Growing Up in Christ Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16 A Sermon Preached by Ernie Thompson Westminster Presbyterian Church Greensboro, NC May 14, 2017 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ s gift. 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body s growth in building itself up in love.
I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called. 2 One of the things that happens to you when you decide to become a pastor is that people starting asking you about your call story how and when and why you think that God might be calling you to go to seminary and become a pastor. But Paul is not just talking to pastors here he is talking to Christians, to all who have heard the good news of Jesus Christ and have responded to Christ call. Paul says that all of us have been called. All of us have a call story, because the Christian faith is not just a set of doctrines to believe. It is a calling to a new way of life. And so I want to think this morning about a life worthy of our calling as followers of Jesus Christ. 1. This life to which we have been called takes place in the context of a community, and community is not easy, and so Paul begins by telling us to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And that starts with humility. Humility is the first key to unity and peace. Now, we live in a culture where humility is in short supply. In the world around us it seems like everyone is convinced that they are right about everything, and even more, that everyone who does not agree with them is either an idiot or evil. And sometimes it s easy for that lack of humility to creep into the church and into us. Paul tells us to live a life worthy of our calling with all humility and gentleness. Now, we can still have convictions. We still need to seek the truth, and we should share with others what we believe to be true, and we should try to correct them if we think they are wrong. But those conversations need to be done in humility, with a willingness to listen to those we disagree with, knowing that we might learn something from them, and we might even occasionally be wrong. Paul also says that we should be patient with each other, and bear with one another in love.
3 We don t live in a very humble culture and we don t live in a very patient culture either and I ll confess that I m as guilty of being impatient as anyone. I m always looking for which checkout line at the grocery store is moving the fastest and which lane of traffic might have less delay. But Paul says that to stay together we have to be patient with one another. We have to bear with one another in love. That s important advice in the church and in our families, in our community and in our nation and in our world to be patient with each other, bearing with one another in love. Paul especially wants us as Christians to be unified because we all worship and serve the same Lord. No matter how many little things we disagree about, no matter how many big things we disagree about, we all serve the same Lord, and so Paul says we need to stay together. Paul says, there is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. I m never sure how literally to take Paul s alls. In Ephesians 1:10 Paul says that God has revealed to us the mystery of God s will, a plan to gather up all things in Christ. And now, in v.6 of our lesson Paul says that God is above all and through all and in all. And if God is in all, if there is something of God in each one of us, then need to stay together. Paul also wants us to stay together because he knows that we need each other. We need each other for support and encouragement. We need each other for correction and accountability. We need each other to speak the truth in love. We need each other to grow in our faith. In a book called Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul, Erwin McManus says that character is formed in community as is anything of great worth and lasting meaning. The life to which we have been called takes place in community. And so Paul tells us to be humble and gentle with each other, to be patient, and to bear with each other, to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 2. Paul then turns to talk about spiritual gifts. Paul writes in verse 7, Each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ s gift.. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, in order to equip the saints for the work of ministry. The gifts Paul mentions here are all leadership roles. The apostles are those first followed Christ and then shared his teachings and actions. Prophets have the gift of seeing clearly what God is doing in the world and how we ought to respond to that. Evangelists have a special gift of being able to share the good news with others. Pastors and teachers are those who teach and nurture congregations. But notice that the purpose of all these leadership gifts is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Now Paul calls all Christians saints, not because we are perfect, but because we have been called and set aside for special purpose, to serve God in the church and in the world. The saints here are you, and me, all those who have been called by God. And each one of us have been given some gift for ministry. In other places Paul lists a wide range of spiritual gifts. Paul says that some have the gift of hospitality the gift of making others feel welcome. Some have the gift of encouragement, the gift of being able to say the right thing to life someone s spirits. Paul says that some have the gift of administration, the gift of organizing people or activities. Some have the spiritual gift of being a helper, the gift of being willing to work behind the scenes without having to be in the spotlight. Each one of us has been given some spiritual gift, but none of us have every spiritual gift, and so we need each other as we use our gifts in the church and in the world. The Confession of 1967 makes clear that we don t just use these gifts in and through the church. It says instead and wherever its members are, there is the church. The Confession says, The church disperses to serve God wherever its members are, at work, or play, in private or in the life of society. Their witness is the church s evangelism. Their daily action in the world is the church s mission to the world. The quality of their relation with other persons is the measure of the church s fidelity.
5 Each member is the church in the world, endowed by the Spirit with some gift of ministry. There are many different gifts, and every gift is important. And so Paul challenges each of us to claim our gift, and then use that gift to build up the body and to minister to the needs of others around us. 3. And then finally Paul tells us to grow up to quit being like children and to move instead towards maturity. When my nephew, Jonathan, was one year old, my brother Jimmy posted a short video of Jonathan and their dog Molly playing with a ball together. Jonathan has learned how to pick up a ball and throw it towards the dog Molly. And Molly has also learned how to pick up the ball in his mouth and throw it back towards Jonathan. And both baby and dog seem equally delighted. Every time the dog picks up the ball and nudges it back towards Jonathan, Jonathan laughs and laughs and laughs. Jimmy labeled that video, Jonathan begins to approach Molly s cognitive and physical development. It is amazing to watch a baby grow and develop, both cognitively and physically. They learn to distinguish between the many sounds they hear different words and they learn that the sound ball refers to that round red thing that bounces around. They learn how to use those fascinating fingers at on their hands to pick things up and move things around. They learn how to make sounds themselves, and eventually to speak a whole language. It is an amazing thing and a source of great joy to see a child begin to grow and develop. And that s what you want for your children and grandchildren for them to grow and develop. Now, growing up is not always easy. I remember when one of our children was young and going through one of those phases that can just drive you crazy. A friend said not to worry, it was just a stage they were going through. That was some comfort until I realize that as soon as my children passed through one stage there was always another new one waiting and so your child is always going through a stage. As our children get older, those stages sometimes get more difficult and even heart breaking. But all these stages are all a part of growing up. And mixed in
with all the heartache, there is also great joy here or watching our children grow up and become mature. Paul tells us that God does not want us to stay spiritual babies forever. He wants us to be on this journey of discovery and growth. He wants us to grow up and become more and more like Christ. 6 Now this spiritual growth is something God does through the work of the Spirit. But we are called to respond to the Spirit and cooperate with the Spirit in that growth. That s one of the reasons that we gather for worship each Sunday morning, because we know that this is a place where we can grow in our faith in our love. And so we set aside this time each week to gather with our church family and to focus on God. We speak to God in our prayers and our hymns. And we listen for God to speak to us in the Scripture and in sermon. It may not be anything dramatic but slowly but surely regular worship will help us mature, and will deepen our faith. We grow in our faith as we make time to study Scripture, and to talk with friends and fellow church members about what God might be saying to us through the Scriptures. So that s another important part of what we do here at the church to give opportunities for study and fellowship and conversation. We grow in our faith when we reach out to serve others. That s one reason we at Westminster are so committed to involving as many members as possible in some form of mission or service. In our mission and service we seek to embody God s love for others, but we also know that involvement in mission changes us and helps us to grow more mature in our faith. Paul says, We must no longer be children, but must grow up in every way We must grow up because spiritual growth and maturity allow us to be grounded and steady when the various winds of life blow hard which they do on a regular basis. We must grow up so that we won t be distracted or led astray, and because there are lots and lots of folks out there making false promises about where to find contentment and happiness and peace. God wants us to grow up, both as individuals and as a church, so that we will become more and more like Christ.
7 Paul begs us to live a life worthy of the calling to which each of us have been called, and then he gives us three words of advice: 1) Stay together. That s where growth happens when bear with one another and are patient with each other and make every effort to maintain unity. 2) Claim your gift and use that gift for the benefit of others. In using our gifts we will grow ourselves and our gifts will help others to grow as well. 3) And grow up. God wants us to mature, to grow in our faith and in our love and in our likeness to Christ. Stay together. Claim your gift. And grow up. That is Paul s advice. That is God s intention for his children. And that is God s gracious invitation for you and for me.