Amen. Well, good morning. If you're new here, my name is Ricky. I'm one of the pastors here at the church. Man, it is a privilege to gather in the Lord's house with the body of Christ today.
Let me just encourage you with something. So this week we've got Thanksgiving, obviously, and we're going to have a bunch of holiday parties and things coming up. And here's how I want to encourage you to think about this season, not just thinking about this season through the lens of what am I looking forward to? What am I excited about? Am I a Thanksgiving person?
Am I looking forward to play holiday music or Christmas music finally on Friday, or have I been playing it since the beginning of October? I think was John, but he has an excuse. He's working on arrangements and stuff for Advent season, so he has a special license to listen to Christmas music all day long. But rather than just thinking about it through the lens of what would you enjoy, let's just remember there are so many friends, family members, neighbors, coworkers that don't have the hope of Christmas, that don't have the hope of Christ, that really their lives are crying out with gospel needs. And I wanna encourage you to think about this season as an opportunity to build relationships and build friendships, and by God's grace, share your faith, share your story, share why you're excited about this season, And especially consider inviting them to one of our Christmas services, or build that relationship with a view toward— in January when we kick off Alpha, as we shared about a few weeks ago, that you would be able to invite them to that.
I tell you what, if you've connected with a friend or family member or coworker for a few weeks, that invitation to Alpha or to be involved in your life is going to be so much more meaningful than just like a random invitation you drop off the day before Alpha in January. And so let me just encourage you to think about it that way, and who knows what the Lord could do through that. Amen. So let's, let's turn in our Bibles now to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4.
We're continuing our study of the book of Ephesians. And as we talked about last week, we hit the hinge of the book, that Ephesians 4:1 hinge, where we take all the gospel truth and doctrine from chapters 1 to 3 and then begin to apply it with gospel application in chapters 4 through 6. Maybe you're wondering, well, what's the very first thing Paul is going to apply the truth of the gospel to? And maybe you're thinking, well, it's going to be marriage, it's going to be parenting, it's going to be, you know, the need for good workers. Well, perhaps his emphasis, his first priority will be a surprise to you, but it should be— well, it should be challenging to each one of us.
So Ephesians 4:1. This is God's word. 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. 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. This is God's Word.
And, Lord, give us ears to hear this morning. May we receive the encouragement and challenge of your Word today. And leave changed. Amen.
Well, recently I was shocked by the trend of protesters seeking to damage or deface works of art. And I can't comment on the protesters or what their protest movement is. I don't really know anything about that. But I do recall seeing in my newsfeed, in my Google Newsfeed, a picture of a recognizable painting, Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting. And there's like 3 of you that are like, "Ah, of course, of course, the old, you know, Van Gogh sunflower." You probably recognize it if you saw it because it's probably, you're forced to see it in a high school textbook at some point. But the image was of this work of art, kind of priceless, critical to the development of modern art, with a giant stain splashed over it where a protester had somehow gotten close enough to throw a can of tomato soup onto the painting, and here's the thing.
I wonder why no one thought it was weird that they had the tomato soup. You know what I mean? Like, if you see a dude in an art museum with a can of tomato soup, you're probably gonna wanna check on that guy. Or secondarily, how did he hide it? That doesn't make any sense either.
So anyway, you see this painting, you see this giant stain over it, and listen, I am not a a highbrow art critic, right? I'm not frequenting the museums of the world necessarily. My version of high art is a really good lightsaber battle or a black and white monster movie, preferably. But all of a sudden, I became a high art critic as I saw this image. There was something in me that went, "How dare they?" Right?
As if I'm a connoisseur of like these classic works of art. How dare they deface this priceless work that I don't know the history of or the story of, but how dare they anyway, right? That's what rose up in my heart. And I think it's a pretty visceral reaction because it is— regardless of whether you know art or not, you can see just from the simple image that it is a beautiful and extraordinary work of art that's now been defaced.
And that is the kind of the feeling of Ephesians 4:1-6. And here's why. In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul lays out this gospel truth that God has reconciled us to himself and us to one another and has made us one in Christ. And he has done this across ethnic and racial and cultural and economic and political lines so that we were once far off from God and far off from each other. Have been now brought into Christ and are made one body. And Paul is just amazed at this.
He waxes poetic about this. Paul, in a sense, is saying, look at this beautiful work of art, this masterwork that has been painted by God himself. And I don't know about you, but when I go to a museum, I love I love watching the people on the benches. 'Cause if you're like me, most people just kind of walk through and go, okay, interesting, kind of a guy in a wig. Nice, another guy in a wig.
A different wig, different guy. You know, you just kind of, you're like 300 years of wigs, okay, great. And so you're kind of just working through, nodding, but then there's always that one guy who is just on the bench with his chin or her chin, you know, and just taking in the work of art. And you go through the whole museum and they're still there. They're just taking in the beauty of the piece.
They know what to look for. They're looking at the shades and lines and shadows and the way that the paint catches the light. And that is what Paul has been doing for chapters 1 through 3. He's been saying, look at this masterwork. Watch this, watch that.
You see the light, how it catches there. Now he finally turns the page in Ephesians 4 and says this, "I hope you see that this is a masterwork. Now don't you dare destroy this. Don't deface this. Keep this preserved.
Keep this beautiful. Protect what God has done."
So the main idea today here is we are one in Christ. That's the message of Ephesians 2. We are one in Christ, so be one in Christ. So act according to that. So preserve and protect the masterwork that God has painted among us.
6 · A structural signpost indicating the sermon's three-part outline, beginning with "what we pursue
So 3 sections today. First is what we pursue.
7 · The pastor unpacks the four virtues Paul commands in verse 2: humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love
Now, as we talked about last week, we see this hinge of gospel truth, the gospel application. He urges the readers to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they've been called. But then in verse 2, he describes what that means. This is how he starts: "With all humility and gentleness." Now, those two virtues would have both been countercultural virtues in the Greco-Roman world. First, humility. Humility was actually a dirty word in Greco-Roman culture. It would be something— in English, we don't really get this, but the closest thing would be If Paul said, "I want you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you've been called with, with humiliation." We're like, "With humiliation?" Yeah, that's the effect of this.
Because in Roman society, everybody was constantly aware of where they ranked among people, right? Think of, for example, the Greek Olympics, those traditions were carried on in Roman culture. And in the Olympics, You don't all show up, run the best you can, and get a participation trophy, right? Everyone's like, "Well, that was pretty good too," you know? No, you get a ranking, a cold, hard ranking.
Feels great when you're first, feels terrible when you're 50th, right? And so in Roman society, they did this across all the different areas of life. Everybody knew who the great orators were and who the less great orators were. Were, the great artists were, and the less great artists. Even in Ephesus, there was a ranking of people where there were Ephesian citizens who actually controlled the political landscape, and then just the resident aliens, and then the people passing through.
Everybody was constantly being ranked. And so the people ranked below you, well, you had no particular obligation to be nice to them. And the people above you, you had to defer to them. And so what Paul is doing is he's saying, listen, I want you to think oppositely. I want you to not constantly rank yourself, and I want you especially not to relate arrogantly to those who you think rank below you.
In the body of Christ, there's not to be a constant, you know what, I'm actually the third best teacher in kids' ministry. Now I'm the second. Number one, I'm coming for you, right? We're not to be doing this. Or how much money do you think they make?
How much money do I make? Are they as savvy as me? Do they know as much theology as me? No, no, no, we're to put that away and instead pursue humility. So Christian, let me ask you, is there humility that you have that is obvious and present as you relate to other Christians, especially to Christians who you don't consider as spiritual or as smart or as sophisticated or as politically savvy or politically pure as you?
Second quality, gentleness. Again, strange in the Roman context. This is a world that applauded force and conquest and victory, right? Imagine those great halls of Roman heroes where, listen, if you want to be a hero in the Roman pantheon, you had to conquer or destroy or triumph, right? You think, oh, that person, they conquered, the Gauls, and this person, they won a victory at this place, and this person, they triumphed and did this great work.
And Paul is saying, listen, in Christianity, we have a totally different hall of heroes. You walk up to the little inscription under this hero and it says, he was gentle, or she was caring, or he was not harsh. Look, even in America today, how many popular speakers or business leaders or politicians are prized for their gentleness, right? No one's getting a gig on cable news by virtue of their gentleness. Like, "We gotta get this guy.
He is by far the most gentle of all the commentators." They're like, "No, get this guy out of here." You know? And yet, it is as countercultural today as when Paul first encouraged us with this. In the body of Christ, there should be a gentleness. Now, listen, gentleness does not mean a lack of strength. Gentleness is not the same as wimpiness, sort of this weird limp-wristedness of just like, "Oh, whatever you guys wanna do." No.
Gentleness is strength restrained for the good of others. Sometimes strength is used for the good of others. I mean, Jesus flipped over the tables, but his basic mode was he was gentle and lowly. And so is there a gentleness, a strength restrained and governed as you relate to others? Let me just encourage the dads in here.
This is especially meaningful coming from you, right? Yet your gentleness makes a profound effect on your kids and your family. When it's strength restrained under Christ. So gentleness and humility. Third, patience.
Now, Paul does not want us to act toward one another with gentleness and humility just for a few days or a few years, but for all of our life. The path of the Christian life is a path of gentleness, right? And we, all of us, when we begin to have to be patient and gentle I mean, we begin to be humble and gentle. We have a clock that starts that we think, "Okay, at a certain point, I'm gonna run out of humility. I'm gonna run out of gentleness.
I'm losing my gentleness," you know? And we think, "Okay, at some point, it can stop." And yet, Paul encourages us, no, patience is the path that we walk as Christians. As long as we're walking and following Christ, we will walk in patience. Patience. So, ask yourself, is there a long-suffering patience as you deal with others?
A long-suffering perseverance as it comes to relating to others? Fourth, bearing with one another in love. Now, S.M. Bowe comments that this means to, I love this, patiently tolerate someone who is difficult or foolish. So, somebody came to mind right now, don't say their name aloud, But probably Paul is assuming someone is coming to mind.
Even them, that foolish person? Yes, continues, one can easily tolerate a mildly irritating personality, but patience is especially needed for the foolish or difficult brother or sister in Christ. So ask yourself, who are those people to you? The people that you especially struggle to bear with, and to not just kind of grin and bear it, but to bear with them in humility and gentleness, with patience. Now, the last qualification is in love.
Now, lest we think, okay, well, I can be humble and gentle and patient and bear with one another, but I'm just kind of going to kind of grin and bear it. I'm going to try to fake smile my way through this and at least not do anything overly antagonistic. Paul qualifies this command with the phrase "in love." Bear with one another in love, meaning the absence of conflict is not sufficient. Well, I'm not antagonizing them, right? And anybody who's ever been married will know that the absence of open warfare does not necessarily mean there's a healthy relationship, right?
Anybody who's ever asked their spouse, "Hey, you know, honey, what's wrong?" And they go, "Nothing." You're like, "Uh-oh, this is not." And they're not antagonizing you, right? They're not actively saying mean things, but you know, okay, there's not really a lot of love coming from that. From this person or from me to them. And so this qualification is key that we are to love them.
8 · The pastor brings in 1 John 4:20 as a scriptural cross-reference to reinforce the "in love" qualification
1 John states it starkly. I mean, this is pretty stark language in 1 John 4:20. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot claim to love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, meaning from Jesus directly, whoever loves God must also love his brother. Meaning that you cannot say two things at once.
You can't say, I do love God, I have a relationship with God, and also I hate that person. Neither can you say, "Well, I don't love that person, but I love God." "Whoever loves God must also love his brother." And you see the logic there? If you say you love God whom you have not seen, well, you see that expressed when you love people that you can see that are right in front of you. All of that otherwise is just abstract wishfulness.
9 · The pastor addresses the objection that God's demands are impossible by pointing to Jesus
Now, maybe you're thinking, "Okay, what— how is this even possible?" How can God require this of us? How can he not just suggest it to us? How can he not just, you know, say, "Well, listen, this might help you and here's some tips"? No, this is a demand. Remember Ephesians 4:1 where Paul says, "I therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord," somebody bound by Christ, "urge you," meaning like exhort you as a superior exhorting an inferior officer.
"I exhort you to do this." How can God possibly do that? Well, I think the answer is in Ephesians chapters 1 through 3. God can ask this of us, brothers and sisters, because God has done this for us. This is the way God has responded to us. I mean, compare Jesus to these virtues being laid out here, right?
In humility, Jesus came as a servant. Taking on the form of humanity, taking on the form of a servant, even humbling himself to death. In gentleness, Jesus came to pursue and seek and save the lost. In gentleness, Jesus related to sinners. Again, it wasn't as though Jesus wasn't strong that he couldn't flip over the tables of the money changers or calm a storm, but rather his strength exercised through restraint was gentle.
And then in patience, in the fullness of time, God sent Jesus as an expression of God's year over year, decade over decade, century over century patience with humanity. And then last, in bearing with us, Jesus bore our very sins in his body on the cross. So in light of that, what can Jesus not ask us to do? What Paul is saying is essentially treat others the way that Jesus has treated you. As he was humble, as he was gentle, as he was patient, as he bore with you, you then do the same to others.
10 · The pastor shares a personal story about watching his parents lead a small group for decades
And listen, I'm hugely privileged because I got to see some of what this looked like growing up. So my parents were always ever since I was an infant, small group leaders in our church. And let me just say, side note, that if you're a family, if you have kids, parents, it is so healthy and helpful for your kids to see you serve the Lord. They learn from watching you what it means to follow Jesus in a body of believers. So here was what I observed growing up.
Because growing up, as I became old enough to, I don't know what age you guys do this in your small group, Instead of getting to just play in the backyard the whole time, at some point, my parents were like, now you're gonna sit in here with us and listen to us do the Bible stuff. And as a 12-year-old or whatever, you're like, oh, all right. But it's helpful, it's good, it's a good transition. And I remember observing that, okay, listen, I'm 12 years old or whatever, I'm just spitballing here, but this guy talks way too much, right? I'm just 12 here, I'm new here, new to the group, but this guy, You know, okay, great.
Or this other, you know, dear sister in the church. Whatever the question is, she seems like she brings up the same theological thing, right? And I don't remember exactly what it was, but maybe we'll just say it was the end times, right? Everything, whatever we're talking about, it just goes back to the end times, right? And you're just thinking, and listen, I'm new to the group also, but that's annoying.
We shouldn't, you know. Or the other person who their prayer request is just the same every week or whatever. And you start to realize, okay, some of these people are great, but, you know, some of these people are not my favorite, you know? And I remember, I don't remember what day it dawned on me, but I remember feeling a little bit of private irritation thinking like, I can't stand, I can't stand this person saying this yet again. And it was like the Lord helped me realize, oh, your parents have been doing this for decades.
You who think, okay, at age 12, you can't stand more than a few months of this, they've been persevering with these brothers and sisters for decades. And here's what I also knew about my parents, right? My mom went to Bible college and she lived overseas as a missionary, but she was humble in her discussions. She wasn't saying, "Oh, well, listen, when I was in Israel," when somebody's speculating about, "Well, I think the Sea of Galilee is like this," my mom didn't insert, "No, it's not, because I was there." Right? There's humility there. Or when, you know, my dad, who was helping run a company during the day and was known in the business community, he did not come home and when the person made yet again the same comment, he didn't look at them and say, "You're fired.
Out of the group." Right? He wasn't firing people from small group. Instead, he was persevering with them in love. Now, my parents are not perfect by any means, but I saw a faithful example of what this looked like. As a kid, the kind of example that I want to be able to emulate.
11 · The pastor connects the personal illustration back to the text, arguing that just as his parents' example shaped him, Jesus' example and Paul's ministry in Ephesus should shape the Ephesian believers' treatment of one another
And I think what Paul is also pointing them to is, listen, he's saying the flesh and blood example of Jesus should do the same thing for you. Do you remember how Jesus treated people? Do you remember how Paul's probably referencing the way he was with them when he came to Ephesus? That's how we are to treat one another in the church.
12 · A structural signpost transitioning to the second major section of the sermon: "how we pursue it
Now, next section, how we pursue it. How we pursue it.
13 · The pastor names the felt impossibility of unity in the face of America's deep divisions, then turns to verse 3 to expose a common misunderstanding: we are not called to *create* unity but to *maintain* it
Now, sometimes what can happen is we see what we are to pursue, but it does feel like the gap between where we are and where we need to be feels impossible to bridge. Now, there's so much in our world today, if you just think about 21st century America, that divides us. We could divide along political lines, ethnic lines, cultural lines, our views of our country, our views of this political leader, our views of of medical practices, or, you know, all of this, our views of schooling options for children, our views of relationships, all of these things can end up dividing us. And so as a result, sometimes we come in and we go, well, listen, we need to— everybody's kind of disconnected. We need to create some unity here in the church. We need to unite Christians together. We need to bring Christians together. Maybe you've even said something like that. I've said things like that.
Only to find that in Ephesians 4, that's not the case. Look at verse 3. It says this, we're to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. That word maintain is critical, church. We are not creating unity. We are maintaining unity. If it was up to us to create the unity that we're trying to hold on to, we would never be able to do it. How then could we? How could we bring people together across ethnic, cultural, economic, geographic, national, familial lines? We couldn't.
14 · The pastor expounds Ephesians 2:13-16 at length, showing how the blood of Jesus is the only answer to the world's divisions
But look at what Christ has done in Ephesians 2. Look at Ephesians 2:13. It says this: But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. Look, the answer to the question is simpler than we think, but far deeper than we think.
What can overcome all the divisions in our world today? The answer in Ephesians 2 is the blood of Jesus. And this is not an oversimplistic answer. This is not a Band-Aid answer. This answer is the only answer that actually addresses the real issues underneath the divisions in our world today.
I mean, look at this. In Ephesians 2, we learn that all sins that we commit against one another are real and grievous. These sins of racism and partiality of any kind and hatred and injustice, These are real, and they are so real that those who commit them deserve to face judgment. They are so real that God in the end will ensure that no one gets away with anything, ever.
And that is some measure of comfort in a world in which sometimes we are the recipients of unjust actions or partiality. But here is the problem that we run into. We rejoice that God's judgment will fall on those who sin against us, but Ephesians also reminds us we too will then one day face judgment. And our own hearts are laid bare before the Lord, right? Our hostility is not just a hostility to that brother or that sister or that group.
Or that ethnicity or that nation, those sins are committed against God because God made that person and that person and that people in his very image.
And therefore, when what is exposed in our hearts is hatred and evil and injustice, it is committed not just against them but against against the God who made them.
So then what do we do? Where does that leave us? Well, Ephesians 2 does not leave us in hopelessness. Ephesians 2 reminds us that these sins deserve judgment, but the happy surprise of Ephesians 2 is that Jesus took the judgment of God for us. That the gulf that separated us and God, Jesus bridged the gap by dying in our place for our sins, that we might be reconciled to God.
Can you imagine that? That the very God we repeatedly sinned against by sinning against those in image, that very God is the one who came to us, sent his Son in the image of God to die for us. Amazing. And not only that, but when he died for us and brought us to himself, he brought us near to each other as well. So that I don't have to look at you and you don't have to look at me thinking, I hope you one day face judgment for your sins.
If they're in Christ, their sins have been paid for the same way ours have been, by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, Paul can say that we do not create unity. Jesus already did that. Jesus has done the work that we could never do. But therefore, he calls us to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
To receive this thing that God has done as beautiful and precious and hold it out to the world that they may see the face of Jesus Christ and the love of Jesus Christ through us.
That's how this is possible.
15 · The pastor reinforces the impossibility of self-achieved unity and the sufficiency of Christ's gift
Look, if it was up to us to— if we were just gentle enough and humble enough and patient enough and bore with one another, then we could create unity, we still wouldn't be able to do it. I don't wanna do it. But instead what God does is he creates and gives it to us and says, hold this as precious.
16 · A structural signpost transitioning to the third major section: "why we pursue this together
So then where does the text go? Well, this is where the text takes a surprising turn of third section, why we pursue this together, why we pursue this together.
17 · The pastor introduces verses 4-6 by framing them as a spontaneous poem of wonder—Paul can't help but burst into doxology over the sevenfold unity of the church
Now Paul could stop here, right? He's charged us with how to act toward one another. He's reminded us that it's only possible because of what God has done. And he doesn't just move on to the next topic, he launches into essentially a poem. I don't know if you're picking this up, but in Ephesians, Paul has a habit of just spontaneously bursting into poetry because he just loves the work of God so much. And I think there's a simple theme that you, even if you're like, "Well, I don't even know, I don't know poetry, I don't know how to do poetry," I'm gonna guess that there is a particular word that stands out from the following list. Okay? You got this, guys. I believe in you.
Verse 4, see what stands out. "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." All right. What is the predominant theme of Paul's poem? What's the word? One, right?
And this is not an exhaustive list, but this is what Paul is doing. He's saying, "Okay, I don't think you get this yet. Sit on the bench and stare at the painting until you see its beauty explode off of the canvas. I want you to see the brushstrokes. I want you to see what God has done so that you'll learn to love this painting." and protect it and guard it with all that you have.
18 · The pastor walks rapidly through the seven elements of unity in verses 4-6, unpacking each "one" in turn: one body (Christ's, not ours), one Spirit (the Holy Spirit indwelling all believers), one hope (the return of Christ), one Lord (Jesus as the authority over the church), one faith (the unchanging gospel), one baptism (the shared life-or-death event marking conversion), and one God (the Father of all)
And so he walks us through this avalanche of oneness, right? Now look, let's just walk through this together then. And I want you to feel— I'm gonna go through this quick, 'cause I want you to feel the force of what Paul is doing.
And he talks about, okay, there is one body, right? Whether you're Jewish or Gentile, whether you're light or dark skin, whether you're rich or poor, you are brought into one body. Which body, a Jewish body? No. A Gentile body?
No. The body of Christ. He's what you're brought into. It's not your body or my body, it is Christ's body that we're both brought into. One spirit, right?
Just as one body has one spirit, so the body of Christ has one spirit, the Holy Spirit. Maybe you've had this experience where you did an ancestry.com thing where you realize, oh my goodness, the same blood that's in my veins is in this other distant cousin in Michigan's veins. And it brings you together in some way. What Paul is saying is, listen, you have something far deeper, deeper even than your bloodline that's bringing you together. The person sitting across from you in church is indwelt by the very Holy Spirit of God that indwells you.
Then third, our one hope, right? This is forward-looking. We're all looking forward to one thing. Thing, to the return of Jesus Christ. We're all waiting for the same thing.
We're all looking ahead to the same thing. Our— in a sense, our heads are all facing the same direction. We have then, in addition, one Lord. Now, listen, I don't know about this happens with your kids, but one of my kids, sometimes if I leave them alone by themselves, they will argue over who is in charge. And usually the resolution is not just kind of mediating, is this person right?
Is this person right? Are you in charge? Are you in charge? Usually the person that is in charge that they need to be reminded of is me, right? Your mom and I are in charge and this is what we've decided.
Okay, that tends to resolve the conflicts, right? It's not this person or this person, it's a higher authority in a sense. And that is what Paul is saying. Listen, who's in charge? Are we going to give control of the church to the Gentiles?
Are we going to give control of the church to the Ephesian citizens with the real citizenship card? Is it the people who are economically prosperous and supporting the church. No, he says, we all have the same person in charge. His name is Jesus. One Lord, one faith, right?
This refers to the substance of the faith, that the doctrine of Christianity in the world of the New Testament, the faith is not left up to everyone to decide for themselves. It's not redefined according to each ethnic group. The gospel message does not change depending on where you grew up or or what your background is. Instead, the faith is once for all delivered to the saints. It is guarded.
It is kept. And then one baptism. Like, he takes them back to that visceral moment where they were plunged into the water in symbolism with buried with Christ and brought out of the water in symbolism of being raised with Christ and saying, you all had the same life or death experience. You all have this event that marks your lives that if you trace your story back, that's where everything changed. Right, usually about once a year, our community group will tell stories of how we were saved.
And it is amazing because you know the story beat is coming up and you know that at some point, Jesus is gonna find you, he's gonna seek and save you, he's gonna change you, and you're just waiting for it. And even though they grew up in a different place with different family, with different situations, There it is again, same event.
Buried and raised with Christ. One God, right? On the most basic level, you pray to the same God, you worship the same God, and last, it ends with one God and Father of all.
19 · The pastor introduces an analogy from advertising: marketers tug at the universal human longing for family to sell products
Look, there is a thing that every advertiser is doing right now on television. It is the old tugging of the heartstring to get you to buy something. And you know what the heartstring they tug is? Family, right? So every holiday thing, it's like they're putting up the lights together. Buy these lights, they're on sale. You know, or they're gathered around this turkey and it all looks delicious.
Buy this turkey, then your family will be like this, you know. And why do those things work? Don't you want to watch this new movie on Netflix? What's it about? It's about family.
Oh, you know, like, and it works because in each of us there is a longing for family. A longing to be gathered together, to belong together. And Paul is saying, this is what you have.
20 · The pastor highlights the threefold repetition of "all" in verse 6, emphasizing that no one is excepted from this unity—it's universal within the body of Christ
And then he reminds them, there is no one that is accepted from this. Do you see that the other emphasis is that word "all," right? Do you see that? Where it says, "One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all," right? He's emphasizing there's no one accepted from this. There's no one left out from this. There's no one who Who can opt out of this?
It's everyone or it's no one. This is what God has done.
21 · The pastor contrasts the world's two failed solutions for unity (minimizing differences or winner-take-all conflict) with the gospel's superior answer
And church, do you see why this is so much better than what the world does? The kind of unity the world so often holds out? The world only has two solutions for unity. The two solutions in the world for unity are one, to convince one another that our differences between one another are not really that big. Right, maybe you've seen people do this where you're like, well, listen, You know, we all are humans, so our differences are not that big. Be like, listen, bro, if you fought a war against my people, I'm gonna say they're pretty big, right? Like, I don't really know what divides us. You defrauded me, bro.
Like, right? There's some significant tensions and differences that are real in the world around us. So ignoring them is not gonna work. The world's other solution is Let them fight it out, right? It's this side versus this side, winner take all.
This side is gonna beat this side. This side is gonna destroy this side, right? And that's, it's funny, every toddler, that's their solution for unity in the family. Every toddler arrives in the world today, they're just like, listen, no one would be crying in this family if we all just did what I wanted to do.
And similarly, like, this is the solution to every political party. How do you think, you know, we should come together in this country? By me winning and you agreeing with me? That's how we're going to have unity in the country, right? This is what we do on a family level, on every level, in the office, that faction versus this faction.
Well, you're just going to agree with us. And that doesn't work either. So this is what God does. He reminds us that the things that unite us together, that what God has done transcend all of that. It doesn't mean that those things are not important.
It doesn't mean politics are not important or your ethnic background is not important, but what it does mean is that there is something that matters even more than all of that, and it's our unity in Christ.
22 · The pastor transitions to a practical section by naming the problem: even when we're convinced about unity, we often stumble along the way
Now you may be wondering, okay, how do we get there? I wanna offer a couple quick thoughts because I'm gonna lay out a few things that often trip us up at this point. So you think, okay, great, I'm in, I wanna pursue unity, let's pursue unity, God's done this amazing thing. But then it somehow, someway along the way begins to devolve. So I'm gonna lay out just a few things that I think can often be roadblocks to this pursuit of unity. If this stuff matters, here's what often gets in our way.
23 · The first roadblock: elevating secondary issues (politics, education) to the same level as the gospel's unifying realities
First, an unbiblical prioritization of issues. Meaning this: that those issues that are important, we elevate to be as important as one Lord, one faith, one baptism, right? Or we begin to even functionally feel like this is more important than this. Instead, the Bible calls us back, right? Politics is important. I'm not saying it's not. How you educate your children is important. I'm not saying it's not.
But they are not as important as one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of who's over all and through all and in all.
24 · The second roadblock: making unverified assumptions about others' beliefs or motivations and then responding to those assumptions as if they were facts
Second, unverified assumptions. Unity is often destroyed in the church when we assume, well, I heard them say this about this politician, so that means that they like this and support this and are in favor of this. How dare they, right? And you're like, did you— did they say that, that they were in favor of that? No, but they said that they were in favor of this guy. You're like, okay, well, did you ask them? No, you know. And here's— let me just push on this for a second. Sometimes in the church, I hear people say things like this.
They say, well, I don't want to ask them about it because I don't want to start a conflict, because I know we'll just fight about it. I'm like, so just assuming the worst about them is a better solution? It's not. So talk to them. Say, okay, help me understand this.
You know, or check your assumptions.
25 · The third roadblock: unresolved conflicts that fester and spread suspicion
Third, unresolved conflicts. When there is conflict in the church that is not resolved biblically, it will fester and destroy unity. I mean, you might think, okay, this isn't that big of a deal. I don't need to resolve this conflict. It's not that big of a deal. But then here's the kind of thing that happens, right? You start serving in a team and your friend says, oh, I saw you start serving in that team. You're like, oh yeah, yeah, I'm really enjoying it. And they're like, oh yeah, is Sarah on that team?
And you're like, well, yeah, why? Oh, no reason. And they're like, what does that mean? Is there something wrong with Sarah? You're like, well, I'm not saying that there is.
I just, I wouldn't be able to serve with her, frankly. But I mean, but it's wonderful if you can get along with her. I mean, I think it's great. And all of a sudden, you're left thinking, what's up with Sarah? And then all of a sudden, you're watching Sarah, and you're like, Oh, yeah, she is kind of weird, shifty, right?
Instead, there should be— if we're pursuing gentleness and humility with patience, there should be this quickness to go, you know what? I'm going to leave, like Jesus says, my sacrifice in line at the temple and go and resolve the conflict that we might pursue unity together. Not just the absence of conflict or open warfare, but unity in Christ. And if you need help and get stuck, go back to the Bible, pull others in, do whatever you need to to get there.
26 · The fourth roadblock: letting online community functionally replace real, embodied Christian fellowship
All right, 2 quick ones more. Next one, this is gonna be fun. Unbalanced social media life versus real life. When we spend hours and hours in social media or online community, often it can become, it can functionally become a substitute for real flesh-and-blood Christians in front of us and across from us. But let me just encourage you, I think often— listen, there can be a real type of support that comes from online community, especially, you know, I know folks that have certain health conditions, they find an online community of other people that have that condition, that's helpful to them. But that is not a substitute for real flesh-and-blood Christians sitting across from us.
And here's the reality, those people online, if they make you mad, you just boop and they're gone. You can't boop people in community group.
But neither can those online people show up with a meal at your door when you find out your son has a health condition.
27 · The fifth roadblock: an unhealthy craving for controversy, where Christians feel compelled to have opinions on every crisis and then fight about things neither of them is involved in
All right, last. An unhealthy, this is the last one, it's a fun one, I saved the best for last. An unhealthy craving for, controversy. When we must know and have an opinion about every political crisis or cultural crisis or American church crisis, it often can lead to, unduly lead to division, where we then are not even fighting with the person across from us in church, we're fighting about some third thing that neither of us are even involved in. So I think there should be a push away from, listen, do I need to know that? Great, then I'll engage with it. If I don't, I'm just gonna love the people in front of me.
28 · The pastor transitions to the stakes by introducing John 17:20-23, where Jesus prays for the unity of future believers
All right, last, we're gonna end here with what's at stake. I just wanna read John 17. You could turn there if you want to. Because I want you to feel, listen, that this portrait has a purpose. The portrait hanging on the wall, and the purpose is not just our good, which is part of it, right? When we pursue unity, it serves us. And the portrait on the wall is not just for the good of others in the church, because that's true, And that is also true, that when we build a good community of unity, it serves others around us.
But there is another audience for this pursuit of unity that I think Jesus highlights that's so important. John 17, verse 20 says this. Jesus says, 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, listen, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Verse 23, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me.
29 · The pastor makes the theological claim explicit: the church's visible unity is how the world sees the invisible realities of the gospel
This portrait, brothers and sisters, hangs on the wall of a world that is torn by war and conflict and anger and hatred and racism and injustice. It hangs on the wall showing something better, pointing the way to Christ. The world may not be able to physically see Jesus walking and ministering, but it can see Jesus' body, the church, walking and ministering. The world may not be able to fully see the spiritual new life in Christ we have, but it can see new life in the church as it lives as the church. The world may not be able to fully see the reconciliation between God and man, but it can see enemies in the church reconcile and love one another.
The world may not be able to fully see God's forgiveness of us, but it can see Christians forgiving each other.
30 · The pastor closes with a direct charge framed as two questions and one imperative
Do you want the world to come to know Christ? Do you want the world that is so broken and jagged with splinters all around to come find healing and hope in Jesus? Then preach Christ and love your local church. Amen.
31 · A brief transitional instruction preparing the congregation to move into the closing prayer and worship
Let's stand together.
32 · The closing prayer lifts the sermon's themes to God, asking that the congregation would be a faithful portrait of Christ, that specific convictions would lead to action (reconciling relationships, letting go of judgments, entering real community), and that they would be bound together by the sevenfold unity of Ephesians 4:4-6
Lord, I pray, I pray that we as a church body, as Cross of Grace Church in 21st century America, Lord, I pray that we would be a faithful portrait of Christ. Lord, I pray that if— just right now, if there's anything that you're hitting a nerve on today, if there's a relationship that needs to be reconciled, if there's a judgment that needs to be let go of, if there's a hesitancy to be in real community or let others get to know you, Lord, I pray that we would be able to let those things go today. Lord, that we would remember as we close the amazing love that you have for us. Lord, that you're not calling us to do anything that you have not done first for us. And so, Lord, help us.
Help us to be bound joyfully by our one Lord, our one faith, our one baptism, our one God. Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. And I pray that you would bind our hearts together as we sing. Amen.