Session 2

So Ephesians 4, where we are this morning, the first 16 verses, begins with an exhortation

in the light of who we are as God's church, and again, it's a very big we, it's us as

a body, it's not just take it home individual, this is me, this is us as a body, and for

us here, the body of Christ who meet here at St. Paul's.

And it begins with an exhortation to walk in a way which is worthy of what we have received.

So the church is the expression of this brand new humanity created in Christ, and Ephesians

4 begins by exhorting us to be that humanity in the relationships that we have with one

another.

And so the very first words, or verse 2 says, so be completely humble and gentle, be patient,

bearing with one another in love.

So I'll say it again, be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another

in love.

We could spend a lot of time on this and we're not going to, but humility was something which

was just a shameful thing in Greek culture.

We are called to humility because it is something that Christ has modelled for us.

In Mark chapter 10 verse 45, Jesus said, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

Mark 10:45

but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And so when he says humble and gentle and bearing with one another in love, he is calling us to

things that Christ himself has modelled for us beforehand.

I had a delightful time in my small group the other night.

I've asked for permission to share this.

Cecilia was there and she told us the story of last Sunday at the international service,

11.30am.

And it was a pretty special and important occasion for that congregation because it really was,

I think in Cecilia's words, it was the last meeting of hope in a sense before we go into

our new, you know what I mean, hope as in big H hope, hope, not small H hope.

And she said it was a bit of a circus.

I don't think she used that word, but it was a bit of a circus.

Brian was running from Cantonese to international and between the two preaching.

They were doing things that were out of order.

They were stopped for a while in the middle with nothing to do while they waited for him

to come back and preach.

And then at the end, both congregations solved the communion problem.

Well, I might not have got this in order, but near enough, they solved the communion problem

by coming into here, into this building and having communion together.

And I said, sounds a bit chaotic.

And I asked if people were offended.

And she said, no, we laughed.

We laughed.

And I actually think that's an example of bearing with one another in love, showing gentleness

and patience with complete humility, being able to laugh at ourselves and laugh at the

mistakes that we make sometimes.

Now, it can save a lot of angst.

You know, you know, it happens something goes wrong, we miss something, we don't do something

quite right, and then we've got our knickers in a knot and we're saying it shouldn't be like

this and no, no, no, no, no.

Sometimes it's just good to laugh, to bear with one another in love.

We are called to a particular quality of relationships and our worthiness in Christ will be seen in

the way that we relate to one another in church.

I had a moment of huge encouragement a few years ago.

I was down at Lane Cove National Park in the conference centre there.

It was our Western Region Ministry Conference and a man came up behind and put his hands

on my shoulders from behind and he said, how's it going, my friend?

And I turned round, it was the Archbishop.

And one of the things I said to him, because it was where I was at at the time, I said to

him, I feel like there are people in our congregation who push me around on the basis of who they

are in their job and their workplace or how they are regarded in wider society.

And I feel like they come into church and because of the significant places and positions they

have outside, they bring that sense of who they are into the church.

And sometimes, perhaps without even meaning to, they push me and other people around.

And he said to me, I know exactly how you feel, my friend.

It was a moment of marvellous encouragement for me.

Didn't have to solve the problem, but just to have somebody like that understand what

it feels like to stand in the shoes.

See, this is not a place where we are to push one another around.

We are called to walk in humility and service in the same way that Christ did.

And I think a practical outcome of this is that we can enjoy each other and we can enjoy

the relationships that God has given us.

And so I think I want to say at the beginning of chapter 4, it's saying relationships are key

and the qualities with which we relate to each other undergird everything else that is said

throughout this passage.

Pretty easy to summarise Ephesians 4.

I'll do my glib summary and you can pull me up on details later.

But I think it's saying as we walk worthy of Christ, there is a unity.

There is unity and there is also difference.

And there's a God-given reason for both.

And in this talk, I particularly want to get to God's reason for them both.

So we'll go through both, reason for unity, reason for difference, but push beyond that

for the reason why.

You see unity which is expressed in verses 3 to 6.

It says,

Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

And you start to see that when you talk about things like unity, we don't set the boundaries.

God does.

He defines it.

And if you pull out the elements of this, it talks about things like one body, verse 4,

one spirit, verse 4, one hope, verse 4, one Lord, verse 5, one faith, verse 5,

one baptism, verse 5, one God and Father.

He is everything, verse 6.

And if you extract a little bit from that, you actually see that our unity is built around who God is, himself.

One spirit, one Lord, one God and Father.

So God is a God of relationship and God is a God who is in relationship.

And our unity, the body of Christ, we are a body created by Christ himself.

We have a common hope and faith which he has brought to us.

So everything is of God in terms of unity.

Who he is and what he has given to us.

And the only thing that we do in terms of a unified response to what God has done is we get baptised.

But even there, the proper understanding of baptism is it's God's work.

He has inwardly brought us into his family through the baptism of the Holy Spirit,

which is something which has happened inside us.

So our unity is all of God.

And we don't make the rules for unity, God does.

Now Christians sometimes seek unity with all sorts of people.

And we could go into a long discourses and we could talk about denominations and other religions and all sorts of things.

But let me say sometimes we even seek unity, say, with Muslims.

And that doesn't matter if we want to be bad friends.

But we seek a unity with them, say on family issues.

I think there's a family day coming up at the moment.

Either this weekend or next weekend.

And part of the unity around that day is a unity with Muslims.

And that is because we both have mutual concerns about gay marriage.

So we organise ourselves around the issue or denominational preference or whatever it is.

That's one of the ways we seek unity.

That sort of unity does not glorify God if it downplays or minimises the exclusive lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so this passage says that Christian unity is found in God himself.

And that means declaring him for who he is, Father, Lord and Holy Spirit.

Now there's difference.

And there's this list of gifts which begins at verse 7.

It says,

What does he ascended mean except that he also descended to lower earthly regions?

He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people for works of service, etc., etc.

We'll come back there.

So we've got a list of gifts here.

And I think four or five in particular are listed.

We've got apostles.

We've got prophets.

We've got evangelists.

We've got pastors and teachers.

Or we've got pastors and teachers.

I mean pastors and teachers together or pastors and teachers separate.

It doesn't matter how you count.

It's not an exhausting list of gifts.

You could go to other passages in the New Testament like Romans chapter 12 or 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and you could see other gifts which are named and which are listed.

Romans 12 · chapter mention 1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

So if you take a broad view of scripture, you find that the people of God have many different gifts which are given out by the Spirit of God.

And 1 Peter chapter 11 and 1 Peter chapter 12 and 1 Peter chapter 13 says each one should use whatever gift he has received in the service of others.

So it's not an exhaustive list but it is a focused list.

it's a list of particular gifts

which are expressed here

and these gifts are all about the ministry of God's word

there's a wonderful illustration which he throws into the text here

he talks about ascending and descending

going up and down

what's all this mean

talking about ascending on high

leaving captives in his train

and what he's actually doing is quoting Psalm 68

and when he quotes a little bit of it

it's fair to presume that he's actually quoting

perhaps the whole sense of what Psalm 68 is about

and Psalm 68 is a psalm

which apparently was used for worship by the Jewish people

in association with Pentecost

and Pentecost for them is different from Pentecost for us

because Pentecost for the Jews

was a time in particular when they would commemorate the giving of the law

so the picture here in Psalm 68

is an illustration from the Old Testament

the Lord Almighty scatters the kings of the earth

in verse 14

he wipes everything away

and God comes from Sinai to the mountain

from which he where he chooses to reign

and there's this enormous display of God's majesty

and God's strength

and God goes up on his mountain

mountain he carries his captives in train

and he begins to distribute the spoils of war to his followers

and God hands out

what's he hand out on Mount Sinai to his followers?

the law of God

the means by which his people were to live in relationship with him

and so there's now this movement in the New Testament

in the way that Paul uses this psalm here

to explain what's going on here

it's as if

it's almost a picture of Jesus now

embodied in this image of ascending on high

and carrying his captives with him

and now passing out

distributing the gifts upon his peoples

giving us the gift

the Holy Spirit into our heart

which helps us to understand the law of God

in fact I will put my

what is it?

Jeremiah 30

I will put a new heart

and I will write my law on their hearts

and there's this image of God

giving his law in the Old Testament

and now Jesus giving his spirit in the New Testament

and helping us to embody

the law of God in our very being

there's also the pictures there

of what we read in Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

and places like that

the humiliation of Jesus

as the descending and the ascending

and being exalted to the right hand of God on high

but I said before

that these gifts that Christ has distributed

these ones which are named in particular in Ephesians 4

are all about the ministry of God's word

and the people who exercise this ministry

so apostles

not just sent ones in a wide sense

but in a narrow sense

they're the eyewitnesses

of the risen Lord Jesus Christ

and they're the authors of the New Testament

and hence apostolic witness

prophets

I take that to be the forth telling of God's word

it's the apt application

I think we do

prophecy happens in a formal sense

I think it often happens in a very informal sense

so you're talking to a Christian brother or sister

you're bringing the word of God to bear

you're referring to something that God's shown you

and just in that moment God opens up for them

something that you didn't even know about

where the word that you spoke actually bears on them

in a way which is really helpful to them

in their life and their ministry

and their witness in that moment

it's like God speaks through that word

sometimes in a way that you never even anticipated

but it comes from the word of God being shared

and expressed between us

evangelists bringing the word of God to unbelievers

pastors and teachers

certainly shepherds who watch over God's flock

and who feed God's flock in teaching

steady nutritional diet

versus a memorable meal

so you know sometimes we get a bit ho-hum about church

and I don't think you should get ho-hum about church

but you ask somebody

what was the last

what did you have for dinner last Monday night?

Can anybody tell me?

Can anybody tell me?

but I know one thing

you did all eat

I presume it

unless you were fasting

okay?

so we eat all the time

don't we?

and it nourishes our body

and we don't necessarily

remember one moment from another

in a bigger or more astounding way

but we're doing something

that keeps us alive

and so it is in Christ

with the word of God

occasionally we have a moment of great clarity in Revelation

where we go

wow

look what God's just taught me

but the more important thing is

that we be being fed constantly

that we be taking a nutritional diet

from the word of God

and being fed

we've just named some pretty significant gifts

in terms of God's church

and we've named them

because it's what's named in this passage

and it's easy sometimes

to look at gifts like that

and to stop

and to glory

in the gifted one

and that would be a huge mistake

because you get wrapped up

in your own celebrity

or the celebrity gifted one

that our church happens to have

or whoever we are

rather than being focused

on the work

that the gifts produce

one of the things

I find I have to do

for myself in preaching

is that I won't be overly worried

about my performance

and sometimes I do

and I pray

and ask that God

would help me

to focus on him

and on his word

producing

what he wants to bring about

in people's hearts

including the heart of me

the preacher

see the gifts listed

in Ephesians 4

about equipping

all of God's people

for ministry

not everybody's got

the particular gifts

I think there's a particular

centering around

the leadership at church

but it's not exclusive

to the elders

some of us have

these gifts formally

others have them informally

some are recognised

some aren't

they're recognised

through things

like ordination

but whichever way

we've got them

they're not given

to us to glory in

they are given

to equip the people

of God

to do ministry

and that brings us

to the purpose

of the difference

and it really is

just about a memory verse

it's verse 11

through to 13

it was he

who gave

some to be apostles

some to be prophets

some to be evangelists

and some to be pastors

and teachers

to prepare God's people

for works of service

so that the body

of Christ

may be built up

until we all reach

unity in the faith

and in the knowledge

of the son of God

and become mature

attaining to the whole

measure of the fullness

of Christ

I don't know if you can see it

I think standing

in the shoes

of an ordained minister

which is what I am

I think I have felt

the pressure

over many years

to be everything

to everybody

to be the all conquering

super gifted one

and it's a distortion

of what the passage

is teaching

we don't have to excel

in things that God

hasn't gifted us in

we don't employ people

to do the work

of ministry

on behalf of the congregation

we work with one another

in Christ

I felt the tension

sometimes between

doing and equipping

there are certain things

I think I know

for myself

that I do well

I think I know

there is a strength

for me

in terms of

visiting people

and particularly

people in crisis

it's something

I have experience

in

something I'm gifted in

but if I just

leave it as

me the person

who goes out

and visits everybody

and holds hands

and meets people

in crisis

the ministry

will stop

when I stop

so one of the things

that I have to learn

and I want to learn

and I want you to pray

for me in this

is I want to learn

how to multiply

myself

with some of the things

that God has given me

I want to learn

how to teach

and equip

other people of God

with some of the things

that God has taught me

and the end result

I hope will be

a whole body of people

who can do it

better than me

and who discover

the gifts that God

has given them

in the process

so I want to train

a team of people

who are able

to represent

Christ

in situations

of great human need

I'd like to feel

like our community

group pastors

are equipped like that

that whether they do

all the work or not

that's another question

but that they lead a body

in terms of their

community group

who really does care

for one another

and in crisis moments

in life

but not just holding hands

and saying how sorry

I am

and emphasising

which is all part of it

but it's also about

bringing the word of God

to people's life situations

so for me

when I go and see

somebody in hospital

or go and visit

somebody who's just died

or not the person

who's died

but the family

of the person

who's just died

I thought I'd better

be clear about that

I don't do resurrections

by the way

but when I go

and see somebody

like that

without forcing myself

I am always looking

for the opportunity

to pray with the person

and also

to read

the word of God

or try to read

an appropriate passage

from the word of God

so I'm bringing

the tools

that Christ

has given us

to the situation

as I seek

to represent him

so I want us

to be better

than just nice visitors

I want us

to be people

who are able

to bring the word

of God

to one another

in a way

that grows us

in Christ

and helps us

to understand

what God's purposes

are for us

in different situations

pray for me

but see it

me doing it

one by one

or a wide body

of people

multiplying

the work of Christ

in our church family

I think another thing

that we have

on our plate

and that is offered

to us

let me read the verse again

I think as you go

through that verse

you see that it's

to prepare God's people

for works of service

the purpose of that

is that the whole body

will be built up

I think there's the notion

of qualitative growth

we've said that

at the beginning

quality matters here

how we relate

to one another matters

it's really really clear

but I think you also

ought to see

that there's the idea

of quantitative growth

as well

the New Testament church

was growing numerically

it was growing

in the word

it was growing

in number

it was growing

under the blessing

of God

and so this notion

of the whole church

being built up

by a whole body

of people

who are equipped

and their gifts

being exercised

to grow the church

and multiply the church

I think carries with it

the notion

of quantity

as well as quality

the quality

seen in that

there's a maturity

which is being sought here

and attaining

to the whole measure

of the fullness of Christ

and you ask

well what does maturity

look like

and he tells us

in the passage

it's so that we're able

to stand firm

we're not blown around

here and there

by every wind of doctrine

every craftiness

of people scheming

every novelty

that somebody brings along

they're doing this

down the road

at that church

we ought to be like that too

no it's able to stand firm

and feel like

what we're doing

is substantial

and Christ honouring

without being taken

off track

at every point

with every person

who's got another new

good idea

even though it might

be a good idea

and it also says

speaking truth

in love

speaking truth

in love

and I think I just

want to say to that

I think what that is

I think it's being able

to speak

directly

to one another

but with

regard

to the other

so being able

to speak

very directly

but with real regard

for the person

that we're speaking

to

I think one of the

things that we do

here and we do it

in other places

as well

is that we use

subtle messages

don't use subtle

messages with me

because I just don't

get the subtlety

sometimes

and you'll be

disappointed

or we use

a bleak talk

we don't talk

directly about

what's really going

on for us

we shift

and we move

I think the truth

in love

is a great word

there is directness

but there is also

love

had a friend

sort of got a friend

but a few years ago

I was mentoring

him

and he was

theologically trained

and he was involved

in the ministry

with his church

and other places

and Kerry said

to me one day

in a really

kind way

do you think

he realises

that that bit

of skin

that hangs

off his nose

is actually

really distracting

nothing he had

control over

and it was said

by her

with real concern

for him

because it did

you'd be talking

to him face to face

and it looked

like a bit of boogie

it's sort of hard

to eyeball one another

when you've got it

coming off the Indian nose

so how do you

raise that

with a person

well I did get

the opportunity

one day

because we had

a one to one

relationship

we love one another

in Christ

I didn't

dob my wife in

sorry I did

this morning

but just one to one

in the context

of relationship

there wasn't

an opportunity

one day

to say

I don't know

if you realise

that that bit

of skin

sitting there

is a bit

of a distraction

sometimes

and I'm wondering

is that something

that you can

dealt with

and the person

said straight off

actually I'm going

to see the doctor

about it next week

he's going to

snip it off

and deal with it

that's a silly

illustration

in a way

but it's quite

hard to speak

directly to one

another

sometimes about

things that matter

and the qualification

which is here

in this passage

is that when

we do

this is not

where we put

our boots on

and march in

and thump

one another

it's done

with a great

deal of love

it is done

with regard

to the other

person

there's a couple

of other places

I'd like to go

I'll go there

very quickly

I think Acts

of Service

you know what

Acts of Service

is it's a sheet

that we've distributed

in recent weeks

and with the

congregational

reconfiguration

it's a place

where we're able

to indicate

some of the places

where we might

serve one another

the whole notion

of the Acts

of Service

sheet

it's weighted

towards building

others up

it's carrying

the load

in terms of

our church

family

now you come

to a sheet

like that

and it's really

easy to ask

what do I want

to do

I wonder how

I can be used

in this church

family

moving more

broadly into

gifts at the

moment

but a better

question would

be

what can I

do that

this church

needs

what are

the holes

where is

a hole

that I

might be

able to

fill

and exercise

ministry

for the

benefit

of everyone

you know

when you get

a church

and five

concert pianists

we haven't

got five

concert pianists

but we do

have one

if we had

five concert

pianists

we got a

problem

haven't we

who gets

to play

how do you

work that

out

well you've

got the

other sort

of person

and I've

had to

engage this

in ministry

many times

and I'm

thinking of

other places

but a

person who

is very

confident

about their

own gifts

and they're

not necessarily

confirmed by

others

and they

bring themselves

forward and

they say

why don't you

use me

this is my

giftedness

and because

I'm a gatekeeper

I guess in

terms of my

role and my

responsibilities

within God's

family I have

to make a

call on it

what do you

do with

that

great stress

in sorting

that out

sometimes

why aren't

you using

me

I can

remember

one parish

I went

to a

woman was

on my

doorstep

in the

first two

weeks she

wanted an

appointment

with me she

wanted me to

know that she

was the

parish evangelist

she was very

gifted and I

needed to use

her and then

she was on my

door six weeks

later saying she

was leaving the

parish because

she wasn't

using her

let me tell you

in that case it

was probably a

blessed departure

but it's not

easy to deal

with

the other

place I wanted

to go is

right at the

end and it's

coming back into

our 2020

booklet and that

is the whole

notion of core

membership do you

understand what

that means when

we talk about

core membership in

this church family

give us a hand if

you've got some

idea of what that

means

all right

staff have got an

idea because we've

been working with it

for a while and

hopefully leaders are

picking it up and

owning it over

time but but core

membership the idea

of core membership

links into service

and service means

using our gifts and

being the person of

God within our

church family it's

pretty simple it's

just saying to us

all that we want the

church family to be

living a life of

personal devotion we

want you to be reading

the scriptures we want

you to be praying we

want you to be

nurturing your own

soul in Christ it's

why we've got things

like the life journal

and we've been

encouraging to use it

this year if you're

not using one you

haven't got one I'd

be really happy for

you to take one free

from the foyer I think

you're supposed to pay

a few dollars but if

you take it and use it

that would be a great

consequence

the second thing that

is a church family in

terms of core

membership we live in

community Steve said

it last night what he

asked of us last night

he asked us to not

just think it's only

church but to be

devoted to it to come

regularly and to also

be part of a community

group because we know

that you can't do

everything on Sunday

that we might do in a

smaller group in terms

of relationship with one

another through the week

we're calling people to

servant heartedness which

is taking responsibility

for a ministry I'm going

to use the words out of

here living a life of

servant heartedness

being personally involved

in one ongoing ministry

towards unbelievers

according to one's

gifts

using the gifts that

God has poured out on

you within this church

family

personally involved in

ongoing ministry to

unbelievers so number

four is living a life of

local and global impact

by personally being

involved in one ongoing

ministry towards

unbelievers

unbelievers

and the last one is a

life of generosity

and one of the measures

of that within our

church family is by

personally pledging to

ministry here at St

Paul's

putting our money where

our mouth is

encouraging each other in

Christ by being committed

to the work that is done

here which costs a lot of

money

now we could be legalists

in any of those and we

could go through that and

just tick the box yeah

had my quiet time been to

church attended small

group did my thing for

kids church gave my money

boom I'm a core member

and I think I'm

I grappled with it this

week for myself because

parish council and staff

pledged for 2012 at a

meeting last Monday night

and last year when I did it

for the first time it was

sort of like it was a joy

and it was a delight and

it was an expression of

commitment to St Paul's and

it was part of the thing

that we do corporately

joining together with one

another in terms of the

ministry that we plan to do

from here and I think I'd

confess to you that the

other day I had to look at

my own heart and think when

I first came at it was more

like ticking the box

doing my duty doing my job

and I think in a sense had

slipped back into legalism so

there's a whole lot of

things here which are really

good things in terms of

membership at St Paul's

serving one another exercising

the ministries that God has

given to us but it's an

ongoing challenge and to be

transformed looking at our own

hearts are we just ticking the

box or are we doing are we

delighting to treasure the

Lord Jesus together I think I

just want to come to a finish

by saying taking us back to the

verse and I'm wanting you to

think about our ministry team

it was he who gave some to be

apostles some to be prophets

some to be evangelists some to be

pastors and teachers to prepare

God's people for works of

service so that the body of

Christ may be built up until we

all reach unity in the faith and

in the knowledge of the Son of

God and become mature attaining to

the whole measure of the fullness

of Christ I think I just want to

say to you please pray for us

pray that if we are gifted with

some of the gifts that God has

given in particular for building

his church as expressed here in

Ephesians chapter 4 pray that we

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

would use them to his glory pray

that we wouldn't get cluttered by

expectations of a wide lot of

other things that people often bring

to us not so that those things

aren't done but so that we be

properly preparing the people of

God so that the wide base would be

covered with the exceedingly wide

list of gifts which God has

distributed to all these people

Amen