Living With Jesus Christ As Our Model
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael J. Moffitt August 04, 2024
SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 4:1-10
When I was a child my parents bought me presents for Christmas that were mostly age appropriate. One year I received a “Jimmy Jet” which was supposed to be a simulator of a cockpit of a fighter plane. I loved it. When you turned it on a screen of the landscape below the plane would continually loop over and over. It had two handles that I, the fighter pilot could pull that fired rubber tipped rockets about 20 feet. They bought me what was called an “around the corner gun. You could stand at a corner of a house and bend the front part of the gun around the corner. There was a mirror between the two parts of the gun so I could see around the corner. Then I could fire rubber balls at the enemy (some kid in the neighborhood) rendering him irritated.
The thing is that that these toys, though fun for children, do not adequately represent the real thing, at least with the Jimmy Jet. To this day I have never seen an around the corner gun. The older I got the less I cared about such toys and rightly so.
Last week Bart spoke to us about the pastoral prayer the Apostle Paul was offering to God on behalf of the church in Ephesus. Paul knew that they needed to understand that God had already given them the resources that they needed to build the church there. But those resources would be of little use if not applied and lived out by the model that Jesus had shown his disciples. As they grew older in their faith they should also be more mature. Even more importantly they should have a deeper relationship with Jesus and know what it was like to be anointed by the Holy Spirit.
In other words, if they were to see and experience God moving through them in power, they would need to follow the commands of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. They needed to not only know that but to live accordingly.
Today we’ll be considering our epistle reading from Ephesians 4:1-7. First let me remind us of the main purpose of this book and add an addendum to Bart’s excellent sermon last week.
In the Book of Ephesians Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus at a time when he was not having to address a crisis, or sinful behavior but was himself in prison in Rome. Instead he wrote them concerning the mystery and purpose of the church of Jesus Christ. Ephesians is a description of the church as it should be as the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the God of creation built a community of believers. It was to be a community that would be characterized by a renewed unity and a renewal of the dignity that God offered the human being. The church is to be a community in which God’s power to reconcile men and women to himself is experienced and then shared in transformed relationships. As Pastor Bart pointed out last week, we’re to be a new temple, a building of people grounded in the sure revelation of what God had done and would continue to do through Christ until his return.
This building is to be an outpost in a dark world, under attack by hostile forces. We’re a building of people with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone the foundation of everything coming after its placement. The church is a living organism in which the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the name of Jesus is given and then utilized after the pattern of Jesus Christ.
Last month we considered what Paul meant when he spoke of the mystery of the gospel revealed in Colossians 1:21-29. He also wrote of the same mystery in Ephesians 3:4-6,
“When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.”
This mystery had been solved and the promise made known to the church in Colossae, Philippi, Rome, Ephesus, and throughout the world both Jew and Gentile were offered reconciliation with the only true God, the creator and sustainer of all things. So as Bart reminded us last week Paul is offering this wonderful prayer that the church would realize what was being offered and who was making the offer.
Some commentators see the resemblance between Solomon’s prayer for the children of God as he dedicates the new temple in Jerusalem. Both examples are built upon the premise that God alone is out hope. Solomon begins his prayer,
“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in the heavens above or the earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart”
That prayer in its entirety is in 1 Kings 8:22-53 and corresponds with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians and all who come to faith in Christ. Listen to the Message Paraphrase on Ephesians 3:14-19,
“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”
Concerning Paul’s prayer that they may be filled with all the fullness of God. There are usually two schools of thought on what Paul meant in verse 19,
“and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
One suggests that Paul is pointing us to the fullness of God’s grace bestowed upon us. One way of understanding this is comparing the fullness of God to an ocean filling an empty seashell to the point that it is overflowing.
James Montgomery Boice in his Commentary on the Book of Ephesians suggests another way of seeing this in the Greek,
“Paul seems to be praying that we (and all other Christians) may be filled up to or unto all the fullness that is in God himself.”
It would seem to fit the previous idea of the vastness of God to be seen and experienced by seeking the breadth, length, height and the depth of God. It would suggest that we could never in all eternity be able to finish seeing or understanding all there is to know about God. Rather seeing this as being out of the vastness of God’s grace poured into us now, it suggests something greater and more permanent.
Boice continues,
“we are to be filled with all of God’s fullness, an infinite thing. But then, we have all eternity (an infinite time) to be so filled. I think Paul is praying that we would be filled and filled and filled, and filled--- and so forever, as God out of his infinite resources increasingly pours himself out into those sinful but now redeemed creatures he has rescued through the work of Christ.”
What a wonderful prayer. It ends with a wonderful doxology in verses 20-21,
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
I love the way that Paul closes out a section inviting the disciple of Jesus Christ to allow the Holy Spirit to take them to places beyond reason or imagination. The entire prayer of chapter 3:14-21 speaks to us of God’s purposes for his redeemed people, and there are greater things to come if we submit the entirety of our lives to the Lord. There are things that God can do with us and through us if we would trust him completely.
Let’s briefly consider Ephesians 4:1-3,
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
One of the important rules used by those who are translating the Bible, or non-biblical texts is looking carefully when the beginning of a sentence starts with therefore. Actually whenever we are reading and see the word therefore it invokes the question, “what is it there for?” It can also be translated, “in light of”, consequently, or accordingly, but the intention is that the reader will see what’s coming next in light of what has already been written.
We can see the same pattern in Paul’s letter to the Romans. In the first 11 chapters he lays out a powerful doctrinal section that is so rich and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Some have called this Paul’s Systematic Theology and that may be but these teachings are life giving and open us up to a deeper understanding about God and His word, but it doesn’t stop there. Chapters 12-15 is the section on practical application and advice on how those earlier inspired words change our understanding of who God is and how we should live. Because of that we should bow down before him in worship, adoration, and obedience.
Listen to the beginning of chapter 12 of the Book of Romans verses 1-2,
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Therefore in light of what has just been revealed in the first 11 chapters the proper and only reasonable response is to love and serve the Lord of glory with everything we have, heart, soul, mind, and strength. The first 11 chapters of Romans reveals the what and the last 3 chapters reveal the why and the how.
Actually this way of thinking makes perfect sense in other areas of life. For example, when a young man or women enters the military the first order is that they must complete basic training. Until that is completed they are referred to as “Raw Recruits”. After successfully completing the initial training they are sent somewhere else where they receive more specialized training for specific fields that they will work in. Therefore when the time comes their only reasonable response is to live into the very promise that they made to whatever branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
I had a friend who was a bit of a couch potato and looked the part. When we were in the last half of our senior year in high school Glenn found out that his draft number was coming up, so he went down to the recruiting center and signed up for the delayed entry program of the Marine Corp. That would mean that he would serve 6 months active duty and then 6 years in the reserves, which he found preferable to the draft where he would serve 4 years. As it ended up he later discovered they were discontinuing conscription. It didn’t matter, he voluntarily joined the Marines and when we graduated he was sent to Paris Island, S.C. for boot camp. 13 weeks later he returned home for a short period of time, and he was a lean mean fighting machine. He did not resemble the arrogant, slovenly, couch potato that I remembered. He was a different man in most every area. The whole time he was on leave he got up early every morning and ran 5 miles, on purpose, nobody was chasing him. He had a different set of values, and he was definitely proud to be a Marine.
Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ is the most important decision that anyone can make, and it is life altering. No matter the circumstances, no matter the cost the payoff is that you get Jesus as Savior, Lord, Master, provider, friend and the only way to be reconciled to the Father.
The Apostle Paul in the first three chapters has spoken about predestination and election, adoption and redemption, the work of the Holy Spirit, rebirth, the work of God joining people from every nation, in all walks of life together into one holy body of Christ- the church.
In chapter 4 Paul begins by pointing out that he is a “prisoner for the Lord” and they should follow his example to walk out their lives in such a way that those around them question why he is content with not having everything he needed and was mistreated. Where does that kind of contentment and joy come from? Certainly Paul was an example of someone who was imprisoned unjustly by those who hated him and the Christian gospel. Yet, he saw this as an opportunity to teach those around him, to write letters to the churches, to pray for those who would later put him to death. The church’s throughout the Middle East were aware of Paul’s imprisonment and longed to see him again. Even in the midst of gross injustice Paul praised the Lord and encouraged the believers all around to walk with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
The idea is clear. We don’t walk worthy so that God will love us, but because He does love us. It is motivated out of gratitude, not out of a desire to earn merit. Actually, if we are to live our lives like Paul is teaching us, before others both in and outside the church it will only happen if we have submitted our wills to the Lord for his glory. Left alone to the desires of the flesh we cannot demonstrate the patience, kindness, gentleness and forbearance with one another that Paul is speaking of, that Jesus commanded. Our only hope is to submit ourselves to the path laid out for his people that we see in Ephesians 4: 4-7,
“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.”
You will not be changed in any meaningful way by self-help books, by resolutions to be a better person, by donating money or spending time in projects helping the poor. These are worthy pursuits but not one of them will transform your heart and bring you to saving faith through Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can do that and only Jesus can give us the strength and courage to stand in the midst of battle.
While I was off I spent time before the Lord in prayer and meditation. I tend to take notes when I do that. In closing I want to read to you some of what I wrote:
“I believe that the true measure of the real presence of faith in those who profess Christ, is not to found through how nice they are, how much they give of their time and resources, or how much they pray and read scripture. I believe that true measure will be when they must make the decision to follow Jesus Christ in spite of the fact that it will likely mean they will lose everything else including their lives.”
We read the stories of Christians in other countries losing everything, often including their lives. And yet Jesus continues to be the treasure they seek. I think that many if not most of us will decide not to go to those places. Seems reasonable right? The thing is that in reality we probably don’t believe it will happen here. People have made that mistake before.
Let’s pray.
