UNITY: You Do, I Do
Ephesians 4:7-16
February 17, 2013
I would like to tell you a short story. I didn’t write it. I heard it a long time ago, and found it on the Internet. There were 4 people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be accomplished and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody became angry about this, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Is that the church?
On the other hand, consider this statement from Bill Hybels, the pastor of Willow Creek Church. I mentioned this quote about 5 years ago. Hybels said ~
Think what the church would be like if its people were ~
RADICALLY DEVOTED to Christ,
IRREVOCABLY COMMITTED to each other, and
RELENTLESSLY DEDICATED to reaching those who don’t know Jesus?
IT WOULD BE A CHURCH AGAINST WHICH THE GATES OF HELL COULD NOT PREVAIL!!
Sometimes who we are and what we become is so narrow that it could be one small decision which pushes us in one direction over another. We could be a church which blames one another for things which don’t happen because we don’t do what we are supposed to do. Or we may cross the line, take the risks we fear, and be the church Bill Hybels spoke about.
But how do we do that? How does a church become more dynamic and willing to risk? Those are difficult questions. Some may not want to change, they’re comfortable, others always want change, still others, the majority - are somewhere in the middle. If I asked what should we do, we would have lots of different answers.
While you may not necessarily like the way Hybels stated his view of the church, wouldn’t it be great to see the church, all the churches, be
RADICALLY DEVOTED to Christ,
IRREVOCABLY COMMITTED to each other, and
RELENTLESSLY DEDICATED to reaching those who don’t know Jesus?
We would be the church of what’s happening now. There would be constant ministry taking place, lives being changed, devotion to Christ, dedication to one another, commitment to loving those who don’t know Jesus. It would be so cool, that nothing and nobody could defeat the church, not even the gates of hell.
You know what it’s like when you go to a sporting event. You may sit there quiet and calm, but inside you’re bursting. Or maybe you’re constantly yelling and jumping and excited. In the end, you know you’ve been to an event in which you were caught up. Maybe it’s a concert. Maybe it’s a NASCAR race. I don’t care what it is, but you get whipped up in the moment.
Friends that’s what should be going on inside and outside this building when it comes to Jesus.
We’ve been looking at what Paul told the church in Ephesus about who they were to become, and today, were going to conclude our look, as we continue reading from Ephesians 4. Paul wrote ~
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
11 It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16 From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
So, how do we make this happen? We pay the pastors and they go out and do the work. That’s how some people believe. But I know that we know better than that. Because it takes everyone here and in fact, those who are not here to build the church to be what Christ calls us to be.
You see, for so long the church was stuck on baby food, they couldn’t get off of it, because they didn’t want to get off of it. It would mean they would have to grow up and change. You see, Jesus doesn’t want the church to be stuck. He wants the church to enjoy the taste of a good steak, or hamburger, to know what real Baptist chicken and noodles taste like. You get the drift. When we’re immature, we don’t do what we should. Sometimes we see it in adults and in children; we see the immaturity, but want and actually see so much more potential, but they don’t get there, because they’re being tossed by the waves of the world.
Instead, as Hybels tells us we need to be RADICALLY DEVOTED to who? To Christ!! Jesus must always be our focus. When Jesus is not our focus, that’s when we’re buying into all the things the world is promoting. We talked about this Wednesday night at Bible study; and I’m not saying you can’t enjoy the world, have a blast and enjoy it. But beware of what the world is offering you.
On top of that, when we’re not mature in our faith, when we think we’re satisfied with a little taste, we’re really not satisfied. Who enjoys just a little taste of good ice cream, or one bite of ribs, or pick whatever food you want. We want more, and that’s how our faith should be. That’s how our actions should be. We’re devoted to Jesus. He’s first. When Jesus is the focus, the world and the media will be forced, in a good way, to take notice. And they’ll take notice because they see us doing more than worshiping Jesus inside these buildings. They will see us out in the world making a difference.
Next, Hybels tells us to be IRREVOCABLY COMMITTED to ONE ANOTHER!!
I like that word irrevocable. It means not able to be changed, reversed, or recovered. Impossible to revoke or retract. It means you can’t change or go back on your commitment to one another. So we don’t run away when someone in the church goes through a difficult season of life and turn our backs, we stay with that person and help them. It means when we don’t agree with someone, we talk it out and walk away united in faith. It means we don’t ignore someone for some stupid reason, it means we love that person, because they are our brother or sister in Christ. It means we don’t hurt one another because they are different or because they said something we don’t like.
It means we are in this together. We are here as one body, one unified body. Remember, the seven one’s from last week. We have one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God. This is our unifying super glue.
So, we stay committed to one another, helping one another physically, emotionally and spiritually. And we also help financially when possible.
I can tell you story after story about churches who have helped their members; rich and poor; active and inactive. The point of Paul’s message is that we’re supposed to be those people. When we know there’s a need, we cannot stand by and expect somebody to do the work, because nobody will step up and do what anybody could, but everybody didn’t. We MUST take the initiative. Christ commands us to do so, otherwise we’re no better than the Pharisees and legalists of his day.
That’s why we have the M-25 ministries. We want to help one another. And we do a great job of helping. I’ve seen us help people in need. We’ve provided food, care, rides, cleaning, prayer and lots of support for one another. We’ve given our time and our resources, we’ve cried together and rejoiced with one another. That is what the church is supposed to be about. Because we are IRREVOCABLY COMMITTED to ONE ANOTHER!
Lastly, Hybels calls us to be RELENTLESSLY DEDICATED to reaching those who don’t know God.
To be relentless means we’re persistent, tireless, and are constantly pursuing those who do not yet know Jesus. Of course, as Peter reminds us, we proclaim the love of Jesus with grace, respect and gentleness. How relentless are we?
A long time ago, I told this story, but it’s worth repeating . . . on the tryouts for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, a cheerleader was cut because she was 5 minutes late to a uniform fitting and was not wearing make up. The coach of the cheerleaders said, “our expectations are so high, that they are almost unattainable.”
Can you imagine if we said, you’re late to worship, how could you? This is about Jesus, but you chose to be late, or maybe you didn’t take into consideration that you would be stopped by the same train twice. We’ll allow that one. But you know what I mean. Or why don’t you wipe that scowl and bored look off you face. What are the expectations the church has for you? You know you have expectations for the church. You all do, but what about for yourself? Any expectations to participate in the life of the church or to use your gifts? Or do we just allow people to skate by, because we hide behind our rules and regulations?
You see, in verse 16, Paul said this about the church ~ 16 From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
You see, our gifts come from Jesus. We don’t get to pick and choose. We don’t get to use them for our benefit. Our gifts are for the kingdom of Christ to use and grow. What happens is that we join together and use our gifts together. We work together as one body. We kick the nobodies and anybodies out.
You see each part, each person is to do the work of the church, every person needs to be involved in spiritual growth and spiritual work. What we do is vitally important to those around us. You never know who will see Christ in you and be moved to get into church. When we forgive, we change the world, when we take action and help someone, we change the world, when we offer ourselves to others in acts of compassion, grace and kindness, called serving - the world take notice and we change the world.
Because of our faith in Jesus, we are called to do amazing acts of kindness and love that will change the world around us. The funny thing is, as we do this and change the world around us, we too are changing and more people will see Christ in you.
