Bound Together (Eph 4.1-16) 8-1-2021

One thing that I like to do in my spare time is watch a good movie. It may be a thriller, a drama or a comedy. I tend to like them all. But there is one type of movie that I like more than others. That is an action-adventure film. Ones that can be so over the top that you have to shake your head at the stunts and the One thing that I like to do in my spare time is watch a good movie. It may be a thriller, a drama or a comedy, I tend to like them all. But there is one type of movie that I like more than others. That is action-adventure films. Ones that can be so over the top that you have to shake your head at the stunts and the storyline. But there is one kind of action adventure that I like more than others and that is the superhero movie. And in 2008 a new kind of superhero movie came to the big screen. I did not see the movie in theaters but when I did see it, I fell in love with the series that it began. That movie was Iron Man and it began what is known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe with more than a dozen movies that are in this genre.

Throughout these movies there are diverse characters each with their own abilities and their own quirks. The movies that they are in are singular and lots of fun to watch. But in 2012 there was a movie that brought all the characters together: The Avengers. In this movie, the singular characters of previous films all come together to form a team to stop the world from being taken over by space beings. It is a lot of fun to watch. Then after that movie there have been three other Avengers movies that tell a similar story of the superheroes uniting to help save earth. Each one is more elaborate than the last and in the last film there is a scene where allthe characters from previous movies (minor and major) come together to fight the biggest and baddest villain that they have to face. Needless to say, it is no spoiler to tell you that they win in the end. That is what happens in most of these movies. The good guy wins unless it is a build up for the next movie. That is what we expect and that is what is delivered. They may be formulaic, but boy are they a lot of fun to watch.

Now you may be wondering what superhero movies have to do with my sermon for today. Well, allow me to explain. In each of the individual films there is a focus on what the one superhero can do. Sometimes there is another superhero who is introduced and their capabilities are also shown. But when they all come together, as in the Avengers films, they unite to form one team with each using their abilities to fight off the bad guys. They are united but they are still individuals.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been preaching from Ephesians and talking about how Paul is communicating with this church and several others to help them in their Christian life. I have stated that the first three chapters are doctrine that tell the people what God has done and is doing for them. Last week I touched on prayer that showed the power of God’s love in overcoming divisions and obstacle that might be in front of the churches to whom Paul is writing. We will be looking at the unity of the Church though there may be differences in the members.

Today we begin a new section of the letter. Where the first three chapters dealt with doctrine and how to relate to God, this second section is about ethics, how to live and relate to other people. In other words, how to put the theology that they have learned into practice.

The first thing that Paul wants them to be is to lead a life worthy of their calling. They have been called by God to lead a life of service to God and to humanity. This calling comes only from God and God’s election of the community.

But Paul wants them to show this life “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”[1] It is the second part of this that I want us to look into further today “bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”[2]

When Paul is speaking of the bearing with one another with love, he is speaking of unity. In fact, he even says that they are to maintain the unity of the Spirit. What is this unity? Why is it important? What does it mean to us today?

Paul in this first part really leans into the oneness of the church and the oneness of God. In verses 4-6 he says this: “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”[3]Notice that in these three verses that the word one is stated seven times. When a word is stated that many times, then we should pay attention.

The one body refers to the body of Christ, the Church. It is composed of both Jews and Gentiles who are now one because of the one Spirit that called all of them together to be one. It is in the one hope that this calling brings what the Church is called to be.

In this hope there is one Lord who is lord over all, again this is Christ. And there is one faith in Jesus Christ, not many faiths in many gods. This is a unity statement here for those who were once in the pagan world where there were many gods. Now they are in the one faith. And there is one baptism. In the PC(USA) there is only one baptism. We do not “rebaptize” someone who was baptized in another church. That would take away from what Paul is saying here. Once you have been baptized that is all there is. It may not be in the form that we do here, but a baptism is a baptism. There is only one and that is into the Church, capital C, not into an individual church or a denomination. William W. Klein says this: “Baptism represents the sole means of initiation into the one Lord. It is a fundamental proof of unity.”[4]

Finally, we come to the one that is the foundation of the one statements: “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” God is the one who makes all the other statements possible and there is only the one God. That God who is above all, through all and in all is the one who brings the unity of the Church. This unity is in God who makes us all one.

Now Paul goes on to say that there are gifts that were given by Christ. These gifts are given to the saints to work in the Church to build it up, to make sure that the saints are on solid ground doctrinally and that they are growing mature in their faith. These gifts are for the unity of the Church and they are to be used until we come to the unity of faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ. This one word, until, is very important. This tells us that we are in the now and not yet moments of the church. The now is that we have been called by God and that our election is secure. The not yet is that we are still awaiting the return of Christ and that in that time we are to build up one another in the Body of Christ. IN all of this we have the unity that Christ bring in the Church. As Ralph P. Martin says “Unity is what we already have, since it is the work of the Spirit and the future aim toward which we must work.”

One thing to remember is that unity is not uniformity. We are to be united in Christ and in God, but we do not have to do the same things as everyone else. We are not clones of one another. We are all different. Paul lists different skills and gifts in many of his letters. These all are to help build up the Church not to build up the individual. Klein says this: “The church functions well because of his (God’s) gracious gifts, not as a result of the natural talents and abilities of its members…”[5] This is something well worth remembering when we think that our gifts are ours and that they are what builds up the Church. We must remember that our gifts are given by God for the unity of the Body that is in Christ.

Paul is telling the churches in Ephesians, and the ones today, that they are to be one in the body of Christ. Being one in Christ is how they are to begin living with each other. They all bring different gifts that were given to each by God and they are to use those gifts. However, those gifts are to be used for the building of the Church and to the glory of God, not for the aggrandizement of the individual. As we celebrate communion this Sunday, we are reminded that we are a community of individuals united in Christ. This is a union that is across the world, not just here in our local church. It is a reminder that we are called by Christ to be one in him.

Like the Avengers, we are to bring our individual strengths to a united team. We may be different and that is fine. But we are to remember that we are one in Jesus Christ and in God who is above all and through all and in all. [6] Let us be bound together in Christ so that we can go and do the good things that were planned for us to do long ago. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [4]Klein, William W. “Ephesians.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians–Philemon (Revised Edition). Ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland. Vol. 12. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. 109. Print. [5]Klein, William W. “Ephesians.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians–Philemon (Revised Edition). Ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland. Vol. 12. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. 111. Print. [6] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.