Speaker Helen Jenkinson
INTRO
If you
remember last week we looked at a part of Paul’s letter to the church in
Colossae. Remember that we learnt that if we are in Christ we are new creations
and we are to model God’s design for this new creation in our own lives and in
the church. Why? So people can have a foretaste of what God’s kingdom looks
like. Remember what he wanted them to
focus on? Unity, love, encouragement and service. Today we’re going to look at
another aspect of service that is essential if Christ is to be at the centre of
our church. It's where we fit in to the plan that God has for his kingdom. If
MCC is part of God’s kingdom, what is our role in seeing ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ as
we say in the Lord’s prayer.
BACKGROUND
I remember
when we were teenagers (it's getting a foggier memory every day!) we learnt that
if a sentence starts with therefore we need to see what its there for! And this
is how Paul starts chapter 4.
Chapter 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for serving the Lord. What has he been saying beforehand? Well Ephesians was written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome and he sent this letter to the church in Ephesus that he had planted.
Chapter 1 heaps statement upon statement about what is our inheritance if we
are in Christ. We are saints in Christ (v1) blessed in Chris t(v3) chosen in
Christ (v4) adopted by Christ (v5) lavished with love in Christ (v6) redeemed and
forgiven by Christ (v7) participants in God's good plan (v11) glorified and
sealed with the Holy Spirit (v12-13).
And that’s just in chapter 1! What’s the
common denominator? Is it because we are deserving of all this? NO! Everything
is centred in Christ. We can do nothing to deserve every spiritual blessing
that becomes ours when we enter into a relationship with Christ. Now we may
think - well that is probably true for heroes of the faith like CH Spurgeon,
Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, David Jenkinson (!) but I don’t feel that I have
every spiritual blessing. And I certainly don’t live in the truth of it. Well
if that’s us this morning Paul has good news for us.
If we are in Christ, if we
are Christians this morning it says in verse 3 of Ephesians chapter 1 that God
HAS blessed us with every spiritual blessing. It's not God WILL bless us if we
get our act sorted out. It has already happened. At the moment we accepted
Christ as our Lord and Saviour we became heavenly rich beyond our wildest
dreams. How often do we take these gifts for granted? Or think about our
earthly riches much more than what are heavenly inheritance is?
In chapter 1:4-5 it says
In love he chose us to be adopted as his
sons through Jesus Christ.
As a Christian we are an adopted son or
daughter of God, a prince or princess of the king of the universe! In Paul’s
day an adopted child had all the rights and privileges of a natural born child.
The Roman court recognized an adopted child as a new person. All your debts and
obligations from your former life were wiped out. As an adopted child of God we
have a fresh start, a new beginning, a new life. Exactly what we learnt about
last week with the word KAINOS
(Kahee-nos) - new in terms of form or quality. Of a different nature from what
is contrasted as old.
Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to live a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God
The Greek for calling is 'Klesis' which means a call or an invitation. The NT uses this word 'Klesis' to speak of Jesus’ invitation to follow him, to be his disciple. Think about that for a minute. Often we talk about people ‘making a decision for Jesus’ but doesn’t that make it all about the person? If we ‘make a decision’ we can still call the shots. If we still call the shots we may want to pick and choose our conditions of service. We might think ‘Well Lord, you’re really lucky that I’ve decided to do this or that for you’ We’d never actually articulate that but that’s what we feel deep down. Do we sometimes think that we’re doing Jesus a favour? Or we might think ‘Lord you can have this from me - but that I want to keep for myself’
In Luke 14: 25-33 Jesus talks about counting
the cost of being a disciple. What Jesus is saying is that if you become my
disciple you give up your rights to call the shots.
Luke 14:26. If you want to be my disciple you must hate everyone else by comparison- your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters- yes even your own life. Otherwise you cannot be my disciple.
Now obviously Jesus doesn’t mean we have to hate our family. That would be against everything else that he teaches. But he is saying that if we are his disciple, if we are followers of Jesus then he is the boss. He comes before anything else.
Have you noticed how things work? Jesus is not saying Come and Join My
Club. Club rules specify church attendance every week, 15 minutes bible study a
day and at least 15 minutes prayer time. He’s saying deny yourself and come
after me. You follow me. You see what I do and do the same. You see the way I
view things and do the same. You must give up your own rights to follow me.
We
didn’t just decide to become followers of Jesus. We were called by God himself.
Think about what Jesus says in John 6:65. He has just made one of his I AM statements. I AM the bread of life. This is then what he says:
Think about what Jesus says in John 6:65. He has just made one of his I AM statements. I AM the bread of life. This is then what he says:
People can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me
Just think about that for a moment because we know it so well it loses its impact. We have been given to Jesus by God himself. The king of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth has called us to be his disciple. Does that sound like anything is on our own terms? It’s pure grace. Not only that, but we are adopted into his family. Therefore, Paul is saying because we are an adopted son or daughter, because we have been blessed beyond measure with every spiritual blessing in Christ, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called.
At secondary school I really
lacked confidence in maths. And I remember on the morning of the dreaded maths
test - or even worse the day when everyone’s results were read out to the rest
of the class - my mum would say as I left the house “Remember you’re a
Greenhalgh” to try and impart something of our family’s resilience and backbone
into me before I grappled with trigonometry!
And this is what Paul is saying
here - remember that you have been called. Remember whose family you belong to.
You belong to the family of God. The equivalent of my mum’s 'Remember you’re a
Greenhalgh' statement is in verse 2.
What are the traits of a member of God’s
family? Humility. Gentleness. Patience. Making allowances for other people’s
faults. Eager to maintain the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace. Sound familiar? Sounds like what we were
learning about last week about the love that we should be showing for one
another doesn’t it? Why should these characteristics be evident? Because we’re members
of the same family and members of the family have things in common.
Look at
verse 4 and 5: One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father. We all have the same Father. Therefore, the family
DNA should be evident.
At Christmas we got the lovely gift of Timmy’s first school photo. We
took one look at it and immediately could see that he is the image of Steve at
the same age. The Greenhalgh DNA is strong in Timmy! (I just hope he’s better
at maths than his Auntie Helen!!) Shouldn’t that be the same with us? Our
Father’s DNA should be strong in us if we have been called. Chosen. Adopted
into God’s family.
But have you noticed that in the passage Paul speaks about unity NOT uniformity. And that’s what we’re going to focus on today. How we can bring different giftings and abilities to enhance the unity that is already there through the things that we all have in common, through our shared DNA as God’s children.
So we’re going to look at the who, what and why of using our gifts for the unity of the church.
Look at verse 7: However, He (Christ) has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.
But look at how generous the Lord is. Each
one of us has been given a special gift. Each one of us. There’s not one of us
here this morning, if we are in Christ, that hasn’t been given a gift to use to
enhance the unity of MCC. Have you ever given someone a gift and seen the
lukewarm, underwhelmed reaction on their face as they rip off the wrapping
paper? And you know it’s not really wanted because the gift is never used,
never worn, never played with. Now imagine Jesus giving us our very own special
gift. We open it, or even worse, leave it wrapped up, and never use it. How
must Jesus feel?
So the gifts that we’ll speak about in a moment come totally out of the loving heart of Jesus- none of us are deserving of them. But more than that - each person is given a gift. It is our responsibility to unwrap it and start using it for the benefit of the body of Christ.
In his letters Paul mentions 4 lists of gifts, none of which is comprehensive. Here the gifts mentioned are focusing on gifts of leadership in the church. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
But then in Romans 12: 4-8 Paul also adds serving, encouraging,
giving, and showing kindness.
In 1 Corinthians 12: 8- 10 he mentions wisdom,
special knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, the power to perform miracles,
discernment, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
But Paul never meant this to
be a definitive list. Think about people who have organisational gifts like
administration or a financial brain, or who are gifted in the world of
computers? Hospitality? Musical gifts and technical gifts? Serving others? I
don’t want to go into detail about each of these gifts. I think that is for
another time. But the main point of it is that God promises to gift the whole church
with these gifts. It means each individual in it gets a gift that can benefit
the church. It’s our job to find out what our gift is, thank God for his grace
to us, unwrap the gift and start using it. Why? To build up the body. Not to
make us look good or super spiritual.
On being reminded of these gifts you
might think “Well isn’t everyone supposed to do or be these things? Like faith,
showing kindness, being hospitable? And
yes, being part of God’s family does mean that we should be seeking to be all
those things but when someone has been given that gift especially it’s as
though it just oozes out of them. People who just know the right word to say to
encourage. People who just ooze kindness in their actions - sometimes just small
things that make a huge difference. People who are so gifted at pastoral care.
People whose faith astounds and humbles us even when they are facing awful
circumstances in their lives.
And you are a member of the family at MCC who God
has given a wonderful gift to. But the most wonderful thing is that the way you
use it is unique to you. The way you show kindness can be different to someone
else, but it’s still building up the body. Or the way you encourage might be
different to someone else but when people receive it they are blessed by both.
God’s diversity of gifts brings unity.
Don’t you long for us to be a church family where each person is unwrapping their gift that God has given them and is using it to benefit the other members of the family?
Don’t you long for us to be a church family where each person is unwrapping their gift that God has given them and is using it to benefit the other members of the family?
The world expects people to use their
giftings for personal gain. For promotion at work. To get a pay rise or to get
in with the boss. As God’s ambassadors of his new creation, his kingdom, we are
to use them to benefit others. The result? The kingdom of God breaks through
and people see that we’re different and that God is in our midst.
You might say ‘Well its ok for the people who know what their gifts are. I don’t know what my gifting is.’ Well firstly, ask God to give you a passion for something. And when an opportunity arises ask yourself ‘Does that opportunity grab my attention?’ Or even ‘I’m not sure whether this is an area of ministry or gifting that God has given me but I’m going to try it out’. There is no shame in realising that’s not God’s gift for you. God loves it when we have hearts that are ready to serve him. And if it’s not for you, then that’s ok - keep asking God to reveal his gift to you.
So the gifts are not like a Christmas list our kids write where we tell God which gift we want. They are totally his prerogative. Likewise, we can’t win them - they are given totally through grace. And each of us has been given a special gift. No exceptions. Also have you noticed that there are no age limitations on the gifts? There’s no cut off point where God says ‘Ok your time is up. You’ve outlived your gifting? Or ‘Well what do you know - you young whippersnapper! Wait till you’re older!!’ No! The gifts are for you whatever age you might be if you are in Christ. The way you use them might change as you get older but God wants to develop his gifts within us. Why? That’s what we’re going to read next.
3. Why Does God Give His Gifts to the Church?
Look at verses 12-16.
God’s gifts are to build up the body of Christ. This passage talks about the giving of pastors and teachers to the church in order to equip the church for ministry. Not so they lord it over the church but so that they encourage each person to use their gifts for the benefit of everyone else. So everyone becomes mature in the Lord (v 13).
Maturity is a long process isn’t it? We see it in our
children. It doesn’t happen overnight but little by little, bit by bit. And
there are degrees of unity that will develop over time. But Christian unity can
only grow when each person grows and trusts in the knowledge and love of God
more and more. The more we grow, the more we become like Christ. The more we
become like Christ the more we demonstrate his new creation and what his
kingdom people are like.
What are the benefits of growing maturity? Look at
verse 14:
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We won’t be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth
It’s a graphic image isn’t it? Imagine a small boat being buffeted by the wind and rain. Large waves overcoming it. That’s the image that Paul uses here. Paul uses this analogy to describe Christians who are influenced by each new idea. Instead of knowing what God says in the bible, they have itching ears and try to latch on to the latest YouTube preacher or the next great book. Don’t get me wrong, YouTube is great for listening to great teaching and books are fantastic for explaining the truths of scripture. But neither of them is a substitute for getting to know the Lord more through his word. As we know God more through his word we can more quickly detect whether the person we’re listening to or the book we’re reading is in line with what scripture says. The problem is it that in our culture we want everything instantly. We want a quick fix of YouTube without having to sit down and study for ourselves.
So if being unsure of what
the truth or scripture says is a sign of immaturity what is a sign of maturity?
Verse 15-16: Instead we will speak the truth in love growing in every way more and more like Christ who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
When I hear the phrase ‘speak the truth in love’ it takes me back to being a child in church and knowing that if someone started a sentence with ‘I’m speaking the truth in love’ you knew that whoever they were talking to was going to get a tongue lashing!
But the verb used for this
expression is not just about speech. Literally it means ‘truthing in love’ and
includes the notions of maintaining, living and doing the truth. Truth becomes
hard if it’s not softened by love and love becomes soft if it’s not hardened by
truth. Like the tough love that we sometimes have to give our children! We need
to know we are loved before taking what someone says. Likewise, we need to show
people that they are loved before we tackle them about something.
Paul loves his body imagery doesn’t he? In a near repeat of what he says in 1 Corinthians 12 he talks about the church being a body of many parts. He is the head, and each of us are a vital part of the body. Each of us have been called. We don’t call the shots. Each of us has a special gift, given to us by the Lord - not earned, but completely by grace - that we need to unwrap and use. For what purpose? To build up the rest of the body.
The result of a
church with each member using their gifts? The other parts grow in maturity,
love and we have a healthy church. So we can become a holy huddle? NO! So we
can demonstrate God’s Kingdom to our families, friends, people at work. To the people who live around our church.
Which is what Dave is going to look at next week. Christ at the centre of our
community.
Questions to ponder
Questions to ponder
1. Eph 1: 3-14 How are we blessed in Christ?
2. Luke 14:25-33 What does it mean to really be Christ's disciple?
3. Eph 4 What you think your gift is? How can you use it to build up the unity of MCC?
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