First Baptist Church
November 3. 2002
Ephesians 4:1-6
Unity
Maybe you missed it or maybe you even watched it and didn’t even notice it. When the San Francisco Giants starting line up was announced, during the World Series, each player would jog over to the first base line, and they would give five or shake hands with one another, then they’d get in line. When their star player Barry Bonds, was introduced, he jogged to his spot in line, avoiding the other players. When you think about a team, it takes all 25 players on a baseball team to win or lose. Bonds may be the best hitter in baseball, but he is not the only player on the Giants.
On the other hand, at last years Super Bowl, the New England Patriots didn’t announce their star players before the game, so that the star could run onto the field to the cheering crowd, instead, the team was announced and they all ran onto the field together. You see, they were unified — Win as One or Lose as One. As we can all remember, they didn’t have a prayer to win the Super Bowl, but they did. Anyone know who they beat? Possibly they won because, in part they were unified.
In today’s scripture Paul brings out the fact that the church is supposed to be one. We are supposed to be unified. It doesn’t mean that we have to agree on everything, it doesn’t mean we have the same gifts, talents and skills. In many respects we are called to be unified and at the same time to celebrate our diversity.
In the book of Ephesians, more than in any of Paul’s other letters,18 times, Paul says the church is supposed to be a unity and that we share the same faith. Read through the book of Ephesians and you’ll begin to think Paul is repeating himself. And you’d be right. He is. He believes and so does Jesus that unity is not just a good thing, but it’s a must in the church. What Paul is telling us is crucial for the church. If First Baptist Church wants to be the church that Jesus Christ has called us to be, then we must adhere to Paul’s words.
In 4:1, Paul doesn’t tell us, he urges and even begs us to do something. Paul wants every person who proclaims Jesus is Lord, Savior, and Forgiver of their lives to live in a very particular manner. Notice what Paul says in verse 1, he "begs us to lead a life worthy of our calling, for we have been called by God." Do you understand what this means? It’s crucial to who we are and how we’re supposed to live our lives.
What is our calling? It is more than anything else to believe that we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. It is to believe that when we confess with our tongues and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we are saved. It is to believe that our sins have been forgiven and even are remembered no more. It is to believe that we are a new creation, because when we confess Jesus, the old nature dies, and a new nature, a new person comes alive. . . And that person is a Christian.
When we are called by God it means we answer the call to live a life that is worthy of His calling. In other words, our conduct should be such that it brings honor to Christ in all that we do. With that in mind, Paul gives very concrete examples of what it means to live a worthy life.
Beginning in verse 2, Paul tells us to be not just humble, but be completely humble. The Greeks only used this word in a negative sense. But Paul wants us to use humble or humility in a positive manner. To be humble focuses on our thinking. It literally means "lowliness of mind." In other words, you don’t think too highly of yourself.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, rather it’s seeing our lives as a gift from God. Any ability we have has been given to us by God. Through life’s experiences we develop and mature and we allow others to praise us, we don’t talk ourselves up.
Walter Cronkite, the famous newscaster tells the following story. He was sailing down the Mystic River in Connecticut, going through shallow water, when a boat filled with young people sped past him, shouting and waving their arms. Cronkite waved back a cheery greeting. His wife asked him, "Do you know what they were shouting?"
He replied, "Why, it was Hello, Walter."
"No," she said. "They were shouting, ""Low water, Low water."" Such are the problems when we are not too humble. {Ray Ellis and Walter Cronkite, North by Northeast.}
Paul then urges us to be gentle. Gentleness could also be translated "meekness." Most people think meek people are weak people and wishy-washy. But that is not true. The idea behind gentleness is "strength under control." In Greek, the word was used of wild horses that were trained. Meekness is a condition of the mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness, not because you’re weak, but it comes out of your strength. It’s a balance born in strength of character.
G. G. Findlay wrote, "meekness is the quality of a strong personality who is nevertheless master of himself and the servant of others. It is the absence of the disposition to assert personal rights, either in the presence of God or of men."
Next, Paul tells us to be patient people. Patience means having a long fuse with other people. It means to be long-suffering toward people who are aggravating, just as God is with us.
Now Paul tells us to "bear with one another." It literally means to suffer with one another. Paul is calling for you and I to put up with each other. And isn’t that true of life. We have to put up with people all the time. Sometimes it’s at work, sometimes at school, sometimes it’s even at church. When we bear with one another, it like saying, "I see the struggles in your life, but I make a decision not to concentrate on that, instead I choose to see the Lord at work in you." That changes the way we look at others? That can be a scary task.
And finally, Paul concludes by telling us whatever we do, we must do it with a spirit of love. Love is the cornerstone for Paul. He tells us in Colossians 3:14, "Over all virtues, put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity." Again, Paul returns to that theme of unity. Love is the bedrock, it is the foundation. Without love for one another, we will never have unity. The love Paul is talking about is called "Agape" love. It is a community based love, which is also a costly love. It is the type of love that Christ has for you and I. It is a love that is willing to risk it all because you love the other person. It’s a love that moves a person to lay down their life for another.
With that in mind, NOW Paul takes us to the next level. And that level is a call for unity within the church. In verse 3, he tells us to make every effort, to be diligent, be committed to keep unity of the Holy Spirit. If we give up on this, then we give up on the church. Because without unity, the church will never reach the greatness Christ has destined for us. That is how important this is.
In his commentary on Ephesians, Markus Barth had this to say about the phrase in verse 3, "make every effort" —
"It is hardly possible to render exactly the urgency contained in the underlying Greek verb. Not only haste and passion, but a full effort of the whole man is meant, involving his will, sentiment, reason, physical strength, and total attitude. The imperative mood of the participle found in the Greek text excludes passivity, quietism, or a wait-and-see attitude. Yours is the initiative!! Do it now! Mean it! YOU are to do it! I mean it! Such are Paul’s overtones in verse 3."
So, what is unity? Unity is not uniformity; it is not being the same or thinking the same. It concerns gathering around the same things and being bound together because of them. People go to a baseball game because they have the same basic interest to watch a good ball game. In the same manner, Paul now lists 7 things that MUST unify every person who is a Christian. And I will be so bold to say that WE ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAVER ON ANY OF THESE!!
I want to quickly highlight them and tell you why they are so very important for us.
First, we are one body. We aren’t one organization. Our bodies are comprised of thousands of cells, but there is one life. A body is not produced by combining sections of anatomy together. A body is produced because one original cell is growing, growing until it becomes an amazing creation, you and I. Every cell shares that original life. That is the secret of a body -- all the parts of it share life together. In the same way, we are members of the body of Christ. We are the church.
Remember, the church is not just a building, instead the church is made up of the body of believers, you and me. Every believer is placed into the Body of Christ when they profess faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
There is one Spirit. The same Spirit dwells within each believer, so there is an interconnectedness to us. And it’s the Spirit which produces unity. As the body of Christ, we are also a temple of the Holy Spirit. So, it is the same Holy Spirit which led us to become believers in Jesus Christ and it is the Spirit of God that keeps the church alive today.
There is one hope of our calling. We have hope in Christ because He destroyed death. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 15:55, "Where O death, is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?" You see, we are the victors, death no longer has a hold on us because we have everlasting life with Jesus Christ in heaven in the great mansion God has built with our name on the door. That is why Paul tells us not to grieve like those who have no hope, because when our loved one is a Christian we know where they are. All Christians will be worshiping Jesus together, forever.
And there is one Lord. We serve only our Lord, Jesus Christ. There are no other options on this. If we think we can serve other gods, then we are not Christians. If we serve the same Lord, then we should be able to walk together in unity.
There is one faith. That one faith rests squarely on Jesus Christ. This is the truth which Christ has given to His church, revealed in His Word. Once again, there are no other options. Either your faith is in Jesus Christ or it is not. There are no kinda - sortas available. Jesus said, "if you’re not for me, then you’re against me." We share one faith. We are all equal before the cross, nobody is better than their neighbor, Christ died equally for you and me.
There is one baptism. Paul is referring to the ordinance of baptism. This is where the believer is baptized into the Body of Christ at conversion. This is a signal to the world that we belong to one family. As we saw 2 weeks ago, it is the symbol of being dead to our old self, and becoming fully alive in Christ. . . in the church family, where Jesus Christ is the head.
And finally, there is one God and Father. This may be another way of simply saying that we are all in one family. It is the family of God. Those who have been born again can now refer to God as their Heavenly Father. In the family of God there is community. Our heavenly Father is perfect in wisdom and love, and He is over all (in authority over us), through all (ministering through us) and in all (residing in all of us). He is the One who brings us together.
SO. . . WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN FOR F.B.C. ASHLAND?
It means everything. If we all believe in the Father, the Son and the Spirit. . . if we all believe in God’s love for us and His desire that we be a community a family. . . THEN comes the big question, IS OUR FAITH ENOUGH TO PERSUADE US TO LIVE A LIFE WORTHY OF OUR CALLING AS CHILDREN OF JESUS CHRIST?
In other words, if you are so deeply holding on to anger and bitterness, that Christ is really not able to rule in your spirit and soul. . . will you let it go and trust Christ?
Will some of you let go of your desire to control all of your issues, and allow Christ to take over, so that you can understand His plan for you?
Will others drop the petty concerns of our earthly kingdoms and worship the one true King, together?
You see, we are one body. Just as Debbie, Joshua, Zachary and myself are one family. You and I and everybody else are one family. We are the church. It means that you do all you can to build up the body. Why? Because we are a unity, we are one. Is it your goal to destroy your children by tearing them down? Absolutely not. And in the same way our goal must be to build up one another. 40 times in Paul’s letters he use the phrase "ONE ANOTHER." Every time it’s in a positive manner. The call of the church is to be unified despite our differences.
We’ve experienced a lot of changes at our church over the almost 5 years that I’ve been here. We’ve had some tough times and some great times. There have been projects that not everybody liked, but we’ve carried forward because we believe that’s the will of God. But if you don’t like what has happened and you’re bitter toward the church, who are you hurting? Yourself, yes. But you are also hurting the unity of this church. And by hurting the unity of this church, you are aiding satan, not Jesus.
If you think not giving money will hurt the church or not volunteering will hurt the church, you are wrong, for in that sense you are the one who is being spiritually hurt. As long as we seek to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ, First Baptist Church of Ashland, Illinois will live and I believe we will flourish.
I have confidence in this church and I know we can become a prevailing church, a church that will not only grow in numbers, but more importantly, a church that will have the boldness to proclaim Jesus and demonstrate His love where ever we go. How about you do you desire to be a church that others call a unity?
