So Ephesians 4, where we are this morning, the first 16 verses, begins with an exhortation
in the light of who we are as God's church, and again, it's a very big we, it's us as
a body, it's not just take it home individual, this is me, this is us as a body, and for
us here, the body of Christ who meet here at St. Paul's.
And it begins with an exhortation to walk in a way which is worthy of what we have received.
So the church is the expression of this brand new humanity created in Christ, and Ephesians
4 begins by exhorting us to be that humanity in the relationships that we have with one
another.
And so the very first words, or verse 2 says, so be completely humble and gentle, be patient,
bearing with one another in love.
So I'll say it again, be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another
in love.
We could spend a lot of time on this and we're not going to, but humility was something which
was just a shameful thing in Greek culture.
We are called to humility because it is something that Christ has modelled for us.
In Mark chapter 10 verse 45, Jesus said, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
And so when he says humble and gentle and bearing with one another in love, he is calling us to
things that Christ himself has modelled for us beforehand.
I had a delightful time in my small group the other night.
I've asked for permission to share this.
Cecilia was there and she told us the story of last Sunday at the international service,
11.30am.
And it was a pretty special and important occasion for that congregation because it really was,
I think in Cecilia's words, it was the last meeting of hope in a sense before we go into
our new, you know what I mean, hope as in big H hope, hope, not small H hope.
And she said it was a bit of a circus.
I don't think she used that word, but it was a bit of a circus.
Brian was running from Cantonese to international and between the two preaching.
They were doing things that were out of order.
They were stopped for a while in the middle with nothing to do while they waited for him
to come back and preach.
And then at the end, both congregations solved the communion problem.
Well, I might not have got this in order, but near enough, they solved the communion problem
by coming into here, into this building and having communion together.
And I said, sounds a bit chaotic.
And I asked if people were offended.
And she said, no, we laughed.
We laughed.
And I actually think that's an example of bearing with one another in love, showing gentleness
and patience with complete humility, being able to laugh at ourselves and laugh at the
mistakes that we make sometimes.
Now, it can save a lot of angst.
You know, you know, it happens something goes wrong, we miss something, we don't do something
quite right, and then we've got our knickers in a knot and we're saying it shouldn't be like
this and no, no, no, no, no.
Sometimes it's just good to laugh, to bear with one another in love.
We are called to a particular quality of relationships and our worthiness in Christ will be seen in
the way that we relate to one another in church.
I had a moment of huge encouragement a few years ago.
I was down at Lane Cove National Park in the conference centre there.
It was our Western Region Ministry Conference and a man came up behind and put his hands
on my shoulders from behind and he said, how's it going, my friend?
And I turned round, it was the Archbishop.
And one of the things I said to him, because it was where I was at at the time, I said to
him, I feel like there are people in our congregation who push me around on the basis of who they
are in their job and their workplace or how they are regarded in wider society.
And I feel like they come into church and because of the significant places and positions they
have outside, they bring that sense of who they are into the church.
And sometimes, perhaps without even meaning to, they push me and other people around.
And he said to me, I know exactly how you feel, my friend.
It was a moment of marvellous encouragement for me.
Didn't have to solve the problem, but just to have somebody like that understand what
it feels like to stand in the shoes.
See, this is not a place where we are to push one another around.
We are called to walk in humility and service in the same way that Christ did.
And I think a practical outcome of this is that we can enjoy each other and we can enjoy
the relationships that God has given us.
And so I think I want to say at the beginning of chapter 4, it's saying relationships are key
and the qualities with which we relate to each other undergird everything else that is said
throughout this passage.
Pretty easy to summarise Ephesians 4.
I'll do my glib summary and you can pull me up on details later.
But I think it's saying as we walk worthy of Christ, there is a unity.
There is unity and there is also difference.
And there's a God-given reason for both.
And in this talk, I particularly want to get to God's reason for them both.
So we'll go through both, reason for unity, reason for difference, but push beyond that
for the reason why.
You see unity which is expressed in verses 3 to 6.
It says,
Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
And you start to see that when you talk about things like unity, we don't set the boundaries.
God does.
He defines it.
And if you pull out the elements of this, it talks about things like one body, verse 4,
one spirit, verse 4, one hope, verse 4, one Lord, verse 5, one faith, verse 5,
one baptism, verse 5, one God and Father.
He is everything, verse 6.
And if you extract a little bit from that, you actually see that our unity is built around who God is, himself.
One spirit, one Lord, one God and Father.
So God is a God of relationship and God is a God who is in relationship.
And our unity, the body of Christ, we are a body created by Christ himself.
We have a common hope and faith which he has brought to us.
So everything is of God in terms of unity.
Who he is and what he has given to us.
And the only thing that we do in terms of a unified response to what God has done is we get baptised.
But even there, the proper understanding of baptism is it's God's work.
He has inwardly brought us into his family through the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
which is something which has happened inside us.
So our unity is all of God.
And we don't make the rules for unity, God does.
Now Christians sometimes seek unity with all sorts of people.
And we could go into a long discourses and we could talk about denominations and other religions and all sorts of things.
But let me say sometimes we even seek unity, say, with Muslims.
And that doesn't matter if we want to be bad friends.
But we seek a unity with them, say on family issues.
I think there's a family day coming up at the moment.
Either this weekend or next weekend.
And part of the unity around that day is a unity with Muslims.
And that is because we both have mutual concerns about gay marriage.
So we organise ourselves around the issue or denominational preference or whatever it is.
That's one of the ways we seek unity.
That sort of unity does not glorify God if it downplays or minimises the exclusive lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so this passage says that Christian unity is found in God himself.
And that means declaring him for who he is, Father, Lord and Holy Spirit.
Now there's difference.
And there's this list of gifts which begins at verse 7.
It says,
What does he ascended mean except that he also descended to lower earthly regions?
He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people for works of service, etc., etc.
We'll come back there.
So we've got a list of gifts here.
And I think four or five in particular are listed.
We've got apostles.
We've got prophets.
We've got evangelists.
We've got pastors and teachers.
Or we've got pastors and teachers.
I mean pastors and teachers together or pastors and teachers separate.
It doesn't matter how you count.
It's not an exhausting list of gifts.
You could go to other passages in the New Testament like Romans chapter 12 or 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and you could see other gifts which are named and which are listed.
So if you take a broad view of scripture, you find that the people of God have many different gifts which are given out by the Spirit of God.
And 1 Peter chapter 11 and 1 Peter chapter 12 and 1 Peter chapter 13 says each one should use whatever gift he has received in the service of others.
So it's not an exhaustive list but it is a focused list.
it's a list of particular gifts
which are expressed here
and these gifts are all about the ministry of God's word
there's a wonderful illustration which he throws into the text here
he talks about ascending and descending
going up and down
what's all this mean
talking about ascending on high
leaving captives in his train
and what he's actually doing is quoting Psalm 68
and when he quotes a little bit of it
it's fair to presume that he's actually quoting
perhaps the whole sense of what Psalm 68 is about
and Psalm 68 is a psalm
which apparently was used for worship by the Jewish people
in association with Pentecost
and Pentecost for them is different from Pentecost for us
because Pentecost for the Jews
was a time in particular when they would commemorate the giving of the law
so the picture here in Psalm 68
is an illustration from the Old Testament
the Lord Almighty scatters the kings of the earth
in verse 14
he wipes everything away
and God comes from Sinai to the mountain
from which he where he chooses to reign
and there's this enormous display of God's majesty
and God's strength
and God goes up on his mountain
mountain he carries his captives in train
and he begins to distribute the spoils of war to his followers
and God hands out
what's he hand out on Mount Sinai to his followers?
the law of God
the means by which his people were to live in relationship with him
and so there's now this movement in the New Testament
in the way that Paul uses this psalm here
to explain what's going on here
it's as if
it's almost a picture of Jesus now
embodied in this image of ascending on high
and carrying his captives with him
and now passing out
distributing the gifts upon his peoples
giving us the gift
the Holy Spirit into our heart
which helps us to understand the law of God
in fact I will put my
what is it?
Jeremiah 30
I will put a new heart
and I will write my law on their hearts
and there's this image of God
giving his law in the Old Testament
and now Jesus giving his spirit in the New Testament
and helping us to embody
the law of God in our very being
there's also the pictures there
of what we read in Philippians chapter 2
and places like that
the humiliation of Jesus
as the descending and the ascending
and being exalted to the right hand of God on high
but I said before
that these gifts that Christ has distributed
these ones which are named in particular in Ephesians 4
are all about the ministry of God's word
and the people who exercise this ministry
so apostles
not just sent ones in a wide sense
but in a narrow sense
they're the eyewitnesses
of the risen Lord Jesus Christ
and they're the authors of the New Testament
and hence apostolic witness
prophets
I take that to be the forth telling of God's word
it's the apt application
I think we do
prophecy happens in a formal sense
I think it often happens in a very informal sense
so you're talking to a Christian brother or sister
you're bringing the word of God to bear
you're referring to something that God's shown you
and just in that moment God opens up for them
something that you didn't even know about
where the word that you spoke actually bears on them
in a way which is really helpful to them
in their life and their ministry
and their witness in that moment
it's like God speaks through that word
sometimes in a way that you never even anticipated
but it comes from the word of God being shared
and expressed between us
evangelists bringing the word of God to unbelievers
pastors and teachers
certainly shepherds who watch over God's flock
and who feed God's flock in teaching
steady nutritional diet
versus a memorable meal
so you know sometimes we get a bit ho-hum about church
and I don't think you should get ho-hum about church
but you ask somebody
what was the last
what did you have for dinner last Monday night?
Can anybody tell me?
but I know one thing
you did all eat
I presume it
unless you were fasting
okay?
so we eat all the time
don't we?
and it nourishes our body
and we don't necessarily
remember one moment from another
in a bigger or more astounding way
but we're doing something
that keeps us alive
and so it is in Christ
with the word of God
occasionally we have a moment of great clarity in Revelation
where we go
wow
look what God's just taught me
but the more important thing is
that we be being fed constantly
that we be taking a nutritional diet
from the word of God
and being fed
we've just named some pretty significant gifts
in terms of God's church
and we've named them
because it's what's named in this passage
and it's easy sometimes
to look at gifts like that
and to stop
and to glory
in the gifted one
and that would be a huge mistake
because you get wrapped up
in your own celebrity
or the celebrity gifted one
that our church happens to have
or whoever we are
rather than being focused
on the work
that the gifts produce
one of the things
I find I have to do
for myself in preaching
is that I won't be overly worried
about my performance
and sometimes I do
and I pray
and ask that God
would help me
to focus on him
and on his word
producing
what he wants to bring about
in people's hearts
including the heart of me
the preacher
see the gifts listed
in Ephesians 4
about equipping
all of God's people
for ministry
not everybody's got
the particular gifts
I think there's a particular
centering around
the leadership at church
but it's not exclusive
to the elders
some of us have
these gifts formally
others have them informally
some are recognised
some aren't
they're recognised
through things
like ordination
but whichever way
we've got them
they're not given
to us to glory in
they are given
to equip the people
of God
to do ministry
and that brings us
to the purpose
of the difference
and it really is
just about a memory verse
it's verse 11
through to 13
it was he
who gave
some to be apostles
some to be prophets
some to be evangelists
and some to be pastors
and teachers
to prepare God's people
for works of service
so that the body
of Christ
may be built up
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
I don't know if you can see it
I think standing
in the shoes
of an ordained minister
which is what I am
I think I have felt
the pressure
over many years
to be everything
to everybody
to be the all conquering
super gifted one
and it's a distortion
of what the passage
is teaching
we don't have to excel
in things that God
hasn't gifted us in
we don't employ people
to do the work
of ministry
on behalf of the congregation
we work with one another
in Christ
I felt the tension
sometimes between
doing and equipping
there are certain things
I think I know
for myself
that I do well
I think I know
there is a strength
for me
in terms of
visiting people
and particularly
people in crisis
it's something
I have experience
in
something I'm gifted in
but if I just
leave it as
me the person
who goes out
and visits everybody
and holds hands
and meets people
in crisis
the ministry
will stop
when I stop
so one of the things
that I have to learn
and I want to learn
and I want you to pray
for me in this
is I want to learn
how to multiply
myself
with some of the things
that God has given me
I want to learn
how to teach
and equip
other people of God
with some of the things
that God has taught me
and the end result
I hope will be
a whole body of people
who can do it
better than me
and who discover
the gifts that God
has given them
in the process
so I want to train
a team of people
who are able
to represent
Christ
in situations
of great human need
I'd like to feel
like our community
group pastors
are equipped like that
that whether they do
all the work or not
that's another question
but that they lead a body
in terms of their
community group
who really does care
for one another
and in crisis moments
in life
but not just holding hands
and saying how sorry
I am
and emphasising
which is all part of it
but it's also about
bringing the word of God
to people's life situations
so for me
when I go and see
somebody in hospital
or go and visit
somebody who's just died
or not the person
who's died
but the family
of the person
who's just died
I thought I'd better
be clear about that
I don't do resurrections
by the way
but when I go
and see somebody
like that
without forcing myself
I am always looking
for the opportunity
to pray with the person
and also
to read
the word of God
or try to read
an appropriate passage
from the word of God
so I'm bringing
the tools
that Christ
has given us
to the situation
as I seek
to represent him
so I want us
to be better
than just nice visitors
I want us
to be people
who are able
to bring the word
of God
to one another
in a way
that grows us
in Christ
and helps us
to understand
what God's purposes
are for us
in different situations
pray for me
but see it
me doing it
one by one
or a wide body
of people
multiplying
the work of Christ
in our church family
I think another thing
that we have
on our plate
and that is offered
to us
let me read the verse again
I think as you go
through that verse
you see that it's
to prepare God's people
for works of service
the purpose of that
is that the whole body
will be built up
I think there's the notion
of qualitative growth
we've said that
at the beginning
quality matters here
how we relate
to one another matters
it's really really clear
but I think you also
ought to see
that there's the idea
of quantitative growth
as well
the New Testament church
was growing numerically
it was growing
in the word
it was growing
in number
it was growing
under the blessing
of God
and so this notion
of the whole church
being built up
by a whole body
of people
who are equipped
and their gifts
being exercised
to grow the church
and multiply the church
I think carries with it
the notion
of quantity
as well as quality
the quality
seen in that
there's a maturity
which is being sought here
and attaining
to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ
and you ask
well what does maturity
look like
and he tells us
in the passage
it's so that we're able
to stand firm
we're not blown around
here and there
by every wind of doctrine
every craftiness
of people scheming
every novelty
that somebody brings along
they're doing this
down the road
at that church
we ought to be like that too
no it's able to stand firm
and feel like
what we're doing
is substantial
and Christ honouring
without being taken
off track
at every point
with every person
who's got another new
good idea
even though it might
be a good idea
and it also says
speaking truth
in love
speaking truth
in love
and I think I just
want to say to that
I think what that is
I think it's being able
to speak
directly
to one another
but with
regard
to the other
so being able
to speak
very directly
but with real regard
for the person
that we're speaking
to
I think one of the
things that we do
here and we do it
in other places
as well
is that we use
subtle messages
don't use subtle
messages with me
because I just don't
get the subtlety
sometimes
and you'll be
disappointed
or we use
a bleak talk
we don't talk
directly about
what's really going
on for us
we shift
and we move
I think the truth
in love
is a great word
there is directness
but there is also
love
had a friend
sort of got a friend
but a few years ago
I was mentoring
him
and he was
theologically trained
and he was involved
in the ministry
with his church
and other places
and Kerry said
to me one day
in a really
kind way
do you think
he realises
that that bit
of skin
that hangs
off his nose
is actually
really distracting
nothing he had
control over
and it was said
by her
with real concern
for him
because it did
you'd be talking
to him face to face
and it looked
like a bit of boogie
it's sort of hard
to eyeball one another
when you've got it
coming off the Indian nose
so how do you
raise that
with a person
well I did get
the opportunity
one day
because we had
a one to one
relationship
we love one another
in Christ
I didn't
dob my wife in
sorry I did
this morning
but just one to one
in the context
of relationship
there wasn't
an opportunity
one day
to say
I don't know
if you realise
that that bit
of skin
sitting there
is a bit
of a distraction
sometimes
and I'm wondering
is that something
that you can
dealt with
and the person
said straight off
actually I'm going
to see the doctor
about it next week
he's going to
snip it off
and deal with it
that's a silly
illustration
in a way
but it's quite
hard to speak
directly to one
another
sometimes about
things that matter
and the qualification
which is here
in this passage
is that when
we do
this is not
where we put
our boots on
and march in
and thump
one another
it's done
with a great
deal of love
it is done
with regard
to the other
person
there's a couple
of other places
I'd like to go
I'll go there
very quickly
I think Acts
of Service
you know what
Acts of Service
is it's a sheet
that we've distributed
in recent weeks
and with the
congregational
reconfiguration
it's a place
where we're able
to indicate
some of the places
where we might
serve one another
the whole notion
of the Acts
of Service
sheet
it's weighted
towards building
others up
it's carrying
the load
in terms of
our church
family
now you come
to a sheet
like that
and it's really
easy to ask
what do I want
to do
I wonder how
I can be used
in this church
family
moving more
broadly into
gifts at the
moment
but a better
question would
be
what can I
do that
this church
needs
what are
the holes
where is
a hole
that I
might be
able to
fill
and exercise
ministry
for the
benefit
of everyone
you know
when you get
a church
and five
concert pianists
we haven't
got five
concert pianists
but we do
have one
if we had
five concert
pianists
we got a
problem
haven't we
who gets
to play
how do you
work that
out
well you've
got the
other sort
of person
and I've
had to
engage this
in ministry
many times
and I'm
thinking of
other places
but a
person who
is very
confident
about their
own gifts
and they're
not necessarily
confirmed by
others
and they
bring themselves
forward and
they say
why don't you
use me
this is my
giftedness
and because
I'm a gatekeeper
I guess in
terms of my
role and my
responsibilities
within God's
family I have
to make a
call on it
what do you
do with
that
great stress
in sorting
that out
sometimes
why aren't
you using
me
I can
remember
one parish
I went
to a
woman was
on my
doorstep
in the
first two
weeks she
wanted an
appointment
with me she
wanted me to
know that she
was the
parish evangelist
she was very
gifted and I
needed to use
her and then
she was on my
door six weeks
later saying she
was leaving the
parish because
she wasn't
using her
let me tell you
in that case it
was probably a
blessed departure
but it's not
easy to deal
with
the other
place I wanted
to go is
right at the
end and it's
coming back into
our 2020
booklet and that
is the whole
notion of core
membership do you
understand what
that means when
we talk about
core membership in
this church family
give us a hand if
you've got some
idea of what that
means
all right
staff have got an
idea because we've
been working with it
for a while and
hopefully leaders are
picking it up and
owning it over
time but but core
membership the idea
of core membership
links into service
and service means
using our gifts and
being the person of
God within our
church family it's
pretty simple it's
just saying to us
all that we want the
church family to be
living a life of
personal devotion we
want you to be reading
the scriptures we want
you to be praying we
want you to be
nurturing your own
soul in Christ it's
why we've got things
like the life journal
and we've been
encouraging to use it
this year if you're
not using one you
haven't got one I'd
be really happy for
you to take one free
from the foyer I think
you're supposed to pay
a few dollars but if
you take it and use it
that would be a great
consequence
the second thing that
is a church family in
terms of core
membership we live in
community Steve said
it last night what he
asked of us last night
he asked us to not
just think it's only
church but to be
devoted to it to come
regularly and to also
be part of a community
group because we know
that you can't do
everything on Sunday
that we might do in a
smaller group in terms
of relationship with one
another through the week
we're calling people to
servant heartedness which
is taking responsibility
for a ministry I'm going
to use the words out of
here living a life of
servant heartedness
being personally involved
in one ongoing ministry
towards unbelievers
according to one's
gifts
using the gifts that
God has poured out on
you within this church
family
personally involved in
ongoing ministry to
unbelievers so number
four is living a life of
local and global impact
by personally being
involved in one ongoing
ministry towards
unbelievers
and the last one is a
life of generosity
and one of the measures
of that within our
church family is by
personally pledging to
ministry here at St
Paul's
putting our money where
our mouth is
encouraging each other in
Christ by being committed
to the work that is done
here which costs a lot of
money
now we could be legalists
in any of those and we
could go through that and
just tick the box yeah
had my quiet time been to
church attended small
group did my thing for
kids church gave my money
boom I'm a core member
and I think I'm
I grappled with it this
week for myself because
parish council and staff
pledged for 2012 at a
meeting last Monday night
and last year when I did it
for the first time it was
sort of like it was a joy
and it was a delight and
it was an expression of
commitment to St Paul's and
it was part of the thing
that we do corporately
joining together with one
another in terms of the
ministry that we plan to do
from here and I think I'd
confess to you that the
other day I had to look at
my own heart and think when
I first came at it was more
like ticking the box
doing my duty doing my job
and I think in a sense had
slipped back into legalism so
there's a whole lot of
things here which are really
good things in terms of
membership at St Paul's
serving one another exercising
the ministries that God has
given to us but it's an
ongoing challenge and to be
transformed looking at our own
hearts are we just ticking the
box or are we doing are we
delighting to treasure the
Lord Jesus together I think I
just want to come to a finish
by saying taking us back to the
verse and I'm wanting you to
think about our ministry team
it was he who gave some to be
apostles some to be prophets
some to be evangelists some to be
pastors and teachers to prepare
God's people for works of
service so that the body of
Christ may be built up 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 I think I just want to
say to you please pray for us
pray that if we are gifted with
some of the gifts that God has
given in particular for building
his church as expressed here in
Ephesians chapter 4 pray that we
would use them to his glory pray
that we wouldn't get cluttered by
expectations of a wide lot of
other things that people often bring
to us not so that those things
aren't done but so that we be
properly preparing the people of
God so that the wide base would be
covered with the exceedingly wide
list of gifts which God has
distributed to all these people
Amen