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Mark Wheeler
Ephesians 4:1-16
08/04/2024
"Walking, not Wandering; Wondering, not Way-laying"
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
Welcome to Worship, today, friends! As we begin a new month, we also begin a new sermon series. As you know, in a couple days Jennifer and I leave for Kyrgyzstan to meet Aidona Katya, our 15-day old granddaughter! While we are away, Pastor Kathy will serve as our Worship Coordinator and we'll have a guest preacher, Former-Commissioned-Ruling-Elder-Pastor at Westminster Church, Sandy Brockway. I expect you will love her presence and her style of proclaiming the Gospel. And, she normally preaches from what's called the Common Lectionary – a three-year cycle through the Bible, using an Old Testament passage, a Psalm, a Gospel reading, and an Epistle. She will be preaching from Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians – so I am starting us off there today as well.
Also, today is the first Sunday in the first full weekend of August – for the last almost-25-years this has meant we worship with several other churches at Harmon Park during the Hillyard Festival Weekend. Why not this year? Well, because the Hillyard Festival had to be cancelled this year – there was a state-filing snafu…. We talked about still having our cross-denominational Worship in the Park – but without the Festival support, it is just too expensive, and part of the purpose has been to show the outside world that the Church is One, even if we have different styles, theological points, and historical traditions…. And the outside world won't be in the Park this year, because the Festival isn't happening! Next year!
Today's passage, Ephesians 4:1-16, would have been a great passage for Worship in the Park – its main theme is Unity! The Ephesian Church, and therefore also the Spokane Church, the Hillyard-Area-Church, should make "every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (4:3). We are to equip the saints for ministry "until all of us come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God" (4:13). The sevenfold use of the word "one" (4:4–6) forms the center of a poetic statement of the church's unity. The list culminates with the oneness of God. Just as earlier parts of this Epistle identify God as the source of the Church's identity (compare 1:3–8), so here the unity of the Church reflects the oneness of God.
We meet together in the presence of a God whose love is freedom, whose touch is healing, whose voice is calm. We meet not in our own strength, but in the knowledge that God's Holy Spirit abides within us, in our worship today, and in our daily lives as we wander about this amazing Kingdom He invites us into. Let's Worship the Triune God of Unity!
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Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 133 – my favorite Worship in the Park opening devotional passage!
4-5 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #412 … Jesus' Hands Were Kind Hands –
6 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Be filled with God's Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God's Word.
7 This morning our Summer Special Music is being presented by Donna and Ken Stone – this is from Isaiah 6 – listen for the Divine Call and the Faithful Response: "Here I Am, Lord"
8 Children's Message
9 Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
10 Gloria Patri
11-14 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord's Prayer]
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16 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God's Word – #410 – He Touched Me –
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The Epistle to the Ephesian Church is a six-chapter "Letter" to the Christians in this Gentile-non-Bible-believing-Community in modern-day Turkey.
In the first half of this Letter, Paul outlines the blessings associated with being a Child of God. In the second half, chapters 4-6, Paul outlines the responsibilities associated with that status.
Verses 1-16 (especially verse 1) set the tone for the rest of this letter.
Over the next three Sundays, Pastor Sandy Brockway will bring us through the rest of this Epistle.
As I said earlier, unity in the Church is a main theme in this book. Unity is not the same as uniformity. The mystery of God that is revealed in Christ and results in the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles does not obliterate the distinctions between these different groups. Instead, what is made known through the Church is "the wisdom of God in its rich variety" (3:10). Part of the call of 4:1–16 is to tolerance, or "bearing with one another" (4:2). The assumption is not that all distinctions will cease, but that even with the persistence of differences, the Church may nevertheless grow together as the Body of Christ.
Let's listen together at how this gets exemplified in Ephesians 4:1-16…. ----
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4 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
The New Testament uses "klesis", the word for "calling" to speak of God's invitation to become a member of the Kingdom of God—to experience adoption into God's family—to gain salvation and the hope of life eternal. Having been invited by God to a high calling, these Christians need to "walk worthily of that calling."
Both Old and New Testaments use the word "walk" as we would use the word "live." In other words, Paul is pleading with these Christians to live their lives in accord with their Godly calling.
And, it is likely that Paul wrote this from his prison cell in Rome – as one who has earned the right to talk about living a life worthy of his calling! Not that we have to deserve the invitation – but our lives should reflect the gift we have received!
How do we live or walk in a worthy manner? completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Jesus used the Old Testament to answer that question like this: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.. (and) You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace!
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7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why God says [in Psalm 68:18]: "When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people."
This is just a quick Old Testament reference to the gift of this invitation. In its original context, Psalm 68 celebrates victory over God's enemies—and a triumphal procession bringing the spoils of victory, including prisoners, up Mount Zion to the Temple, the dwelling place of God.
Paul relates this verseto Christ, who "ascended on high…, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
And then Paul gives a New Testament interpretation of this Messianic Psalm:
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9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his 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.
Some people compare these verses with I Peter 3:19-20, which says that "Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient." This suggests that Jesus descended into hell in the time between His crucifixion and the time of His resurrection.
This understanding is incorporated into the Apostles' Creed, which says that Jesus "was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."
But is that the meaning of this verse? Possibly, but not certainly.
Others believe that "descended" and "ascended" refer to the Incarnation. The best expression of this idea is found in Philippians 2:5-11, where Paul says that Christ Jesus existed in the form of God, but "didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped." He "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
I think I lean more toward this understanding, so long as we truly believe Jesus did really actually die, was buried as a dead man, before He resurrected on the third day!
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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 people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of 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.
Paul then concludes this opening section of the second half of his Letter to the Ephesian Christians circling back to the theme of unity – by way of four or five categories of Spiritual Gifts God gives to His Church – that together we might walk worthy of the calling we have received – to grow up, to mature, to adult in way that demonstrates real love for God, the Head of the Church, and for neighbor, created in God's image!
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Seen in this context, the unity to which the Church is called in 4:1-16 can have challenging implications for us in the 21st Century. In the first century, many Jews and Gentiles struggled to accept the message of reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles (compare Galatians, Acts 10–15). God's gift of reconciliation means that those who were once understood to be "far off" are now those who are equally gifted by God.
The "dividing walls" of today's churches might also be seen in this light, although in our case the more relevant categories would be those of gay and straight, black and white, rich and poor, or men and women.
Behavior is not in question! How we live matters! What do is important!
Included in that, however, is how we love those who are different! This is not a free-for-all invitation! It is a calling to obedience – to unity despite diversity – to love beyond differing opinions! This is hard work!
So, Paul says, in humility, with gentle spirits, patiently, bear with one another and make every effort to live peaceably with people you disagree with. That's not the same as "approve of every life style"; it is "love the person so much they can see God's image in you"!
In its unity the Church embodies the reconciliation made possible in Jesus Christ, who "has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us" (2:14).
We are Walking with purpose, not Wandering aimlessly; we are Wondering about how we live, not Way-laying the Invitation to follow Jesus lovingly!
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As we approach the Lord's Table, come to Communion, enjoy the Eucharist, we approach the Table of our Lord who descended and then ascended to the right hand of God! Repent and Believe the Good News.
I invite our Communion Servers to come forward. In our Church we recognize that there is no fence guarding this Table – it is open to all of receive Christ, who believe Jesus – and we invite you all to partake of the blessings of God's presence made real in this sacrament.
24 Sacrament of Holy Communion –
25-27 Communion Hymn #776 – Let Us Break Bread Together –
28 Sacrament of Holy Communion –
29 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ's name, Amen.
Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; or click HERE; or text 833-976-1333, code "Lidgerwood")
30-31 Expedition Song #659 – A Charge to Keep I Have –
32 Benediction:
May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God's Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
"May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace."
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Announcements
- Breakfast Fellowship – Saturday, 9am, at Frankie Doodles
- Ezra 3 Design Team –
- Furnace Fundraiser
- Sandy Brockway & Kathy Sandusky, next week!
Resources:
Donovan, Richard Niell; https://sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary/new-testament-ephesians-41-16/
Hylen, Susan; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-18-2/commentary-on-ephesians-41-16-2
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