A New Family to SERVE

Good morning, y'all. It'd be great if you could grab a copy of the sermon outline today

with the Bible text on it. And also, it's on the St. Paul's app. So if you want to get

it down, the St. Paul's app takes a while. It would be fantastic. So I wonder why are

you here? I wonder why you're not down at the cinemas. I wonder why you're not winding

down in front of the television at home. Iron Chef America is on after all. I wonder why

you're not at the beach. I wonder why you're not even just down shopping at Westfield.

Why are you not at the gym, visiting friends, family? I wonder if maybe you're just here

because, well, there isn't anything else to do. There's no other pressing needs. There's

no parties on. The kids' sports not on right now. I wonder if, for instance, your thinking

is, well, it is only church after all. And so when something more pressing does come up,

then, well, that just takes precedence. I wonder if you're comfortable with the way those words

run together. Only church. I do wonder whether church fits in and around everything else that's

on. Certainly statistics of church attendance would certainly indicate that. And even those

who regard themselves as mature Christians think that two out of four is called regular nowadays.

Maybe it's not an afterthought. But maybe it's just something that you've done. It's not so much,

you know, you're actually here regularly, but it's just something that you have always done. You have

just come to church. You've grown up just coming to church. And so you don't give any thought to it.

You don't give any preference. You just do it like a habit, like you clean your teeth. Same kind of thing.

For various conversations I've had with parents, I've noticed that parents struggle to answer the

question when their kids ask them, why do we go to church? Haven't actually thought about it.

Haven't got a biblical answer to it. So if you're comfortable with the words, it's only church,

or comfortable just making it a daily habit or a weekly habit and not really thinking it's,

or you're just in that phase of life where there's potentially a creeping cynicism, confusion, apathy,

then I want you to see something wonderful today. While your experience of church might have been

disappointment, boring, confusing, or relationships that have been less than what they could be,

today we are catching a glimpse of God's intention for his church. And if you've got the sermon outline,

you'll see that I've got three ideas. We're a new family, we're a united family, and then

some practical application on being a brilliant family.

Last week, we saw the incredible scope of God's plan for the universe through time and eternity of the

Lord Jesus. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has redeemed us from sin,

from death and captivity to selfishness and the ego. And no religious duty, no moral effort on our

behalf contributes to it. We are liberated from slavery to sin to be who God has made us to be

in the first place. We're being set free to praise and serve. And you may recall that at the end of

chapter 1, Paul prays that people would see the evidence of God's mighty sovereign grace at work in

the world. He prays that people would see that evidence in the world. And now in these verses,

we see one of the major, if not the major evidence of God's work in his world.

inside the church, there are people living together in peace and harmony and deep relationship

who outside the church could never get along.

God's plan of salvation in Jesus doesn't just bring us back into relationship with God,

God's plan of salvation in Jesus. And it brings us back together.

I see what the saving work of Jesus accomplished. Chapter 2, verse 14,

for he himself, this is Jesus, is our peace who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the

barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. Now the word hostility is used twice in these verses.

And it's a word that means hate. And the test case, if you like, the case study that Paul uses

is the deep historical hatred between Jew and Gentiles, which is basically Jews and everyone else.

not only has the death of Jesus brought down the dividing wall of hostility and hatred between us and God,

but also the dividing wall of hostility and hatred between people.

Even centuries of deep hatred.

But it goes a step further. It's not just the dividing wall has been ripped down.

Halfway through verse 15, we read,

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two,

thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,

by which he put to death their hostility.

God's purpose in salvation is to create a new humanity in Jesus.

A new family in Jesus.

We are not a club.

A club is where you share one or two common interests with other people.

So, for instance, if you're a tennis club, you share the interest of tennis.

Or you share the interest of wearing white.

Whatever it is.

But you share one or two connected things.

Points of connection.

As part of an ethnic group,

you have a much more profound connection with people of the same ethnic group

than you do if you're a member of a club.

There are possibly hundreds of points of connection that you would have

and history that you would have with an affinity group as an ethnic group.

And Paul is saying here that when you become a Christian,

the connection points are even deeper and more profound than ethnicity.

This connection is more deeper, more extensive than any other connection point.

So much so that as an Anglo-Australian,

I have a greater connection with other Christians of other cultures

than I do with people who are of my own ethnic group who are not Christian.

What the gospel of Jesus does when he rescues us from selfishness and the ego,

Jesus reshuffles the layers in our ego deck or identity decks.

My and your cultural heritages do not get obliterated in the Lord Jesus.

They are just put in their right place.

I am still an Anglo-Australian male from rural northwest New South Wales.

The only place on the planet where the English language is spoken without an accent.

There is irony in that statement in case you haven't picked it up.

And you are who you are with your cultural identity markers.

That doesn't change.

But our connection and our unity with Jesus trumps it all.

It all.

The church is a new humanity, a new family with a new identity.

In Jesus, God has made it possible for us to get over the horrible, horrible divisions of the human race.

God displays the wisdom and the worth and the saving power of Jesus to the world through his new family.

You may have noticed that the church, the word church is mentioned twice in chapter 3, verses 10 and 21.

I want you to notice the wording.

First of all, in verse 10.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

Manifold, the word manifold in verse 10 means literally many colored.

Many, multifaceted wisdom of God.

And it's the same word that's used in the Old Testament for Joseph and his many colored cloak.

The church is God's many colored, diverse church.

The church is his brightly colored neon sign to the universe.

The church is the public advertisement of the glorious wisdom of God.

God's plan is devastatingly simple and disarmingly beautiful.

His eternal plan is to bring a new family together under Christ from all kinds of people who are bound together in love,

who outside the church are opposed to one another.

That's his plan.

Secondly, we're a united family.

The emphasis in chapter 2, verses 19 and 22 is we are not just together in the same sort of area,

but that we're in fact united.

Verse 19 says that we are his household.

We are his children.

We are his family.

We are his eternal family.

It also says that we are his temple.

You see, what happens in the move from household to temple,

the intensity builds to the final image.

In verses 21 to 22, we are his temple being built together for his spirit to dwell in for his glory.

A king lives in a country with his subjects,

but there may be no relationship between the king and the subjects.

A father lives under the same roof with his children.

If you're a citizen of a country, you might live next door to each other.

You may live long way from each other.

You may have no connection with each other at all.

But if you're a child growing up with siblings,

you are living in very close proximity to one another.

That's what happens with family.

Of course, however, as you move the metaphors to temple,

if you are stones in a building, you're cemented to each other.

The image here at the end of chapter 2 is of our unity, our connectedness,

our togetherness in Jesus.

And this theme of togetherness and unity flows over into chapter 3,

where Paul prays that the church will be a beacon of unity and love to the world.

Ephesians 3 is one of those chapters that's very messy.

You might have picked that up as you read to us just a moment ago.

So Paul begins chapter 3 with,

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles.

And then he stops.

It's like he breaks his thought halfway through and goes on a detour.

You know how frustrating that is when people do that and you're talking to them

and you're trying to work out how is this connected with what,

you know, you've started the sentence but you haven't kind of finished it?

And this little detour of Paul's lasts until verse 14,

where he says,

For this reason I knew before the Father.

And so what you've got to do is you've got to hold his train of thought

while he travels on this detour from verses 2 to 13.

And the detour, he's like, this is kind of his idea of the detour.

Let me remind you of God's plan.

Let me remind you of why I'm here in prison

and why Gentiles like you find yourself part of God's family.

It's all because of the mystery.

That's no longer a mystery.

It's all because of the plan that finally came together.

And as you run your eye down verses 2 to 13,

you'll see he makes the same point over and over and over again.

The plan that wasn't known before is now clear.

And verse 6 is what has been made known.

The mystery is that through the gospel,

the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel,

members together of one body,

and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

Together, together, together.

And there's nothing that Paul wants to see more

than the Ephesians living out their togetherness.

As he comes back from the detour in verse 14,

that's the thing that he is moved to pray for.

Verses 14 to 21 is a long and complex thought.

But in the end, it breaks down to a very simple prayer.

A prayer to the Father that the Ephesian church

might really be a diverse and a united family.

A prayer that boils down to this in verse 17.

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love.

He prays that Jesus may so fill their hearts

that they'll know what real love looks like.

Paul says, middle of verse 17,

I'm praying that you, being rooted and established in love,

may have power, you Gentiles together with the saints,

to comprehend what is the breadth and the length

and the height and the depth of the love of Christ

and to know the love of Christ

that goes way beyond all knowledge.

That's what we looked at last week.

It's what we see in his many blessings

that he's poured out to us.

Every spiritual blessing in Jesus.

And the more we grapple with every spiritual blessing in Jesus,

the more the layers of our identity deck gets reshuffled

till he sits at the top, always.

Paul says here, it doesn't make sense,

but the love of Christ encompasses all kinds of people.

Paul's praying that we will together catch on

how big the love of Jesus is

and be so filled with the fullness of God.

He prays for it because when the church does it,

they become God's great advertising campaign to the world.

Over 20 years ago, there was a war raging in Kosovo

between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.

That war came on the back of a cultural hatred

that had run for over a thousand years

from both sides.

And it resulted in terrible crimes against humanity.

There were Christian churches

on both sides of that divide.

And right in the middle of the conflict

where ethnic cleansing is happening,

one pastor of an Albanian Baptist church in Pristina

crossed over the racial divide

and preached in a Serbian church

on the opposite side of the conflict,

filled with Serbians.

Against the background of all the hate,

the pastor of the church in Belgrade

took this man into his home

and put him in his pulpit.

And the pastor said,

we don't have much in common

apart from Christ.

And that's the point.

If you really catch on the breadth

and the depth and the height

and the width of the love of Christ,

then you've started down

the path of loving one another

and a shared discomfort when we meet.

Against the odds,

against the generations,

against the cultural dividing lines

in a way that not only astounds

the world around us

when they see the way we love one another,

but the spiritual powers as well.

Did you see that?

It's enough to make the angels rejoice

and the demons hang their heads in shame.

Paul says God's intent,

God's design,

God's plan,

verse 10,

is that through the church,

the manifold wisdom of God

might be made known to the rulers

and authorities in the heavenly places.

Imagine that.

Imagine the angels

looking down on St. Paul's Chatswood

and marveling

at God's eternal purposes

being worked out in monsters.

Marveling at the glory of the gospel

as the boundaries the world puts up

come down between us.

We're here to be part of God's church.

We're here to actively love one another.

We're here to demonstrate to this world

and the angels in the heavenly realms

the wonders of God's plan

being worked out in the Lord Jesus.

We're here to reveal to the world

that alienation and self-centeredness

and hatred and division

don't have the final word.

We're here to work together

to display Christ's love

in real ways to the world.

So if you're a parent

and your kid asks you,

why are we going to church?

Oh, kiddo,

we're going to demonstrate to the world

and to the angels in the heavenly realms

the wonders of God's plan of salvation.

The world's plan of salvation

worked out in Jesus Christ.

The beach is not inviting.

It can wait.

It'll be better in heaven anyway.

So how do we work it out?

How do we be God's brilliant family?

It's passages like this

and many others in the New Testament

behind our purpose statement

which normally is on the wall behind me.

You can find this in our vision booklet

for this year,

the stuff I'm about to say now.

Behind our purpose statement,

that is,

our purpose statement is the reason

we exist as a church

and our one says

that we treasure Jesus together

for God's glory

and the joy of all people.

See the connection with what I just said

from Ephesians 2 and 3?

That's why we exist.

This passage also lies behind

what we're seeking to do together.

Our vision as a church here in Chatswood

is to be a church

that unites our diverse community

in the good news of Jesus Christ

so that more and more and more people

through the gospel

have the layers of their identity

and we're going to be

shuffled by Jesus.

And passages like this

lie behind our strategy

how we're going to achieve our vision

to unite our diverse community in Jesus.

We will achieve our vision

by being a transcultural church,

not a multicultural church,

a transcultural church,

displaying the manifold wisdom of God

to our livelihood.

That means that we reflect,

we embrace,

and we enjoy

all the diversity

of the context of our neighborhood,

all the ways that God has made us

while in the power of the gospel

having our identity decks reshuffled,

rising above all the cultural differences

that are amongst us

and being united together

as a community,

as a family under Jesus.

He becomes supreme.

He's the one who connects us.

We do not try and find cultural connection.

We rise above it

and find connection and unity in Jesus.

Therefore,

what that means in practice,

we develop united congregations

like this one

that reflect the ethnic,

generational, social,

economic diversity of our neighborhood

and we deliberately,

deliberately work against

the homogenous unit principle

that wants to segregate people

into affinity groups.

We will use the unifying language

of our neighborhood

in all our corporate gatherings

and communications.

We develop mature disciples

of the Lord Jesus

who are equipped with skills

and cultural intelligence

to serve across cultures.

So there is deeper appreciation

of our differences

and we develop culturally diverse

leadership teams

across all layers of decision making.

Now there's work to do

to make that reality measure up

here at St. Paul's

and sin will always

get in the way.

But we must fight for it.

I'm glad that Nick and John

are at this morning

at a church called Parkside Church

down near Fairfield,

a church of about 700, 800 people

where 50 different nationalities

are gathered together

in these kinds of congregations.

just learning about

how to do it better.

Now no church

can be totally inclusive

but how do we stretch

to be more ethnically

and culturally

and socially inclusive?

How do we work hard

to have a shared discomfort

when we meet?

That's to keep the gospel

in front of us

Sunday by Sunday by Sunday

before we come,

after we've been,

while we're here.

How do we work,

sacrifice and serve

to be who we are?

See if you're a Christian

you've been called

into God's new family

and you have been called

into deep relationships

and deep involvement

in the Christian family.

You cannot love and serve

in shallow relationships.

How deep?

How deep?

I hear you ask.

That's a silly question

to ask at this time of the day

but I'm going to go

into it anyway.

Deep enough

for personal accountability.

I've got three things

to say in this.

Deep enough

for personal accountability.

We are the same family.

One thing you'll know

about growing up

in a family

is transparency.

That is,

your family knows

who you are

and you know

who they are.

There's,

they wipe your nose,

they change your nappies.

Your facades

don't work

in a family

when you grow up

and you're going to fit.

They know

who you are.

On occasion

while growing up

when I got ahead

of myself

in self-importance,

my dad would say

to me,

don't forget

I wiped your bottom.

that's just a,

you know,

put me back down there.

No facades

in a family.

Transparency

is essential.

So I want to ask you

in this church family,

transparency

is essential.

Are there people

who know

your habitual sins

because you've told them

and then given them

a hunting license

to come after you

if they see

that you're indulging

in them?

Our family relationships

also need to be

as deep

as whole life hospitality.

A family lives together.

In a family

you share each other's

space and things.

You eat,

you play,

you work together.

Hospitality is letting people

into your whole life.

It's not just putting on

a meal for people.

It's letting them

into your whole life.

It's not just about

showing up to church events.

Like we are colleagues.

It's not about turning up

as students

to study

or

club to play tennis.

We are brothers

and sisters.

We also need

to deepen our relationships

to the point

of corporate spirituality.

God

comes to us

as a gathered

people.

He inhabits us

as a gathered

people.

We need to talk

about our prayer life,

what it's like.

We need to talk

about how real God

is in our heart,

what God is teaching

us through the Bible.

The reason why

we don't do that

is either because

we are chronically,

chronically

shy,

which the Spirit

of God can get over,

or because

those things

are actually

not happening.

They're actually

not happening.

In his book,

The Four Loves,

C.S. Lewis

has a chapter

on friendship.

It's a great book.

I'd encourage

you everyone

to read it.

Lewis,

as he was

over a long period

of time,

was one of three

friends.

They were,

if you like,

co-BFFs.

There was Lewis,

there was

Ronald,

and Charles,

three of them,

three of them

co-best friends.

Tragically,

Charles died.

As great

as Lewis

was

about the death

of Charles,

he thought

to himself,

at least

I've got

Ronald.

He assumed

he would

now be

closer to

Ronald

because

there's

just the

two of

them

now.

And

therefore,

he would

get more

of Ronald.

He doesn't

have to

share

Ronald

anymore.

As the

weeks and

the months

went by

after Charles

died,

Lewis

discovered

that this

in fact

wasn't the

case.

He

discovered

he actually

got

less

of

Ronald.

And

he finally

realized

that there

was a

side,

a part

of

Ronald,

a personality

bit of

Ronald,

that he

could not

bring out

of Ronald.

And that

that bit

was now

lost to

him.

He goes

on to

say,

it takes

a community

to really

know a

person.

because

any

individual

is not

enough

to draw

the whole

person

out.

People

are complex,

people are

deep,

and we

cannot know

someone by

ourselves.

We need

a community

to know

them.

And

friends,

it's

the same

with

Jesus.

We

get to

know

Jesus

better

together.

The

deeper you

get into

the spiritual

life of

friends,

the deeper

you get

into

Jesus.

And if

you're not

getting deep

in Jesus,

there's

a connection

there between

how deep

you are

getting into

the spiritual

life of

others.

Jesus.

And the

deeper you

get into

Jesus,

the deeper

your unity

and your

love as a

family.

If you

want to

experience the

surpassing

power of

God in

your life

as Paul

prays for,

you need

to plunge

yourself into

his new

family.

To the

degree that

you serve

your new

family is

the degree

of depth

you will

get into

Jesus and

embrace your

eternal

identity as

members of

his family.

And so as

we look to

the year

ahead and

throw ourselves

into God's

family in

service of

one another,

may Paul's

prayer in

verse 20 be

our prayer.

Now to

him who

is able to

do immeasurably

more than

all we ask

or imagine

according to

his power

that is work

in us.

Amen.