Each Of Us Has A Grace-- A Ministry (Ephesians 4:7-15) Series

Today we have the privilege of working through some of the most complicated verses in the entire book of Ephesians. Before we dive in though, we should remind ourselves of last time's verses. Are we feeling a little rusty, when it comes to Ephesians? Paul, up to this point in the letter, has talked about God's once mysterious plan to bring together all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ, creating one family who will live in peace with God, and with each other.

And the catch to that, we saw last time, was that we have a responsibility in this. God has done his part, in creating one family, one body, in Christ. And our part, is to walk worthily of this calling, by getting along with each other, in love. Let's read Ephesians 4:1-6:

(1) And so then, I encourage you-- I, the prisoner in the Lord -- worthily to walk of the calling with which you were called,

(2) with all humility and meekness/gentleness,

with steadfastness/patience,

putting up with one another in love,

(3) rushing to protect the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,

(4) one body and one Spirit,

just as you also were called with one hope of your calling,

(5) one Lord,

one faith,

one baptism,

(6) one God and Father of all-- The One over/in charge of all, and through all and in all.

So the focus of these verses is on the essential oneness to everything God is, and to everything that God is doing. God is making one single family. One single church. And what does it mean to walk worthily of our calling? It means maintaining that oneness with each other. When we fail at that, and find ourselves bickering, or upset, or hurt, we rush to restore the peace. When things get heated at a church meeting, we stop, and we ask for God's help, and we rush to keep the peace.

So, we are one body, one family. But that doesn't mean that we are all exactly the same, or that we all do the same thing. We all have this shared calling to keep, and protect, the peace. But there is also something unique to each of us. We will see today that each us has a unique calling on our lives, a special ministry that God has given us, to build up the church.

Let's start by reading Ephesians 4:7:

(7) Now, to each one of us was given this grace/ministry, in accordance with the measure of Christ's gift.

The easiest way to hear this rightly, is to turn back to Ephesians 3:8. As I read, listen for this word "grace":

To me, to the least of the least of all the holy ones-- this grace (?????)was given:

to proclaim the good news to the nations of the fathomless riches of Christ,

and to enlighten everyone as to what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from the ages by God-- by the One who created all things--

In Ephesians 3:8, Paul is describing the "grace" that was given to him-- whether that was by Jesus, or the Father, Paul doesn't here say. And what was this grace, this act of kindness and favor, that was given to him? Paul was given the privilege of telling the good news about Jesus to the Gentiles, and to enlighten churches about God's once hidden, cosmic plan. Normally today, we'd use a different word to describe what Paul did. We'd call it Paul's "ministry." Paul often calls it, his grace. Paul views this thing given to him as a kindness, as a sign of favor.

So let's reread Ephesians 4:7:

(7) Now, to each one of us was given this grace/ministry, in accordance with the measure of Christ's gift.

What this verse means, is that each of us is like Paul. Each of us was given a special ministry. Ministry isn't just a pastor thing, or missionary thing. Each of us has been given the grace of doing something for Jesus. Each of us, has some special calling on our lives.

And this grace was given "in accordance with the measure of Christ's gift."

I think the imagery here, is something like Jesus working as a cook in a kitchen. He's measuring out these gifts, these ministries, as we'd measure out flour, or water, or baking soda.

And I think there's two things we are supposed to catch from this:

(1) This gift is something given by Jesus. It's not something we pick and choose. Jesus picks and chooses our grace, our ministry.

(2) This gift is given unequally. Not everyone receives the same measure.

And I should probably add, that I think there's one thing we shouldn't take from this:

(1) The idea of our ministry being a gift from Jesus, doesn't mean that we don't have any responsibility to grow in our ministry skills.