Ephesians | Your Identity in Christ (3)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 10/12/2014
Play: “Me Church” Video
The last couple of weeks we’ve been exploring the New Testament book of Ephesians. As I said last week, Ephesians is all about identity, which made me think earlier this week about comedian, Jeff Foxworthy who made his name telling jokes about how to identify a redneck—jokes like: You might be redneck if…
• You ever cut your grass and found a car.
• Your dad walks you to school because you’re in the same grade.
• People come to your door mistakenly thinking you’re having a yard sale…
• You go to the family reunion to meet women.
Of course, Jeff Foxworthy is a Christian as well as comedian and hosts The American Bible Challenge on the Game Show Network. And so he’s also told a few jokes about how to identify a redneck church: You might be in a redneck church if…
• You’ve ever seen someone make change in the offering plate.
• The first day of deer season is recognized as an official church holiday.
• The finance committee refuses to provide funds for the purchase of a chandelier because none of the members knows how to play one.
• People think "rapture" is what you get when you lift something too heavy.
• The pastor says, "Bubba, could you help take up the offering?" and 3 men and 2 women stand up.
I don’t know if you could identify with any of those, but I do want to talk today about our identity as a church. Last Sunday we held the magnifying glass over Ephesians 2 and discovered that individually, we are all sinner by nature, however in Christ we are saved by grace and servants by design. As we slide the magnifying glass over chapter four, we discover another picture—a family picture—that identifies not just who we are as individuals, but who we are as a church.
If you have a Bible with, please open it to Ephesians 4. I’d like to focus in on verses 15 and 16, but let’s start reading in verse 11 to get the context:
Christ gave gifts to people—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God’s people. Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection.
Then we will no longer be babies. We will not be tossed about like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another. We will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to fool us. They make plans and try any kind of trick to fool people into following the wrong path. No! Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head. The whole body depends on Christ, and all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each part does its own work to make the whole body grow and be strong with love. (Ephesians 4:11-16 NCV)
Here Paul identifies three key parts to the body of Christ.
First, Ephesians identifies the head of the church.
• THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH
Paul states clearly and concisely: “Christ…is the head of his body, the church” (vs. 15). What does that mean? It’s the same as being the head of an organization or a corporation. It means he’s the boss. Christ is in charge. What he says goes. He calls all the shots and he has all the authority. In fact, back in chapter 1, Paul wrote, “God has put Christ over all rulers, authorities, powers, and kings, not only in this world but also in the next. God put everything under his power and made him the head over everything for the church, which is Christ’s body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:21-23 NCV).
As I already said, Jesus is in charge of his church. This is his church. I’m not the head of the church, the elders are not the head of the church, the deacons are not the head of the church, and no one else is the head of the church. Jesus and Jesus alone is the head of the church. We follow his leadership and his teaching. If I were to put an organizational chart up here showing who’s responsible for what ministries in our church, right at the top would be the name Jesus Christ. Jesus is the head of the church.
The problem with that is—we like to be the ones in charge. We like to call the shots. We want to know how the money is being spent. We throw our weight around when an important decision needs to be made. And we grumble and complain when things don’t go our way.
I read humorous story earlier this week. An analyst for the Department of Agriculture approached a farmer saying, “I've been authorized by the government to go out into your pasture and take some soil samples. Do you mind if do that?” The farmer just spit some tobacco and said, “You can't go out in my pasture.”
The analyst got a little perturbed and pulled out a piece of paper signed by the Secretary of the Agriculture that gave him the authority to take his samples anywhere he chose. He showed it to the farmer, saying, “There, see? I have the authority to go into your pasture.”
As the specialist started climbing over the fence the farmer said, “I'll tell you again, you’d better not go out into my pasture.” Ignoring the warning, the man arrived in the middle of the pasture and started pulling out his equipment when the ground began to shake. He looked up and saw a mean old bull running toward him with his head lowered. Jumping to his feet, the man left his equipment and started running as fast as he could for the fence. Seeing the farmer, he cried for help. The farmer smiled and said, "Show him your papers!"
That analyst learned real quickly that he wasn’t the one in charge; rather, in that field, the bull was the one in charge.
The same is true for us. This may be your church and my church, but it belongs to Jesus. He’s the one in charge. My job, the job of the elders and deacons, and your job is step out of the way and let Jesus lead. We do that by opening up our Bibles and listening to his word, and we do that by seeking His guidance and direction through prayer.
Further, Ephesians 4 identifies the hands of the church.
• THE HANDS OF THE CHURCH
After WWII ended, a group of German students volunteered to help rebuild an English Cathedral in London. It had been severely damaged by bombing. They did well with most of the Cathedral, except one statue that had been shattered into many pieces—a marble statue of Jesus. The statue of Jesus once stood tall with arms outstretched. The inscription under it read, “Come unto me.” They were able to find and reconstruct the entire statue except for the hands, which had been completely demolished. And so, when finished, they had a statue of Jesus with outstretched arms, and no hands.
They couldn’t decide what to do—make new hands or leave it as it was? They decided to leave it be, and you can go to London today and see that marble statue of Jesus standing there with no hands. But they did change one thing—the inscription, which now reads: “He has no hands but ours.”
Paul tells us the same thing. In fact, we’re not just his hands; we’re the whole body. He writes, “Christ…is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow” (Ephesians 4:15-16 NLT).
As the hands and feet of Jesus our job is to do the work of Jesus: “each part has its own special work.” In God’s church, everyone has a special job to do.
The problem is—like the video we saw, most of us think church is all about me. Most of the time we’re more interested in “serve us” then service. We say, “I’m looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me,” not, “I’m looking for a place to serve and be a blessing.” We expect other to serve us, not vice versa.
Someone once said, “Christians are like wheelbarrows—they only work when pushed and they get easily upset.” But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of good works and service to others. The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, “Who’s going to meet my needs?” and starts asking, “Whose needs can I meet?” Do you ever ask that question?
We are very blessed here at the Grove to have plethora of volunteers who work and serve in a variety of way. Just a couple of weeks ago Kevin Williams came out here and painted the walkway. Before that a team of eight pumped gas, washed windows, and sparked some spiritual conversations at our gas give-away. We have a half-dozen Sunday School teachers who commit themselves to planting God’s word in fertile hearts. After church today, you’ll here reports from our youth ministry, children’s ministry, outreach team, fellowship team, and our buildings and ground team—all of which have been busy doing the “special work” God planned just for them. But there may be some of you thinking, I’m not a part of any of those ministries. Maybe it’s been a long time since you volunteered your time to be the hands of Jesus.
Robert J. Morgan once told the story of a preacher who was approached by a man who wanted to join the church. “But,” the man said, “I have a very busy schedule. I can’t be called on for any service, like committee work, teaching, or other such things. I just won’t be available for special projects or to help with setting up chairs or things like that. I just want to sit through Sunday worship and then go on about my business.”
The minister thought for a moment, and then replied, “I believe you’re at the wrong church. The church you’re looking for is three blocks down the street, on the right.” The man followed the preacher’s directions and soon came to an abandoned, boarded up closed down church building. It was a dead church—gone out of business.
That’s what happens to churches that don’t work and serve.
Waiting for an invitation to serve in your church, if kind of like waiting for an invitation to pull weeds in your own lawn. So if that’s what you’ve been waiting for, stop waiting and start serving.
Finally, Ephesians 4 identifies the heart of the church.
• THE HEART OF THE CHURCH
Paul concludes this section of Scripture with these words: “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16 NLT).
The heart of the church is love.
Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “A life without love, is no life at all.” I think Jesus would have agreed with Da Vinci.
Jesus was all about love. He commands his followers to love each other, to love our neighbors, and even to love our enemies. In fact, when asked which of God’s commands was the most important, Jesus answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40 NLT). More than anything else, Jesus urges us to love God and love people. These two commands summarize all of Scripture. They course through the Bible like a heartbeat.
I want this church, more than anything else, to be a community of love. I want to be able to come here, and I want you to be able to come here, and feel totally and completely loved. Nothing, according to Jesus, is more important than loving God and loving people. Let’s make that our mantra—not just on paper, but in our hearts every moment of every day. If we love each other as God has loved us, then we will become a church of love that will act like a magnet, drawing people who are starving for love into the presence of Jesus and the salvation that he offers.
But I want you to notice something. Christian love is balanced by truth. Paul says again, “Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head” (Ephesians 4:15 NCV). A church might be the most loving, accepting place on earth, but if isn’t teaching truth, it’s not a healthy church. On the other hand, a church might boldly preach and proclaim the truth of God’s word, but if they do it without love, they are not a healthy church either. John Stott wrote, “Truth without love is fanaticism; love without truth is sentimentality; but truth in love is Christianity.”
Conclusion:
So this is our identity as a church. Jesus is the head—he is in charge and we submit to his authority. We are the hands—it’s the responsibility of each member to carry out the work of Christ. Love is the heart—balance by truth, love is the heartbeat of the body of Christ.
So you might be the body of Christ if Jesus is the head, we all are the hands, and love is the heart. Next Sunday, we’ll bring this investigation into our own identities to a close by moving the magnifying glass over the last part of chapter four, where we discover how our identity in Christ ought to impact our every day life.
Invitation:
In the meantime, I want to offer a different kind of invitation today. There have been many families and individuals visiting and even attending regularly this year who are not yet members of the church. Maybe you’re already a part of God’s greater family, but you haven’t yet identified yourself as a part of this church right here. If you have bidding your time and you’ve seen that Jesus is the head of this church, that every member is the hands, and love is the heart—then this is the place for you.
If you haven’t been baptized we can do that. If you have, all you have to say is I want to belong to this church and we’ll welcome you with open arms.
