“Worthy of the Calling…”

A sermon based upon Ephesians 4: 1-16

By Rev. Dr. Charles J. Tomlin, DMin

Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership

Sixth Sunday After Epiphany-C,  February 17th  2019 

(7-14) Sermon Series: Growing Up In Christ (Eph. 4:15)

One day a couple by the name of Herman and Mary were riding along in their shiny new car. Mary spoke up and said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this wonderful new car." And Herman just sat there and didn't say anything at all.

As they pulled into the driveway, Herman turned off the motor and they quietly admired their new home. Then Mary said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this new house." And again, Herman just sat there and didn't say anything.

They got out of the car and walked in just as the delivery man finished setting up their new furniture. You know, Herman, said Mary once more, "If it were not for my money, we probably wouldn't have this new carpet and all this new furniture." And once more, Herman didn't say a word.

It happened again as they sat down in their new den and propped their feet up and watched the big screen TV in their new entertainment center. "You know, Herman," said Mary, "if it were not for my money, we probably wouldn't have this huge entertainment center."

And with that, poor Herman had had enough. He turned to Mary and said, "I don't want to hurt your feelings, Honey, but you know if it weren't for your money, I probably wouldn't be here either!"

What is it that brings you here? Why did you choose to become a part of a church?  If you are not a member, what are you looking for in a church? What is the reason to go to church, or why should you become part of Christ’s body we call church?

Many want to follow Jesus and be a Christian, and perhaps even be part of a church, but have they-have we, considered blue-print; the original design by the designer?  In today’s message, we consider the basic ‘design’ and ‘operations’ of the Christian life, which includes living up to the ‘calling’ of being a part of Christ’s church.

KEEP THE UNITY (3)

The most important part of Christian living is not to think about what God is going to do for you, or even to just to think about what you can do for God.  It’ is to think about what it means to live with others who are in the community of faith, we call church. Paul writes in verse three: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…”

Notice again, the Christian life is not simply about you, what you want, what you get, or what God will do for you, but the Christian life is about how you will live in relationship with other people who share faith and life with you.  ‘Life Together’ is how one famous Christian named it.  To be a Christian means to be a part of a community of believers; to commit to that body, to be faithful to that body, and as Paul says here, to get along within that body too.  We get along with each other by making ‘every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” 

Maintaining unity is a core value of the Christian faith and life.  It is also the most important responsibility when you become a member of a Christian Church.  I love how the Moravians put it in their motto: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love.”  In can’t be expressed in any better way that this.

Unity is so very important; it is an ‘essential’ itself, because this is who we are to become; caring, cooperative, and community-oriented persons.  Your Christian calling, before anything else like teaching, witnessing, helping, or serving; is to be a cooperative, supportive, and participating part of a body of believers.  Just like human body must work together in ‘unison’ to function and give life, the church body can’t function properly without believers working together, sharing life and making life possible for each other, so that God is revealed and glorified through our lives, to both insiders and outsiders.

Tom Lentz tells how his daughter and her husband lived next door to a difficult family in Columbus, Ohio.  There was a large lot separating their two houses, which belonged to the neighbor. Although the neighbor was quick to claim the property and run off our grandchildren any time they ventured onto this side lot, he was, nevertheless, lax in taking care of it. Branches and fruit fell off the trees where it lay on the ground and rotted. The grass was rarely cut.

Tom, the Father-in-law, asked his son-in-law why he didn't complain to the neighbor about this eyesore that affected the entire neighborhood. He shrugged and said, "I'll take care of it."

The next time the Father-in-law visited he noticed that the lot was clean and the grass neatly cut.  He asked his son-in-law if he had confronted the neighbor, and he said, "No, when they were away we made it a family project to clean up the lot."  The neighbor never offered any words of gratitude for this act of kindness, but that was not the motivation for the good deed.

Isn’t this what it means to respond to a higher calling and to make an effort of ‘unity?  Instead of reacting to a neighbor's insolence, creating what would have certainly been a defensive or reactive spirit of vengeance against the neighbor, widening the gulf between neighborly relations, the response of the son-in-law was in keeping with Paul’s exhortation: "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2-3).

TO EACH…GRACE HAS BEEN GIVEN (7)

However, this isn’t easy to do, is it?  This is not the kind of reaction or behavior that comes naturally.  We are not born patient. We scream when we want something and grab for things around us. We react and act out, instead of responding in love.  We are not normally inclined to be humble and gentle. We are more likely to argue and fight back than to "keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Many people, never do reach this level of maturity, until very late in life; if then.

How can we move beyond our own self-centered, self-focused, response?  What it takes to ‘go above and beyond’ our natural reactions, according to Paul’s own words, is ‘grace’.  Paul understands that to ‘make a different response than the world around us, we must learn to react or respond to something greater than the hurt, the evil, and the normal state of things.  We must learn to ‘react’ to God’s grace. 

Grace is where Paul’s conversation ‘supernaturally’ gravitates in this text; and every text he writes.  “Grace and peace” is the greeting of all Paul’s letters.  Here, as Paul continues his discussion of ‘the higher calling’ of the Christian life and way, he explains how God calls us to ‘one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:5-6 NIV).  It is out of this oneness of shared hope and common faith that ‘grace’ is given to ‘each one’ of us (v.7).  God’s grace is what we all share and continue to give to each other in God’s new community.  God’s grace is what enables us to live out a higher calling in life.

It is within this discussion of the calling of God’s grace that Paul one of the most powerful, out-of-this-world descriptions of what Jesus has already accomplished for us in his life, death and resurrection.  Quoting Psalm 69, Paul uses an ancient military picture symbolizing Jesus, ascending to the heavenly throne, ‘taking captives’ of the evil, spiritual, and oppressive powers, and then giving ‘gifts’ to God’s people’ (8-11).  The words ‘gifts’ and ‘grace’ are from the same word, charis.  Grace is a gift.  A gift is a form of grace.  Jesus wins a decisive battle against evil and showers God’s people with gifts of grace.

Now, to our comfortable, modern sensitivities this image might not mean much, but to an oppressed, suffering, and life-defeated people, this is picture and promise for a whole opportunity for life.  Instead of living in a reality that drains the life out of you, the gospel promises gifts, resources, and opportunities directly from God.  Through Jesus, God defeated the powers of this world his cross by overcoming evil with good.  So, now that Jesus rules the world, through our lives by faith, hope, and love, we too can receive these ‘gifts of grace’ that give us new promises and new opportunities to receive, share, and live our lives in a more fulfilling and positive way.  These ‘gifts’, which Paul names as ‘apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are not only gifts for the church to receive, but they are gifts that can transform the meaning and purpose of our all our lives, and we all share in the ministries they lead.

So, hearing this, when was the last time you thought of having a teacher, a pastor, an evangelist, or a prophet as a gift?  I recall how year ago, when Revival time came each year to our church, families would invite the evangelist and the pastor into our homes, or we would invite them out to dinner, and we would celebrate the gifts God gives together.  We would treat them with high regard and respect, because of God had sent then into our midst to call, lead, and encourage us.  Because of the leadership they gave to us in the church, and in the community, those who led us, were highly valued, regarded and appreciated by us all.  They, our spiritual leaders, were ‘gifts’.

I like the story about Bernard Shaw. He was an agnostic, but carried on a correspondence for many years with a cloistered nun. It is one of the strangest relationships in history, probably, but also one of the most intriguing and beautiful.  There was Shaw, the intellectual, the playwright, a man of the world, a man of considerable wealth; and the nun, cloistered, who gave up all worldly possessions, to pursue a life of work and prayer.

In one of his letters to her, Shaw wrote, “The next time I’m in your neighborhood, I will peer through the bars of your cell to see the freedom on the other side.”  (Quoted by Mark Trotter, in a sermon entitled “Need Any Water?” preached at the First United Methodist Church, San Diego, CA, March 19, 1995).

Why did Shaw appreciate his friendship with this nun?  She was his teacher to help him know the true nature of freedom and of life.  Only her absolute dedication could teach him about the joyous freedom that comes by abandoning oneself and giving constant attention to the God who enables us to be who we are created to be.  To have such a ‘teacher’ is one of life’s greatest gifts.

TO PREPARE GOD’S PEOPLE (12)

What made teachers, pastors, evangelists, or other prophetic voices so dear to the church of Paul’s day was how they were the ones, who has Paul said, ‘equipped’ or ‘prepared’ the people for works of service, so they could grow and live out their faith by taking part in Jesus’ ministry in the world. 

Do you fully catch the inference here in Paul’s words?  Some translations don’t fully convey the proper reading because a comma is added between ‘for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry’ (as the KJV), as if the leaders do all the ministry.   But the Greek has no comma, reading correctly that the gifted leaders, apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers ‘equip God’s people for works of ministry’.  Do you see the difference?  The teachers, pastors, evangelists, prophets, and apostles were considered ‘gifts’ of for the church because people, needed and wanted to become ‘prepared’ or ‘equipped’ for doing ‘works of ministry’ in the church and in the world.  Every church member and every Christian were to be equipped and prepared to serve in the ministry of Christ’s body, the church.  

In my own days of Christian ‘Formation’, those teachers who taught me faith, both in word and deed, still have a special place in my heart.  Although I marveled at some of their skills, they were gifts to me not because of their great skills of ministry (which some had, but others didn’t), but they were gifts to me, each of them, because they challenged and encouraged me, allowing me the space to grow in my own understanding of faith and in my desire to serve Christ in the world. This is how they became great gifts to me.  It was people who were the church, that have been God’s greatest gifts in my life.

Some of you may know Aesop’s fable about an old crow who was out in the wilderness and was very thirsty. He had not had anything to drink in a long time. He came to a jug that had a little water in the bottom of it. The old crow reached his beak into the jug to get some of that water, but his beak wouldn’t quite reach. So what did he do?  He started picking up pebbles one at a time and dropping them into the jug. What happened as those pebbles accumulated in the bottom of the jug? Why, of course. The water rose until finally the old crow was able to get a drink.

My friends, that is my understanding of the way God has chosen to work in this world. Each of us dropping in our own little pebble‑‑teaching that Sunday School class, making that visit, working on the finance committee and on the church board, making that special gift to missions, serving as an usher, etc. Each of us serving in his or her own special ministry. Doing that little task that may not seem so important at the time, but those pebbles are accumulating in the bottom of that jug, and the water is rising, and one of these days God is going to bring in His own Kingdom. That is God’s plan for the church and for every Christian who is called to become part of Christ’s body enter into some kind of ministry. Are you dropping in your pebble? Are you using your gift to the glory of God? Is your work for Christ a ‘gift’ to someone else?

In her bestselling book, Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott explained why she made her son, as a young person, go with her to church. She says, “The main reason is that I want to give him what I found in the world, which is a path and a little light to see by. Most of the people I know who have what I want purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith . . . They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful . . . Our funky little church is filled with people who are working for peace and freedom, who are out there on the streets and inside praying, and they are home writing letters, and they are at the shelters with giant platters of food.” Then she says, “When I was at the end of my rope, the people at St. Andrew tied a knot in it for me and helped me hold on.”

MATURE, ATTAINING…THE FULNESS OF CHRIST (13)

When the people of God make efforts of unity and peace because we have received God’s grace; when we respect our leaders as God’s ‘gifts’ to them, who are given to equip them as ‘doers of the word’ and ‘not just hearers only’; then, and only then, is the church is on the right track, moving forward in ministry, to become the ‘mature body’ (v. 15) of Christ, that attains ‘the fulness of Christ’ (13).  

This image of ‘the fulness of Christ’ is clearly described as a working body of many parts that is ‘joined and held together by every supporting ligament,’ which ‘grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.’  (Eph. 4:16 NIV). 

A group of tourists were visiting a rather picturesque town on the outskirts of a well know city. As they walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. One of the tourists, in a rather patronizing way, asked, "Were any great men born in this village?"

To which the old man replied, "Nope, only babies." (Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), February 1993)

That wisecrack answer holds a lot of truth. There are no instant heroes, there is no instant status or fame, whether in this world or in the Kingdom of God. Growth takes time. Growth takes help.  Growth takes dedication and commitment to the process.

One reason people don’t mature as well today is because we live in the instant age. There is instant coffee, instant oatmeal, instant milk, instant soup, instant breakfasts and even instamatic cameras.  Modern people are impatient people, who can't and won't wait for desires to be met. People today demand instant gratification. So, at fast food restaurants we get fast food. And we complain if it takes five minutes instead of three.

We don't even have to wait in line at the bank anymore; those with the right card can go to an automatic teller machine and make deposits or withdrawals. Today's kitchen has to have a the indispensable microwave. Now, we don't even have to cook. Just pop it in the microwave and three to ten minutes later, dinner.  

But Paul’s words about growth, development, and the process of becoming mature Christians reminds us that ‘maturity’ in Christ does not happen in an instant, nor is it something we can do all alone.  

James Harnish, a Methodist minister, puts it this way, there is such thing as a ‘solo’ Christianity in the body of Christ.  In the church we have been given many gifts—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And we could expand this list to include:

·                     singers and secretaries and social workers

·                     builders and businessmen and bean counters

·                     doctors and dietitians and designers

·                     carpenters and carpet layers and contractors

·                     lawyers and lecturers and lovers of children

·                     athletes and actors and aerobics instructors,

And of course, there are so many more, but as we come together in the oneness of Christ, nurtured and discipled in Christ’s love, we reach Christ’s fullness and our maturity because we come ‘together’ with one clear purpose: "To equip the saints for the work of ministry, building up the Body of Christ in love."  But notice again, we do this ‘together’; in unity, because there is no such thing as a ‘solo’ Christian or a ‘solo’ ministry in Christ.

You are probably familiar with the amazing story of the migration of the monarch butterfly, a lovely little creature who blesses our gardens and forests in the summer. Every autumn, millions of monarchs from all over the eastern United States and Canada migrate thousands of miles to a small handful of sites in Mexico where they rest for the winter. Then in the spring, they begin their return trip to the north. The amazing thing is that no individual monarch ever makes the trip to Mexico and back.

A butterfly that leaves the Adirondack Mountains in New York will fly all the way to Mexico and spend the winter. In March, it begins the trip northward, but after laying eggs in the milkweed of Texas and Florida, it will die. Those butterflies will continue northward, laying eggs along the way until some of them, maybe three or four generations removed from the original ones who left, make it all the way back to mountains of New York. But when August comes, they will head south, aiming for the exact place their great grandparents visited, a place they have never been.

Sue Haplern says: "The monarchs always migrate in community and depend on each other. Although a single monarch may make it from New York to Mexico, it is the next generation who completes the journey."

Now here is the word for the church. She says: "No one completes the journey solo. It is only as a community that we discover the fullness of God's plan for us" ( From Homiletics, January 2002, page 13).

The old gospel songwriters and revival singers witnessed to it when they sang: When we all get to heaven,What a day of rejoicing that will be.

When we all see Jesus,We'll sing and shout the victory!  What the Butterfly and the Song attest, and this great text explains, is that we will not make this journey alone.  It's only in maturing community that we discover what God has in mind for us.  For there no greater ‘owner’s manual’ for what it takes to be a church than this: “Christ is the head and we are the body who makes God’s grace and love realized in this world as we each do our part to share and show God’s love together.  This is the kind of ‘life together’ in serving Jesus, each doing his and her part, that makes us ‘mature’ and makes Christ real, both in our lives and in this world.  This is how we ‘live a life worthy of the calling which we have received’ in Christ.  AMEN.