Unity and Walking with God

1 1 Ephesians 4:1-6 16May21 Unity and Walking with God

SU What do you think of when you hear the word unity? MerriamWebster offers this in part, “the quality or state of not being multiple: oneness; a condition of harmony: accord; the quality or state of being made one: unification.” Unity is something that we all desire, however, our world and country are far from walking in unity, many families, marriages, relationships do not walk in unity. This applies to the church too; many churches do not walk in unity with God and one another. I am going to read from the NABS translation rather than the NIV today.

Ephesians 4:1–6 (NASB95) 1Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

I: (v1) “I, the prisoner of the Lord,” Paul was in prison for fulfilling his calling from the Lord, but this did not stop him, he continued to walk 2 2 in unity with God, and instead of asking why and wondering why he was in prison, he wrote several letters, and this one to the Ephesians, encouraging them to remain faithful to God, reminding them of the need of unity, encouraging them to walk in a matter worthy of their calling from God. Implore: beg, plead Worthy: deserving A: Paul doesn’t just make a halfhearted request of the Ephesians, “the prisoner of the Lord, implore you.” We translate the Greek to urge, beseech, beg, plead, implore. Merriam Webster defines implore, “to make an earnest request, a request in a sincere or urgent manner.” Paul implores you to walk “worthy” of the calling. Worthy is also translated as deserving; he says to walk in a fashion that is deserving of the calling you have received from God. None of us are worthy or deserving of the gift of salvation and eternal life with God. But He offers it to us anyway. None of us are perfect as we attempt to walk in unity of our calling, but Paul is saying that we must try, we must do our best, and the fact is God 3 3 will help you as you strive to walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling you have received. Just by looking at the words Paul has used in this one verse it is obvious that Paul understands and is trying to convey the importance of walking in a manner worthy of ones calling. The original recipients of the letter would have known that Paul was a prisoner for his eagerness and zeal to walk in a manner worthy of his calling for the Lord. We must understand and remember this fact too as we are also called to walk in this same manner, even if it requires persecution and hardship. II: Requirements of unity (II: and add each letter on slide) There are three requirements that must be displayed in the life of a Christian in order to walk in unity. A1: Humility: A requirement of unity is possessing a spirit of humility. Humility is not weakness; it is not allowing others to mistreat you or walk all over you. Blue Letter Bible defines humility as; “having a humble opinion of one’s self, a deep sense of one’s (moral) littleness, modesty, humility, lowliness of the mind.” None of us are perfect, and possessing humility reminds us of this fact. 4 4 The Greeks in the 1st century A.D. had a very negative opinion of humility, but the life of Jesus on Earth displayed the exact opposite, He was and remains the perfect example of the virtue of humility. His life on Earth was one of sacrifice without consideration of what others thought, a life of sacrifice unto death as He humbled Himself and ultimately out of humility, paid the price for your sins on the Cross. The goal of every Christian is to personally grow closer to Christ and to grow stronger in displaying the image of Christ in your life. Therefore, humility is an irreplaceable and vital aspect of the character and life of the Christian. A2: Gentleness: Humility and gentleness appear to be two separate requirements for unity. In a sense they are, but the way Paul uses “and” he is viewing them as one thought or idea rather than two, humility and gentleness must be one cohesive unit. Some translations translate gentleness as meekness. Gentle is defined as, “free from harshness, sternness, or violence, kind, docile.” Aristotle said this of meekness. “the praus (the Greek word we get meekness/gentleness from) man is the one who has the virtue of the mean between two 5 5 extremes.” It is strength under control, the one who is angry at the right time and for the right reason. (1 Corinthians 4:21; 2 Timothy 2:25; Titus 3:2, list reference only) Gentleness in the New Testament is often used concerning one’s attitude toward the Word of God, but it is also often used to outline one’s attitude towards other people. Gentleness, in the context here is how we treat one another. If we do not treat each other with gentleness, we will not walk in unity with God or one another. There is much more that can be covered concerning humility and gentleness, but it is plain to see how important this is to possess unity with God and one another in the body of Christ. We must display humility and gentleness. B: Patience: Patience is nothing new to apply to your life. We teach children to be patient, wait patiently as I talk, wait patiently for a toy they want. Some adults need to be taught this lesson we teach children. But Paul is not talking about this, he is talking about the patience we extend to one another. As I prepared this message, I read something that spoke to me, as I present the message to you, I am also presenting it for the second time to myself. I know Jesus has a sense of 6 6 humor. I tend to get frustrated when I get behind someone going under the speed limit. And now the ironic, or most likely it is God’s way of teaching me. But it is me driving 25 miles a hour as people line up behind me going down the road. The patience Paul is referring to has been viewed in two fashions, 1: patience during times of suffering, trials, and storms. Waiting patiently and relying on God’s grace, placing faith in the knowledge that He is with you. 2: But it is more likely that the context Paul is outlining here is that this is being slow to anger, slow to avenging the wrong that others inflict on you or loved ones. God is patient with a sinful humanity, God is patient with you. (Romans 2:4; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Peter 3:20). It must be the desire of Christians to display the patience the Father has displayed to humanity to others. Patience is not passive, it is active, it must always be active in the life of the Christian, it must be extended to all people. Without patience there is no unity with Christ or one another. C: Showing tolerance for one another in love: Tolerance, accepting, bearing. We, as already mentioned, are not perfect, so we 7 7 cannot expect anyone else to be. So, guess what, when someone else makes a mistake, you must extend tolerance out of love for them. Jesus extended tolerance as He walked the earth. Matthew 17:17 (NIV)17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus has tolerated the faults of humanity for generations, He has tolerated YOUR faults, He has tolerated my faults, He does this out of love, we must likewise extend tolerance to others. It is not just the faults of others that we must display tolerance for, it is the differences of opinion that WILL arise when there are more than one person around. Where two people gather, a difference of opinion will arise. Out of love these must be addressed with tolerance. This does not mean you accept or condone differences of opinion that are contrary to God’s commands. But to walk in unity with one another as a family of God we must, out of love for one another show tolerance. I read this, “It is ‘that mutual tolerance without which no group of human beings can live together in peace’ (Stott)” Acceptance and tolerance are two different concepts. 8 8 Conclusion: There is so much to cover in what Paul has written in chapter 4, this is just two verses of the 6 that I intended to cover today, and I plan on eventually reaching verse 13. But these will have to wait for the coming weeks. But leave here remembering you must walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received. You have indeed received a calling from God. And to walk worthy, to live in unity with God and each other Paul has given us three requirements, humility and gentleness, patience, and tolerance for one another in love. Remember love. Each of these is founded, strengthened in love for God and one another. Without love you cannot display humility and gentleness to others, without love you will not extend patience to others, without love you will not show tolerance to those have made mistakes or those you disagree with, and without love you will not walk worthy of your calling nor in unity with God and one another