Walk Worthily Together-Diversity (Eph 4:7-11)

Walk Worthily Together: Diversity (Ephesians 4:7-11) Pray & Intro: [divisions of Eph. slide] • There is useful diversity within a unified team that helps grow us to maturity… (the focus next time will be the role of leadership in ministry of the Word, then “every member a minister” for the maturity (and stability) of the church) • [one thing more] Unity in diversity shouldn’t be a strange or foreign concept to us: consider a beautiful garden; consider an orchestra. Read Passage to Explain and Apply: I. V. 7 reflects a turn to show that this unity is not a stale and boring uniformity (as varied as the human body, or even more) – like the colorful spectrum of a rainbow (with all the blends in btwn), like the varied shape of leaves on the forest trees, like the varied shapes, sizes, and colors of fish in a reef… so too are the numerous spiritual gifts in assortment and unique blends – The general sentiment that I agree with can be explained this way: The New Testament contains five [opportunities for listing spiritual gifts or gifted] (Rom. 12:6–8; 1 Cor. 12:8–10, 28–30; Eph. 4:11–12; cf. 1 Pet. 4:10–11) which between them number more than twenty different gifts, some of which are not particularly spectacular (cf. Rom. 12:8). Each list diverges significantly from the others. None is complete, but each is selective and illustrative, with no effort to force the various gifts into a neat scheme. Even together all five do not present a full catalogue of gifts. (O’Brien) A. Within a unified body each member has an important and distinctive service for the successful functioning of the whole. 1. THE goal is to do your best to SERVE the rest. 2. Not saving grace but serving grace – Grace given is to be grace applied! (2:8-10) B. So Paul shows that unity is not uniformity. Instead there is great diversity – and it will be unity within that diversity producing maturity. II. Before moving on to the leadership aspect [in v. 11] (to maintain unity in diversity to work toward maturity), Paul emphasizes The Giver of these gifts: an explanation of the position and power of Christ to give spiritual gifts. (vv. 8-10) A. Paul employs a divinely inspired interpretation of Ps. 68:18 1. Creating for us an image of Christ returning from battle in victory (with the spoils of war), which he then disperses (meters, measures out) as he so chooses. [that’s the emphasis: the ascended position of power that Christ has to authoritatively distribute gifts of service and gifted leaders as he chooses!] – So are you willing to say, “Um, excuse me, resurrected Jesus. King of the universe, all-knowing Master, and almighty God. Um, don’t you think you’re trying to plug me in in an inappropriate spot?” 2. So if at first when you read 9&10, it sounds convoluted, just read it four times and it’ll land on you with little or no turbulence – The Son of God who descended from the glories of eternity to be humiliated and crucified for our sin and not his own, did not stay dead. He rose again in POWER (see ch. 1) and ascended to his rightful place as sovereign over all in perfect fellowship with Father and Spirit, now having completed/fulfilled God’s plan to defeat sin and death. 3. [I’ll interrupt the flow here to ask you a question] Do you know this Sovereign Jesus? Have you embraced him as the only worthy Savior of your soul? Do you worship him as King of your life? Is he the Master of your desires and your dreams? Do you trust Him as almighty God over your hurts and your fears?  This Jesus invites you to trust in Him—to follow Him in faith, to learn from Him, to worship Him in fear. Will you be certain today that you treasure nothing more than you treasure Jesus? 4. [Back to Paul’s inspired interpretation of Ps. 68:18] Yes, if you look closely you might wonder about Paul using the word “gave” when the word “receive” is what’s in the original Psalm. Or you might wonder who the “captives” are. (If that’s the case, I’ll digress here to scratch your itchy toe. ) a. My best understanding of Paul “changing” the wording is that it’s perfectly accurate to the concept communicated. (In fact, a couple of ancient translations in Aramaic and Syriac have the word “gave” in this Ps. 68:18 passage.) In other words, those who received the spoils of war also freely gave them to their own people. (Note: it’s not just for anybody to do what Paul does here with the O.T.) b. These Captives could be the conquered or the rescued: If the conquered, then demons (principalities and powers). If the rescued from bondage to their captors, then sinners who were prisoners of sin and Satan now rightfully returned to God. 5. Thus Christ became the fulfillment of God’s promise and the filler to God’s people, the church. As the church’s ruler (head), he has the right to distribute gifts. B. The ascended Sovereign disperses these gifts by the Spirit he has given to indwell believers (but not do be disassociated from the Son (here) or the Father [Rom. 12, God]) “It is always misleading to separate the three persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Together they are involved in every aspect of the church’s wellbeing.” (Stott, 159)  The ascended Christ gives gifts in great and wonderful variety for the good of His church. III. Urgent concern for unity in the church (1-6) so that it’s diversity (7-10) will remain cohesive toward the goal of maturity. – That takes both leadership and cooperation. [next time on the diversity with leadership side of this goal of growth toward maturity, and perhaps also more on the diversity with cooperation side as well] IV. Further Application to take home with you: A. Last week’s practical application about unified teamwork sounded like this: If you see something that needs to be done, do it. When you value unity, you’ll humbly put kindness and patience above your opinion and being right. If you claim you want to be a part of this team, then demonstrate it by giving cheerfully to the successful operation of our team’s ministries. And PRAY for unity! B. Today, picture yourself in an orchestra! 1. Do you see and appreciate the beautiful diversity of the body of Christ within our church family? 2. If you aren’t already, you should be asking, “How and where am I throwing my colorful service in the ring?” 3. You should also be looking for ways to learn more and sharpen your skill, not only as a teammate in general but particularly in your area of gifting. [What helps are available to assist your growth? Who can mentor you? – Can be in this church family or outside if we don’t have an expert cellist. ] 4. Finally, aren’t you pumped to worship God for his creativity in diversifying the grace-gifts for dispersing his grace to His own and to those he aims to make his own? Aren’t you pumped about this team and what God is doing? – Aren’t you immensely glad to get to be an instrument in the Master’s hand? Aren’t you excited to sing together with your teammates, “How Great Is Our God”?