It's Worth It
- Michael Dennis
- May 30, 2010
- Series: Ephesians: Alive
Welcome to North Village Church. My name is Michael and it is good to see you guys here this morning. Can you believe God is starting a church here in North Central Austin? I know sometimes it is hard with setting up church, rotating worship leaders (great job Chris), maybe less people to make friends, but I want you to know what we are doing is worth it.
This morning we are going to be reading through Ephesians 4:1-16 and we are going to see in Scripture why the local church is worth it. With all it’s bumps, bruises, and awkwardness…it is worth it. This morning in Ephesians 4 we are going to start in verse 1. Let’s get started.
1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
In verse 1 we see the phrase “walk in a manner worthy of the calling” and the in the original language the word “worthy” is axious and it is where we get the English word axis, and it means to find balance. In a battle we look for a worthy opponent, in marriage we look for a worthy spouse, and it is someone who brings balance and in verse 1 Scripture is calling us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling in such a way that it brings balance to our calling.
Do you remember our calling from chapters 1-2? Do you remember all that Jesus has done on our behalf? Do you remember we were chosen in eternity past, adopted into the family of God, made holy and blameless, reconciled, redeemed, forgiven, given an inheritance, and made known the mysteries of His will? Do you remember all that we have been given! If you were to put a scale visually then chapters 1-2 would pile brick after brick of all that Jesus has done on our behalf and when we get to chapter 4 verse 1 Scripture calls us to walk in a manner worthy to balance out the scale. Seems a little overwhelming huh? Look at verses 2-3:
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Just in case walking in a manner worthy of the calling wasn’t enough verse 2 starts off with “all” all humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, in love, and preserving unity with peace. If you notice all those characteristics are tied to being relationally connected.
Scripture knows that when you get people together in the same room that we are going to have opportunities of relational conflict and frustration. If we are around each other long enough we are going to rub each other the wrong way, get on each other’s nerves, pick at each other, jab one another, and it gets difficult.
Sometimes our immediate response is isolation. Avoid people. You have seen the bumper sticker, “People Suck” and we do. People are complicated. We can laugh about it because we always think of other people, but those people include us as well. Some of us have tried isolation and it works for a while, but it isn’t a long-term solution, because we were created to be in community and connected to other people so we end up doing the porcupine dance. We isolate and then after awhile we get lonely so we slowly start connecting with people again and before long we hurt each other (Ouch!) and we go back to isolation.
We do this in friends, our jobs, roommates, churches, and family, because we struggle so hard to get along. You need to know when verse 1 teaches, “walk in a manner worthy” that Scripture isn’t calling us to perfection, but calling us to live with imperfect people and ultimately calling us to be flexible.
When I am at home and wrestle with the kids I am amazed at how flexible their bodies are and you can twist and bend and their bodies are like little gobs of putty. They are so flexible. Me, I am 35 and if I sleep the wrong way it gives me a headache. Scripture knows for us to connect in community we have to be flexible. We hold tight to truth, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, faith alone, but we are flexible in relationships with one another. Look at verses 4-6:
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
What does that mean? It means we do everything possible to preserve unity. We get along, we love one another, we restrain ourselves, we walk in humility, we let go of our agenda’s, our preferences, and why, because it’s worth it. Our faith is not a faith of division. We don’t have communion for male and female, for rich and poor, for tall and short, but we all come together through faith in Jesus Christ and within the local church it is worth it.
In verses 7-16 I want to give us 3 principles of why the local church is worth it. Look at verse 7:
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
The first principle is because we are Gifted. Did you know when we place our faith in Christ we are given gifts? Underline the word gift in your Bible at the end of verse 7 because the Scriptures teach us we have been given a gift.
Our gifts are not so we can serve our own self-interests, but the interests of others to the glory of God through the church. Some of us can encourage, some can teach, lead, organize, and we have been given supernatural abilities through the Spirit of God. If you are thinking, “Michael, are you saying that I have super powers through Jesus?” Yes. It may not be a magical suit that makes you fly, but it is close.
Jesus not only does all that He does in chapters 1-2 of Ephesians but He gives us gifts to go and make disciples, He gives us gifts to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, He gives us gifts to participate in the activity of God. Listen to Romans 12:
Romans 12:4-8:
4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
That is in Romans 12, but also 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4 are the primary places in Scripture that describe spiritual gifts and we have been given these spiritual gifts to show the power of the body of Christ. Each of you here this morning, through faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, are gifts to one another and to the glory of God.
Now having different gifts is what can lead to relational conflict. It can make it messy because we tend to hang out with people who are like us in personalities, personalities, background, political views, economic status, and that is so boring. Can you imagine a church where only those with the spiritual gift of teaching? They are very logical, intellectual, stoic, and fact driven. A church where everyone is gifted with serving is constantly doing things for the community, but there is a lack of teaching. A church where everyone is gifted with mercy is constantly showing mercy and compassion, but there is a lack of teaching and serving. 1 Corinthians compares it to a human body and every part on the body is important and valuable. The eye needs the nose, and they need a head, and the head needs s body, and the body needs legs, and the legs need feet…it goes on and on.
Relational conflict doesn’t mean we only hang out with people who are like us, it means we are flexible with one another and we have been gifted to see the glory of God displayed through the local church. Jesus knew you would live in Austin, at your job, in your marriage, with your children, and He knew that you would be helping a new church get started in North Central Austin, and as a church we need everyone of those gifts to be functioning to their highest ability.
There is a website on your bulletin that will help you find your gifts through a simple test, but if you want to know the easiest way think about when walk in a situation / context and think, “Doesn’t everyone know how to do this…doesn’t everyone know this is important…doesn’t everyone see how easy it is?” No, they don’t, but Jesus has gifted you to know, to see, and to do and they are in need of your spiritual gifts and when that happens…watch out! Look at verses 8-10:
8 Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." 9 (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
What does that mean? I don’t know. Lets skip it! Just kidding. Jesus enters into human history, dies for our sin, resurrects from the grave and overcomes sin, walked around for 40 days and at the end of the gospels and the beginning of Acts 1 we see Jesus ascend to heaven. He came from heaven and returned back to heaven. In verse 8 it tells us two objectives that were accomplished when Jesus ascended:
He gave gifts (We have touched on that briefly and you can ask questions later if you want.)
He led captive a host of captives. This one is a little more tricky. There are two primary exclamations. Some will teach that in verse 9 when Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth that Scripture is giving a metaphor of Jesus death being so powerful that it rang out to the lower parts of the earth and to the highest parts of the heavens. The captives are a metaphor for those who are being saved.
Others will say it is not a metaphor, but actually literal Jesus went down into hell and the captives are people from all the way back in the Old Testament.
I would lean more toward the metaphor, but the bigger truth in verses 8-10 is that we have a God who looks upon His creation that is in need because we are being held captive by our sin and instead of being indifferent He responds. He steps off His throne to engage the enemy in battle because His creation is in danger and He has done this to free us, liberate us, restore us and defeat the enemy.
The image in our mind should be of a victorious king, who is continually gathering His people to Himself so that we would never be taken captive again, and freely bestowing on us gifts so that we can rule along side Him and extend his reign to others. We need to read verses 8-10 and see a victorious king who has made us alive, indwelled by the Spirit, gifted, and like Lazarus of old called us to get up, “Get up and walk!”
Our first principle is to see the church is worth it is because we have been gifted. Look at verses 11-13 to see our second principle:
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of 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 a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
In verse 12 we see the phrase “for the works of service” and our second principle is influence. It is not only that we have been given supernatural gifts and powers, but we are to lead with those gifts so that we influence. In verse 11 we see 5 gifts that are identified to the overall leadership of the church.
There are people who are gifted with the gift of “apostleship”. Not like Peter and Paul in Scripture, but little “a” apostles and they are people who are able to start new works the bring glory to God. There are some of us who have been gifted to start new works in this city to bring glory to God. It doesn’t have to be a large number of people, but little groups of catalytic activity.
There are “prophets” which sounds really scary and it reminds you of fortune tellers like Ms. Cleo who looks at a crystal ball to see who we should marry. Not the same. People who are gifted with prophecy are people who proclaim the word of God to be true. They are like OT prophets who say, “Thus sayeth the Lord.” There are some of us who have been gifted to clarify between truth and error.
There are “evangelists”. Not people on television, radio, or with tent revivals, but people who articulate the message of Jesus in a way where people hear it as clearly as possible, and there are some of us who are able to get into spiritual conversations so easy it is amazing.
There are “teachers” who teach in such a way that people are better able to understand the word of God and they it doesn’t have to happen on Sunday. It can happen in small groups, at lunches, 1-1, and it comes easy to them.
There are “pastors” who are better able to care for people. They are able to listen to people and help them navigate through problems to be a tangible expression of God’s love.
These are not vocations, these are not professionals, this is women and men, and all people who place their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t just happen on Sunday or in church activities, but throughout the week and the body of Christ is a tangible display of the glory of God.
As soon as possible we need to learn what our gifts are and then function in them as fast as possible and influence. Did you know one of the greatest weaknesses in the church today is a lack of influence and the church is suffering? Here is some data for you:
- While the U.S. population has increased, church attendance is decreasing
- North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing
- 80% of the church is in decline in the U.S.
- Half of all churches saw nobody place their faith in Jesus
- We see these huge churches every year and it looks like churches are growing, but we are just rearranging chairs.
The local church is in need of influence and the church should be the greatest vehicle for influence in the world. I think maybe we dismiss it because we assume it has to be 50, 500, 1000 people for it to be worth our time, but what if we started influencing in our gifts?
You need to know if you have placed your faith in Jesus’ work on the cross that you have been gifted. That gift was intended to be used in the area of influence and leadership. We aren’t gifted with supernatural powers to simply sit and observe someone each week. We are gifted with supernatural powers to be agents of change and influence in our families, our neighborhoods, and the city of Austin. The local church is worth it and in verses 14-16 we see our third principle.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
The local church is worth it because we have been gifted, those gifts were intended to influence, and in verse 14 we see we are to be effective. Isn’t that a powerful image of being tossed here and there by waves…I remember being in the ocean in Mexico and waves were crashing in my massive physically intimidating body was just being tossed around with ease.
Life can feel like that where we are tossed from problem to problem, passion to passion, and we read and listen to people speak on Scripture, parenting, marriage, and we just get tossed around. That is why we go to Scripture, that is why I encourage you to read and grow in your understanding of Scripture because we want to grow and mature spiritually so that we are no longer children.
Being a child is fun. Children can do some things that are cute that you can’t do as an adult. It is good time of life. Remember as a kid you could walk around in a diaper and it is kind of cute. Have on a little t-shirt that just stops at your belly. So cute! Today, if you did that…that’s not cute. We aren’t intended to remain as children, but we are to mature in our faith so that we are effective. We are able to get along, be flexible, put aside our differences, and love one another because we are no longer children.
You need to know when verses 14-16 are talking about being effective that it isn’t talking about an individual, but the corporate gathering of Christ followers. It is talking about a church. That is what we are as a church.
Verse 16 teaches us it isn’t just one person, but the whole body being fitted together to be effective, and notice in verse 16 it is the body that causes growth. The power ultimately comes through faith in Jesus Christ, but we have been equipped to build one another up to His glory. God has designed us to need one another. It isn’t just some gifts, some parts of the body, but the whole body functioning together so that we might be built up for His glory.
As we bring this morning to a close Scripture is asking us, “Which race are we going to run?” We can run a race where we come to church and hear some teaching, sing some songs, check off our religious duty, work our jobs, save for retirement, and have some kids, and one day when we die we can go to heaven.
Or we can run another race where we can experience something that is worthy of our lives, our sacrifice, our time, and experience supernatural relationships. For that to happen our relationships with one another have to go outside of Sunday morning. Most of us meet in small groups throughout the week, but if we going to experience this passage in life then we need to be in relationships with one another. Inviting one another over for a meal, going out to lunch, sharing a meal together, and if you are here this morning and you know 2-3 people really well I need to challenge you to meet other people because we need each other.
We need to get meals together and get to know one another and share our lives with one another. Not because we are trying to make friends, but because Scripture teaches us we need each other and if we are going to experience all that Jesus has for us, then we need each other.
As we go into the summer…