Title: Leading a Life Worthy
Text: Ephesians 4:1-16
Thesis: Because we have been called by God we are to live worthy of that calling.
Background/Setting the Stage:
The first three chapters of Ephesians may be thought of as speaking to God’s grace and our salvation and of our profession of faith in Christ.
“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is a gift from God – not of works so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork or workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Ephesians 4 – 6 speak more to the application of chapters 1 – 3. Chapters 4 – 6 speak to the way we live out our profession of faith or in other words, the practical aspects of our profession. So we may think of chapters 1 – 3 as the profession of our faith and chapters 4 – 6 as the practical application of our faith.
New Testament scholar Klyne Snodgrass sums it up as simply as this: “Right theology should lead to right conduct.” Klyne Snodgrass, The NIV Application Commentary, Ephesians, Zondervan, P.216)
Introduction:
I have really enjoyed the Olympics this year… the gymnast and swim teams have been so delightful to watch. I have been particularly blessed by the way they seem to love and support each other. I love seeing their hard work result in excellence in competition. My sense is that the athletes are pretty humble and are taking their successes in stride. And I love their joy. Missy Franklin is so much fun.
I am also pleased when professing Christians do the Christian community proud. After Gabby Douglas won the Gold in the Women’s All Around she was interviewed and the first thing out of her mouth was, “I give all the glory to God. It’s kind of a win, win situation. He gets all the glory and the blessings fall down on me.”
But sometimes Christians can be downright embarrassing to the Christian community.
This week I watched a shocking news story from Crystal Springs, Mississippi. The pastor of First Baptist Church was being interviewed. It seems on the eve of their wedding of a couple who attended the First Baptist Church, there was a congregational meeting in which a decision was made that no non-white weddings would be held in their church. And furthermore, if the pastor officiated that non-white wedding he would be fired. Never-the-less, the pastor quickly moved the wedding venue to a neighboring church and officiated the wedding there.
In the interview this is how he explained the situation to the media. “This had never been done here before, so it was setting a new precedent. There are those who reacted to that… I didn’t want to have a controversy within the church and I didn’t want a controversy to affect the wedding. I wanted to make their wedding special day.”
Meanwhile church officials said they would hold internal meetings to decide what to do if another non-white couple wanted to use their facility in the future. They also insisted that all races were welcome at their church.
What does a heartbreaking, division making, news making story like that have to do with us?
We are committed to becoming a spiritually healthy missional church. That means we are committed to pursuing Christ and those things that are important to Christ. We want to be spiritually alive in our relationships to God, each other and the world. This text speaks to how we do that in the spirit of unity.
We are called as individuals and as a congregation to lead a worthy life.
I. A worthy life
The Apostle Paul begins our text today with, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” Ephesians 4:1
I think the easiest way to get at understanding God’s Word is to unpack the text and in this case, word by word.
A. Therefore
The first word is “therefore.” Whenever you read “therefore” in scripture you have to ask, “What is that there for?” The implication is that since you have professed faith in Christ now you need to walk the talk or live a life or practice a faith consistent with your profession of faith. “If God’s love is so great, if his salvation so powerful, if God has granted such reconciliation, then believers should live accordingly. They should value God’s love enough to be shaped by it.” (Klyne Snodgrass, The NIV Application Commentary, Ephesians, Zondervan, P.196)
B. Beg / Beseech
The second word is “beg” or “beseech.” This is no whimsical wish on the part of the Apostle Paul. He beseeches or begs that his readers lead a life worthy of their calling. It is more than an “ask” but something less than a “groveling” request. The implied effect of a good beseeching is that it results in a particular action. In this context he is urging the living a life worthy of God’s calling.
C. Lead / Walk
The third word is “lead” or “walk”. This is not an urging to go for a stroll or to meander one’s way through life. The word “lead” or “walk” implies that it is directed or going somewhere. It is an enduring walk designed to go the distance.
Illustration: On Friday night we watched Olympian runners sprint the 100 meter and 1,500 meter races… yes, I think the 1,500 meter race has become something of a sprint. In a race there is a starting line and a finish line and between the two runners stick with the task of getting from point A to point B. They do not wander off the track or cut across the infield or sit down and enjoy an iced tea. They are going somewhere. And when we practice our faith we too, are purposely going in the right direction.
It is important to understand the reason for the urgency and discipline of living a worthy life… it is because we have been called by God. To be called is to be summoned to a course of action… even an occupation or vocation. When Jesus invited his disciples and when Jesus invites you and me to “come, follow me,” Jesus is not just calling us to go for a walk or even a game of follow the leader. Jesus is inviting us to come and begin a journey wherein our occupation is to live the life of Christ in this world.
And his urgent request is that the way they live be worthy of God’s calling.
D. Worthy
The fourth word is “worthy.” The word “worthy” is “axios” and has to do with the weight necessary to balance a scale. Today when we go to the doctor we are weighed on a digital scale. If you go to the market our orders are weighted on a digital scale… But before the day of digital scales you actually balanced a scale with weights. To determine the weight on one side of the scale, weights were added to the opposite side of the scale until the two sides balanced.
Now imagine in your minds a scale… on one side of the scale you place your profession of faith. Then on the other side of the scale you place the way you live or the way you practice your faith. What Paul is urging is that what we profess be balanced by practice or how we live.
E. Calling / Vocation
The fifth word is “calling” or “vocation.” God wants us to understand that the Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow me” is more than just a shout-out, “Hey, come follow me!” It is an invitation to accept a course of action.
Typically we think of a vocation or an occupation as a job. It’s what we do to make a living and hopefully it gives us a sense of purpose and is a satisfying way to make ends meet and feel like we are making a positive contribution to society. While this understanding may give us some insight into the call of God on our lives, it is to be understood in a much larger sense. It is not just a job, it is a way of life.
We are called to the vocation of living out the Christian life. We are called to be followers of Christ and Children of God. We are called to be Christians in the world. So we understand that we are not just homemakers or manufacturers or doctors or marketers or medical technicians or teachers or truck drivers or loan officers or landscapers or whatever… we are called to be Christian homemakers, Christian manufacturers, Christian marketers, Christian plumbers, Christian teachers, Christian property managers, Christian retirees and so on…
And the reason it is so imperative that we live a life worthy of our calling as Christians is that we have been called by God.
There is one further clarification needful in understanding the nature of our calling or vocation as Christians. In our culture a wonderful opportunity may on occasion drop out of the sky but generally we get a job or enter into a profession or endeavor to pursue a vocation by hard work. We earn the right or acquire the credentials necessary for that job. But this calling is not about our earning or acquiring anything… we are just invited to follow Christ.
In my reading several years ago I read something that has profoundly affected the way I do ministry. It had to do with the way Celtic Christians lived in their world. They believed that they were to live in such a way as to attract others to Christ by the way they lived. So in welcoming people into the Christian community they simply wanted those who lived around them to want to belong to their community of faith. They welcomed people… they wanted others to belong and feel at home among them. Their hope was that in belonging they would come to believe and accept Christ and enter into the Christian life. And then their hope was that people would, having come to belong and believe… become devoted followers of Christ.
The call is a call to belong, to believe and to become all that God envisions for us. God does not expect that the fish be cleaned before they are caught. God catches us and then he cleans us and we become wholly his in all of life.
Being a follower of Christ is a big deal. It is a high calling! It is bigger and better than anything we can imagine. It is a calling that affects the way we think, what we say and what we do in this life. Above all else, we are Christians and that call affects everything.
Our text tells us how we can begin to do just that…
Living a life worthy of God’s calling begins with practicing Christian virtues or the Fruit of the Spirit.
II. A worthy life is characterized by: Christian Virtues
Always be humble and gentle. Patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Ephesians 4:1-3
There are five specific virtues God deems necessary to living a life worthy of our calling are:
A. Humility / Lowliness
The first virtue is humility. In Philippians 2:5-8 the bible teaches us that we are to have the same attitude or mindset as Christ. The text goes on to speak of how Jesus “did not think that equality with God was something to cling to. In fact Jesus even gave up his divine privileges (as God) and humbled himself or took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on the cross.”
Humility has to do with a person’s mindset or with the way we are to think as Christians. It has to do with the way we think as Christians in our church, in our homes, in our workplaces and in the world. As you well know… there isn’t a lot of humility making the headlines these days. And yet humility is the very first virtue necessary to living a life worthy of God’s calling.
The humility of Christ is thought of as a “self-emptying.” When presented with a challenging situation or relationship we bring humility to the table rather than haughtiness.
It is easy to feel some self-importance. It is usually when someone gets their back up that humility goes by the wayside and pride exerts itself and the thing most essential for living a worthy life and the thing most essential for keeping unity in the church or the home or anywhere else for that matter, is lost.
B. Gentleness / Meekness
The second virtue essential to living a life worthy of our calling is gentleness or meekness… keeping in mind that gentleness or meekness is a powerful virtue. But it is exhibited in a gracious and gentle demeanor.
Taylor College is a Christian college in Indiana. Years ago, long before it was commonplace for international students to study in the United States, the President of Taylor learned that a very gifted international student was enrolling at Taylor. When Sam arrived the President met him and personally gave him a tour of the campus. He showed him all the dorms and wanting to give Sam his choice of living accommodations he asked, “Where would you like to live Sam?” The young man replied, “If there is a room that no one wants, give that room to me.”
Over the years Taylor University had welcomed thousands of Christian men and women and none had every made such a request.
Can you imagine a family or a church or a workplace or a community where everyone was so gentle and meek in spirit that we would say:
• If there is a job that no one wants to do, I’ll do it.
• If there is a child or a person no one wants to be around, I’ll hang with him.
• If there is a parking space that’s too far away, I’ll take that space.
• If there is a song I don’t particularly like, I’ll sing that song.
• If someone has to be inconvenienced, I’ll be the one inconvenienced.
• If there is a sacrifice that must be made, I’ll make that sacrifice.
(Bryan Wilkerson, “In God We Trust,” www.preachingtoday.com
The gentle person doesn’t get all torques out of shape and feel the need to assert himself or herself…
C. Patience / Longsuffering
The third virtue cited in our text today as requisite for living a life worthy is patience. Patience has to do with suffering long…
I am capable of demonstrating a great deal of patience but I am also capable of being very lacking in that virtue. And when I am caught in the act of impatience I am reminded of just how easy it is to slip from living a life worthy of my calling and not living a life worthy of my calling.
Arvada Parks and Recreation. I happened to be in kind of a hurry one day a couple of weeks ago. A big industrial lawnmower pulled out onto 64th Avenue. It was an Arvada Parks and Recreation mower that had just mowed Secrest Park.
I don’t know if you’ve ever followed a Parks and Recreation Department mower but they are not particularly fast. At Wadsworth the operator slowed way down to a crawl because the thing was low-slung and all folded up and the dips in the road made for some tricky navigating. I barely made the light but once across I was pleased when the operator pulled into the left turn lane and I could speed by.
At Old Wads the light turned red so I stopped behind a car as the mower pulled up beside me in the left lane. The light changed and the car in front of me did not move so I tapped my horn and as the mower guy passed me and made his turn while I waited for the driver in front of me to wake up, he shouted. “Don’t be in such a hurry!” Meanwhile, I had just missed the light.
You cannot imagine the fury I was feeling in that moment. How dare a Parks and Recreation Department guy presume to scold me? I’m a taxpayer…”
I did get it. I did not follow him to his next gig and give him a piece of my mind. I did not write a letter to the Parks and Recreation Department suggesting that public employees exercise restraint in shouting down taxpayers. I knew he was right.
Living a life worthy of God’s call to be devoted followers of Christ who live out in practice what we profess to believe means you patiently follow a slow moving vehicle. It means you exercise some restraint when people do not jump as quickly or as highly as we might wish.
Putting a positive spin on acting with patience, as a grandpa I occasionally get into something with one of the grandkiddos that becomes highly repetitive like bouncy rides on a knee. And after each little routine you hear, “Do it again.” “Do it again.” “Do it again.” “Do it again.” And you don’t think you can possibly do it again but you keep on doing it again and again and again because you love your grandchild so much that despite your weariness with doing it again… your love compels you to “do it again.”
By the transforming work of the Spirit in our lives and the grace of God we can be humble, gentle and patient people.
D. Loving Tolerance / Forbearing
The fourth virtue is forbearance or loving tolerance. To bear with another person is to hold that person up which means we put up the faults and idiosyncrasies of others – in part because we know we have our own. It is something of the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount where in Matthew 7 he asks, “Why worry about the speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye…?’” Matthew 7:1-5
And we bear with and forbear and put up with and tolerate each other because of love. It is the loving, Christ-like thing to do.
In Ephesians 4:3 the Apostle Paul seems to take a deep breath before he drives the nail of the necessity all the way in… “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit…”
Isn’t that a curious thing to say? He did not say “make every effort to become united” he said “make every effort to keep yourselves united.” The point being, in Christ we are united… (Cite Ephesians 2:13-18, Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11).
The fact that we are urged to “make every effort” indicates it isn’t easy. And without the virtues of humility, gentleness, patience and loving tolerance it is virtually impossible. Making every effort means we come at this with absolute resolve and determination.
Missy Franklin. Last night we watched Missy Franklin set a world record and win the Gold in the 200 meter backstroke at the Olympic Games in London. During the interview following her win she said, "I can't believe what just happened… In that last 25, I knew I was giving it everything I had because I couldn't feel my arms and legs and I was just trying to get my hand to the wall as fast I could."
E. Peace Keeping
The fifth virtue is peace. Making every effort to “keep” unity in the Christian community means we do all we can to guard or protect or preserve unity. To keep is to assume the role of the sentinel doing night watch who stays alert to every movement that might indicate something or someone is about to disrupt the peace.
When we make every effort there is a sense in which we do not feel personal pride, impatience and intolerance… we make every effort to keep unity in Christ. When we make every effort we do a lot of dying to self. When we make every effort we do a bunch of putting the interests of others before our own. When we make every effort we deal with our own logs rather than deal with the splinters in others.
The text says that peace is what binds us together.
Chain Gangs. Sometimes I see crews of, what I assume are county jail inmates, working along roadways. When I see them working it conjures up images of the old chain gangs.
The language of our text uses the literal image of prisoners being chained together. We’ve all heard of the ball and chain and leg irons for individual prisoners. But when individual leg irons are attached to a longer chain onto which other individuals are chained it constitutes a chain gang. They are individuals but they are also inseparably linked together. The practice of using chain gangs in our country went away in 1955 but was revived again during the “get tough on crime” movement in the 1990’s. The only place where chain gangs exist in our country today is Maricopa, County, Arizona where prisoners may volunteer for chain gang duty to earn credit or privileges like working on their GED or to avoid lock ups.
However, as Christians we are not bound together with chains but with peace.
We are urged to make every effort to remain linked together or bound together in a determined effort that makes for peace keeping in the church and in our homes and in our world.
Conclusion
20 hours and 8 minutes or if you get space more than you do time, 1,231 mile southeast of here is the community of Crystal Springs, Mississippi where there is a church that has made national news over a wedding because they had never done that before… and they weren’t likely to ever do it because if they did, it might set a precedent for the future.
Sometimes a bad example is a good example. As people and as a faith community we do not want to be alienators. We do not want to be people who live in relationship with Christ, each other and the world by living a life worthy of our calling.
It is my hope and prayer that we lead lives worthy of our calling… that we be a humble people who are gentle in spirit and patience, that we bear with each other’s imperfections and work hard at keeping the peace we have in Christ.
