Radical Unity
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Ephesians 4:1-6
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.
If you don’t get anything else from today, I want you to know that You have been called to radical unity
Pray
So the word profane means ordinary, means nothing special, it means that its common
that puts an interesting thought on the idea to profane the name of God rihgt
because we profane the name of God by living in a way as image bearers that make his name seem less than holy… that’s for free
Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus however he understood that this letter would be circulated among the churches
He is writing from literal prison
I know we like to spiritualize being aprisoner for the Lord, but Paul was literally a Prisoner for the Gospel
he tells us as someone who has given up his freedom in order to proclaim the goodness of the gospel
Paul starts this section by saying that he urges us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called
I love that he urges us
Urge has the understanding of choice
Urge has the understanding of strongly encouraging someone.. because what I’m asking to do is important
Paul is saying to the church, look you don’t have to live out the calling… But I’m urging you
I’m emploring you. I’m asking you with great emphasis to please walk in a manner worthy of the calling
So how do you walk in a manner worthy of the calling
I guess first we need to define what the calling is
The calling isn’t full time ministry as a vocation
The calling is the calling of holiness, the calling of being set-apart, the calling of being Christ’s
The calling is for you to be pulled from the flames of the muck and mire that Jesus found you in and to live in his grace
The calling is to abide in the true vine
the calling is to pick up your cross
the calling is to love others
That is the calling
Paul isn’t making a statement about preachers or teachers here… he’s talking to every believer
He says I urge you to walk in a manner worthy
I’m asking you to live in such a way before others that you represent that to which you have been called
Please hear me as we will see in just a second, Paul isn’t saying do better. he’s not saying try harder. He’s not saying sin less (now you will sin less) but this isn’t about behavior modification
He tells us what he means by walking in a manner worthy that way we dont’ have to speculate
With all humility and gentleness
Now I don’t have time to go into a full sermon on humility…maybe one day
But what you must know is that humility is not thinking of yourself as lowly and worthless. Humility is thinking about yourself less
Spending less time trying to manage your image, less time trying to make people believe something about you, less time trying to establish some sense of status
Its about thinking more about others needs
How you can serve. How you can love. Not just how you’re not being served and how you’re not being loved
all humility and gentleness
THere are so many instances in scripture where the Lord tells us to not react in anger or harshness to other
It is the gentleness or kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance
You don’t know how many souls will be poured into by the tactical grace of God by you simply being gentle
choosing not to yell, choosing not to criticize, choosing not to be sarcastic, choosing to listen and not make generalizations about any person or group of people
With patience
Oh Lord help me
he’s talking to me here
Believe it or not, impatience is directly connected to a lack of humiliyt
It’s believeing that your way of doing something, your time schedule, your feelings matter most
But patience is responding to others as the Lord has responded to you
By allowing people to be who they are and loving them in the mean time
By trusting that God is in control and not you
By laying things at the foot of the Cross and simply following where he leads
Bearing with one another in love
One translations says putting up with
enduring
I heard this great example the other day and I’m going to borrow it
Do you know that throwing as much weight as you can on a bar and slinging it up doesnt necessarily make you stronger
It takes focused and concentrated movements that allow your muscle to be under tension for an extended period of time
That’s how you get stronger
By spending more time under the weight, come on, your muscles get stronger and are able to endure longer
Someone didn’t catch it so I’m going to slow it down for you
The longer that you love someone through their mess through the frustration the longer that you spend enduring with a brother or sister in christ the stronger that love becomes and the more it can then bear in the future
The time that you edure with someone in love the more you are able to love them
He’s talking to you church
This is why church-hopping isn’t a thing
This is why getting mad at the pastor and leaving is unbiblical
This is why cancel culture is not how christians operate
WE are called to bear with one another
Now hear me (there is a such thing as healthy boundaries and you should not put yourself in positions to be abused or remain there)
That is not what this means
But this is saying that we are supposed to be able to overlook the little things, we are supposed to be able to find common ground because we are supposed to
Be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
Stop making worldly things kingdom divisions
You should be constantly looking to maintain… eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
So many of our brothers and sisters, Lord help us, are so easily offended because they are constantly looking for something to get mad at
They are constantly seeking for reasons to build walls
They look for misunderstandings and instead of seeking unity and clarification they are seeking ways to gossip and slander and spread lies in order to cause further divison
STOP THAT
There is one body and one Spirit
You were called to the one hope that belongs to your call
The church is not divided… any more than your hand is divided from your wrist
You were called to this unity
This is what radical Christianity looks like
Unity in the face of discomfort and sacrifice and hurt and frustration
Unity in the face of different opinions about the election
unity in the face of differnet racial backgrounds, different upbringing, different football team preferences
How do you live out your calling how do you live in a manner worhty
Live radically unified
Live in a way that the world looks into the relationships within the church and say the same things they said about the disciples
how in world are they family? How in the world
There is no way in the world, but in the Spirit we can live out this calling to be radically one