13 November 2016
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Ephesians 4:1-6
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.
-- as voters went to the polls on
Tuesday of this past week, we thought we had seen the end of the most
tumultuous, divisive, and offensive presidential election our country had ever
witnessed as Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States
-- this was a campaign that was
bitterly fought on both sides -- it was negative -- it was hate-filled -- and
it divided our country deeply
-- and even though there were no
accusations of an unfair election or of election tampering by either candidate
or their parties -- and even though Ms. Clinton conceded the race and called
for unity in her final address to her followers, many in our country erupted in
anger, offensive speech, and violent protest because of the results -- last
night saw a repeat of the same protests continuing in large cities throughout
our country, something that has never been seen before after a presidential
election in our country
-- and while supporters of Mr. Trump
would like to cast all the blame for the division and hatred and violence we
are seeing reported in the media and social media on supporters of Hillary
Clinton, they are not without blame in this crisis -- the language and the
response of many Trump supporters to the concerns of the left has been harsh,
overly critical, and filled with hatred and divisiveness, too -- which has done
nothing more but fan the flames of discontent and discord in our country
-- it would be easy to explain this
if these actions were solely being conducted by those not of the faith -- by
those who were not Christians saved by grace and faith in the redeeming work of
Jesus Christ -- we could point to the violence and the hatred and the harsh
language and say, “This is what happens when someone is controlled by their own
evil desires -- when someone hasn’t been transformed by the sanctifying power
of the Holy Spirit within -- this is the way of the world” -- we could point
the world to a better way, as Paul did when confronted with angry mobs of
pagans and Jews from Thessalonica and Berea and Ephesus who rose up against His
ministry
-- but that is not the case -- I
have witnessed harsh attacks and angry rhetoric from both sides of this
election on social media from men and women I know to be true believers -- and
my heart breaks to see division and hatred and discord raise its ugly head
within the midst of Christ’s church
-- in John 17, when Jesus prayed His
most heart-felt prayer to the Father on behalf of His followers, there was one
overwhelming theme in His intercession -- unity -- in John 17:20-23, Jesus
prayed: “My prayer is not for them alone -- I pray also for those who will
believe in Me through their message -- [Us] -- that all of them may be one,
Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.
-- “May they also be in us so that
the world may believe that You have sent Me -- I have given them the glory that
You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and You in Me -- May
they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and
have loved them even as You have loved Me.”
-- the prayer of Jesus is unrealized
in America this morning -- what we are witnessing in the church right now is
division brought about because of politics, being expressed in ungodly ways by
the people called by Christ’s own name
-- to be brought to complete unity
in Christ does not mean we all have to believe or agree on the same political
issues -- but we can disagree in a way that does not bring dishonor to God --
we can disagree in a way that serves as an example to the world around us
-- so this morning, I want us to
look at this passage in Ephesians together and consider how we shall now live
in the aftermath of this election -- whether your candidate won or whether your
candidate lost, you are called to follow a different path and to live
differently than the world
-- so let us look at this passage
today and ask God to reveal to us His presence and His desire for us through
these words
II. Scripture Lesson (Ephesians 4:1-6)
-- if you would, look back at verse
1 with me
1 As a prisoner
for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have
received.
-- Paul begins by describing himself
as a prisoner for the Lord -- we know that when Paul wrote this letter to the
Ephesians, he was actually in prison in Rome, waiting for an audience with
Caesar
-- some scholars have interpreted
Paul’s words here to mean that the Ephesians should listen to him because he
has been imprisoned because of his faith -- because he had given everything for
the gospel of Christ -- even his very own freedom
-- and while that is certainly true,
I think Paul’s words here reflect a deeper meaning than just that given by his
physical condition
-- Paul was not only a prisoner in
chains, but he was a prisoner in heart -- Paul had learned something through
his life -- starting out as a Pharisee among Pharisees and as a persecutor of
Christians, Paul had an experience with the living Christ on the road to
Damascus -- and his life was never the same again
-- when Paul came face-to-face with
the resurrected Jesus, his world was shaken -- his beliefs were shattered and
his faith came undone -- at that moment, Paul rejected the falseness of what
the Jewish faith had become and became a true believer in Christ -- as he would
say in the Book of Romans, he had been held prisoner and captive by sin and
death, but through the grace of Christ, Paul was freed to new life -- and, in
turn, he became a slave -- a bond-servant -- a prisoner -- to the One who had
freed him -- to the One who had saved him from his sins and given him eternal
life with God
-- so Paul was bound to Christ --
not with chains, but with love -- not with bars, but with the freedom of choice
that made him want to serve Jesus with all his heart and mind and soul
-- that’s what he means when he
writes here that he is a prisoner of the Lord -- and he holds his position in
Christ up as the ideal for all those who believe -- we are all to remember who
we are in Christ -- that our allegiance is to Him and the Kingdom of God and
not to any nation or state or earthly political alliances -- this is a call to
transcend and rise above such petty contrivances
-- Paul goes on to say here in verse
1, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” -- Paul
is trying to get the Ephesians to see that they have a choice to make in how
they live their lives -- they can continue to live as the world lives,
following the way of those around them -- they can continue to live bound up in
religion and religious practices, as the Jews in Paul’s day did -- or they can
choose to live differently -- to live lives worthy of the calling they have
received in Christ -- to live in unity and love -- to follow the example that
Jesus gave us -- this is the difference between being a Christian in name and a
Christian in deed
-- I had a pastor one time tell me
that if you want to see the true state of your heart, to hit your hand with a
hammer -- what you say in response reveals what’s inside of you
-- the Christians in our country
were hit with a hammer this week following the election, and the response of
many is telling -- Paul urges us here to remember our calling -- to live worthy
of that calling -- to live as a prisoner of the Lord as he is -- and now he’s
going to show us what that looks like
-- verse 2
2 Be completely
humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
-- Paul says we live a life worthy
of our calling when we live our lives as Jesus -- when our behavior and our
character and our attitudes mirror that of our Savior
-- Paul says to be humble -- to be
humble is a state of being -- it means that we do not exalt ourselves above
others -- that we consider others before us -- as some have said, to be humble
is not to think of yourself as less, but not to think of yourself at all -- the
picture of humility in the Bible is of a strong person who loves others in word
and in deed
-- the reason we have seen such an
outcry from those on the left who supported Hillary Clinton this week can be
summed up simply as they didn’t get their way -- their candidate lost, and so
they became angry and violent and demand that she be elected anyway -- they
refuse to accept the results of the election because they did not get what they
wanted
-- this is the opposite of humility
-- it is self-aggrandizement, where what I want and what I believe must be
exalted above all else -- where it becomes my way or the highway
-- for Christians, this is not to be
our response -- instead we are to put aside self and selfish desires -- to
humble ourselves before God -- and serve Him and others with our lives
-- Paul goes on to urge us to be
gentle -- to be patient -- and to bear with one another in love
-- all of these speak of our
relationship and our interactions with others, both within and outside the church
-- to be gentle means you are not
harsh or dictatorial -- you don’t demand your way or that your voice be heard
-- you consider the feelings of others -- you deal with them gently, in love,
not harshly, as we have seen some do this week
-- Paul calls for patience -- for
enduring hardship -- for bearing with others in love -- one thing about bearing
with one another in love -- when you are bearing with another person,
that implies that it is a struggle -- it’s not easy -- it’s something that you
are having to work at
-- that’s the real difference
between a disciple in name or in truth -- true disciples get their hands dirty
-- they get involved in other people’s lives -- they get their feelings hurt --
they give everything in order to show the love of Christ to someone else --
whether that’s a family member that’s difficult to live with or a homeless
stranger on the street or someone they disagree with on political issues
-- it’s easy to love someone who
loves you back -- it’s easy to love someone you like or that you agree with --
but it’s not easy to love the unlovable -- it’s not easy to live life with
someone that you don’t like or that doesn’t like you -- with someone with whom
you have strong disagreements or who speaks or acts harshly or with hatred
towards you -- it is a cross that you have to bear as a Christian -- it is a
way worthy of the calling we have received
-- how shall we live as Christians
in a country filled with violent protests and divisiveness and hate language
because of a political election? -- with humility -- being gentle in our speech
and our actions -- being patient with those of the world who act as the world
does -- bearing with one another in love -- loving in spite of the differences
-- loving in action and word and deed
-- verse 3
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.
-- Paul reminds us that there is a
unity that transcends human institutions -- there is a unity that transcends
the things of this earth -- as Christians, we can disagree about political
issues but still be unified in our hope through Christ
-- Paul differed with Peter and
others on the issue of bringing Gentiles into the church -- on whether Gentiles
could be saved and whether their salvation would first require them to become
Jewish converts through circumcision and following the law of Moses
-- but despite their differences,
Paul and Peter remained united in the Spirit -- they were bound as one because
of the unity of the Spirit within -- their ultimate goal was not to get their
own way, but to do the will of God in the matter of the Gentiles -- in other
words, they humbled themselves and were gentle and patient with each other --
bearing with one another in love -- as they sought to exalt the path of Christ
among the Gentiles
-- Paul reminds us here that we are
one in the Spirit -- that although we may have differences or disagreements, we
are still called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all -- who is over all and through all and in all
III. Closing
-- when news of the surrender of Lee
at the courthouse in Appomattox to end the American Civil War broke among the
men assembled outside, the Union troops began to cheer but General Grant
silenced them immediately -- He later stated that "The Confederates were
now our countrymen, and we did not want to exult over their downfall."
-- Grant had it right -- there is a
way we are called to act and carry ourselves in times such as this -- and as we
struggle to come together during this time in America, we need to remember the
words of Paul in this passage
-- we need to respond and to act in
a manner worthy with the calling we have in Christ -- we need to be humble and
gentle -- patient -- bearing with one another in love -- we need to remember that
we are united together through Christ into one body and one people
-- what is important is not who got
elected president or whose candidate won or didn’t win -- it’s not about
whether you call yourself a liberal or a conservative -- it’s not about whether
you agree or disagree on the results of the election
-- it must always be about God --
for it is in Him we live and move and have our being -- it is in Him that we
find salvation and grace and eternity -- it is in Him that we find life and the
meaning of life
-- we must remember who we are in
Christ -- and we must let His Spirit unify us and lead our response -- we must
be the voice and the hands of healing for this nation -- for it is only in
Christ that we find the answer that we are all ultimately seeking
-- let us pray
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