three words, I personally feel convicted because these three words cause me to come crashing back to earth. Having walked in a manner worthy of my calling—in my own estimation—the Holy Spirit often reminds me of my day or week and convicts me as I see my high and mighty attitude as if I am the only one who is right (even if I just keep it to myself). I see times when I was abrupt with others rather than gentle. I had the upper hand—the power and conviction—and I lowered the boom on someone. I recount how impatient I was—not understanding that learning and growing take time, not wanting to wait for others to catch up. See, that’s what Paul meant by patience: “bearing with one another in love.” Our tolerance—our endurance—has to grow for those who are still in the process of becoming more like Jesus. The fact that we are to grow in bearing with one another just shows that we too are still in that process.
And it must be in love. That’s where patience is to be found. We find patience (and for that matter gentleness and humility) located in love, which means if we have a hard time finding humility, gentleness, or patience, it is because we are not looking in the right place. They will only be found in love. They won’t be found in doctrine or theology. They won’t be found in polity or practice. They will only be found in love.
Paul wrote, “these must be your companions in your walk.” If they aren’t we will never walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
If you’ve ever read the John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, you will know that all along the way from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, Christian has a number of companions—some good, some bad. Those who were believers—faithful, hopeful, evangelist—always helped Christian to stay the course (or get back on the course) that led to the Celestial City. This is how it is for humility, gentleness, and patience. They walk with us as companions on our walk. They continuously make sure that we are walking worthily of our calling. If we were to depart their companionship, we depart from a worthy walk.
Beloved, most of us in here are on our way to the Celestial City. Who is walking with you? Is it humility, gentleness, and patience? It’s not that doctrine and theology, polity and practice can’t come along for the walk, but they cannot come at the expense of humility, gentleness, and patience. Remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians:
1 Cor 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
To walk in a manner that is worthy of our calling means that we need more than good, strong doctrine; we need a good, Spirit-filled demeanor. Conviction gets us walking, but companionship gets us walking worthily.
The Confidence in Our Walk
The Confidence in Our Walk
If conviction gets us walking and companionship gets us walking worthily, then the confidence keeps us walking worthily. Take a look at what Paul wrote about our hope.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
As we look at these verses, we find that the ESV translators did a little interpretation for us—that’s inevitable with translations. I usually don’t have a problem with the interpretation of the translators, and I see why they interpreted “the one hope that belongs to your call” the way they did. I just think that it isn’t quite as accurate as it could be. The way that Paul wrote these words was simply to say, “the one hope of your call,” or to be a little more literal, “the one hope of the calling of you.” Now, the words “of you” or to be a bit smoother “your” in Greek can mean about as many things as they do in English—more so really.
In English, the word “of” can often mean ownership. We might ask someone, “Is this a book of yours?”
It can also indicate what its object is, like when we say that the Bible is the Book of God—God is its focus, its object.
Still “of” could indicate a source. I have a book of 500 poems. They aren’t by one author, but they were collected from many sources.
But “of” can indicate a subject—the very one doing the action. Thus, The Book of John is not owned by John, is not about John, and doesn’t even just come from various sources of John, but was written by the Apostle John himself.
And so we can rightly say that this hope is not about our calling. I don’t think it simply belongs to our calling. I do believe that this hope has its source—its authorship—from our calling. God’s called us and when he did, our hope was born. We now have confidence as to our destination and what awaits us! Think back to who we were as Gentiles. We were those without hope. But when we were called by God, we went from hopeless to hope-filled! Because we were called to be in Christ, and so to be in Christ is to be in hope, which is what Paul originally prayed for in Ephesians 1:18.
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Paul wants us to know this hope. It’s not that there are many hopes. There is one hope, and and it is the hope in which we’ve been called. It is a unified/united hope. There isn’t one hope for you and another for me. There is only one and that is Christ Jesus. And it is not that we were called to one hope, but quite literally, we were called in one hope, that is the hope of the gospel, or to put it more plainly: the hope that is Christ himself—he is our one and only hope!
Do we see how important Paul found unity? He finds it so important that he used the word “one” seven times: one body, one Spirit, on hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. There is one body—not us and them, not Jew and Gentile. There isn’t a body of men and a body of women. There is one body. There is only one Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance by whom every single one of us who has put our confidence in Christ has been indwelled and sealed. There is only one Lord. We cannot worship money and Jesus. We cannot pledge our loyalty to Caesar and Christ. There is one Lord. There is one faith. There isn’t the Jewish faith and the Gentile faith. All of our faith is in Jesus. Beloved, we must not allow ourselves to be influenced by our pluralistic society that believes in many faiths—there is one faith. There is one baptism and he is referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is evidenced by his referencing the Holy Spirit and baptism in other places that speak of unity:
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Or it’s even more clearly seen in 1 Cor. 12:13
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
And so we’re clear, baptism of the Holy Spirit—as Paul was writing about here—is being baptized into Christ and into one Body—in other word: the baptism is the communion that we have with Christ and one another.
On top of all this unification with the Body, the Spirit, the Lord, there is also with the Father.
Church family, we are called to a united hope. We are baptized into a united body. We are brought into community with the one Triune God. Thus, we cannot go at the Christian life alone—isolated. As Paul Tripp says, “Your walk with God is a community project.” When you are wanting to go at it alone, come back to these verses and remember the one hope of your calling so that you may keep walking in a worthy manner.
The Connection in Our Walk
The Connection in Our Walk
So far we seen the conviction, companionship, and confidence in our walk. There is one more link to talk about: the connection in our walk.
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Paul expounded on God and Father in a way that he didn’t with the Church, the Spirit, the Lord, faith, or baptism. He tells us that God is over all and through all and in all. Rarely is God ever spoken of as the Father in ways other than of Christ and the Church, but in this case Paul wrote that he is over all and through all and in all. Which ought to take us back a few verses to what Pastor Drew was preaching last week when we read
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
God is the Father of all in that he is the creator of all. He is the sustainer of all. He has authority over all, which is exactly what Paul wrote in 4:6—he is over all. And as one who is over all, he is bringing all things under the feet of Christ. Christ is the agent of summary. If you go back to Eph 1:22-23 you’ll find that God is giving all things and putting them under Jesus’s feet so that he would be head over all. Remember how we said that God then is working all things out to make this happen? He is bringing all the brokenness of the world and healing it under Christ? Do you remember that? Here is a reiteration of that fact. He is over all. He is working through all the brokenness. He is in all the hardships. He is working through marriages and divorces, diseases and healings, broken and dysfunctional families and functional ones too. He is working in the moments that go so fast your head spins and in the moments of waiting and seeing and fretting. And he is bringing it under Christ’s feet to reconcile it all.
If we don’t make that connection in our walk, we will lose heart. If we can’t see how God is at work or trust that he is at work, we will have no choice but to give up. It’s too hard for us. It’s too long for us. It’s too tiring for us. But for him—for him it is a time to show himself over all and through all and in all—a time to show his power and authority.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We’ve gone over quite a bit this morning. We’ve seen the conviction, companionship, confidence, and connection in our walk. Each of these either get us on the path or keep us going. Each is a motivation to walk worthily of our calling by which we have been called. But did you notice that in this entire sermon, I never actually addressed the main verse—verse 3?
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
This whole time I have been talking about walking worthily and how we can do that, but I haven’t actually told you what it means to walk worthily. Walking worthily is not about walking sinlessly. It’s not about walking orthodoxically. It’s not about walking joyfully. It’s about walking in unity. Hence, Paul explains that to walk worthily is to be zealous—eager, take pains, make every effort, be conscientious—of maintaining the unity that the Spirit has already given to us in the bond of peace. Keep in mind that peace—shalom—is not just about a lack of fighting, but in being made whole.
So don’t let those words slip by. We who were once aliens and strangers and far away have been brought near.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
He has bound us together in peace—made whole by his blood. This is the work of Christ on the cross and the Spirit in our hearts. And it is in our nature—our sinful, human nature—to want to get free from these fetters that the Spirit has bound us to. And so we will nit-pick and judge and gossip and hold grudges and do anything else that might break us free from the bond of peace. Hostility comes so easy, and so Paul wrote that we must take pains to maintain our unity. That’s what it means to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. We were called to be one in Christ. Now we must walk in a way that maintains that unity. We must actively reject anything that goes against it.
Many people leave a local church (and sometimes Church altogether) because they have been hurt, abused, abandoned, condemned, and a number of other reasons. And it is easy for us to say on this side of the aisle, “It’s not about the people; it’s about Jesus. Don’t judge Jesus because of the people.” And that sounds like a spiritual response, but that’s exactly opposite of what comes natural to us. In fact, it’s opposite of what Paul wrote we should expect.
Every local church is a microcosm of the Universal Church. We aren’t just a part of the Universal Body, we are a small representative of it. Jesus is the head of the Universal Church, but also the head of every local assembly. You might recall a few weeks ago I mentioned how Christ, the Head is above all things, seated in the heavenlies. His body is all that people can see here on earth. That’s the way God designed it to be. The church—universal or local—is the very body that people are judging the head by. If the body is running amuck—whether through false preaching, sex abuse, financial scandal, or just plain-old infighting, the world sees it and cannot help but come to the conclusion that their Jesus is graceless, powerless, abusive, and not worthy of worship.
So brothers and sister, walk worthily of your calling—zealously strive for unity with one another. Perhaps the hurts need mediation—you need someone to go with you to make things right. Perhaps some of us just need new eyes that don’t pick for nits. Whatever it might be, unity is too important to be passive about.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We ask that you strengthen our resolve to be zealous for unity. Let us no longer do what comes easy and natural—to gossip, nit pick, and hold grudges, but may we take pains to maintain the unity that comes to us by way of your Holy Spirit because of Christ’s work on the cross that brought us peace. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen.
