Be Filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:18

Introduction

            Many years ago when our son was in Sunday School, one of his teachers gave him an evergreen tree. He planted it in our back yard and throughout the summer he was faithful in watering the tree regularly. It was a dry summer and we did not water the rest of the lawn so the grass around the tree was much more lush than any of the rest of our lawn and the tree grew well. Even the next spring the grass around that tree grew much thicker than anywhere else. The presence of the water made a remarkable difference and was a presence of life in our yard.

            In John 4:14, Jesus told the woman he met at the well, "The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." This tells us that there is something different about people who are filled with Jesus. If water makes a noticeable difference on plants, the presence of the Spirit must make a difference on those indwelt by the Spirit.

            Today is Pentecost and on this day we remember one of the most significant events in the life of the church. On this day we remember that the Holy Spirit came and from that day on has been the source of power and direction for the church. Does the presence of the Spirit among us make the kind of difference water does on plants? What kind of a difference do we expect?

            When the Spirit came on the disciples on the Day of Pentecost, the difference was certainly noticeable. In fact it was so noticeable that people thought they were drunk. Neufeld suggests, "…we will miss the energy and enthusiasm that is to pervade the corporate experience of the church if we allow no spillover from the image of intoxication."

            What was the evidence of the presence of the Spirit in the life of the early church? Days later Peter was present when Jesus healed a lame man through Peter's words. Acts 4:8 indicates that Peter, full of the Spirit, spoke with boldness in his defense before the Jewish leaders. Acts 4:31 indicates, "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." After the gospel had gone out to the Gentiles, there was a conflict in the church which needed to be resolved. In Acts 15 there is a description of the discussion they had in trying to resolve the conflict and in the end we read in Acts 15:28 that they were confident enough in their solution that they were able to say, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us..." Much later after Paul had completed his missionary journeys, he was returning to Jerusalem. On his journey he encountered various prophets who told him that he would be bound in Jerusalem, which prepared him for a difficult time in which he was arrested and prisoned. This is how it was in the early church. Do we see such power, boldness and direction today? Do we have evidence that the presence of the Spirit is making a difference around us so that we can say, "That is the work of God?" If not, why not? Are we missing something God wants for us or is more happening than we are aware of? Are we looking for evidence in the right places and in the right ways?

            In the early days of the Anabaptist movement and in the early days of the Mennonite Brethren experience, some of the people involved in the renewal movement were involved in ecstatic experiences which they attributed to the Holy Spirit. Things did not work out so well and we may suspect that some of the manifestations of the Spirit were not from the Spirit at all, but were manufactured by people. In reaction to that, I wonder, however, if we have become too suspicious? If the disciples on the day of Pentecost were thought to be drunk, surely the staid and lifeless way we sometimes live the Christian life is not what God intends. Are we open to the work of the Spirit within us and in our midst? Matthew Henry says, "…we ought not to be satisfied with a little of the Spirit, but to be aspiring after measures, so as to be filled with the Spirit." Our life as Christians must be lived in the power of the Holy Spirit because that is what Pentecost means.

            How is that to be lived out in our life? In order to gain understanding, let's examine Ephesians 5:18.

I.     The Command to be Filled

A.   The Context

            As we have been studying Ephesians we have discovered with joy all that God has done for us. He has redeemed us, given us a new life, made us His children and given us an inheritance and all of these things have been given to us in Jesus. In Ephesians 4:1 we saw that because of the richness of what God has done, we are called to live in a worthy manner. In Ephesians 5:1 we are called to be imitators of God. In Ephesians 5:15, we are called to be careful how we live, being wise, making the most of our days because the days are evil and understanding what God's will is. A part of the call to live worthy, or to live as imitators of God, is the call in Ephesians 5:18.

B.   The Command

            This verse says, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit…" This morning, I want to look just at the phrase, "Be filled with the Spirit." In order to understand this phrase well, we need to examine the verb "be filled." In grammatical terms it is a present, passive, imperative second person plural verb. And each of these make a difference.

1.    Present

            Verbs have three tenses – past, present, future. The past tense of a verb speaks about what was done in the past. The future tense of a verb speaks about what will be done in the future. The present tense of a verb speaks about what is happening in the present.

            So when we understand that this verb is in the present it tells us that this is not something that happened in the past. It is not, "you were filled." It is also not something that will happen in the future, "you will be filled." Rather, it is something that must be continuously true in the present. Today and every day, we need to be filled with the Spirit. We can't rest on the fact that we were filled yesterday and we can't hope that someday we will be filled. The present tense tells us that we need to be filled today.

2.    Passive

            Verbs also have primarily two voices, that is an active voice and a passive voice. The active voice indicates what we must do. The passive voice indicates something that is done to us. So when we are talking about being filled with the Spirit, if it was in the active voice, it would be our responsibility. We would need to fill ourselves with the Spirit, but the voice of this verb is not active, but passive.

            The meaning of the Day of Pentecost is that since that day every believer and every church has the Spirit of God living in them. There is no Christian who does not have the Spirit of God in them. There is no church where the Spirit of God is not present.

            In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not live in every follower of God. The Holy Spirit came upon certain people to accomplish God's work in the world. In Joel 2:28, however, God promised, I will "pour out my Spirit on all flesh." When Jesus came to earth and was about to begin his ministry, John the Baptist said that he was baptizing with water, but that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. As Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, he promised the disciples in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." In Acts 2 what all these promises were pointing to was fulfilled. Since that time, we know that every person who comes to Christ has the Spirit. In fact, becoming a Christian means having God come into our life and making new. Romans 8:9 assures us of this truth when it says, "But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him."

            The filling of the Spirit, however, is not the same as the presence of the Spirit. The Spirit was present with all Christians after Pentecost and yet, there were times when the Spirit filled the believers in a particularly powerful way. For example, Acts 4:31 says, "When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness." Being filled with the Spirit, is something that is done to us. The Spirit who already lives within us, fills us.

3.    Imperative

            When we realize that being filled is something that is done to us because it is in the passive voice, we may think that there is nothing we can do about it. It isn't about what we do, but about what is done to us, so there is nothing about being filled that is our responsibility.

            But to think that way is to miss the fact that the verb "to be filled" is also imperative. Imperative means that we have something to do. It is a command, it is an assignment. We, as people who are indwelt by the Spirit, are also told that it is up to us to be filled with the Spirit. Penner says, "The Spirit-filled life is a command, not an option. It is the normal, rather than an unusual experience of Christian existence."

            That tells us that even though God's Spirit is present with us, we are not always filled with God's Spirit. It tells us that even though God is the one who fills us with His Spirit, there is something that we must do about being filled.

4.    Second Person Plural

            We should also take note that any verb also has a person involved. First person plural is we, second person is you and third person is they. This verb is second person, which means that it is directed not at the other guy, but at each of us. Paul commands each person to be filled with the Spirit. We have something to do about it.

            The fact that it is plural tells us that this is not directed primarily at an individual, but at a multitude of individuals. It is directed at the church. The other day Anemone asked, "How can Jesus live in all of us if we're not all stuck together." Well the reality is that we are all stuck together. We are the church and that is why this command is plural. Although the command to be filled is be applicable to each individual, it is not to be taken individualistically. We as a church are called to be filled with the Spirit as each person does what they can to allow themselves to be filled with the Spirit.

            Neufeld puts it this way, "To be sure, it is the community together that is filled with the Spirit. Being filled with and by the Spirit is not an individualistic experience. Instead, it enables the body of the new human to breathe the very breath of God."

II.  Obeying the Command

            Each part of the verb is important. The implications are that God is present with us by His Spirit. I am so glad that being a Christian and being the church is not something we do without God. God is present in the church and God is present and at work in each of us as individual believers. The life we have is in Christ by the Spirit. The reason we have any hope of change in our hearts is because of the Spirit of God within us. The power to accomplish God's work in the world is available to us in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

            However, the call to be filled is also a command to which we must respond.

            Many of you have been gardening. If you threw a bunch of seeds on the concrete floor in your garage, would anything grow? We can't make seeds grow, but we can create conditions in which seeds will grow. So we put them in soil, not on concrete. We remove weeds so that the plant that grows will not have to compete with the weeds. We water the plants so that they have the nutrients needed to grow.

            In a similar way, we cannot fill ourselves with the Spirit, but we can create those conditions in our life which will give God the space to fill us. So the question is, "What can we do in order to obey the command to be filled with the Spirit?"

A.   Do Not Grieve

            We make space for the Spirit if we obey Ephesians 4:30 which says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption."

            The context of this verse is a list of sins that are not fitting for a follower of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is grieved, or made sad as Good News Bible translates it, when we have sin in our life and when we allow sin to continue in our life. We all sin, but there is a difference between sinning and grieving our sin; or sinning and dealing with it.

            There must be an intense drive in our lives to get rid of sin. The first step of getting rid of sin in our lives is to confess it. Whenever we have done what we know is against God's will we must acknowledge that wrongdoing. If we fail to do so, we give sin a foothold in our lives and once it has gained a foothold, it will grow.

            The second step of getting rid of sin in our lives is to put it do death by the power of the Spirit. Romans 8:13 says, "for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." If we allow sin to rule in our lives, we are filled with that sin and we cannot be filled with the Spirit. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit.

B.   Do Not Quench

            We had a nice little fire going and were enjoying roasting marshmallows when one of my friends came along and dumped a whole pail of water on the fire and effectively quenched the fire. That was the end of our enjoyment for a little while.

            The word "quench" means to put out a fire. The fire of the Spirit is within us, but if we quench that fire, we will not be filled with the Spirit. Therefore, I Thessalonians 5:19 tells us, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire."

            The context of this saying is prayer and prophecy. I Thessalonians 5:17 calls us to "Pray without ceasing." I Thessalonians 5:20 tells us "Do not despise the words of the prophets." In other words, if God is active and if God wants to do things within us and among us and we are not open to what God wants to do, we will put out the Spirit's fire. If our attitude is one in which we think that we need to do everything and we do not expect God to work, we put out the Spirit's fire. If God speaks to us and we do not listen to the voice of God, we put out the Spirit's fire. Of course, as I Thessalonians 5:21 says, we are to test everything so that we know that we are listening to the voice of the Spirit and not some other voice. But we need to make sure that we are open to the voice of God, so that we will not quench the Spirit.

C.   Walk by the Spirit

            Furthermore, we will also make conditions for God's filling us by His Spirit if we obey Galatians 5:16 which says, "Live by the Spirit…" What does it mean to live by the Spirit?

1.    A Life of Obedience

            A life lived in the Spirit is a life of obedience. 1 John 3:24 says, "All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us."

            This verse puts it so clearly. We will know that we are abiding in Jesus by the Spirit of God who is living within us. We will abide in Jesus if we obey Him. So a life that is always asking, "What is obedience to Jesus?" and a life which is doing what Jesus says, is a life that is fit for being filled with the Spirit.

2.    A Life of Surrender

            A second aspect of walking in the Spirit is to have a life of surrender. When we are not Christians it is all of self and none of God. As we move towards God, we may come to the place of some of self and some of God. Even as Christians it is possible for us to live in this way. As we grow in faith, we come to the place where it is less of self and more of God and when we are living a life of surrender it is none of self and all of God. When we get to that place, we have obeyed the command to do what we can to create conditions in which the Spirit will fill us. The question which we must always ask is, as C.C. Ryrie puts it, "Who will run my life?"

            We cannot get to a place of regular surrender by guilt or discipline. I am reading an old book called "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. He says that the best way to live a life of surrender is to do everything for the love of God. When we realize that we are loved, we will be able to surrender because we will know that we are held in love and we will act in loving response.

3.    A Life of Dependence

            The walk by the Spirit is also a walk in dependence. We come to God by faith and we must also live by faith. If we do not trust as much of God as He has revealed to us, how can He reveal more? If God is to fill us, we must be people who trust what He is going to do in us and through us. Each new crisis in life gives us an opportunity to express our trust in God. As we walk in such trust, we grow in dependence and when we are dependent on God, we are walking with the Spirit. Walvoord says, walking by the Spirit  is "a moment-by-moment dependence upon the Spirit of God…" When we walk in that way, we are in a position to experience the filling of the Spirit.

Conclusion

            Walvoord writes, that if Christians meet the conditions of yieldedness  "The fullness of the Spirit will inevitably result." Each person who is a Christian has the Spirit living in them. But many times we are not filled with the Spirit. Yet we are commanded to be filled. Are the conditions for the Spirit's filling present in your life?

            When we were in Israel, we saw fields of green surrounded by desert. These fields were irrigated and the lush growth was evidence. What evidences of life will pour out of our lives into the surrounding moral and spiritual desert when we are filled with Spirit? As God filled the people of the early church with His Spirit, they were able to say, with confidence, "Jesus is Lord." This is a work of the Spirit of God. They experienced God's guidance. They were filled with joy. They were made holy. They remained faithful to God in spite of martyrdom. They spoke the word of God boldly. They used the gifts God gave them. They heard from God and understood His voice.

            On Wednesday morning when I was putting up the signs for Drive Though Prayer, a man came by on his bicycle and thanked us for praying. It had been a blessing to him last year. When we are filled with the Spirit, we will be a blessing to many.

            May we do those things that will allow God to fill us with His Spirit so that we can bless those around us and bring glory to Him.

Gifted For Service

Ephesians 4:7-16

Introduction

            Members of my mom's family ran a total of 127 km a week ago Saturday. How do you run 127 km in one day? Well it wasn't one person doing it. In fact, 6 different people were involved. When each person does part of it, then it is possible.

            Ephesians 4:1 tells us to lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called." God has supplied us with forgiveness, a relationship to Him, the promise of eternal life, the presence of His Spirit and so many blessings. Since that is what we have been received we must live in a way that is worthy of that call. But we all know that it is not that easy to do so. How do we do it? When we think about all that we have received, we must not only  live worthy of that call, but we also need to let others know about all that God has done for us. That also is a task that is very large. How can we do it?

            The answer to these questions is found in Ephesians 4:7-16. God has provided a way and as we will see, it involves each one of us doing a part of the work

I.     Christ's Gift 8-10

            Ephesians 4:7 says that each of us was given "grace according to the measure of Christ's gift." Where did that gift come from? How did it come to us?

            In Ephesians 4:8, Paul quoted Psalm 68:18. Psalm 68 is a hymn of praise to God who is a victorious warrior. The language of the hymn comes from the language of victory in battle. The king has gone up and gained a great victory. He has won over all his enemies and has taken captives. The people he has triumphed over give him gifts in tribute because of His victory. In this Psalm God is celebrated as such a victor. He has triumphed on behalf of His people and those he has triumphed over give him gifts to acknowledge His victory.

            Paul uses the quote from Psalm 68 to speak about the victory which Christ has won over His enemies. How did Jesus' gain the victory? He descended into this world as a human being. He died on the cross and by dying he "made captivity captive." Jesus won the victory over sin. He has taken that which held us captive – sin and death – and has made it his captive. It no longer has power over us. Having been raised from the dead in victory, Jesus ascended into heaven and is now sitting there as the one who has triumphed over all things. Jesus is the complete victor who "fills all things."

            Paul goes on to say that having gained this complete victory, Jesus "gave gifts to his people." This is where the Psalm and Paul's use of it are quite different. The Psalm says he received gifts. Paul seems to have no difficulty changing that to say that he gave gifts because that is what Jesus did.

            The meaning of all this is quite plain. Jesus came into this world. As a human being he triumphed over sin and death. Having ascended into heaven and having taken His place as the supreme ruler over all, He has distributed gifts to people in order to help them live in and expand the victory He has gained. Christ has given the church the gifts to do what He wants them to do. Christ has equipped us to accomplish His work…of walking worthily and of proclaiming the gospel. It is out of the victory of the ascended Christ that we do the work God has given us to do and to accomplish the things which God has left us on earth to do. Wood says, "…none other than this exalted Lord is the one who has endowed his church with gifts-by-grace, so that it may indeed be his body in the world…"

II.  Equipped to Use Christ's Gift 7,11,12

            So we see that God has provided the means of accomplishing the great goals of walking worthily and of making the gospel known. What are the gifts that God has given and how do they function in the church?

A.   God Given Leaders

            Following verse 7, we would expect that Paul would begin to list some of the gifts which God has given to all the people in the church. This is the kind of list we have in 1 Corinthians 12:7ff, where we read, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." That statement is followed by a list of spiritual gifts. We expect the same thing to happen in this passage, but instead Paul gives a list of spiritual leaders. Specifically he names, "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers." He says, "each of us was given grace" but clearly not each of us is one of the gifts listed here. What he is saying is that leaders are a gift to the church. Each of these spiritual leaders has a unique role to play in the work of the church.

            Most commentators agree that there are four gifts listed here. The first gift is that of being an apostle. I do not believe that apostleship is limited to the 12 plus Paul. I believe that the gift of being an apostle is still active today. I believe that the gift of being an apostle is the God given ability to give leadership in directing the work of God. It refers to people like who have vision and the ability to lead the church in its mission. I believe it refers to people like Randy Friesen who directs the work of MB Missions.

            Prophets are those who have a particular ability to understand the truth of God and to hear from God. About 3 or 4 years before a time of particularly active growth in Westside Community Church in Morden, a prophet spoke a word to the pastor to indicate that such a time was coming. There are some people whom God gives the ability to hear from Him and to speak into the life of the church with a word from Him.

            Evangelists are those who have a God given ability to proclaim the good news. All of us are called to make Jesus known, but some people have ability beyond what is normal to understand the right time and the right way to speak the gospel.

            The final gift is communicated as a pair. Most commentators agree that pastors and teachers is one gift. It is probably the gift we are most familiar with referring to those whom God has given ability to shepherd a congregation.

            It would probably be easy for us to identify who the pastors/teachers in our congregation are. Perhaps we could even identify some who have the gift of evangelism. But who are the prophets and who are the apostles? I believe that all of these gifts are necessary for the healthy functioning of the church. We need people to give visionary leadership, we need people to speak God's direction, we need people to lead in proclaiming the gospel and we need those who teach and shepherd the people.

B.   Task of Leaders

            These are the gifts God has given to the church, however, we need to take careful note that they are not called to do the work of the church. The text is very clear that the role of these leaders is, as we read in verse 12, "to equip the saints for the work of ministry."

            Each of the different leadership gifts is intended to mobilize us and each in a different way. The job of apostles is to mobilize us to have a vision and follow that vision. It is up to each member to affirm that vision and begin to serve in it. It is up to the prophets to indicate to us the direction God is showing us. It is up to us to work in the revealed direction. It is the task of evangelists to teach us how to get into the lives of people who don't know Jesus, to love them and to speak the gospel into their lives. It is up to us to get into the lives of people who don't know Jesus, to love them and to speak the gospel to them. It is up to pastors to teach us the truth of God and how to care for one another, but it is up to each of us to live by the truth and to do the work of caring for one another.

C.   Each Of Us Was Given Grace

            As leaders mobilize the church, this Scripture is clear that each person who is a follower of Jesus must be engaged in some way in the work of ministry.

            Ephesians 4:7 tells us that each of us has been given grace, or a grace gift from Christ. We must take the phrase, "each of us" very seriously. I Corinthians 12 says the same thing so we understand that this is the consistent teaching of Scripture. God has supplied each one who is a member of His body with some ability, some gift to do His work. A gift may be a talent, but if it is, it has a unique direction and that is to accomplish God's work. The gift we have each been given enables us to accomplish things for the kingdom of God. If we say that we do not have a gift, we make God a liar because He says that each one has a gift. It is up to us to discover what that gift is and to use it. The best way I know how to discover our gift is to begin to serve God and to listen. If we discover that we are able to have a unique impact in a particular area, then we have probably found our gift. What is the gift God has given you?

            We also see that we need to be active in using our gift. The text says, in verse 12, that we must do the "work of ministry." If that is the case, the question becomes, are we doing it? How are we using the gifts God has given? Our first responsibility is that we need to have a servant mentality. As we offer ourselves in service to the Lord, we will soon discover the work that God has for us to do. If we don't offer ourselves as His servants, we demonstrate ingratitude for all that He has done for us.

            When each of us does the work God has given us to do, then the church works properly. This is the message of Ephesians 4:16. There we are told that the growth of the body of Christ happens "as each part is working properly." In other words, when we contribute to God's work with the gift He has given us and we are active in the work of ministry, the kingdom of God grows and is built up.

            I thought about this on Wednesday when we started the Drive Through Prayer ministry of this church. The only ones who showed up in the morning were Carla and myself. Now if the entire Drive Through Prayer Ministry was just us doing it, there would be something wrong. It is my task to equip you to do the work. I will do everything I know to teach you to pray, I will encourage you to pray, I will even join you in prayer, but I will not sit there alone each week and do the praying. Fortunately that is not how it is. Peggy has taken great leadership in Drive Through Prayer and in the afternoon on Wednesday Carla and I were not there and others were. That is how it should be.

            As we reflect on these things, it leaves us with important questions. Do I have a servant attitude? Am I aware of how God wants me to serve Him? Am I engaged in the work of ministry to which God has called me? If we take the words "each one" and "work of ministry" and "each part is working properly" seriously then we have to conclude that if we are not engaged in the service to which God has called us, the body is not functioning as it should. Calvin said, “If we want to be considered members of Christ, let no man be anything for himself, but let us all be whatever we are for the benefit of each other.”

III.          Building Up the Body 13-16

            A number of years ago Dave Wiebe who used to be MB Conference Christian Education Director was involved in a project to define the goals of our Christian Education programs in the church. He developed a list of the outcomes we look for in our programs which would indicate that we are effectively training our children and young people. The premise of the program was to ask, "How do we know when we have made a disciple?"

            Jesus' final command to his followers in Matthew was that we are to make disciples of all nations. What does it look like when we have made a disciple? What is the goal towards which the use of our gifts is directed? Ephesians 4:13-16 helps us answer those questions. These verses help us understand what the outcomes will be if we are using the gifts God has given.

A.   Unity of the Faith

            The first thing is that we will come to "the unity of the faith." Because of the mention of doctrine in the next verse I understand "faith," in this context, to refer to the body of truth that is God's truth. Our understanding of truth grows as teachers teach us and as we speak to one another to learn what God's truth means for our lives and how we are to live by that truth. The Bible warns us and we know from experience that there is a lot of untruth out there. Some of it looks very close to God's truth, but is not, it is deception by the enemy. If we are not careful to learn God's truth together, we will be in danger of being drawn in to every kind of deception that the deceiver can throw at us. Neufeld says, "…notice that vulnerability to deceit and false teaching is something all share—so that we might no longer be infants…There must be "a frank recognition that such vulnerability marks the life of all believers who have not yet arrived fully at Christ."

            When the church is functioning as it should, it will develop a solid foundation of faith in the truth of God and a unity about that truth. As we use our gifts that is where we aim. So the question is, "How are you using your gift to help the church come to a unity of the faith?"      

B.   Knowledge of Jesus

            Sound doctrine is one mark of maturity. Another mark of maturity is knowledge of Jesus Christ. The text says, "until all of us come to…the knowledge of the Son of God." As we use the gifts God has given us, we will be filled with the knowledge of God's truth and also the knowledge of God's Son.

            We will understand what Jesus did. Jesus is identified as our model and the better we understand what Jesus did, the more we will know how to follow Him.

            Critical as a foundation for every one of us is the knowledge of what Jesus thinks of us. An immature believer is often unaware that Jesus loves them. Even though we learn to sing, "Jesus loves me" at a young age, the reality of that knowledge often does not penetrate into our heart until later. Knowing that we are loved by God is a sign of maturity and allows us to live in freedom and holiness because we know that we are accepted. If we do not know that we are loved, we will continue to look for love in all the wrong places. So we need to help each other grow in the knowledge that we are loved.

            Another aspect of maturity is the understanding that Jesus is continuing to do His work. Luke is the story of what Jesus began to do as it says in Acts 1. The implication of that is that Acts is about what Jesus continued to do and the story of God's work continues today telling what Jesus is doing today. As we mature, we will appreciate and grow in our understanding of what Jesus is still doing.

            If knowledge of Jesus is the goal to which we are headed, we need to ask ourselves, "How am I using my gift to help people know more about Jesus?"

C.   The Full Stature of Christ

            Growth progresses from a knowledge of true doctrine to a knowledge of Jesus and it becomes fully mature as we grow into, "the measure of the full stature of Christ."

            Ephesians 4:15 presents an interesting perspective. It speaks about growing "up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." The language of growing up into the head is unusual language. When a child grows, the whole body grows at once. At birth the head of the baby is proportionally larger than the body and the body almost seems to grow from the head. Yet this statement says that the body is to grow up in every way into the head. Although puzzling imagery, the point is very clear. Maturity is measured as complete not only when we know the truth about God, which is important. It is not even complete when we come to know about Jesus and all that He does. Maturity is complete when we become like Him. Neufeld says, "When placed alongside each other, verses 12, 15, and 16 produce an almost absurd but illuminating picture: The body is to arrive at its head. It is to grow into the head to which it is already connected and by which it is defined. And it is to grow into the head from which it receives its growth."

            In the context of community, as each member of the community of faith contributes the gifts that God has given them, we all become more and more like Jesus. The key practices which will allow us to grow up in this way are "speaking the truth" and "love." If we only proclaim truth we become legalistic or Pharisaic. If we  only have love, we are without a foundation. Jesus is our example of the one who both spoke truth and did so in love. May we use the gifts God has given us, as we speak the truth about Him in love, lead us all to become like Jesus.

            How are you using your gifts to help others become more like Jesus?

Conclusion

            If you are just warming a pew – what gaps are you creating? If you are serving in an area where you are not gifted, is effective work happening? If you need to be equipped in a particular area, how could the leaders better equip you? If you are letting leaders do the work, what are you missing out on and how much work is left undone because no leader can do everything?

            John Maxwell uses football imagery. He reminds us that at a football game coaches coach and players play the position they have been given but most of the people are in the stands watching. He suggests that that is not good imagery for the church. In the church, coaches must coach but everyone plays. There are no spectators. Are you in the game?

Unity

Ephesians 4:3-6

Introduction

            For the past two or three years I have been involved with a group of leaders from the EMC who were trying to help bring peace because of some of the differences in belief in that conference. We were aware that there was some diversity in views on the peace position, acceptance into membership of people who had been baptized as infants and the issue of women in leadership. Our assignment was to put together a document which would help us maintain unity in the midst of diverse views on these and other issues. Our group was called the Harmony Project and in December of last year the document we produced was accepted as conference policy. It took a little longer to get agreement on that document on unity than we expected, which seems funny. The difficulty was in trying to be clear that unity is God's will for His people and that in seeking unity, we must nevertheless not compromise God's truth.

            In every church in which I have been pastor, I have had to deal with differences of opinion. In some cases things went fairly well. People disagreed on some significant issues, but were able to continue to work well together. In some cases, people became so upset that they left the church.

            I have also struggled with the question of unity at the level of my involvement with ministerial groups with other denominations. In those settings, I have heard some pretty intense debate and have also seen people quit attending because of disagreement. In those settings, I have learned to continue in relationship with people I did not necessarily agree with. I have even organized worship services together with Anglican, Catholic, United Church and other denominations.

            The question is, how far can such co-operation and striving for unity go? In May 2007 MCC and Conrad Grebel University College hosted an academic dialogue with religious scholars from Iran and Mennonite scholars from North America. Was this event faithful to what it means to be God's people? The Washington Post reported that Rick Warren has participated in dialogue with the Islamic Society of North America. Not everyone has looked favorably on his participation.

            Last week we looked at Ephesians 4:1- 2 where we were told that we need to live a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called. At that time we learned that humility, gentleness, patience and bearing with one another in love are all part of what it means to live worthy of our call. In Ephesians 4:3, a fifth item is added to this list and that is to "maintain unity." Since we noted last week that living worthy of our calling is pretty important, it is also important for us to understand what it means to maintain unity.

            Difference will surely exist. How do we walk in a way that is worthy of all that God has called us to in Christ when we recognize that there is difference?

I.     The Foundation of Unity

            One of the things we notice in this text is that we are not called to create unity, but to maintain unity. There is a difference between maintaining something and creating it. You cannot maintain what does not exist. So the implication of the call to unity is that it already exists. In Ephesians 4:3-6 we have a description of the unity that already exists.

A.   The Unity of the Spirit

            The unity that already exists, we are told in verse 3, is "the unity of the Spirit."

            The weekend after Labor Day there is a unity among most Manitobans that is directed against the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. The spirit of animosity towards anything green unites us. We have one heart about that issue.

            As Christians, it is not a common feeling or one heart about an issue that unites us. It is, rather, the living Spirit of God who is present with every believer. We are united not by adherence to a creed, or agreement about truths or even warm feelings expressed in the same direction. We are united by all having the same person living within us.

            Wood points out, “'One Spirit' indwells the body of Christ. By him the body lives and moves (1 Cor 12:13). The Spirit is its soul; apart from him it cannot exist. The same Spirit fell on the Jews at Pentecost and on the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius."

            One of the great challenges of large corporations is to instill in all employees a loyalty to the corporation and a heart that is dedicated to the work of the corporation. If the heart of the president could be put into every manager and employee that corporation could accomplish great things. As Christians, that is exactly what we have. The Spirit of our master does live in every heart and that gives us a very powerful foundation for unity. We do not need to create that unity, but we do need to maintain it.

B.   The Unity of Our Faith

1.    One

               Verses 4-6 contain what some have called a creed. It is centered around the word "one" which is repeated seven times in these verses. The idea of "one" is that it cannot be meaningfully divided. When "one" is divided, it is no longer whole. "One" is the idea of being whole and complete which means that the words associated with "one" in these verses speak to the foundation of unity which is ours.

               Although it appears that the unity described here is confessional, it is not the confession of a creed, but the confession of a relationship which is described here. The relationship described here centers around the Trinity. Verse 4 mentions the Spirit, verse 5 the Son and verse 6 the Father. It is in an appropriate relationship with Father, Son and Spirit that we have the foundation for our unity. Wood puts it this way, "Paul’s thought ascends from the realization of unity in the Spirit to the focus of unity in the Son and thence to the source of unity in the Father." In fact, we could say that it is the example of the Father, Son and Spirit who are three persons, yet one, which gives us our model for unity.

2.    Spirit

            We have a foundation for unity because the one Spirit of God has placed us all into one body, which is the church. The use of the word body instead of church reminds us of that unity. Churches can have various locations, and meet in different groups, but a body, by its very nature is one. When we recognize that we are brought together into one body by the same Spirit, we recognize that we have a foundation for unity.

            That same Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance, as we learned in Ephesians 1:14. He is the one who assures us that we are all headed to the same place. We have one hope that keeps all of us focused and becomes a powerful motivation for maintaining unity. I have often thought that since we are all going to meet in heaven we must get along now. In heaven there won't be a room for Mennonites and another for Baptists. There won't be a room so just our friends can have fun together. There won't be a room for each group of people who have the same theology. We will all be in the same place and since that is where we are headed, we must live in unity now.

3.    Lord

            Our unity also is grounded in the one Lord Jesus Christ. The text says we have "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Wood suggests, "The three expressions may well be intended to convey a single idea, as Scott has surmised, i.e., “one Lord in whom we all believe and in whose name we are baptized.” In other words, it is faith in Jesus Christ alone marked by identification with Christ through baptism that puts us into relationship with the one in whom alone we have been set free from sin and been given eternal life.

            In my relationship with other Christian denominations, this has become for me the foundation on which I am able to relate, participate and worship with people from many denominations. I have often wrestled with this but have concluded that although I may disagree with many theological and practical matters of what it means to be Christian, at the center is one common person, Jesus Christ, whom we all worship and serve. On that foundation, I have decided, I will continue to maintain unity.

4.    God

            God also is one and is the Father who is over all and through all and in all. God being one was an important part of the confession of faith of the people of God in the Old Testament whose key verse was Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one."

            The statement that there is one Father over all is not a declaration of universalism. Rather it is an expression that it is the desire of God who is faithful to Himself that everyone come to know Him and follow Him.

            Barth says, "Because God is one, his people are one and are to live on the basis and in the recognition of unity."

II.  Making Every Effort In the Bond of Peace

            So the basis of unity which we have is a unity found in relationship to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Unity is an expression of the desire of God and has been brought to us through Jesus Christ and is a reality to us in the presence of the Holy Spirit. These verses declare unequivocally that we have unity.

            As we have seen the foundation of our unity is found in relationship to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the same way, keeping unity must be in relationship with one another. That isn't an easy thing because we know that there are many things which can disturb that unity.

A.   Make Every Effort

            It is for this reason that Paul, being quite realistic and practical, says in Ephesians 4:3, "…making every effort to maintain" unity. In other words, we must work at it or as Barth says, "Yours is the initiative! Do it now! Mean it! You are to do it! I mean it!"

            Anyone who has ever owned a swimming pool knows that it is a dreamer who will tell you before you put in the pool, "The cost is in purchasing the pool. Once you have it, all you have to do is maintain it." Owning a pool is never a matter of "all we have to do is maintain it" because maintaining it is work that will consume some time every day throughout the season.

            As powerful as the unity we have in Father, Son and Spirit is, maintaining unity, is not a matter of "just keep unity." It is work and there is an urgency about it and there must be diligent work done in order to obey this teaching.

B.   Unity With Whom?

            One important question is to think about which situations this addresses.

            I mentioned earlier the dialogue which MCC hosted with Muslim scholars. Is the call to unity in Ephesians 4 a call to such dialogue? In the Old Testament, God was very clear that His people were to have nothing to do with those who followed other religions. If we go back to our discussion of the foundation for unity, we know that that foundation is not shared by people of other religions. Therefore, this call to unity does not speak to such dialogue. That does not mean that such dialogue is bad. In fact, it may be very good. But we do not engage in it in obedience to the call to unity given here. Rather we may engage in such dialogue in obedience to God's command to love everyone, even our enemies. Listening, even working together on humanitarian projects can all be done under God's command to love others. The call to unity, however, does not apply to other religions, since the foundation for unity is not shared.

            Scripture also warns us of people who seem to be part of the Christian religion, but have in fact left faith in Jesus. There are many passages which speak about false teachers. Paul warns about this in his address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:30 where he says, "Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them." Does the call to unity apply in reference to false teachers? Once again we have to say that if the foundation for unity is not shared then the call to unity does not apply. Yet Jesus teaches us how to respond to such false teachers. He tells a parable in Matthew 13 about how the enemy has come and sowed weeds among the wheat. That describes the reality of people who have distorted the Christian message. His instruction is that we are not to pull out the weeds, but leave them until the judgment day. We must be clearly aware of the presence of false teachers and we are not called to maintain unity with those who do not share the same foundation. Nevertheless, we can still relate to them on the basis of love even for enemies, which Jesus has taught us.

            Then where does the call to maintain unity apply? It applies among those with whom we share the same foundation. Yet even that does not make for an easy task. It involves seeking to understand whether or not we share the same foundation. If we make the boundaries too tight, we may be found to be violating this command to unity. If we are careless in defining the foundation, we may be found to be compromising the truth of God. That is why we are called to work hard at maintaining unity.

C.   The Bond of Peace

               So how do we make every effort, not compromising truth, but still keeping unity?

               One of the most practical passages dealing with keeping unity is found in Romans 14. The believers in this church had a serious and fundamental disagreement which was threatening to break unity in the body. The issue was whether to eat meat or not. This was not a question of whether or not Christians should be vegan. The issue was deeply religious and had roots in the relationship of Jews and Gentiles and the whole history of separation from pagan religions. The advice of Paul, however, goes beyond the specific issue.

               Paul's advice to the members of this church is very helpful and practical. The division, as is often the case, was between those who permit something and see it as not being in violation of faithfulness and those  who do not permit it and see participation as a compromise of faith.

               First of all, he instructs in Romans 14:3, "Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat..." I have often observed that Christians who have freedom in some area, look down on Christians who do not share that freedom. Paul instructs that to look down on them is to violate the unity which is called for here. On the other hand, Christians who are more restrictive in their perspective often judge those who have freedom. Paul instructs them that they "must not pass judgment."

               Paul builds a helpful foundation for such a call to unity when he reminds them that they must not judge each other because each person must stand before God and must be convinced before God about the stand they take. In Romans 14:5 he directs, "Let all be fully convinced in their own minds" and in Romans 14:22 he says, "Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve." This is a strong call to submit all of our opinions to God and to recognize that whatever course we take will be judged by God in the end. I appreciate that perspective. I heard a speaker a few weeks ago who was talking about victory in regards to sexual addictions. Part of what he was talking about was the issue of same sex relationships. I believe he was building on Paul's principle when he told us how he responds to the question, "What do you think about same sex relationships." His answer was, "it doesn't matter what I think, what matters is what God thinks and you really need to ask Him."

               Another principle which Paul speaks about is found in Romans 15:2 where we read, "Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor." This includes making sure that we do not cause a brother or sister to stumble.

               All of these things are hard work, but on the basis of the foundation which is found in relationship to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it is up to us to do the hard work of keeping the unity we have.

               It is in following these directions that we will maintain unity in the bond of peace.

Conclusion

            In the first church in which I was a pastor, I did some teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the service, one couple, and their two teenaged sons walked out and informed me, with some anger that they would not be coming back. I felt that I had taught truth and that it needed to be spoken. Later I wondered whether I did right. I was aware that there were significant differences of opinion about the work of the Holy Spirit. I wondered whether I could have taught in such a way that unity would have been maintained. That experience influenced me to be more careful about how I state things. There is no doubt that I have my convictions, but I also know that God tells us that if we are to live in a manner worthy of our calling, we must maintain the unity of the Spirit.

            But keeping unity is not only important as a way of walking in a worthy manner but also as a way of being salt and light in the world. In John 17:21 Jesus said, "As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." That is why I think it is so important to participate in such things as the One Heart service we had in January and also the "Love Winnipeg" campaign. By participating, we the churches of Winnipeg choose to maintain unity in the bond of peace.

            So the challenge is to wisely, lovingly and obediently negotiate the divide between unity and truth so that, God's truth is declared, God's love is demonstrated, God's kingdom is built and God's name is honored.

Proclaimed with the Lifestyle of Jesus

Ephesians 4:1-2

Introduction

            I got my hair cut on Monday and after I had started getting my hair cut a fellow came and sat in the chair next to me. When the hair dresser asked how he wanted his hair cut he said that he wanted a good hair cut, fairly short. Then he explained that he was starting a new job the next day. As far as I could understand he must have been a university student and the job was with a financial firm, probably as part of his education. As I heard this conversation, I thought it was interesting that he understood that there can't be a disconnect between his appearance and the professionalism required of the job he was taking.

            Over the last few months, we have been talking about all that Christ has done for us, about the message we have which is worth proclaiming and about the call from God we have to proclaim that message. Ephesians 4:1,2 teaches us that there cannot be a disconnect between what we have received and what we have been called to and the way we live our lives. These verses are addressed to all of us as the church. The words in these verses are plural which means that they are not written so much to any one individual, but rather to each individual as they make up the body of Christ, the church.

I.     The Urgency of the Appeal

            As Paul addresses the Ephesian church in this regard there is a definite urgency to what he is saying.

            The urgency comes out in his comment that he is a "prisoner in the Lord." This comment seems somewhat out of place and we wonder why he mentions that he is a prisoner at this point in his teaching.

            From other things which Paul has written we know that he saw himself as a prisoner in several senses of the word. There were times when he had been arrested because he was proclaiming the gospel. At other times he writes about how he was compelled to proclaim the gospel and perhaps at times he felt like a prisoner of the gospel message itself. Either way, it is clear that his choice to follow Christ was something that consumed his life. As a person who was so committed to Christ that he was willing to be in prison or to be bound by the necessity to proclaim the gospel, his comment lends urgency to the appeal made here because it tells us that he spoke as one who did not follow Christ theoretically but with a full commitment. He knew what it meant to follow Christ and he knew the cost involved in following Christ. When he speaks in this way, he speaks with the authority of someone who did not give advice from an ivory tower, but as someone who lived what he was speaking about. In other words, there is credibility because of who was making the appeal. Barth points out that "The apostle is not pleading for compassion, but wants to point out the price he is paying – that is, perhaps, his specific right to be heard and heeded."

            The urgency is also present in this appeal in the words which he uses to encourage them to follow what he is teaching here. We hear the urgency in the NRSV translation which says, "I…beg you." Other translations use different words. NIV says, "I urge you" and NASB says, "I implore you." Whichever translation is used, we get the idea that this is important stuff and we must listen to it.

II.  The Basis of the Appeal

            The appeal itself is, "…lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called." It is an appeal to remove the disconnect between who we are and how we live.

A.   Lead a Life

               The appeal is an appeal to "lead a life" or as it says in other translations, "live a life" or "walk in a manner."

               One of the key implications of leading a life is that it must be done regularly. There is a difference between sowing a lawn and mowing a lawn. Sowing a lawn is a project. You begin by tilling the soil, leveling the soil, putting down the grass seed, packing the soil and harrowing in the seeds and then watering the seeds. You keep watering the seeds until they have grown to a certain height and become well established. At that point the project is over. Leading a life cannot be that way. The project is never over. Leading a life is more like mowing the lawn. Once the grass is established, it is necessary to mow it every week or so forever. It must be done regularly. It must be done consistently. That is what it means to "lead a life."

               Some people choose to give something up for lent, like coffee or chocolate. It is a good practice to instruct us on what it means to do without, to make a sacrifice. Many people who do this, however, can hardly wait until the 40 days are over so that they can have their coffee or chocolate again. Giving up chocolate or coffee for lent is a project, not a lifestyle. A person who gives up sugar because they are diabetic is in a completely different situation. Their giving up something is not a project, but a lifestyle.

               What Paul is calling us to is not a project, but a lifestyle.

B.   Worthy

            You know that in mathematics, an equal sign indicates that whatever is on one side of the sign must be equivalent to whatever is on the other side of the sign.

            The word "worthy" in this text functions like an equal sign. It tells us that there must be equivalence between our lifestyle and the calling we have received.

            We have a balance beam scale at home and it works something like an equal sign. When the scale is level, which is the goal, then whatever is on one side of the scale must be exactly the same as what is on the other side of the scale. In a similar way, there must be a balance between our lifestyle and the calling we have received. Wood says, "Paul is insisting that there shall be a balance between profession and practice."

C.   Of Your Calling

            So the word "worthy" functions as an equal sign or a balance scale. On one side of the equal sign is our lifestyle – how we live every day. On the other side of the equal sign is, as Paul says, "the calling to which you have been called." What Paul is saying is that there is a calling upon our life and there cannot be a disconnect between our calling and our life.

               What is the calling to which we have been called? We have already looked at that calling in considerable detail in the previous chapters of Ephesians. There we learned, in 1:4, that God has chosen us "to be holy and blameless before him in love." In 1:5 we learned that we have been called to be "God's children through Jesus Christ." In the rest of chapter 1 we learned that we have been forgiven and called to know the mystery of His will. We have been destined to an inheritance. Chapter 2 indicates that we have been called to do good works. In chapter 3 we read that we have been called to make known the news of the boundless riches of Christ and to make everyone see.

               From all these verses we understand that we have a very high calling. It is a calling that puts us in the position of being children of God. It is a calling that tells us of the blessing of having our sins forgiven. It is a calling to become like God. It is a calling to make the message of the gospel known to everyone.

               This is a high calling, but there is a sense in which it puzzles us. The puzzle is, "why is it necessary to be reminded to live according to what we are? If we are forgiven children of God who have been blessed with the greatest news in the world why do we need to be reminded to live according to it? If we have been seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, why do we so often fail to live like kings and instead live like Christ's enemies? In this verse, Paul calls us to be what we are, but if this is what we are, why does he have to call us to it?

               A week ago Friday, I attended a seminar about how to help people who live with sexual addictions. The speaker, Sy Rogers, talked about why it is necessary to be told to live worthy of our calling. He pointed out that God has already taken care of our guilt. He has declared that we belong to Him and He has taken care of our future. These are all the things which talk about what we are, our calling. He further pointed out that what God has not yet done is to change our humanity. Temptation, weakness and desire are still a part of our humanity and God has left it up to us to manage our humanity. That is what makes it necessary for Paul to remind us that we must live in a manner worthy of our calling. God has changed many important things, but He has left us with the responsibility within the grace of having been changed, to continue to make changes in our life. The encouraging thing is that he has not left us alone even in the task of managing our humanity. He has given us the grace of forgiveness when we repent after failure and He has given us the power of the Spirit to help us manage our humanity.

            Therefore, as Paul says here, we are responsible to remove the disconnect between what we are and how we live.

III.          The Details of the Appeal

            Paul does not tell us how to manage our humanity at this point in the text, but we will get to that later. At this point, he tells us some of the areas in which we must manage our humanity.

            The details of the appropriate lifestyle which Paul speaks about are not legalistic nor are they lists of rules. He does not focus on external items. Sometimes in the church we have focused on such things as dress, hair or certain activities which are considered worldly. Paul does not begin with such things and that should tell us something. Not that it is wrong to make ethical decisions about how we dress and whether or not we drink or go to movies. The problem is that sometimes we focus on external things and ignore or even permit some of the more important matters like how we treat each other. I have seen churches in which there are strict guidelines about externals and I have heard about people excommunicated for violating these externals. Yet in those same churches I have observed church leaders gossiping, hating and manifesting power and pride. I am glad that Paul begins with some very fundamental matters of what it means to remove the disconnect between who we are and how we live.

A.   Humility

               One of the first ways in which our calling must match our lifestyle is in the matter of humility.

               Humility is often thought of as a weakness. The word used for humility in this passage was a word that was negative in the Greek language of the day. It suggested a weak spirit or, as Wood says, a "groveling servility." Even today, humility is not always honored. We are told to be strong, to stand up for our own rights and to make sure we get what is coming to us. Yet the call to be worthy is a call to be like Jesus. One of the most powerful passages in the New Testament describing what Jesus did is Philippians 2:6-11. This passage describes one of the fundamental attitudes of Jesus by which He accomplished what He did. It describes how he did not grasp on to being equal with God, but chose to empty himself. He who was God chose being a servant! He who created all things chose being human. He who was the source of life chose to become obedient to death on a cross. So if our lifestyle is to be equivalent to our calling, we must choose to be humble.

               How is it possible to choose humility?

               Choosing humility begins with our understanding of who we are in relationship to God. If we know that God is the sovereign creator of the universe who has made us and who has redeemed us and is over us in all things, then we will know that we have no basis for pride.

               Choosing humility is possible when we know that God has already taken care of our belonging. If we try to grasp for position and for recognition, we will always struggle with pride. If we know that we are loved by God and that we belong because of Him, then we can let go of pride and know that we have dignity and that we matter.

               Our calling involves making the gospel known. Humility is an important part of that calling. It is only as we choose to be servants to those who are lost and need Jesus that we will be effective witnesses to the goodness of God's grace. Humility is important in our calling because it allows us to live by trust rather than by power and manipulation.           

B.   Gentleness

               When we were moving, some of the boxes we moved had signs on them that said, "Fragile, Handle with Care!" When I saw that sign on a box, my attitude about that box changed. When I was packing it into the truck I put it in a place where larger heavier boxes were not on top of it and I was careful that it was not in a place where it might fall. The attitude I had towards fragility was the attitude of gentleness.

               If our lifestyle is equivalent with our calling then gentleness must be a part of our lifestyle. The gentleness of Jesus is described in Matthew 12:20, when it says, "He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory." The gentleness of Jesus is seen in his statement to the woman caught in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more." It is seen in his acceptance of Zacchaeus and his welcome of tax collectors and sinners.

               If gentleness is a part of our lifestyle, we will treat those who are interested in Jesus with gentleness, allowing them time to understand. We will treat our brothers and sisters in the church with gentleness, seeking to understand their struggles, rather than condemning them. We will treat our work in the church with patient direction instead of power and manipulation.

C.   Patience

               The importance of patience in being worthy of our calling is pretty obvious because we know that God is patient. Exodus 34:6 speaks of God as, , "…slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." God demonstrated that patience in the many times He waited for Israel to follow Him and also in the restoration He gave them when they repeatedly walked away from Him.

               We need to have patience with God and we can when we understand that He is in Lord and loves us. We must have patience with ourselves and we can when we understand that God is at work changing us. We need to have patience with others and we can when we understand that God is at work in them.

               Patience is an important Christian virtue I think I am learning quite a bit about it. Waiting for the sale of our house has been a good opportunity to learn patience. But I still have much to learn, especially when I get behind the wheel of a car. Chrysostom described patience as "…to have a wide and big soul."

D.   Bearing With One Another In Love

               One of the most practical statements in the Bible about living our calling is the last one that we will look at today. "Bearing with one another in love" is so practical because it addresses reality directly. We are called to bear with one another because God knows that there will be something to bear. Barth writes, "The fellow man to be loved is potentially or actually a burden – or else Paul would not speak of 'bearing with' him 'in love.'" This phrase recognizes that perfection will not be achieved this side of eternity – in us or in others.

               Bearing with one another is necessary because that is what God does with us. Only twice in the Bible did people die immediately because they sinned and that was when Ananias and Sapphira lied. All of us have lied, been impatient, hated, gossiped and failed to live for God, but Jesus continues to be patient with us and to give us time to change.

               Bearing with one another is necessary because we are utterly hypocritical if we do not do so. Jesus calls us not to judge one another in Matthew 7:1ff, pointing out that to do so is equivalent to seeking to take a piece of sawdust out of someone's eye when there is a log in our own.

            Bearing with one another is intensely practical because it shows that love can never be an emotion or a theory. You have probably heard the saying, "To love the saints above, oh that will be glory. To love the saints below, well that's another story." Yet that is exactly where we are called to love. If we don't learn to love the saints below, we will never know how to love the saints above. Love for God, in Scripture is always put in the most practical and real terms of loving the people around us. Love is never chosen in a vacuum, but always in the practical situations of life and often in the most difficult relationships. It is exactly in relationship to the person who is most difficult to love that we must learn to love and must follow this teaching. Barth says, Love is "…always specific, always costly, always a miraculous event."

Conclusion

            The message of this text is very simple. It invites us to imagine our life as a balance beam. On one side of the beam is the amazing and powerful blessing of all that God has done for us in Christ. On the other side of the beam is humility, gentleness, patience and bearing with one another in love. If the beam is not level, we have work to do.

            The importance of doing that work is not to be taken lightly. Jesus has left us on earth because the world sees Jesus in us, our behavior and our attitudes. As people look at us the question is, "what are they learning about Jesus?"

            This is a great challenge and sometimes overwhelms us. We fell yesterday and we suspect that we may fall again tomorrow. We should not let that discourage us. Sy Rogers, the speaker I mentioned earlier, provided a great illustration about how to think about failure. He said, when you are in a bicycle race and somewhere during the race you crash, you don't have to move your bike to the beginning of the race and start all over again. You pick up your bike, admit that you have fallen and keep going. Although crashes are hard, the progress made is not erased. As Christians trying to maintain an equivalency between our calling and our lifestyle, we know that we will fall. But if we fall, we don't have to start all over again. We just need to pick ourselves up, examine why we failed and continue on from where we fell, recognizing that we have already made much progress.

            So let us be encouraged even if we are not perfect yet. Let us keep on managing our humanity because the call of God in our life has made us saints. May God by His grace and in the power of His Spirit guide us to live in a way that is worthy of the calling to which we have been called.