Jul 19

Written by: jyankey
7/19/2011 2:58 PM 

"Unity and Connection in Christ"

Ephesians 4.1-7, 11-16

Pastor Allison Yankey

Sunday, July 17, 2011

 

For those of you who don't know, A.W. Tozer is one of my absolute favorite authors. His perspective is so fresh and bold, and his words on how we should view God and what the Christian life should look like are so encouraging. I wanted to open this morning with a quote from his book The Pursuit of God. In this particular chapter, Tozer is speaking about faith saying that it is simply "directing the heart's attention to Jesus." He continues in his thought process as he defines faith and unity within the body of Christ, which is what we are talking about this morning. Tozer says, "Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship." There is a second piece to this quote that I will add later, but for now, let's focus in on what Tozer is saying. He is simply saying that if we, as a body, desire to be unified and of one mind, we must stop seeking to accommodate and compromise our beliefs so that we are in tune with one another, but rather, we should each be seeking a higher relationship with Christ who will direct our belief patterns and therefore unify us.

 

Let's dive into this morning's Scripture to see if we can't unpack this a little. If you would, please turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Now, this particular letter was written by Paul presumably to a church in Ephesus, as verse 1 suggests. More broadly, this book was written to the whole of the faithful followers of Christ in that area. I love the book of Ephesians for a few reasons, but most importantly because it talks a lot about what our faith should look like in a practical way and speaks about the lavishness and immensity of God's love and grace for us.

 

When we get over to chapter 4, Paul has already spent three chapters defining and explaining all the work that has been done for us on the cross by Jesus Christ and the excessiveness of the grace of God. He tells us how the Holy Spirit has been and will continue to be at work in our lives and of the unity we should experience with other believers regardless of their background. So, chapter 4 opens up at verse 1 and gives us an explanation of the consequences of grace. In the one little opening word of verse 1, "therefore," Paul is basically saying, based on all that God has done for you, and all that you have read in the previous three chapters, here is how you are to live up to that which you have been given. Don't squander what you've got going for you. You have reason to behave as I am about to instruct you.

 

So, "therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord," Paul is quite literally a prisoner in Rome for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And here come the instructions, "beg you to lead a life worth of your calling," pause, "for you have been called by God." I love the way this is worded in the New Living Translation, which is what we are reading from today. It's almost as if Paul can hear the protests from his prison cell. "Please, lead a life worthy of your calling." "Oh, but Paul, I haven't been called. God can't do anything special with my life." Oh no. Paul won't accept that answer. He wants each person to know and realize that he or she is gifted and called by God. Do you know that this morning? Each of us is unique and each of us brings something different to the table. Some of us have more public callings like preaching, speaking, and teaching, and some of us have more private callings like administrative work, giving, and praying. But each of us is gifted in some way, and each of us is called by God to respond to that gifting by serving others.

 

And so, we are to live in such a way to reflect that we are called. We are to first, recognize that we are called by God and see the beautiful creation that we are. God hasn't made anyone without a purpose, so let's rejoice in the fact that we were created to do something, to change someone's life, to impact another, to bring joy and healing and restoration to those around us. Second, we are to realize that others are noticing the way we live our lives, and so we are to be responsible individuals who positively represent the name of Jesus Christ. Verses 2 and 3 shed some additional insight on what it means to live a life worth of our calling.

 

Verse 2, "Always be humble and gentle." Let's stop here for just a moment. Always is a pretty big word, right? Some of our parents and teachers have taught us that we aren't supposed to use the words always and never because there are few things in life that are consistently always and never. And yet, I think the word always is exactly what Paul meant to say. There is never a circumstance where you should not be humble and gentle particularly when you consider how you treat other people. We should be checking our egos at the door, recognizing that the service of others is far more important than the glory we can bring to our own names. And even though there are times for speaking the truth in love, it is not we who are to judge, but God the Father, and so we are to be gentle in our interactions with others.

 

Next, "be patient with each other." How many of you would consider yourselves impatient? I think I would probably categorize myself there too. In our self-driven, consumeristic, instant gratification world, it's hard not to be a person who wants what they want when they want it. And yet, we are called to be patient with one another, accepting and allowing for others to have faults. Let me give you an example. Several months ago, we took the youth on an event and stopped at a fast food restaurant for dinner. The service was a little slower than usual and one of the counter staff seemed less than excited to see a group of 20 teenagers hungry for fries and burgers. As we were sitting down to eat, one of the youth commented on the lack of friendliness from this particular staff member, and it lead into an interesting conversation. In a short amount of time, we were able to shift it from our perception, which was that this person was upset with us, not treating us with a smile, and generally not pleasant for us to be around, to wondering what was going on in this person's life that had affected their attitude that day. We began to wonder what circumstances might be surrounding their life, what hardships they may have had to endure, or what else could be preoccupying their thoughts. You see, by simply beginning to think about what the other person might be going through, our judgments instantly shifted from what was I gaining from the encounter to how could I help improve this person's day. It went from receiving and self-focused living to giving and serving another in need.

 

And that is precisely what Paul was identifying here. We are to make "allowance for each other's faults because of our love." And I would add "for God, and therefore for each other." You see, the crux of the gospel is this, we are to first and foremost love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are to give all we have and all we are to Him and to seek to make that relationship strong and unified. Once we've got that figured out, the rest will flow naturally. Because our fellowship is with Christ, which you can read all about in chapter 1 of Ephesians, Christ then gives us fellowship with others. Are we making sense yet this morning?

 

Let me try this another way. Many of you were here last week when Anna spoke to us about struggling to forgive a classmate of hers because of the way she was treated for several years. And I imagine that many of us can relate with holding a serious grudge like that against someone, some of us have held grudges for years upon years, if not for decades. And if Anna was to try to go to forgive this girl, on her own, simply because she should and because it was the humane thing to do, she would probably struggle and fail time and time again. But, if, however, Anna was to first go to God, who is perfect, and consider her own position before Him, which is imperfect, and consider the extensiveness of God's forgiveness on her own life, consider the places where she had fallen and God had picked her back up time and time again, she might look differently at this classmate of hers. You see, when we consider that God forgives us no matter who we are, no matter what we do – even though we are so far from Him, so different than Him, we have to reconsider our relationships with others, whom we are very similar to. We are all human, we are all wounded, and out of that woundedness, we wound others. And so, it is only fair for us to be patient with those around us, to make allowances for those around us, because we are all fighting the same battle. We have to keep our perspectives in check and not expect so much, especially perfection, from everyone else.

 

And Paul makes it clear what the aim is in verse 3. "Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." If we, as Christians, can't get along with each other, how in the world are we going to get along with non-Christians and people whose beliefs differ from our own? We all have to be tuned to Christ so that we can be tuned to one another. The in-fighting and the bitterness and the resentment and the judgment has no place in the Kingdom of God amongst the people of God.

 

Why? Because of verses 4-6 – listen closely. "For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all." The Scriptures point out time and time again that we serve a God who is focused only on unity. All the way back to Genesis chapter 2 where Adam and Eve become one flesh, as we celebrate in our marriage ceremonies, to Revelation chapter 22 where God and His people are again physically reunited, the Scriptures talk about the unity in the Kingdom of God and amongst the people of God. The core of our belief as Christians rests on the fact that we serve one God and believe in one faith that is true and right. There is no room for division. We serve a God who is all about unity.

 

And then Paul moves into the importance of unity. He has given us the theological and Scriptural background for unity, but now, he wants to tell us what we can do if we are truly unified. Verses 7-10 give us some theological content about Christ and who He is, and then verse 11 jumps right into the topic of spiritual gifts and how God has specifically gifted and called us. And so, Paul lists these specific gifts in verse 11 naming apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These certainly aren't the entirety of all the spiritual gifts. More can be found in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. But basically, these lists give us some idea of how God has gifted us in order to impact and affect others for the Kingdom of God. These are ways in which we can spread His Word and love on His people.

 

But I think Paul's instructions in verse 12 are very revealing. Most of these gifts he has listed are ones that are usually associated with leadership of some sort, and so he gives the additional instruction that it is their responsibility to "equip God's people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ." Notice, it does not say that it is the job of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to do all the work and to make sure that everyone is being filled and all their needs are being met. Instead, he says that these people are called to equip God's people, to give others the skills they need to build up and strengthen the church. I think sometimes we get caught up in believing the fallacy that only those who have been called into ministry can really do the work of ministry. But Paul is very clear here to say, "Nope. It's their job to teach you how to do ministry, and your responsibility to act on that teaching." And all of this is so that we can have a stronger, more unified church – both locally, such as our particular church, and globally, such as the big C, all Christians everywhere.

 

And we can't get an instruction without knowing when we have successfully completed it. So Paul tells us in verse 13 that this will continue until we are so unified and so mature that we have met every standard of Jesus Christ, which probably won't happen until His return. So, this is to be a continual process for as long as we live. We will never stop needing to be taught how to minister to one another, nor will we ever stop needing to truly minister to one another.

 

Verse 14 tells us what true maturity in Christ looks like - having a pure understanding of God's truth and not being swayed by every new idea that comes through. But instead, and here is our goal, verse 15 says so beautifully, "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." And y0u sit here this morning and contemplate the direction your life is headed, do you find that you are growing in every way more and more like Christ, or do you find that every day is a struggle to find some resemblance of Christ in what you do and say?

 

You see, God designed His people in such a way that we need each other in order to be as healthy, strong, and powerful as God has created us to be. Verse 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." I love the imagery that the New International Version gives saying, "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament…" Have you ever had or known someone who has had an injury of some sort? Maybe you have pulled a muscle, torn a ligament, broken a bone, or otherwise been disabled or incapacitated in some way. Your body isn't able to function as it did before you had that injury, right? You have to wait until it is healed and functioning as it was designed to in order for your whole body to really feel like it is back in order again. So too with the body of Christ. Each of us represents a different part of the body of Christ.

 

For a real literal example, I read of a stewardship campaign one year that took a life size picture of Jesus, cut it up into puzzle pieces, mailed each of the pieces out to its congregation members, and as people turned in their pledges, they brought up the puzzle pieces to recreate that original life size picture of Jesus. So someone would be a thumb, someone else a right eye, and someone else a kneecap, until all of Jesus was represented. We are that figurative body of Christ. Each of us functions as a part of the body so that the whole of the body can function as it was designed to. If someone is not doing their part or is acting as a torn ligament or broken bone, we cannot be as strong as we are capable of being, and therefore not nearly as effective as God has called us to be. It is not simply the responsibility of just one or two or twenty people to carry out the mission of God in this church. Rather, it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to carry out the mission of God in this church.

 

I ran across a fantastic Peanuts cartoon the other day that illustrates this so well. Lucy walks up to Linus and demands that he change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he doesn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus.

 

"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."

 

"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?"

 

You see, when we all work together, when we all contribute what God has gifted us with, we can truly accomplish something powerful. Our church has so much potential waiting to be unlocked, so many of you are gifted in ways that would so benefit and strengthen this church and this community, but you've got to be willing to look to Christ and follow after His lead. Consider, how has God equipped you to serve our church and our community? What risks and steps are you willing to take for the sake of Christ? For those of you who are already serving, and some of you serving in about fifteen different ministries, thank you. Now consider how you can bring someone alongside of you, to teach and train and equip them so that they too can begin serving with you. And for those of you who have not yet found a place or the courage to serve, let's begin this journey together. I would love to talk to you after the service or at some later date to begin to explore how God has gifted and called you to serve those around you, for you have been called. Let us not neglect that gracious calling of Christ on our lives.

 

And let us not neglect the unity to which we are called. Let me quote again Tozer with the second piece added to it. And consider it in light of all that you have heard this morning. "Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. … The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life."

 

Let us pray.