Scripture reading: Ephesians 4:1-10.

Sermon text: Ephesians 4:11-16.

In 1976, country singer Johnny Cash released a song named “One Piece at a Time.” In the song, an auto worker decided to build his own Cadillac for free by taking “one piece at a time” home and assembling the car over the course of 24 years. The poor worker didn’t take account for design changes, so the resulting car had 3 headlights, 1 tail fin, a motor from 1973 and a transmission from 1953. As you can imagine, “one piece at a time” didn’t work well when building a Cadillac.

When God built the church, He didn’t skimp to build a free body. The Church cost Him everything; it cost Him the life of His Son.

St. Paul knew God had purchased the Church with the blood of Jesus, His only-begotten divine Son. Through the Church, God would spread the gospel through the world. Through the Church, countless people would hear the good news of peace with our Creator, that all who believe will receive eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus. St. Paul knew God would build the Church by calling believers to proclaim the gospel and serve each other, allowing the love of Christ to flow through them into the lives of everyone they met.

St. Paul called for the Ephesian believers to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” The Ephesian believers received their calling by grace, not by worth; only by God’s grace did they receive the calling He had placed on their lives. Therefore, they should fulfill their calling “with all humility and gentleness.” Only through humility and gentleness could the Ephesians fulfill this calling.

Nowadays, humility has a bad reputation. Most people think of humility as self-deprecation. Humility doesn’t mean that we demean ourselves; instead, it means we maintain a healthy self-perspective. As C.S. Lewis wrote,

1. Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all. — Mere Christianity, III.viii
   

Gentleness, also, will help us spread the gospel. Although we instinctively leap to defend our faith, we should do so as saints, not as warriors. A “take no prisoners” approach usually causes more trouble than it removes.

Humility and gentleness will demonstrate themselves best as St. Paul told the Ephesians: “with patience, bearing with one another in love.” The word St. Paul used here also implies endurance. We must remain patient with those around us, sometimes even enduring attacks we had rather avoid.

Humility, gentleness, and patience certainly play a role in the Church. Pride always brings strife and disunity to the body. Impatience with others always results in disunity. St. Paul told the Ephesians they must remain “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Christians must seek unity as much as possible. St. Paul gave the Ephesians this goal of unity: “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.”

The unity of the Church should remain our primary goal as Christians. Some will say, “We should prioritize spreading the gospel above everything else.” Jesus Himself told us the primary way we could testify to His death and resurrection:

1. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. — John 17:20-23
   

Did you notice Jesus’ emphasis on unity? Did you also notice the result of our unity? “That the world may know that you sent me.” When the Church unites, the world will know God sent Jesus into the world for our salvation and for theirs.

Jesus constantly works to unite us for the purpose of the gospel. Through His grace, Christ gives gifts to the Church. Verses 8-10 would remind the Ephesians of the Roman parades, called “triumphs,” given to victorious generals. By the time St. Paul wrote this book, only Roman emperors could receive a triumph. St. Paul envisioned Jesus receiving a triumph when He ascended into heaven. Like Roman emperors, Jesus “led a host of captives” in His triumph, including sin and death. Jesus also “gave gifts to men,” including the gifts of reconciliation with God and eternal life to all who believe.

The gifts Jesus gives transcend only those received by individuals. Jesus also gave us the gift of the Church, His Body on earth. Through the Church, Jesus enables and prepares believers to carry the gospel. In the Church, Jesus gives gifts to people who can equip believers in the mission of the Church.

First, Jesus gave “apostles” to the Church. The Apostles, those original followers Jesus chose during His ministry on earth, recorded the stories of His life and also recorded His teachings. The Apostles accomplished the mission of spreading the gospel throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. St. Paul himself spread the gospel throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and eventually to Rome itself.

Jesus also gave “prophets” to the Church. While we think of those who tell the future, prophets also proclaim the teachings of Christ to the world. The Scriptures give us clear teachings regarding prophecy, including the necessity of accuracy in any prophecies they give. Anyone claiming the gift of prophecy must achieve and maintain a 100% record of accurate prophecies.

Then, Jesus gave “evangelists” to the Church. St. Paul fulfilled the role of evangelist as well as Apostle. Historically, evangelists served to carry the gospel into new areas where the Church possessed no witness.

Once the Apostles recorded Jesus’ teachings, and once evangelists take the gospel into new areas, the “shepherds and teachers” serve to equip believers in their mission to the world. The “shepherds and teachers” serve to lead congregations and teach believers as part of the mission.

All these positions exist “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Although the Apostles died centuries ago, we still use their work whenever we read the New Testament. The other offices still exist. However, no one with these gifts can use them for self-promotion. Anyone called to these offices must use their gifts to serve the Church, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” Again, anyone with these gifts must work to unite believers and the Church at large.

These believers, called to serve the Church, help believers grow to maturity in their faith. Mature believers will willingly unite to accomplish the mission of the Church. Mature believers will also stand against those who would cause new believers to be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Mature believers stand against false doctrine; mature believers recognize false doctrine and refuse to follow anyone teaching anything contrary to the teachings of Christ and the Church.

We do not fight false doctrine with a warlike spirit. Instead, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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.”

Do you understand the lessons of this passage? As we grow in Christ, the Holy Spirit will lead us to unite with fellow believers into the Church through baptism. We will also seek to serve our congregations, obeying the calling of Christ when He equips us and growing in our faith as we see Him working in our congregations and in the Church as a whole.

We stand as one body, proclaiming the gospel to the world. We stand under one Lord, united in one baptism, to demonstrate Jesus’ love to the world. Believers in Christ, unite under His banner and, through our unity, proclaim the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection to a world in desperate need of His good news.