Building One Another Up (A)

Building One Another Up (A) Ephesians 4:1-16; pg. 977 Gallup Chr. Church, Bill Emmerling, March 3, 2019 Introduction Father in Heaven, the true Father whom all other fathers are to imitate, Father, I ask You to provide us strength in measure to the riches of your glory, I ask that You provide strength to our hearts, to our minds through the power of Your Spirit in our lives. I ask that You provide Your strength that Your Son, Jesus the Chosen One, might reside in our hearts never to leave. Use Your power, Your strength, the presence of Your Son in our hearts to root our lives in your love that we might find our nourishment in You, to ground our lives in Your love that we might find our ultimate security in You and Your Son’s sacrifice for our sins. Father give us Your Divine Strength that with the saints, Your Church, the Body and Bride of Your Son, we might be able to comprehend Your Divine Love for us, Help us to Know your Unknowable Love. Help us Father to see us to know the broadness of Your love for ALL men and women, the length of Your love for us which extends through ALL eternity, the height of Your love which exalts/lifts us up to Heaven with Your Son and the depth of Your love which reaches down to the dirtiest of sinners. Father let the knowledge of this love fill us with Your Son Fill us that we might become more like Jesus, that we might become more like the Father. Father, in filling us with Jesus, filling us with your Love increase Your Love in us that we might Love others, especially those we feel have wronged us, increase Your Love in us that we might rightly understand what you have to say in this morning’s passage from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Let the words YOU speak through Paul, speak to us today. Father, I know You hear our prayers; I know You answer our prayers. Let Your power work in us today and may YOU receive all the praise, honor and glory today. In Your Church, In Jesus the Chosen One, throughout history and eternity. Let it be so, forever. While Paul’s letters are written with universal application, they were written to a specific people, in the midst of specific circumstances. Likewise, as WE read Paul’s letter with a universal message and application, WE are reading it within OUR specific set of circumstances and we must seek to understand its application where we are. I do not take lightly the responsibility of stepping behind this pulpit to deliver what I believe God has to say to HIS people. It would be very easy to come up here and simply share my own thoughts, feelings and frustrations. Yet, my responsibility is to share God’s word, to be a vessel for the Holy Spirit, as clearly and accurately as possible to help each of us and ALL of us as a church body to apply in our individual and collective lives. As much as I try to remain unbiased, I know that I cannot, and must trust that God will temper what I say and work in you as hearers of His Word to discern what He is seeking to say to you. Ephesians 4 marks a change in Paul’s writing as he move from declaring God’s glory to addressing how God’s glory is to affect our relationships. I have divided this first passage of Ephesians 4 into two sermons. I do this because the passage speaks to the oneness we are called to as followers of Jesus, and therefore I believe we must address what appears to be a contradiction between God’s word through Paul and our recent experiences as a Church Body. Because of these recent experiences, this sermon has been one of the most difficult I have had to prepare. I expect it will be one of the most difficult to receive, for I have struggled to receive it myself. This passage addresses more than the issue of oneness in Christ, and I hope to address that information next week on its own merits. As we begin, let me remind us that God’s word is to be OUR MIRROR not a microscope by which to examine others. Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16 (977-8) 4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. … 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Our text this morning challenges us as a local congregation and will likely reopen a wound which needs a change of its bandage, because of the recent events which culminated with some who attended here leaving our fellowship. We are left with questions, most specifically, “Can we be a united body if we had such division?” I have been wrestling in prayer with this question for weeks, even months, and a day seldom goes by without my prayerful wrestling with this issue in some form or fashion, because of my role in the conflict AND the level of betrayal I felt I received from the hands of those I had trusted. Because of this morning’s text, I believe it is time for us to address the conflict and resulting division again, as Biblically and lovingly as we can. I also want us to remember every disagreement has more than one point of view, and that we need to focus on how this text applies to us. Unity verses Disunity (4:1-3) Friday, October 19, 2018 is a date which has been burned into my mind. On that date a meeting was convened which I believe was intended to resolve differences within our congregation, and instead of unity, it brought to into the light pre-existing, long-standing differences which needed to be addressed, divisions within the body of Christ known as Gallup Christian Church. Yet, they were not addressed as they should have been. This brought separation and disunity. It was a meeting filled not with “humility and gentleness”, but instead pride and arrogance. Instead of “patience”, it was filled with impatience. Instead of “forbearance in love”, it was filled with anger and self-righteousness. Instead of “eagerness to maintain a unity of Spirit” there was eagerness to separate and instead of “peace” there was disharmony. We experienced nearly everything opposite of what Paul called for in this passage. This was NOT “walking in a manner worthy” of our calling. And as a result, this event has left most of us, if not ALL of us, reeling emotionally and spiritually, feeling battered and wounded; wondering what happened and how are we to recover, and even if we can recover. Here we are four months later, still licking our wounds, gun shy of addressing the issues. What is particularly troubling is this division was instigated by the topic of membership, a topic subject to interpretation regarding how the local Church is to be governed, which is NOT EXPRESSLY addressed in Scripture. Those dissenting left the meeting and our fellowship in a VERY dramatic, even destructive manner, destroying copies of Church by-laws and statement of faith, crying that “The Spirit of God has left this place!” (apparently with them). While the beliefs being held may not have been heretical, this behavior was ungodly and even heretical. The behavior was contrary to that which glorifies Christ nor was worthy of our calling in Christ. Further, it has come to my attention that those who have separated from us have chosen to meet as a distinct body, denying us the benefit of their fellowship, in effect rejecting us as reprobate. I also have heard first hand accounts that they are targeting individuals from among those of us who remain to join them. I am been reminded of John’s words in 1 John 2:19 (1022), 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:18-19 (958) also come to mind: 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. I long to extend grace to the parties that separated. Based on our common beliefs, I want to believe this separation is like that of Abraham and Lot separating over pasture lands in Genesis 13, or like that of Paul and Barnabas disagreeing over John Mark in Acts 15. I want to be like Gamaliel who counseled the Sanhedrin in Acts 5 not to punish the Apostles of Jesus, to wait and see if God is working through them. However, because responsibility for actions done and words said have NOT been acknowledged, because repentance has NOT been demonstrated, and because forgiveness has NOT been sought, I must as pastor, with our other elder, recommend that we separate ourselves from that party which divided us and went out from us. Consider 1 Corinthians 5:3-5 (954) 3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Paul was speaking specifically of an individual who was practicing sexual sin. Yet, the principle practiced is an example of how to handle “sin in the camp,” sin in the church. NOTE: This is not to be a punishment of wrath, but discipline with the hopes of restoring the offending parties to the Lord. ALSO NOTE: Those who separated likely see the reverse of the separation, and we need to respect their point of view while disagreeing with them. Building One Another Up, In Love (4:11-16) The Scriptures are intended to be a mirror, not a microscope, James 1:23-25 (1011): 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. We are to look at texts like Ephesians 4:1-16 and examine our own lives, individually and corporately. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to examine our lives, and respond to his prompting, to be one who acts on what the Spirit reveals. As we look at Ephesians 4:11-16, we need to examine our own hearts and ask, “Am I truly considering the best interests of those with whom I disagree?” and “Am I truly thinking about the best interests of the congregation, the Body of Christ, and the glory of God?” The point of the saints gathering is to glorify Christ, to be HIS Body on planet earth, fulfilling HIS purposes. To accomplish this, we gather “…to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” We are to continue doing it until we are complete in Christ’s likeness, until he comes again. Our purpose is to grow into Christ as individuals into a collective body, growing and living in Christ’s sacrificial love. How are we to respond/apply The issues and differences which led to this division needed to be identified and addressed. Perhaps there was a more peaceful way of addressing them, however, God allowed this to unfold as it did. We cannot turn back the clock and change the past, we can only attempt to move forward in a positive, Godly manner. In order to move forward, I believe we must forgive those who have offended, and I believe we have a choice to make. Forgiveness Those of us who have remained have been wounded by those who have separated. We have been hurt by their insults (though mere words), their accusations that the Spirit of God has left this place. We have been hurt by their lack of commitment and accountability to this expression of the Body of Christ when things became hot and difficult. We resent that they inflicted this pain and ran away. Yet, we are called by Jesus in Matthew 5:44 to love our enemies and those who persecute us. In Matthew 6, in the Disciples’ Prayer, Jesus makes it clear we are to forgive others, so much so that the Father’s forgiveness appears to hinge on our forgiveness of other. We also need to make clear what forgiveness is and what it is not. Forgiveness IS the releasing the right of retribution, the right to hurt someone in return for a hurt received. Forgiveness DOES NOT require reinstating trust. Trust and forgiveness is not the same. For instance, if we have forgiven a debt of borrowed money, we are not obligated to loan additional money to the person just forgiven. Trust MUST be earned. Likewise, we are called to forgive those who have hurt us, yet we are not called to reinstate our trust in these individuals, nor to restore them to positions of leadership, especially if there has been no public admission and repentance of public acts of offense. Yet, we need to ask ourselves: Are we clinging to our ‘right’ to hurt those who have hurt us and those we love? OR, are we willing to think more of others than ourselves, and forgive them? Are we willing to love our enemies, our persecutors, as Jesus commands us to do? A Choice Before Us Multiple times in Scripture God gives His people a choice. Choices in the desert, choices at the Jordan river, choices to change or be sent into exile to Babylon, etc. I believe we have reached a point where we are called to make a choice. Will we commit to working within Gallup Christian Church, knowing that it was decided years ago that a membership was necessary for the governance of this Body of Believers? If we are willing to do so, forgiving those who have offended, repenting and seeking forgiveness when we have offended, and loving sacrificially as Jesus did reaching down to us in our sin, I believe God will bless the desires of our hearts, as they will have become aligned with His desires. Whether few or many in numbers, I believe God will honor our desire to honor Him and His Son. If you are not willing to move forward with us understanding that membership is necessary for our governance, I would encourage you to join the party which has separated from us. Again, it is my understanding that they have convened their own meetings and seek to collect sheep from this fold. Let today be the day that we decide with whom we are going to walk. For both parties to move forward in their respective unity, to find healing, it is time we parted ways. I believe this will be the only way that each party will find healing and productive service for our King. Whichever body of believers we are called to be a member of, our goal, our purpose should be to see that God receives our first love and is glorified, that we love others as ourselves and that we make disciples as Jesus commanded. If we are faithful to these, we will hear the words “…well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your Master’s joy.” Whether together or separately, may our goal be: to make much of Jesus, not our differences, and “TO GOD BE THE GLORY”. Please stand as we sing our hymn of decision. Hymn: 770—Dear Lord and Father of Mankind (vs 1,2,3,4)