Living Worthy of Your Calling

Ephesians: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition Chapter 6: Living Worthy of Your Calling (Ephesians 4:1–16)

Nothing sells a newspaper like scandal, and no scandal is better than one which happens within a socially prominent family. In many cases, the issues surrounding a scandal are not unusual. What makes a scandal newsworthy is when it happens with someone whom we would normally not associate with such behavior. We hold a high standard for our officials which we expect them to keep. Behavior common to the average person is unacceptable. Kings do not get into barroom brawls. Queens do not get drunk in public. Presidents do not shoplift. To do any of these would be to live beneath what is expected of them. If this is true for those of our society upon whom we place great honor, how much more so for the child of God who is heir to His kingdom. Such high and regal honor is bestowed upon the redeemed of God. Therefore, Paul challenges the believers not to lose sight of their responsibility and besmirch their name by acting in a manner not in keeping with who they are.

Ephesians: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition Chapter 6: Living Worthy of Your Calling (Ephesians 4:1–16)

Nothing sells a newspaper like scandal, and no scandal is better than one which happens within a socially prominent family. In many cases, the issues surrounding a scandal are not unusual. What makes a scandal newsworthy is when it happens with someone whom we would normally not associate with such behavior. We hold a high standard for our officials which we expect them to keep. Behavior common to the average person is unacceptable. Kings do not get into barroom brawls. Queens do not get drunk in public. Presidents do not shoplift. To do any of these would be to live beneath what is expected of them. If this is true for those of our society upon whom we place great honor, how much more so for the child of God who is heir to His kingdom. Such high and regal honor is bestowed upon the redeemed of God. Therefore, Paul challenges the believers not to lose sight of their responsibility and besmirch their name by acting in a manner not in keeping with who they are.

Nothing draws people to watch the news on TV, like scandal, and no scandal is better than one which happens within a socially prominent family. In many cases, the issues surrounding a scandal are not unusual. What makes a scandal newsworthy is when it happens with someone whom we would normally not associate with such behavior. We hold a high standard for our officials which we expect them to keep. Behavior common to the average person is unacceptable. Kings do not get into barroom brawls. Queens do not get drunk in public. Presidents do not shoplift. To do any of these would be to live beneath what is expected of them.

· If this is true for those of our society upon whom we place great honor, how much more so for the child of God who is heir to His kingdom. Such high and regal honor is bestowed upon the redeemed of God. Therefore, Paul challenges the believers not to lose sight of their responsibility and besmirch their name by acting in a manner, not in keeping with who they are.

We are called to a Higher Standard

Ephesians 4:1 NIV

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

When you read that opening verse in Chapter 4 we notice a of bit irony. Paul is a prisoner, under house arrest by the Roman government, and he is telling us to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

Is Paul who actually is in jail have the right to tell us to live a life worthy of our calling?

Usually when someone is under arrest and in jail they have committed some crime and would not be living a life worthy of the calling of a Christian.

Could Paul’s reference to being a prisoner for the Lord mean something more than being held under house arrest? Three times Paul mentions his imprisonment in the Ephesian letter. Back in chapter 3:1 he states he is a “prisoner of Christ Jesus.” Later in 6:20, he is an “ambassador” of the gospel, “in chains.” Here in 4:1, Paul is a prisoner for the Lord. The key words to consider are the prepositions used by Paul in describing his relationship to his condition. When he states that he is a “prisoner of Christ Jesus” (3:1, my emphasis), Paul suggests that he is possessed by Christ and the gospel. Paul sees his incarceration as a result of his being totally consumed by Christ and His will. Anyone less committed would not be found imprisoned for their faith at all.

When Paul speaks of being a “prisoner for the Lord” he is implying that there is a purpose, a reason that God has brought him to be in the situation that he now finds himself. His present situation has a purpose in God’s great plan. Although Paul may not understand it, he is ready to accept it. In both cases, he does not allow his imprisonment to be a detraction, but rather an expression of his life in Christ.

I know that in my life there have been times that life circumstances have happened that I did not plan for, nor did I want.

Indirectly the experience that I am about to relate to you has to do with Lebanon church. Three years ago when the bishop sent me to Dinwiddie I did not want to go. I had spent over twenty years pastoring churches in the Shenandoah Valley and I liked it there. In fact when it came time for me to move I told my DS that I wanted to stay right there in the Shenandoah Valley. Most of my family was there, and as you know we own a home in the valley and the long and short of it is I figured it was the best place for me to be. Well, I am here to tell you, that God had other ideas for me and my family. I was in for a big let down when I got a phone call from my DS telling me that I would not be staying in the valley but would be go to a place called Dinwiddie, Va. A place who’s name I could not even spell. The first time I heard the name Dinwiddie, I asked what is a Dinwiddie anyway. I had to look it up on a map, just have some idea, what part of Virginia that it was in.

As a United Methodist pastor when we are ordain into the pastoral ministry, we agree to be itinerant, meaning we will go wherever we are sent. Even if it is to a place named after some long deceased governor who’s name I can not spell. I have to confess I was angry and hurt. I did not want to go. I asked is there not somewhere closer to my home I could be sent, some place that is not a three hour drive from the rest of my family. The answer was no. I could not see the reason that God was insisting that I uproot my family and move to a part of the state that I had never heard of before. That is about the way I felt, that is, until we came to Dinwiddie and met all of you. After the first meeting with the PPR committee in April and talking with them about the hopes of this church and seeing that a place called Dinwiddie was a very nice place to be. And since that time I have grown to love Dinwiddie and even learned how to spell it. I do say that I get a chuckle when I say Dinwiddie and they say “how do you spell that? I will also say that I love Lebanon church maybe even as much as those of you that have grown up here. I now believe that there is a reason and a purpose that God, through our bishop, sent me here.

That is about the way I felt until we came to Dinwiddie and met all of you.

That is about the way I felt until we came to Dinwiddie and met all of you.

Has that ever happened to you? Things happen and you find yourself in a place that you don’t want to be in, yet there you are. I imagine that Paul felt that way. He would much have preferred to be able to be out and about interacting with people rather than being confined and watched by a Roman guard. When Daniel was being taken to be thrown into the lion’s den, he too did not want to find himself amongst those hungry cats with their sharp teeth and deadly claws. Situations like these may not be where we want to be, but we do not know, what God has planned, nor can we always understand, but like Paul we must be ready to accept it. Paul gloried in his chains as a king would glory in his royal robe and crown. Paul’s imprisonment was not the evidence of scandal, but rather of loving commitment.

Has that ever happened to you? Things happen and you find yourself in a place that you don’t want to be in, yet there you are. I imagine that Paul felt that way. He would much have preferred to be able to be out and about interacting with people rather than being confined and watched by a Roman guard. When Daniel was being taken to be thrown into the lion’s den, he too did not want to find himself amongst those hungry cats with their sharp teeth and deadly claws. Situations like these may not be where we want to be, but we do not know what God has planned, nor can we always understand, but like Paul we must be ready to accept it. Paul gloried in his chains as a king would glory in his royal robe and crown. Paul’s imprisonment was not the evidence of scandal, but rather of loving commitment.

Paul’s challenge to his readers, you and I, in 4:1 is to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Our Calling

In Christianity, this calling has two directions.

First, we are called out from the world .

and its sinful lifestyle and its way of thinking and doing things. Growing up this was expressed best by my mom when she said, “Others may behave have that way, but we do not.”

We march to a different drummer, to a higher standard, one set by Jesus Christ. The life of Jesus that we see lived out in the Bible serves as a model for what are standards of living should be. Things like being loving, compassionate, forgiving, helpful and kind come to mind.

If there being any doubt as to what you should do in a given situation just say to yourself WWJD. What would Jesus Do in this situation. This past week our own Heather Brockwell had an opportunity to put this into practice. She has been on a mission trip with youth from different youth groups and let’s just say things have not all gone smooth. Frustrated about the goings on Heather shared them with her dad, Scott, who said to her WWJD. Things continued as before but this time she spoke to her mom, Michele to which much to Heather’s chagrin she reminded her also WWJD. Now I do not know how everything worked out with Heather and the others on the mission trip, but knowing Heather I am sure she did what Jesus would have done in that situation. What would Jesus do is a high standard to live by but in the end it is what the church is called to do.

Did you know that the Greek word for church is ekklesia and means literally “the called out ones.” Those who are numbered within the Body are those called out from the world to the kingdom of God. We are inheritors with Christ of eternal glory and holy people challenge to live in this world by a higher standard.

Did you know that the Greek word for church is ekklesia and means literally “the called out ones.” Those who are numbered within the Body are those called out from the world to the kingdom of God.

Second, we are called into service.

This view may be more familiar as we often associate a “calling” of God with a specific office or duty. Pastors, teachers, evangelists, and apostles all have a commission from God, as Paul relates later in . These are specific positions that are the result of God’s extension of grace toward us, empowering us for service in a unique way. What I want us to focus on this morning is the calling that all Christians have.

I think one misconception that some Christians have is that Christianity is something that you practice for one hour on Sunday by coming to a worship service like this one. Let me let all of you in on the skinny on this . That is not true. Worship is certainly apart of the life of the Christian but is much more. We here at Lebanon believe that A disciple of Jesus Christ is a fully committed believer who is intimate with God and other Christians, that is we worship together on a regular basis. But we also must each grow in our faith. We encourage everyone to become a part of a small group in order to pray, learn, and grow together.  It is not enough to participate in worship only, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ each person must engage in opportunities for deeper spiritual growth.  And finally connecting and growing believers are expected to do like Jesus and be a servant. Finding ways to put into practice what we believe through service to others.

Finding ways to put into practice what we believe through service to others.

and are servants in the kingdom of God.

We see discipleship making is a process. A process of Connecting, Growing, and serving. First, we seek to connect people to God and others. Our desire is to see people become” connecting believers”. Next we challenge “connecting believers” to become “growing believers” by engaging in opportunities for deeper spiritual growth. The process continues by “growing believers” committing to become “serving believers.” Finding ways to put into practice what we believe through service to others.

Christians are those called of God, out from the world, into His service. It becomes the responsibility of all believers to live in a manner worthy of this calling by maintaining a distinct separation between themselves and the world, and by faithfully executing those offices and gifts entrusted to them for service. Specifically, Paul challenges his readers to respond to this calling of God by fulfilling three aspects of the faith: celebrate their unity, exercise their diversity, and anticipate their maturity. Next week we will take a closer look at these three aspects of faith.

Christians are those called of God, out from the world, into His service. It becomes the responsibility of all believers to live in a manner worthy of this calling by maintaining a distinct separation between themselves and the world, and by faithfully executing those offices and gifts entrusted to them for service. Specifically, Paul challenges his readers to respond to this calling of God by fulfilling three aspects of the faith: celebrate their unity, exercise their diversity, and anticipate their maturity. Next week we will take a closer look at these three aspects of faith.

Nothing destroys the calling of God more than the inability of God’s people to get along with one other. If we have been called out of the world and into the family of God, living worthy of this calling would be to function as a family. The quality of a family is measured by how its members relate to each other. When there is harmony, we define the family as wholesome. But when there is an abundance of strife, we define it as dysfunctional. As the family of God, then, we are to relate to one another in both lifestyle and service.

Regretfully, most of us know of at least one dysfunctional family. While this is sad, most of us also know at least one church congregation which can also be described as dysfunctional. There are far too many churches that are known more for their fights than their faith, their discord than their disciples, their lust than their love. People who bruise and abuse each other are far from living worthy of the calling God has placed upon them. They behave too much like the world and too little like the church of Jesus Christ. When this happens to a church, something is missing that needs to be changed.

What often creates conflict within the fellowship of the church is the interaction of its people. It is the church’s diversity that creates friction. People are moving in different directions at different speeds, fulfilling different tasks, begin to rub each other in the wrong ways. Friction results and temperatures rise.

Paul describes the unique workings of the church as a unified diversity. He describes it as a body with many members, yet still one body (see ). This idea is an apparent contradiction. We tend to seek unity by sameness and agreement. This is usually the result of everyone’s doing the same thing in the same way. But not in God’s kingdom.

Unity is both created and maintained by each person’s faithfulness to his or her unique calling of God.

If we could look inside a car motor while it was running, we would immediately be impressed with its diverse and intricate workings. Pistons slide up and down in the cylinders, rotating the crankshaft. Camshafts turn, causing the valves to go up and down, opening and closing their ports to allow fuel to enter and exhaust to escape. Gears turn against gears in opposite directions, and timed explosions are set off with split-second accuracy, creating noise and pressure. For these processes to occur properly, there must be present the appropriate tolerance, or range of variation in the space between the moving and the still parts. Each part performs a unique function, often in seeming contradiction to the others surrounding it, but all function with one purpose in mind: to turn raw fuel into horsepower. Out of its diversity, the motor works in unity.

A comparison can be developed between the running of an engine and the life of the church. For a motor, three specific things are necessary to assure its smooth operation: oil, tolerance, and coolant. In the same way, Paul reveals three specific necessities for the proper operation of the church.

First is the oil of humility and gentleness.

Paul’s command is for his readers to be completely humble and gentle (). Oil is used in a motor to reduce the friction caused by the rubbing of moving parts against each other. Without it, the friction would become destructive by wearing away at the surface of the part, producing heat. In time, these negative influences would cause the part to fail and the engine to break down. To prevent this from happening, a thin layer of oil is maintained between the moving parts to prevent them from coming in contact with each other. The surface wear and heat are greatly reduced, assuring the ongoing function of the motor.

Gentleness and humility exercised toward our fellow Christians are means by which we can continue to move in differing directions and speeds without causing undo friction and heat among us. If our actions are buffered with gentleness, our contact with others will likely not be harmful. If our egos are bathed with humility, we will be less likely to become overheated by jealousy or a sense of threat. Dominance is the opposite of these graces and causes us to exert a restrictive force against those moving differently than we are. We collide and restrict, causing damage and heat. Too much dominance and all other movement slows or stops, and the life of the church wanes.

Second, Paul urges his readers to be patient with one another (4:2). The metal parts of a motor are made with great precision in regard to their size and shape. Each piece is made slightly smaller than the area in which it will move so as to allow freedom of motion, and to allow lubricant to come between the part and its surrounding surfaces. If the part were made the exact size of its opening, or if a motor were put together without this space, it would not be able to move, and the motor’s function would be compromised. This small space is known as tolerance. Patience is tolerance in a relationship. It allows a certain amount of space around a person so that he or she can have freedom of movement. The opposite of tolerance is intolerance, when space is reduced and freedom is restricted. A church or fellowship without patience and tolerance is an association without movement. It does not function or produce. It is frozen and lifeless. In the family of God, there is a need for patient tolerance if we are to assure the free movement of God’s people to live worthy of their calling.

Third is the command to utilize the “coolant” of peace (4:3). A byproduct of a motor’s function is heat, created by two influences: friction, as described above, and the heat caused by exploding fuel within the cylinders. If nothing were done to remove this heat, the temperature would continue to rise until it destroyed the lubricants and metals within the engine itself. To counter this problem in most automobiles, a liquid coolant, usually a mixture of water and antifreeze, is channeled through the motor in special chambers. The coolant allows the heat in the metal to be transferred to the coolant and eventually pumped out of the motor into the radiator where the heat is “radiated” away. The cooled water then returns to the motor so that the transfer of heat can continue. The activity of the church can cause a relational heat that in time can detract from the workings of the Body. There is a need to transfer this destructive “heat” away so that the activity of the church can continue unhindered. This is best described as the function of God’s Spirit of peace.

Peace can diffuse a tense moment or a potential conflict. It can correct a misunderstanding or soothe a bruised ego. Peace can be the atmosphere that allows us to function comfortably with one another, even amid the hurried activity of a church at full speed. The opposite of peace is discord, the dry conflict that does nothing for the removal of heat, but only assures its continued buildup. Unless the church allows the free-flowing presence of God’s Spirit to bathe it with His peace, it will burn out as a result of its own function and inner conflict.