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August 13, 2006
Pentecost 10b
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16
Pastor Ben Berger

Preserve the Unity

Why do you belong to a church? What does it mean to be a member of the Church? What's expected of you? What do you expect to give and what do you expect to get? Today, through the apostle Paul, the Lord will show us how he built his Church. He'll show you how he made you a member of the Church. And He'll show us why he built the church. We could summarize the essence of the church with one word, unity. As Paul teaches us about the Lord's church, he will encourage us to Preserve the Unity. Preserve the Unity 1) to which you were called and 2) for which you are built up.

Paul begins the second part of the book of Ephesians with an encouragement. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received (1). In the first part of the book of Ephesians, chapters one to three, Paul explained the calling we have received from Christ the Lord. He called us to be part of his Church. That Christ called us into his Church is amazing because we're not worthy of such a call. Can you believe it? He called US, sinners who deserve eternal separation from the holy God…He called US to be part of HIS Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints.

Now Paul encourages us to respond with proper gratitude. Live your life worthy of the calling you have received (1). This encouragement isn't a commandment. Paul's not telling us that we can earn God's favor by living a good life. We can't receive a call into the Church because we lived a worthy life. No, we've already received the call and now Paul encourages us to give thanks. And it's more than just a wish; he really wants our life to show proper appreciation and thanks for this calling into Christ's Church.

Here's an example. Let's say you have dinner at Lombardi's Steakhouse. You receive great food, great drinks and great service. Then you leave a tip (or gratuity) of one dollar. That tip isn't worthy of the great dinner you received. If we tell Jesus, "Thanks for living a perfect life for me and thanks for dying on that cross for me, but I'm still going to live however I want," that's not worthy of the calling we have received.

Paul explains how to live a life worthy of the calling we received into Christ's Church. He gives us three ways to get started. Be humble, be patient and make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (2-3). I want to focus on that last suggestion. Make every effort to [preserve] the unity of the Spirit.

When Christ called us into his Church, he called us to unity. He called us to unity with himself and with all believers (the other members of the Church). This again is an amazing fact because we're not worthy. We're not humble. Most of the time we look around and think we're better than everyone else. And we're not patient. We think everyone should think and feel the same way we do and like the same things we do. "Why do we have to spend $2mil on a place to talk with each other? Why do we have to offer a different style of worship on Saturdays? Why do we have to teach English?" All we do is destroy the unity that Christ has offered us. We act like we're the only ones going to heaven. For our sin we don't deserve to go to heaven, or deserve unity with the holy God, or deserve to be part of the Church of believers.

Though we're not worthy, Christ still called us to unity and peace. Paul describes that unity in verses four to six. Note the reference to the Trinity. Verse four points to the Spirit, verse five to the Lord Jesus and verse six to the Father. We are called to unity with the Triune God, three persons in ONE God.

The Holy Spirit called us to one hope when we were called (4). The Holy Spirit is the one who calls us and gives us the expectant hope of heaven. He called us to one Lord. How? Through baptism the Holy Spirit gave us faith to trust in Jesus as our Lord. He gave us faith to trust that even though we're not worthy, we will go to heaven because Jesus lived a perfect life for us and died on the cross to take away our sins. And the Holy Spirit called us at the direction of God the Father. He is in control; he is over all and through all and in all (6). The Father sent Jesus to save us and the Holy Spirit to call us.

Now to each one of us grace has been given (7). Grace reminds us that the calling we have received is a gift. We're not worthy and we don't deserve it. Because we know how valuable this gift is, we will make every effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit.

Why do you belong to a church? The first answer is that you belong to THE Church because the Father sent the Spirit to call you to faith in Christ. God wanted you to be part of his family. He wanted you to enjoy unity with him and all believers, so he called you. Now he calls you to preserve the unity he has given you. How will we preserve this unity? The Lord makes us members of a church (a local congregation) to build us up.

In order to build up THE Church (the holy Christian Church, which is made up of all believers), Christ provides ministry through a church (a local group of people who confess the same faith). Paul explains the ministry structure that Christ provides to build us up.

First Christ provides leaders or trainers for the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (11). We might add Sunday school teachers, VBS teachers, councilmen, board members and other positions of leadership we create. So what's the role of the leaders or my role as pastor? To train. Paul says to prepare God's people for works of service (12). My job is to train you to do works of service. And your job is to do works of service that build up the body of Christ. How does that look?

Building up the body of Christ starts by building up each individual believer. Christ wants us to build each other up (verse 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 (13). First, we strive for unity in faith and knowledge. We can't believe something without first knowing it. So we start by teaching each other the truths of God's word. Most of the time that's adults teaching children, but it also includes adults teaching adults and adults teaching teens and teens and children teaching adults. Before we can teach we have to know God's word ourselves. So the pastors teach us through sermons and Bible studies then we teach each other. As we study God's word the Holy Spirit will unite us in faith in the Son of God.

Once we have faith and knowledge, we keep teaching each other God's word to strive for spiritual maturity. Here we have a long way to go. Many of us have learned the basics, but have not continued to grow toward maturity. This has nothing to do with age, only with time spent in God's word. We learn the basics in Catechism or Adult Instruction like New Life in Christ. We grow toward maturity in personal or home devotions and group Bible Study. Ultimately, we are striving for the fullness of Christ. Most of us are still full of ourselves. We think and do whatever WE want. As God's word brings us to maturity the Holy Spirit teaches us to think, talk and act in a way pleasing to Christ, worthy and appreciative of the calling we have received.

As we build each other up individually, we are building up the whole body of Christ, his Church. To preserve the unity of this body, Paul tells us we have to do two things. First, as a group we have to be mature enough to recognize false teaching and keep it out. Second, we have to be willing enough to speak the truth in love. We have to be willing to point out each other's sins and offer forgiveness. We have to be willing to point out false teaching and other dangers to one's soul even though it might hurt feelings. We have to be willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the unity Christ has given us because we know how valuable it really is.

To build up each other and the body of Christ, to preserve the unity of the Church, will take the effort of every single member. From Christ the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (16). Not just the pastors, not just the teachers, not just councilmen, not just board members but every single one of you, every single member of the body of Christ, every single member of the Church must work together building one another up to preserve our unity. When one part of the body doesn't do its part, the whole body suffers.

Why belong to a church? Because we need each other. Have you ever noticed what happens to a burning coal when it rolls away from the fire? It burns for awhile but eventually dies out. However, when a burning coal stays with the group of other burning coals, it keeps burning too.

Though we're not worthy, Christ has called us into his Church. He has united us with himself so that we will spend eternity with him in heaven. He has also united us with other believers to build each other up until we get to heaven. May Christ bless us as we make every effort to preserve this unity.