By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
October 15, 2023 – Ephesians 4:1-16
I love theology. I am kind of a geek that way. My favourite course at school was systematic theology. My brain is wired to think that way. And theology is important. Wrong belief usually leads to wrong action.
We have been working our way through the letter of Ephesians. Today marks the halfway point of that letter. Paul has been rifting on theology for the last three chapters. He has been telling us about the nature of Jesus, the power of the cross, the amazingness of grace. He has been telling us about the power of the gospel. As he writes this letter, he is in prison for preaching the gospel. Through this letter, he has been teaching the church about the nature of our spiritual life. It is a grand overview of theology.
However, as we get halfway through this book, as we get to chapter 4, things change. Paul moves from theology to application. He goes from telling us about the gospel to how to live out the gospel. He moves from belief to action.
The gospel always moves in that direction – from belief to action. In fact, when Scripture talks about faith – it has no concept of faith apart from actions. Now, we live in a post-enlightenment world where belief has been separated from action. That is the way the Canadian legal system is moving. You can believe whatever you want; you just can’t act on those beliefs.
In scripture, believing means acting on those beliefs. Let me illustrate the difference. In our modern world, we can say, “I believe that that the parachute will open when I jump out of the airplane.” But belief in the ancient world means, “I believe that the parachute will open – Jeronimo.” You base your life, your actions, upon that belief. In scripture, you cannot separate belief and action.
We have become used to separating belief from action in our world. I believe that cardio exercise is important. How much cardio did I do last week? Zero.
The trouble is when this separation of belief and action enters into the church. We saw it during Covid. Vaxers vs Anti-Vaxers. Maskers vs. anti maskers. The hatred I heard about – not here, thankfully – between different groups was rancid. We believe in love – but when someone disagrees with us – it’s war. As Christians, we profess love. Love of our neighbours. We are even called to love our enemies. But what happened in COVID was a break between belief and action that is neither good, biblical or right.
If our Bible Studies, small groups, and personal devotions are not changing how we live, we have separated belief from action and have a problem. But that is not us, Asbury – right?
*****
Come with me to Ephesians 4
Ephesians 4:1 (NIV)
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Paul says I am in prison for the Lord. I have told you about the gospel. You have been called from darkness to light. You have been called into the family of God. You have been called to be God’s very own. I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
I was sitting in on the Set Free Retreat in Steinbach, Manitoba – the same one that we are doing at Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church in a couple of weeks. The gospel was explained – and then a video clip of the crucifixion was played – And all I could think was – I am not worthy of the gospel — but thank you, Jesus, for the cross.
But here, Paul says, “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” I used to think – God, that is too big. I can never be good enough to be worthy. What would it look like, Lord? Do I have to start a big ministry? Do I have to somehow change the world? But that isn’t what Paul is talking about – at all. He explains what he means in the next few verses.
Ephesians 4:2–3 (NIV)
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.
That is what it means to live a life worthy of the call that you have received. In relationship to others – especially those in the body of Christ.
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.
This isn’t as hard as changing the world. It isn’t as hard as being worthy of the cross – which we will never be. But this isn’t easy either.
I am sure you have never noticed this – but I have noticed that people can be irritating sometimes. The reason why we need to be patient with someone is because they are trying our patience. The reason why we need to bear with one another is because people are quirky. Sometimes, people are right down annoying.
But then I remember that I can irritate and annoy people, too. Paul says – be completely humble and gentle.
We are completely humble when we recognize the worth of other people. Humility does not comment on our own personal worth; it is just a recognition of the worth of others. Jesus Christ was worth more than anyone, and yet the Bible records that he humbled himself. He recognized the worth of others.
We recognize the worth of others when we serve them. We don’t become subservient to them. But we recognize that they are worth the effort. People, part of the Christian life, is learning to treat other people as if they have value – because they do. Be completely humble and gentle – be patient, bearing with one another in love.
This means treating the waitress in the restaurant with respect. It means valuing the store clerk. It means not taking people for granted. People have worth. You can tell what a person is really like by how they treat, not their peers but the people under them. You can tell what a boss is like by how they treat the people that work for them. What are you like? Be completely humble.
This is especially true in the church. Your attitude towards your fellow believers is the measure of your spiritual life. Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Be Gentle.
This is a hard word to translate from the Greek language. The KJV translates it “meekness.” Gentleness is the quality of a strong personality who is master over themselves and a servant to others. I like to think of it as a velvet hammer. If people touch your character, they will find it soft and pleasing. But should they try to force you in a way that you know you shouldn’t go, they will find you strong and unyielding. That is gentleness.
Paul then goes on to say,
Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Unity is one of God’s highest values in the body of Christ. So, Paul says, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. Make every effort to be at peace with those around you.
This might mean that we have difficult conversations with one another. But we do so in humility – seeing the value in the other person. Peace isn’t necessarily sweeping our irritations under the rug. There are some things you have to deal with – but you do so in the right spirit.
Paul says, there are so many things that unify us.
Ephesians 4:4–6 (NIV)
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
If Jesus lives in you and Jesus lives in me, then we are both part of Christ’s body. The same Spirit that resides in you resides in me. We have the same hope in this life and in the next life. We have the same Lord, the same faith, the same baptism that testifies to the fact Jesus has done a work in my life. We have one God – we have the same heavenly Father who sees both you and me.
Are our irritants and annoyances really more important than what binds us together?
Listen, some things are worth breaking fellowship over. The authority of scripture, the divinity of Jesus, the need for the cross, calling things that are sin – not sins.
But it has been my observation that much disunity in the churches I have seen are not about those things. It is sometimes about preferences. Some churches have split over the colour of the carpet – or the style of music. Sometimes disunity happens when a person or group of people want power – or needs to push their agenda regardless of what it will do to others. – Which, of course, is the direct opposite of humility.
I had coffee with a guy who said – I am looking for a church that is anti-vax and teaches on prophecy. We talked for a while I said – you do realize that vax or antivax is not a spiritual issue? He says yes. Then I asked, so why are you making the bases of fellowship? He said, “Well, I want to be around like-minded people.”
But our like-mindedness is not based on the political issues of the day. It is not based on the football team or hockey team we cheer for. It is not based on what we like or don’t like. Our unity is based on
Ephesians 4:4–6 (NIV)
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But while we are one because of all those things – we are also different people.
Ephesians 4:7–8 (NIV)
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.”
Christ apportioned to us different measures of grace. He gave us different gifts. He made us different people. Different people see things differently. We need each other.
I am going to skip verses 9 and 10 today because that would take us down a rabbit trail that is best reserved for another time – so come with me to
Ephesians 4:11–13 (NIV)
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.
Paul lists a lot of other spiritual gifts in different letters to the church. But here, he focuses on leadership gifts – and how different people and different gifting contribute to the whole church.
An apostle carries authority and deals with things, and they affect the whole church. A prophet speaks truth into culture and will call people out about their sins. An evangelist shares the good news of Jesus and compellingly invites people to come to Jesus. A pastor is a shepherd who walks with people through the struggles of life. A teacher shows us how things fit together to live a godly life.
Different people, different approaches. All gifts are needed. If people with leadership gifting are doing their work, the rest of the church will be equipped for works of service.
When that happens, we as the body of Christ are built up, we are unified in the faith around Jesus, and we become spiritually mature – being filled with the fullness of God.
There are about 10 sermons in these three verses – and I don’t have time to preach any of them. The point I want you to take away today – is that there are different people and different gifting in the church. In spite of that, we are to
Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
When that happens, we move towards spiritual maturity. Look what happens to the spiritually mature.
Ephesians 4:14 (NIV)
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
When we started out in chapter 4 it sounded like living a life worthy of the Lord was going to put us in the middle of this wonderful community where everyone is completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another. Now we are told that in this wonderful community, there are going to be cunning and crafty and deceitful people and a whole lot of flaky teaching. So, what kind of community is this?
It is a community filled with people, some wonderful, some not so wonderful. There will be even some who will be problematic. How do you deal with these things?
You grow up. You become mature. Verse 14 says, “We will no longer be infants.”
There have always been flaky people and flaky teaching in the church. But with mass media and social media promoting all kinds of – what I can only call – Christian stupidity – we need to grow up. We need to become mature. So we will not be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching.”
Verse 15 says,
Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
The NLT puts it
Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)
15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
When you become mature, you are able to have hard but helpful conversations. You speak truth, but you speak it with love. If you can’t speak the truth in love – then wait until you can to have the conversation.
You see, if we are walking in a manner that is worthy of the Lord: Being humble and gentle, patient and bearing with each other. When we are seeking to live in unity and peace. When the gifts of the Spirit are at work in order to help us develop the fruit of the Spirit – where we are ministering where we are called to minister – then a few things happen.
We become mature and are walking out the full life of God. We don’t get tossed about by immature, or flaky teaching or even deceitful people. We learn how to have real conversations and challenging conversations – in love.
That is what a mature body of Christ looks like. Now, look what Jesus does.
Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)
16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Catch that last sentence Asbury because it is written to us. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
If we want a healthy church – the people God has called us to be – Then we serve the way that God has called us to serve. Note, healthy people grow healthy people.
*****
I have spent a lot of time over the years mentoring other pastors. This has given me windows into a lot of churches. Here is what I have found. A church can have an amazing mission statement. It can have a motivating vision. It can have all kinds of great programs. But that doesn’t matter if the church culture is off. Church culture is simply how we usually treat one another.
If there is disunity in a church – visitors smell it and stay away. If a church is healthy – people see that and want to be part of a healthy community.
It doesn’t matter what our vision is if we don’t walk in humility. We walk in a way where it is not all about me – but we really value others. When a church is full of love, people are seen and cared for.
We won’t all see things the same way – but what makes us one – one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God and Father – the things that make us one, are more important than the things that would separate us.
We value unity, and we value peace so much that we are willing to have hard conversations where we are full of love and truth – where we really value the other person.
We grow to maturity in Christ. So, even if weird teachings or weird people start to appear in church – we have the maturity in Christ to handle it. We are the kind of people that cause the people who hang around us to grow.
What I love about Asbury is that we have the building blocks to be this kind of church. I believe we are moving towards this.
But as I have been talking, maybe the Spirit has been pointing out stuff in your own life. Maybe you haven’t been humble or patient. May you aren’t in unity the way you need to be with a brother or a sister.
My question is – what are you going to do about it? The first thing I would suggest is that you start praying about it. Maybe the change has to happen in you first before anything else can happen. Maybe you need to have a grace-filled, difficult conversation. What this passage of scripture is talking about is the stuff that makes up community life.
Will you do your part to become mature? Will you do your part to become healthy?
Sermon Questions
Introduction
What are you giving thanks for this week?
What are you praying about this week?
Digging in
1. Read Ephesians 4:1-16. What is a word or phrase that stands out to you as you read this?
2. Read Verses 1-3. What does living a life worthy of the Lord look like? (Hint see verses 2-3)
Define: humble
Gentle
Patience
Bearing with one another.
What does the unity of Spirit look like in community?
3. Read verses 4-6. What is Paul trying to emphasize in these verses? What difference should these verses make to our fellowship with each other?
4. Read verses 7-8. What do these verses tell us about Jesus’ work in our lives?
5. Read verses 11-13. What spiritual gifts are identified here? What do these spiritual gifts look like in operation? What five things (maybe more) does the operation of these gifts do in the body of Christ?
6. Read verse 14. What is the difference between mature and immature believers in this verse? What kind of things are immature believers likely to be taken in by these days?
7. Read verse 15. What marks a person growing into maturity? How does speaking the truth in love foster Christlikeness?
8. Read verse 16. How does the body of Christ become healthy and full of love?