Gift Wrapping

Ephesians 4:7-13

Summary

Christ has given each of us gifts. These gifts are for the purpose of serving the church and the world. This is how we reach unity and maturity in Christ.

Do you have a gift? Open it. Use it.

Unopened Gifts

We have this fun tradition in my family around the holidays. We buy toys for each other, gifts, wrap them up so you don’t know what they are, and then on December 25th we all open them. Fun.

Dylan was very concerned this year because he didn’t see any with his name on them.

By the end of Christmas, there were no unopened gifts. Each of us had hunted out every gift with our name on it and torn it open.

Over the next few days, the kids played with most of their gifts, trying them out.

… except… We got our kids a trampoline and that huge box is sitting in our living room because I don’t want to put it together out in the snow.

The gift was opened, but it sits unused.

Gifts in the Church

In our passage today, we continue in Chapter 4, and Paul is sharing his vision of what the church should be and how to grow into that.

What is the part you play in that? What is your role? Or, we use this phrase, what is your gift?

What is your gift? Do you have one? Are you using it? Is it a problem if you’re not?

Paul’s Vision for the Church

Ephesians 4:7-13

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high,

he took many captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Verse 7

He gives “grace” to each one of us. Usually we hear this term “grace” and we think of our salvation. But even in the way we usually think of “Grace” (getting something we don’t deserve), it has this sense of gift. And the rest of the passage clarifies that Christ is giving gifts to his people, which is an act of grace.

We don’t know what the gifts are or what the purpose is yet, but it is absolutely clear that everyone gets grace. There is no one left out. Christ is better than Santa, no one gets left out, no one gets coal.

Everyone gets gift(s) and they have a purpose.

Better than Moses (Psalm 68)

Then he quotes from the Old Testament, from Psalm 68, to sort of illustrate his point. Then he gets distracted by another little insight from the song he is quoting, then he pulls it all together.

So he quotes from Psalm 68:18 which says:

When you ascended on high,

you took many captives;

you received gifts from people,

even from[h] the rebellious—

that you,[i] Lord God, might dwell there.

Note that there is a note on the word from in the 4th line. That note says that the word might be for, and this is the way Paul references it. He says “it is written,” which since it is a song, might be something like “you know the familiar song we sing in worship…”

And it references Mount Sinai and, in the interpretive tradition that scribes built up around the psalm, it refers to Moses ascending Mount Sinai to meet God, and perhaps the gifts for the people are the 10 commandments.

He ascended

Then, I love this because the NIV goes ahead and throws it in parenthesis, it is like Paul gets so excited by an insight he just had, he has to say it right then.

9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

I read the excitement in his voice… but there is quite some debate on what exactly he means by “he descended.”

It could mean that Jesus descended into the grave, like into Hades, before ascending into heaven. This is intriguing and connects with passages like Romans 10 but… the contrast here seems to just be heaven and earth.

So it could easily mean that Christ descended on to earth, as He did, to become incarnate in flesh as Jesus of Nazareth. It then becomes a reference to the pre-incarnate existence of the Son of God. This could be the meaning, but the order is odd. Also, he seems to be inferring the “descending” from the “ascending” as if the ascending were obvious and the descent is then implied.

Finally, it could mean that Christ, having ascended to the heavens, but since he is now giving gifts to his people, or earlier, living in the hearts of his people, he must then have descended to dwell in and among us and give us gifts now. I like this last one best because it actually connects to his larger point of giving gifts to his people.

Phewphtah. That’s quite a parenthesis… then he gets going again!

So Christ gave Ministers

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

This is not an exhaustive list. But now instead of individual gifts to each person, he is giving persons as gifts to the people.

He gifts to all the people. But he also gives gifted people to the people. That’s fun.

This is not attempting to list every possible role in the church, but these are very important roles in the church. People have really examined this list in search of guidance on how to structure the church.

Apostles and prophets, for example, are mentioned earlier in Ephesians as part of the foundation of the church, and so there might be a kind of past tense category for those two, implying that their role has or is passing. It’s not a strong argument by the way.

The last one, teachers, has no direct article like the rest and so might be grouped with “pastors” so as to say “teaching pastors” or “pastors who are also teachers” which is a primary role of pastors as we know them.

Neat stuff, but all somewhat beside the main point. Jesus gives gifted people to the people. And for a purpose…

All for a Purpose

12 to equip his people for works of service,

The reason he gives persons as gifts to the church is to “equip” them for works of service.

Equipping has this sense of ‘repairing’, ‘equipping, preparing’, ‘completing’, and ‘training, disciplining’.

But you don’t equip someone just to look good, everyone is being equipped for a purpose: to do works of service. Works of “ministry” that is, because everyone is a minister. Elsewhere is says we all have the “ministry of reconciliation.” I love that.

The early church was famous for great acts of service, great acts of love. And this is what Jesus said his disciples would be famous for.

But now it turns back to all people. Some are equippers, all are for works of service…

…so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

So this unity we are talking about. This “one”ness. We have a roadmap now. We get there, as a people, when all of our people, are equipped and doing acts of service.

Next week we will talk more about this “maturity”, knowledge of the Song of God, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. There is some mystery there. But unity and maturity, that is where we are headed. And now we have a roadmap.

Each person in the church has a gift from Christ. Some are gifted to the church as equippers. All are equipped and gifted for works of service. That builds the body towards unity in the faith.

What is Your Gift – What is Your Work

Christ has a gift wrapped for you.

Have you opened it? Are you like Dylan, wondering if there is anything under the tree with your name on it?

We have lists elsewhere in Scripture under the heading “gifts of the Holy Spirit.” Those aren’t inclusive either, they are examples. Gifts of mercy, gifts of teaching, gifts of wisdom, gifts of knowledge, gifts of discernment, gifts of prayer, of evangelism, prophecy. Gifts of generosity.

Christ has a gift with your name on it. Something that you may be naturally good at, and he puts the “super” on your “natural.” But of course, he gave you the “natural” ability as well.

Christ has a gift for you. Open it.

Opening it means discovering what your gift is. And that often means trying it out. One great thing about a family church like this is that we have opportunity and time to help you try your gifts out. Help you discover them.

Christ has a gift for you. You haven’t been left out.

Use Your Gift

You have to use your gift. Perhaps you have been called, as I have, gifted to the church for the purpose of equipping the church. That means there is a gift under the tree addressed to Next Step Christian Church. Two boxes. You open one and SURPRISE. It’s me – Pastor Dusty. I am literally God’s gift to you. ;)

The other box is going ksshshs. Ksshshssh. And it isn’t Darth Vader. Open it quick, Pastor Rod needs more oxygen!

Some are gifted for the equipping of the church, but all are gifted for works of service. I don’t see that equippers are excluded from that. In fact, the way we equip others is certainly a work of service.

What are your works of service? Christ has given you gifts to serve his people, inside and outside the church. Are you using those gifts?

Is your gift like our trampoline? Unwrapped, known, but unused. Unusable.

Your gift may be dangerous like the trampoline. Testing out a teaching gift? Terrifying, for both the teacher and those being taught. You test it out, I may have to say “no, that was awful. Pure heresy.”

But we already have the unifying manner in which we will be using our gifts.

2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Working hard at the four graces we covered last week: humility, gentleness, patience and mutual forbearance – we then have the space, the peace, in which to open our gifts from Jesus and put them to use.

That is a beautiful thing.

A Vision for the Church

Here is a vision for 2016.

Every member of Next Step Christian Church, using their gift to serve God’s people, both inside and outside the church.

Every one of you has a gift. Open it. Use it.

…so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.