We Are One...

Intro - [talk about unity generally…allude to our understanding the idea too generically]

[move toward]

…We talk, as Christians, as individiuals, and as a society, about wanting and encouraging unity, but we just can’t seem to get there. We can’t seem to do what it takes to be unified. And we can’t do it, church, because we seem to be waiting for the other side to move first.

But let me tell you - that isn’t how this works.

God didn’t wait for us to show our worthiness to Him before sending Christ. No, in our weakness, in our depravity, in our hopelessness God sent us the Savior. HE brought unity to US. Likewise, we must help bring unity to this world.

And that can start today with our text...

Ephesians 4:1–6 NIV

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Eph. 4:1-6

Walk through?

Pray

[leaveandcleaveorweddingring]

This reminds me of weddings. I suppose it reminds me of that for a couple reasons, not the least of which is the slew of weddings I have done recently. But every time I perform a wedding ceremony, I am sure to include God’s intent in marriage. That is, that we are to “leave [our] father and mother and is united to [our spouses], and [then] become one flesh.”

Some Christians summarize it as “leave and cleave.” We abandon our old life and become a new thing with this other person. Such a beautiful idea.

But that idea isn’t reserved for only our marriage relationships. We are called to a similar idea in our text from Ephesians as well!

Keep the unity of the Spirit. There is one body now. One Spirit. One Hope. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God!

And because there is only one body, Paul reminds us to “be completely humble and gently; be patient, bear with one another in love.”

That even sounds like wedding material, doesn’t it? This is some unbelievably important advice for young couples right here! And church, that isn’t at all why it was written! This text was intended to spur believers on toward the type of faith lives they needed to be living with everyone! A life of Unity and Maturity of faith.

How easy it is to mix the message up though!

We tend to lose context when we assign scripture to an event or an idea and forget to let it speak to us as it was originally intended.

But that thought, it led me to another thought. What if the text’s that we use at events like weddings are treated the same way? What if we assign a value, or assign a role for certain pieces of scripture and in so doing allow them to lose their power in our own lives because of their loss of context?

1 Cor 13

1 Corinthians 13 NIV

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

[picof1cor13]

When I think of that, I immediately think of one text. It is a very well known text among Christians that outlines what we feel love is. Unfortunately, we have assigned it to the love of a man and woman when they wed for the most part.

maybe use your version????

maybe use your version????

We use this text to talk about the love of a man and woman when they wed, right? But I wonder, do we realize that this text was actually written about unity? Not of a wedded couple, but unity among people.

But that isn’t what this text is all about! No, this text was actually written about unity! Not of a wedded couple, but unity among people.

This text is, in the words of Paul, “the most excellent way.” The way we are supposed to treat one another. The way those called by Christ are to act in a broken world!

I say all that, but I need to confess something to you; I use this in every single wedding I do! I’m guilty.

Be that as it may, I think that today is a good moment for us to frame this text more appropriately; to frame it in the light of unity for all people, just as it was intended.

So I want to read it for you, but I want to read it the way I paraphrase it for couples.

[anotherpichere??}

If I claim to know everything, and seem to always have the answer, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I sacrifice my time and efforts to you, but do not have love, then I sacrifice nothing. If I provide you all that you will ever need, but forget to love you, I give you nothing.

So, no matter what I say, no matter what I believe, and no matter what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

You may ask, then, “What is love?”

Love is patience, love is kindness. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Most importantly, love never fails.

All of the things we do as humans will pass away. Everything we create, everything we own, and everything we say. It will all eventually be nothing.

But even at the end, these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

[thegreatestoftheseislove…]

And church, if we are honest, and we really look at this text from a different point of view, we would see that it has unbelievable practical application in our lives.

Right off the bat, if I speak in tongues of men or angels; in other words, if I can converse with anyone, even angels! If I am at home talking to anyone, from the most lofty to the most simple! If I am comfortable issuing words like currency, but I don’t have love, then all I do is make noise. That’s it!

What truth can be found in that for us, church! You know, we live in a divided time, even among fellow believers! We wonder why we can’t feel the presence of God, and why others have vastly differing views of God!

We sit and allow popular culture, or the latest pundits and talking heads - those not in power, and those in power - to act as if they want to unify while they slowly divide us with hateful rhetoric and agendas laden with hypocrisy.

If I can tell the future, or understand everything there is to understand about life, or have so much faith that I can say to those mountains to move and they will - if I have all the power in the world that I could ever imagine - if when I speak I am able to command the greatest armies, or move men and women to action, but I don’t love, then I am nothing.

They show their devotion to causes with overt displays of patriotism, or dedication to some cause in public, only to slink off and show the emptiness of their words when push comes to shove.

If for some reason give everything I own to the poor, and the oppressed, or even sacrifice myself so that I can show just how much I sacrificed but don’t have love, then I have done and gained nothing.

They speak eloquently - to men or angels as Paul says - they profess their wisdom above others - claiming to fathom all mysteries - they give words, and sometimes some money to causes, but fail to every show true empathy.

Hard to swallow isn’t it? This idea that you can have all the power in this world, and attain lofty perches, perhaps speak any language, and even give everything away - but if done without love, is an absolute waste.

And whether we realize it or not, when we devote time and energy and dedication to those people, that is what we emulate.

And we wonder where God is!

But it’s the truth, church.

Well God is there in those things, but they, and we, fail to latch on to what Paul calls in our text for the day in Ephesians, “the Unity of the Spirit.”

1 John 4:8 NIV

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

You know, outside of my wife and daughters, the most precious thing I have is this [hold note]. A simple note written by a 6 year old at the time. Every time I get burned out, or feeling low - like I just don’t want to keep trying or giving - I pull out this note.

It reads “You act like God. You are kind. I love you daddy.”

God isn’t found in wisdom, or abilities, or power, or deeds alone.

Praise Him, Praise Him, all you little children, God is love, God is love.

We people of faith go to such great lengths to avoid this. We even try to explain it away, but hopefully today we will put that to rest. Scripture is absolutely clear!

God isn’t found in wisdom, or abilities, or power, or deeds alone!

God is love. And if you want to find God, you find love, and there He will be. More to the point, if you want OTHERS to find God, show them love.

But

[put a line from your 1 cor 13 thing here…]

But loving can be pretty hard! It is a challenge to wake up and love every day. But church, that is what the people of God are called to do!

Listen, if God is love, and we don’t have love, and don’t live out love, then we don’t know God.

And just like Paul says, we are nothing without love. We are an empty shell; a walking testimony to our own ego’s if all that we do is done without love. I say that, because if we don’t have love for others, than everything we do is ultimately for us!

And when you live like that, when your life is dictated by a need to fulfill some self imposed set of standards, or to please ourselves in order to save face or to attain pride, then our lives become a burden on this world!

And we become nothing.

More specifically, we become the antithesis of all that Jesus Christ was and did!

What is love?

So we really have no choice, if we are believers to love. But we must ask, then, what is love? What is this unifying Spirit that we are to live out in our lives?

What are the qualities that we need to truly be unifiers and not dividers - the qualities shown to us by our Savior, and the qualities that God demands that we live out every day?

Love is…Patient

Love doesn’t expect results right away. Love understands there is a bigger picture. So love should cause us to not need to get our way, but patiently wait for God to get His way, and for others to get what they need to know God.

Teachers and parents know this feeling intimately. You can’t teach them everything in a day. You have to build them up. You have to be patient when they mess up.

But sometimes, because of pride, we push and we push - wanting them to be on the right reading level, or in the right classes in school, instead of patiently building them up just as God does for us.

Love

Love is…Kind

Kindness is the outward appearance of love.

If you want to know what love looks like in the mirror, it is kindness. In fact, I will go as far to say that it is absolutely impossible to love without being kind.

IMPOSSIBLE!

So if you walk around in life, and are consistently unkind to ALL people, you need to check in with God and find Him again.

Now I don’t mean those one off bad days, we all have those, but if you guy reaction when dealing with all people is to be unkind then you don’t know God; and you don’t know love.

Kindness is the face of love, but it will also lead you to love. So try to be kind to all people - especially those you dislike - and you will find yourself growing closer to God.

Love is…Not Envious

Those who love don’t feel the need to envy the possessions of others. In fact, they want them to have those things!

Imagine if I got jealous of Olivia and Daisy always getting shown love and affection! It doesn’t work! If I love them, I will want them to be endlessly showered with love!

And church, that is how it needs to work with us and the world! If we really love like God loves, then we want everyone else to feel God’s presence and blessing MORE than we feel it!

But you can’t think that way through the veil of envy.

Love is…Not Boastful

This one really is attached to the last and to the next. When we boast, we elevate ourselves over others. We value us more than them. Almost as bad, when we boast, we almost always are being untrue. The very nature of boasting leads someone to think more of us than we are, so we must not be telling the whole truth!

Love accepts ourselves and others just like they are. I can say that for sure, because God humbled Himself to be pierced for us and our sins! He took on the role of a servant Messiah. And on top of all that, He calls us to Him just as we are, so that we can be remade in Him.

Love is…Not Proud or Self-Seeking

Pride demands that we think more of ourselves than others. Pride is the ultimate love of self.

Listen, if we all walked around just looking out for number 1, this world would be gone in a month. It is by the Grace of God, and the love of His people - people who look out for others and seek the best for others, and care for others selflessly - no matter the cost - that we even still exist.

Church, you can’t, let me repeat that, you can’t look out for number 1 and be a Christian. You can’t. You can have a life, and take care of your family, don’t get me wrong, but if you always seek to serve yourself and feed your pride, you are not following in the footsteps of Christ.

Love is…Not Self-Seeking

ex

Love is…Not Easily Angered

LIsten, you are going to get angry in life. But love allows us the freedom to not HAVE to get angy easily.

Just imagine if God was as easily angered as we are! I can’t even imagine! I mean y’all, every Sunday in the fall I get so mad and could explode! And over a football team…that isn’t our calling. We can’t get easily angered. Love proves itself with grace in the face of that which would anger us easily.

What Love Does…Always Protects, Always Trusts, Always Hopes, Always Perserveres

Well that is what love is, but what does love do?

[move them]

If you have all those qualities, which, by the way are the fruits of the Spirit as well, then you will become someone who protects, who trusts, who hopes, and who perserveres - no matter what you are facing!

That doesn’t mean that you will be happy! It just means that you will become an agent of love - a member of God’s special forces or secret service, if you will, who protects those around you by trusting and hoping in God - perserving through trials because of love.

Love Never Fails

But more important than that stuff, church, is this.

Love Never Fails.

If you want to build your life on something, build it on the very essence of God. Build it on love. Because everything else we build it on - everything else we could ever do will fail.

But not love.

It will never fail. It will always provide the footing needed to stand and see the Father! IF YOU WANT TO TRULY FIX THE PROBLEMS IN THIS WORLD, THEN START BY LOVING! LIVE OUT THOSE PRINCIPLES! SEEK OTHERS WHO LIVE LIKE THAT! LIFT UP THOSE WHO LIVE LIKE THAT! AS IMPORTANT, STOP FEEDING THE EGO AND THE POCKETBOOKS OF THOSE WHO DON’T!

WE GIVE SO MUCH ENERGY, TIME, MONEY, AND SUPPORT TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO EMPATHY, AND HAVE NO LOVE, AND IN FACT, PUSH AGENDA’S OF HATE! AND WHEN WE DO THAT, OUR SPIRITUAL HOUSE, AND OUR WORLD, CRUMBLE! WE ARE BUILDING OUR LIVES ON A SPIRIT OF DIVISIVENESS AND WONDERING WHY THE WORLD IS FALLING APART!

CHURCH SCRIPTURE IS CLEAR! ALL THE THINGS WE DO WILL FAIL! EVERYTHING! IT WILL ALL PASS AWAY! BUT UNDERSTAND, IF IT IS BUILT ON FAITH, IF IT IS BUILT ON HOPE, IF IT IS BUILT ON LOVE - IT WILL REMAIN! EVERYTHING BUILD ON THOSE CORE VALUES - THOSE CORE CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR FATHER - IT WILL BE HERE LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE! EVERY ACT OF LOVE! EVERY MOMENT OF FAITHFULNESS TO GOD AND MAN! EVERY MESSAGE OF HOPE! THEY WILL ALL ECHO THROUGHOUT TIME!

THEY WILL UNIFY! THEY ARE THE SIGNS OF THE TRUE BODY! THEY ARE THE LIFE WORTHY OF GOD’S CALLING!

…live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

You weren’t called to hatred, or nationalism, or populism, or whatever ism. You were called, by Jesus Himself, to be peacemakers. To be poor in Spirit. To be pure in heart. To be persecuted. And above all that, to be merciful.

That is the life worthy of God and His calling.

That is the spirit of unity. That is how we stand united.

We are one, and we are all called to one faith. One God. One Lord. One hope. And that God is love, and that, church, is what our lives must be built on if we are indeed one with God.

Invitation