Unity in the Body of Christ
Ephesians 4:1-16
July 1, 2007

So, how about that breakfast this morning? Yes, breakfast, it was good! It’s the first meal of the week. Going to be your last? Could be, but probably not. There are not many of us around here that look like we only get one meal a week.

The first breakfast is a great thing. But we generally eat two or ten times a day—every day. And we’re going to read the word of God now; and reading the word of God on Sunday morning is a great thing. It’s a great way to start off the week. But just like we don’t just eat breakfast on Sunday morning and not the rest of the week, we should always be reading the word of God every day. This is our spiritual nourishment. And the good news is, unlike physical food, we cannot get spiritually fat. You can feed ten times a day on the word of God and not get the least bit fat, just stronger. That’s good stuff. But we are going to start off first with a word of prayer before we read the word of God.

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”

9(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until 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. 14Then 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. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16From 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. (Ephesians 4:1-16 –NIV)

Chapter 4 starts the second half of Ephesians. The first 3 chapters dealt mostly with doctrinal and theological issues. Basically, Paul was outlining the truths about God and how He relates to His children. Chapters 4 to 6 deal with practical advice on how we should live in light of those doctrines. In other words, what we should do in response to God. If we live out Paul’s directions, we will actively advance God’s kingdom by showing the world what true Christianity is like.

In verse 1, Paul urges us to “live a life worthy of the calling [we] have received”. Paul can urge us because he was a prisoner. He had suffered for Christ. He had already lived the life he was urging us to live. The Bible tells us Paul had, “fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.” He was not someone who preaches to people but doesn’t live up to the standard himself. We need to “live a life worthy of the calling (we) have received” so that we can encourage others to live a holy life. If our words do not match our actions then our words mean nothing.

Now that we have been urged to live a life worthy… Paul tells us in verses 2 and 3 exactly what he means. Christian life should exemplify humility, gentleness, and patience. We should bear with one another in love and strive for unity and peace in the Church. Notice that these virtues follow very closely to what Jesus told His disciples in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10). We’ll look at each of these aspects of Christian life in turn.

Most people have the wrong idea of what humble really means. Being humble is not a low opinion of yourself; it is knowing your proper place in God. As C.S. Lewis once said, being humble is not a pretty woman thinking she is ugly or a clever man thinking he is stupid. Humble is knowing that God has given you every ability and good quality that you have so you have nothing to be proud of. Therefore, you can use the abilities God has given you without thinking that you are better than other people, because you know God has given each person the gifts He wants them to have. Moses was “the most humble man on earth” (Numbers 12:3) yet he had no problem being in authority of 2 million people. Christian humility comes from focusing ourselves on Jesus and the example He set for us. We fall so short of that mark that we can easily not think too highly of ourselves but still realize that He considered us worthy of sacrificing His life.

Gentleness  is not the lack of anger or the fear of confrontation. Gentleness is compassion for the weak but the willingness to stand firm against the oppressor. Gentle means understanding human frailties but not lowering your standard because of them. Jesus was always compassionate with the weak and lost. He encouraged those who sincerely tried to come to God. At other times He was harsh with people who refused to obey God, thought they knew better than God, prevented people from coming closer to God, or sought their own good at the expense of others.

Patience also means long suffering. It is the ability to wait on someone or something to do what you want or what should be done. The Greek word suggests having the power to punish or hurt but refraining from doing so. God is patient with us so we should be patient with each other. Think of how much more joy would be found in the church if we were more patient with each other. Think of how much more God would be glorified if we stopped hurting, back-biting, and bad-mouthing each other.

Apparently Paul had some idea just how difficult some Christians are to bear. That is why he tells us that we need not only to do so, but we need to do it in love. This love in Greek is the agape love, which means we should have nothing but kind, benevolent thoughts, attitudes, and actions for each other. It means we should forgive each other before the apology comes, and never harbor bitterness, anger, or thoughts of revenge against another brother or sister. Even the ones you can’t stand.

Keeping the unity of the Spirit means we must not do anything that is intended to disrupt the unity of the body. Unity gives the church a powerful witness.

Peace is right relationships between individuals and groups. When the relationships break down we are left with the opposite, strife and war. Sin broke the relationship between God and man. Jesus’ death and resurrection healed the relationship between God and man allowing there to be peace. Sin also breaks the relationships between people. Strife between people comes when each person is interested in themselves more that other people. When we stop looking out for our own best interests and start caring for others, then we will have peace with them.

Peace and unity among Christians should come because of all that we have in common. Verse 4 to 6   tell us that we all have the same body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God.

Christ is the head, the church is the body. I spent many years working with people who have spinal cord injuries. Their brain works fine but due to a part of their body being dysfunctional, their ability to do certain activities is highly limited. The body limits the head from accomplishing all that it wants. When Christians do not live in unity we limit the work that Christ can do with His body.

The same Holy Spirit works in each of us. The Spirit gives each Christian their ability and place in the body. God’s original plan was for all the Christians living in an area to worship together. Then the local church would have each of God’s gifts represented. However, due to our preference for associating with people like us, people usually worship together with people who have the same or similar gifts. They then go so far as to assume that when another church exhibits a gift not present in their church, or does not exhibit a gift that their church does that the other church is wrong.

Our only hope is God’s ability to bring us to perfection, to change us into the person He wants us to be. Every Christian has exactly the same hope of spiritual growth. Without this hope we are all lost. Therefore we should not look at other Christians and judge them when they have sins that we do not have. Neither should we envy them when their relationship with God is better than ours is.

Jesus Christ is Lord of His whole church. Therefore, no specific church should be jealous or defensive of any other church or group. We should work together. Too often Christians and churches spend more time fighting with each other than they do fighting the devil. Any time an organization has different departments that don’t work together as a team, there will be a diminishing of effectiveness. When Christians do not work together we diminish the work we have been called to do.

Faith is believing that God is able and will do what He promised. God has promised that if we trust and obey Him then He will forgive and strengthen us. He has also promised that someday Jesus will return and then He will live with us forever. Christians may have different creeds, doctrines, or theologies but we all have only one faith.

Baptism is a symbolic act of dying to our old life and becoming a new creature. The method of baptism may vary, but the symbol remains the same for every believer.

The final, but most important unifying factor is God, Who is the Father of us all. There is only one God. He has called every Christian into His family. If God chose and accepts them, who are we to reject them?

God has provided for us to live in unity by giving us the power to do so. Each of us has the power of God working in us. Verse 7 tells us that Jesus decides who receives how much each Christian has been appointed. We all are given grace in our own amount. We are therefore held accountable for what we do with the talents and abilities that He has given us.

Verse 11 says that God provides different people with different abilities. In this way God delegates responsibility with each person responsible to use his or her own gift to the best of their ability. We do not choose what gift we receive so we do not get to choose in what manner we serve. God has already prepared good works for you to do (2:10). The purpose of our gifts is not personal fulfillment ( 4:12), though that can be a pleasant side-effect, but the building up of the body.

This building up will continue until all of God’s people have reached perfect spiritual maturity (4:13). Once we are mature we will be firm in our beliefs and not so easily deceived (4:14).

When each part of the body works like it should, the body can do amazing things.