“Learning How To Walk A New Way” – Part Three
Ephesians 4:1-7
OPEN: So today we want to continue on our study of Eph. in the fourth chapter. Paul says we are to walk worthy of the calling we have received. We’ve noted that if we are truly going to respond properly – live properly in response to what Jesus has done for us there are these five first steps we have to take. We’ve only covered one of them thus far. We are to be completely humble. (pop quiz - how many people would say you’ve mastered this one already (humility) and are ready to move on to the next step?) If you raised your hand, you failed the test.
Review #1 : First five steps – be completely humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love and united with one another in the Spirit
Review #2 : We’ve already talked about the issue of pride in our lives and seen in Scripture that
consistently, the first step all of must take is a step of humility. We’ve said that pride is a kind of plagiarism that takes credit for what God has created and authored. Humility is dealing with ourselves honestly before God. See ourselves as He sees us
- Note this: These are the very first steps that God says we are to take when we decide to become a Christ follower. What do we normally tell people after they become a Christian that they are supposed to do? When someone becomes a Christian we, we tend to say to them, now that you're a Christian you need to read the Bible and you need to pray and you need to go to church and you need to talk about Jesus to others and, and that's right, that's all true - but there’s actually a problem with all those things. Because a person can start doing all that activity and not have had any real change on the inside. Sometimes I’ll ask a person, “Tell me what has changed in your life since you’ve accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior?” “Well know I go to church and I attend a Bible study and I help out with the kids and I tell my friends about Jesus.” “OK – OK – that’s all good – But what has changed about you? You are telling me what about your doing – not about your being. You’re giving me an external answer to an internal question. What the Apostle Paul is saying here is look, now that you're a Christian and now that you know who you are here is what I want you to do, and he talks only about the inner man, only about the inward graces.
- Our response is all about the internals – not the externals. Initially it’s all about experiencing change with internal attitudes not external activity. Ill. when a child begins to walk it’s a great mile marker for mom and dad. They can take great joy in the fact that their child is growing up. But if after that child learns how to walk they use their mobility to go around the house and break things – you’re going to be fairly upset. Or if after they learn how to talk they all they do is call you names and say you’re stupid – you’re going to respond to that immediately. If the internal attitudes are not matured before the external abilities are developed you’re not parenting your child properly. It’s the internal attitudes that matter the most and need to be the primary focus. What ends up happening way too often in the church is we take brand new baby Christians and press them into service without giving the child a chance to process through the internal struggles that we all face. We do so at a disservice to them and to the Body of Christ.
Our response is all about conforming our life to God’s expectations not God conforming to our
expectations. Walking refers to the idea of daily conduct, it's the idea of daily living, it's the idea of daily life – it isn’t as much “something to do” as much as it is how we respond to the people and circumstances around us. Walking a new way has to do with our understanding and accepting the authority and the power of God’s Word – We walk differently when we walk out of here having something changed within us. I’ve been thinking that the way we end our services fall short of what we should be doing each week. “If there is anyone here that would like to respond to what God’s Word says today, please raise your hand.” Here’s my concern: Wouldn’t we all want to respond every week? Does it make any sense to sit in the pew and say – “I really don’t need this portion of God’s Word? “I’ll make the decision whether I really need to apply this to my life.” We become the judge of God’s Word instead of God’s Word judging us.
It’s always amazing to me the way people respond to the word of God. Ill. of one person who no longer comes to the church, when I asked why I was told I put too much into my messages – too many things to remember. (would you say the same thing about the news cast you watch or the magazine you read?) - I asked if it would be better if I “dumbed” it down a bit. (If I do dumb it down – at what level should I stop? Fifth grade? Fourth? Second? Kindergarten? Should I use flannel graphs?) I was also told that I speak longer than the previous pastor. (I can deal with that – I think I remember one other person saying something like to me.)
I asked, “How much longer?” – I was told 10 to 15 minutes longer. So I said “OK, so you want it very simple and you want it very short.” “Let me make sure I got it straight - You want your Bible messages fast and easy?” I said, “You realize we’re not McDonalds – right? So far I can’t find a church in the Bible that had a drive threw window.” “So have you found someplace that delivers that quick and easy sermon?” (I’d kind of like to know where that is so I can warn others not to go there.) “No I don’t go to any church any longer.” So for the sake of 10 minutes out of the 168 hours God has given you each week, you choose to ignore worshipping God and fellowshipping with the saints, and serving in the Body? For the sake of those 10 minutes – in light of all the countless blessings that God has delivered through the cross of Christ you couldn’t suffer through and choose to totally turn your back and sit at home congratulating yourself on how right you to ignore the church Jesus died to give birth to?” – You see that’s the attitude of many people – the Word of God has very little authority over them and certainly no power in their lives. Faith has to conform to their expectations instead of them being comformed to God’s expectations.
Paul says “walk worthy of your calling.” There are five initial steps and they're progressive. You go from humility to meekness and then meekness produces long-suffering. And then long-suffering produces a forbearing love and where there is forbearing love there is the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is a beautiful logical progression. Let’s look at the next step - Gentleness
The next step listed as we walk worthy of our calling is gentleness – KJV lists this as meekness. We are to walk in meekness – or gentleness. If you have true humility in your life it will produce gentleness. There is no such thing as a person who is filled with pride and filled with gentleness at the same time.
Now Webster’s didn’t really have a definition of humility and it’s got a very interesting take on what meekness is. Here’s what it says: Meekeness:
1 : enduring injury with patience and without resentment : mild
2 : deficient in spirit and courage : submissive
3 : not violent or strong : moderate
It’s interesting how, how the world defines it, because the world doesn't understand it. The dictionary said, “Meekness is a deficiency in courage.” Galatians lists this attribute as one of fruits of the Spirit – one of the things the Spirit of God is working overtime to produce in us. And the world says it’s a deficiency. God says, you can’t have a worthy walk without it – The world says its cowardice or timidity or lack of strength – something to be avoided. the world looks down on meekness and it honors powerful, aggressive people
But listen - you can't even walk the worthy walk without humility and you cannot walk the worthy walk without meekness so you'd better learn what meekness is.
What the Bible says: Praus is the word meekness, it refers basically to something that is mild and gentle.
It means to be gentle-hearted, mild. Throughout the Bible is sometimes translated meekness – and sometimes translated gentleness. Synonymous meaning. This was a word used in ancient Greek to describe “taming wild animals.” - the main idea in the word is, “Power, under control” It is the opposite of a person who is vengeful, who seeks revenge or who seeks retaliation or who seeks vindictiveness or who, who harbors bitterness or resentment or reacts against others. We might say it is a quiet willing submission to God, - a quiet willing submission to others without the rebellion and the revenge and the retaliation and the self-assertion that characterizes a natural man. Meekness is a mild, quiet, gentle, pleasant spirit, it is a soothing, non vengeful, non retaliating, non-vindictive, non-bitter, non-reacting, non-defensive, non-self assertive spirit
Ill - picture of Missy on horse. The picture to have in your mind is a wild horse that’s been trained for
service instead of just running wild…he’s still powerful, but he’s now controlled. Once broken, a good horse doesn't require much correction. He has learned to accept the reins of his master, and a gentle tug is all that is needed to urge him one direction or the other. All she does is gently move the reins one side or the other and this powerful animal responds to her touch.
Now understand the progession here: Humility is self-emptying. Humility is divesting myself of myself. This is not part of the new age nonsense that says that we have to loose ourselves and become one with the “nothingness.” (whatever that means) Humility is seeing ourselves as God sees us and taking self off of the throne and walking humbly with God and others. I’m not interested in my own causes, my successes, my fame, my gain, my reputation - I have divested myself of myself. Now the natural by product that comes from that is meekness. A gentleness of heart. Now it’s not passivity - a person who is easily pushed around – but someone with power that’s been brought under control.
Let’s take a look at what else the Bible say about meekness: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” Notice this: Jesus makes a “conquerors promise” to the meek = He says the meek “will inherit the earth.” Talk about an earth shattering idea! Our society teaches us that to be faster, higher, and stronger than our neighbors - We have to push and shove, confront and conquer, and lie and cheat. In order to inherit the earth, in order to get ahead, according to the world’s standards, we must use power to take what we want, by any means necessary. The world’s philosophy of success tells us that we need to: Be Assertive / Aggressive; To go for the throat / Do whatever is necessary. Use whatever you have to get what you really deserve. That’s the way it is in this dog eat dog world we live in. You need get out there and scrape and claw and compete and do unto others before they do unto you. That’s how you conquer – that’s how you achieve. Not so says Jesus – It’s the meek, the gentle ones that win in the end – they are the ones that inherit the earth.
It’s the way Jesus lived his life – Let me show you a picture of it in his life. It shows a number of times throughout his life- - The night he was betrayed by Judas in the Garden – right as he was being arrested in Gethsemane. It says that when the men stepped forward to arrest him Peter stepped forward with his sword to protect him and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:52-53) A legion was approximately 6,000 soldiers. So…we’re looking at 72,000 angels that are at the command of Christ. When you remember that on one occasion one angel killed 135,000 Assyrians in the Old Testament – we’re talking about a lot of “fire power!” He has amazing power at his disposal but he knows his purpose. He keeps his power under control. Meekness is power under control. It’s in internal change that ought to be evident in all of our lives. Jesus said, “I am meek and lowly in heart.” On Palm Sunday, He came riding on the colt, the foal of an ass, not a great white steed with a fanfare but meekly, quietly riding on a donkey, the dumbest beast of burden, the most common animal, emphasizing His meekness. When he stood before his accusers, he did not make a legal defense of his innocence. Isaiah 53:7 says He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. One of the primary defining characteristics was a gentle spirit. He has great power – but kept it under control. Now, because that is the nature of Christ – he calls all of us to possess that same quality.
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:5) Let everybody be aware of your gentleness. Why? Because it is attractive and reflects the character of our Lord. You see our lives are to be an advertisement of Jesus. If we’ve accepted him into our hearts it will show in our lives. It’s an internal change that’s to show in all of our relationships. Take a look at this verse – How do those two sentences go together? Why does Paul say, “let your gentleness be evident to all” and then next say, “The Lord is near.” What do those two sentences have to do with one another? When a person is aware of God’s presence – there will be the evidence of meekness and gentleness. If you are aware of God, you’re unlikely to blast away at others – our power is less than insignificant in comparison to His. We can’t really hang on to our anger at others when you really realize that we are walking in divine grace.
Now in the places where you acknowledge God’s presence – in those place it will be easy to be gentle. It normally shows here – in church. Because we’re here to worship – we are aware that the Lord is near. Where do we have the most problem showing gentleness? In places where we are not aware that the Lord is near. The place in your life where you are the least gentle - those places where your power is not under control but is out of control - are the places where you are least aware of the presence of God. If spouses are yelling at one another in their home and there is a lack of gentleness towards one another – guess what? You can say anything you want – but the yelling is evidence that your relationship is not near to the Lord. If you are screaming at your kids and your kids are screaming back at you – guess what – the Lord is not near in your parenting. You need to bring it under His control. You see what’s happening in both of those situations – is power out of control.
Gentleness puts an end to the power struggles in our life. Each one of us has been given some power. I always watch with interest how people handle power in their life. So many problems in life are simply power struggles. Spouses yelling at each other: “I want my power acknowledged!” or Kids yelling at their parents: “I want more power over my life!” Church members: “I want the power to make the decisions around here.” Employees with employers: “I want to do things my way.” All power struggles.
Every disciple has to re- learn how to manage personal power. It’s a classic struggle we all deal with. Check this passage. Luke 9:51-56 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. (Luke 9:54-55) Jesus purposefully decided to make his journey to Jerusalem through Samaria. Jews commonly bypasses this region because of the strong racial prejudice that existed between the Samaritans and the Jews. Jesus needed to teach them over and over that others matter. Jesus sent messengers on ahead to ask for accommodations in a village of Samaria. The Samaritans did not want Jesus nor his disciples there. The disciples were insulted and two of the three disciples that had accompanied Jesus on to the mount (the brothers, John and James), were especially incensed that the Samaritan’s refused to extend hospitality to the Lord. Their solution, “Let’s smoke those Samaritans. Let’s Nuke em!” Righteous indignation simply oozed from them. They requested the Lord’s permission to call down fire from heaven on them as Elijah had once done. They’ve got the power to do it – why not teach them a lesson or two? Jesus turns to them “Do you think that’s what it’s all about? I could have done that any time I wanted! You boys need to learn a lesson on personal power management. In my kingdom – it’s not about blasting someone every time something doesn’t go your way. Put the matches away and listen to me – why not be gentle? How about not judging them for their transgression? How about not responding in anger? How about not dishing out a serving of what you think they deserve? How about instead a little bit of grace? How about a little bit of mercy? Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” How about putting an end to the power struggle and giving a gentle answer instead?
Practicing Gentleness Brings Rest To Your Soul. Look at what Jesus says here: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) ill of an old black man walking to church with a huge gold cross hanging around his neck. I knew exactly where he was going – he was making his way down the road to House of Prayer number 5. It was a church with a predominately African American congregation. His cloths didn't fit well, stooped over, unkempt, looked frightened. I thought – that’s so typical- why don't we win the Rambo’s or Arnold’s or the Charles Bronson types? I want to see someone with guts stand up for Jesus. HS spoke to me that maybe this person is frightened, overwhelmed with fear and inadequacy, maybe he's been fearful every waking hour of every day, maybe this guy has been fighting that terror off every day = and maybe he wears a big cross to remind himself that he's been saved by a big God. Maybe that big cross reminds him he has a strong faith and maybe that's all he has to hang onto in this world. Maybe God finds great delight when tenderhearted people cling tightly to his old-rugged cross for courage and confidence and strength. and maybe there's a supernatural kind of deal that goes on between tender hearted people and Jesus – maybe that’s the only way they find rest in this weary world. That old man never said a word to me nor me to him – but he preached a message that I still remember today. The world might rage around him but he had found a place of rest – it was in the cross of Christ.
* Notice what Jesus says in this verse – when you yoke up with him and start to learn from him – when you walk alongside of him - what’s the very first characteristic that is listed? Gentleness. He’ll teach it to you.
Gentleness Is a Sign of Wisdom Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. (James 3:13) Gentleness is a sign of wisdom. Who's really wise? You say, the man with a ph.D. No. Or the man who has studied all the books. No. A wise man, a man with real knowledge, - it's the meek man, he's the wise one, the one who is gentle.
Gentleness Is True Beauty In the Sight of God Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. (1 Peter 3:4)
Close:
Determine what areas in your life lack meekness. Remember the command: be completely gentle.
Acknowledge your lack of self-control before the Lord. Confess your lack of gentleness as sin.
Ask for Forgiveness - Confess it to the people who have seen you manage your personal power improperly. Acknowledge to them that you have fallen short and want to change. Ask them to forgive you.
Memorize Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
* PowerPoint slides may be available for this message. Some slides I use have copy write restrictions on them - others are slides, which I’ve created. If this sermon has slides I’ve created, I’d be glad to pass them on to you for your use. Please feel free to email me at: timvamosi@charter.net
