Living as the Forgiven: Lessons from Ephesians 4

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Today's a very communal day here at Grand Parkway.

So if you're a guest, I want to say thank you for being here.

By the way, if someone lost a baseball card, come see me.

If not, my wife's getting that for Christmas.

Anyway, uh, it's a very communal day here at Grand Parkway.

What do you mean?

Uh we had a baby dedication in the first service.

We baptized, we had a baptism in this service, and we're celebrating communion.

I'll give you more directions about how we do that, but I want to just kind of set up and get our head and our heart ready for communion.

Uh on the night, the Bible says on the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he held it up and he said, This is my body, which is for you.

After that, he took a cup of wine, he held it up, he said, This cup is a new covenant in my blood.

Uh as often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me.

And then he said this for as often as you do this, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

And so communion is a lot of things.

It's not just an empty ritual that we just kind of run through, attack on at the end of the service.

It is a proclamation.

And so this is what we're gonna do today.

And I want you to understand this.

If you're like, I'm not down with that, then don't go, don't receive communion today.

But if you if you go to any of these stations and you receive the elements, what you're proclaiming in saying, I'm proclaiming the Lord's death, you're proclaiming that you by nature, you understand that you by nature are so sinful and so separated from God that you needed God Himself to sacrifice himself in your place and for your sins.

Okay?

That's what you're doing.

You're proclaiming the Lord's death.

You don't have to say anything, you just have to come.

Someone came to our station in the first service, and when he got there, he just couldn't control himself.

And I was just like, yes, yes, absolutely.

You get it, my man.

That's what we get to do today.

We get to proclaim the Lord's death.

We get to say, Yes, I am by nature so sinful and so separated from God that Christ had to die for me.

But here's the other side of the coin: you're also so loved by God that Jesus was glad to die for you.

See, the crucifixion is not just payment for sins, your sins are paid for.

Look at me.

And as a result of that, you are forgiven.

God doesn't come to just forgive sins, that's transactional.

That's like someone paying off your mortgage, which would be great.

And if you're gonna pay off mine, stand right now and we'll be dismissed early.

Amen.

It's just a joke, anyway.

That's transactional.

He doesn't just pay for your sins, he does that, but he forgives you.

And so by your coming today, what you're also saying is, I'm the forgiven free people of God.

Okay?

And so we like to have a little uh focus, something to kind of get our head and our hearts ready because dying for you is the most incredible thing Jesus could ever do.

But also it's the most indicting thing he could ever do.

And here's why.

I want us just to focus on this for just a couple of minutes before we receive communion.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32 says this be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

Hear it again.

Think about this culture, think about the political tension.

Think about going to the mall during this time of year, driving on highway six as it gets closer to 59, where no one uses a blinker.

And the Bible says crazy simple things like be kind.

Or as my wife, she just reaches over and puts her hand on my leg.

That's her way of saying, be kind.

And that's my way of saying these people don't know how to drive.

And so I'm talking to myself today.

Be kind.

It's not moralism, it's not moralistic, you know.

Instructions from the sky fairy, be kind, tenderhearted.

Have you hardened your heart against anybody?

Kind of like I just that person, I know, and then it gets real personal.

Forgiving one another as God, no, now forgiving one another.

Now, just because you for you when you forgive somebody, you don't have to keep being friends with them.

Forgiveness is not, oh yeah, you violated me and let's go to lunch.

No, I forgive you and I'm gonna stay free of this relationship because this is toxic for me.

So don't get confused.

Forgiveness is not, oh, just keep getting hurt.

No, I forgive you.

I'm free of you, but I've also got a boundary in my life that has you on one side and me on the other.

But he says, forgiving one another.

And here's what makes all it possible as God in Christ forgave, past hence you.

So there's a couple of one another in there.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.

As God in Christ forgave you, start with the you and work your way back to the one another's.

It's not enough just to say I'm kind.

You have to be kind to other people, have to find expression.

And because of the cross, you and I, as we head into Advent starting next Sunday, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.

I just want us as a church just to say, hey, we're going to be kind, we're going to be tenderhearted, we're going to be forgiving people.

And that's not about us and our morals.

It's about God and His glory.

It's about what Jesus did on the cross.

This is what makes this possible.

And so as we prepare our hearts to come and receive communion, let's just think about these three things: kind, tenderhearted and forgiving.

Let me voice prayer.

I'm going to voice a prayer and then we'll uh just Brett and John will maybe just play.

I'm not going to sing anything.

We're just going to play just for about a minute so you can just kind of get your head and your heart synced up to what we're about to do.

And then we'll receive communion together.

Father, thank you that by forgiving us, it's a very loving, incredible thing for you to do.

But it also indicts us, it also slays us, it robs us of every excuse we want to come up with for not doing what the gospel makes us capable of.

Well, you know, she's just not gonna, we're not responsible for her behavior or the outcome, we're just responsible for obedience, and we understand the agony involved in forgiveness because Jesus, you said, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

We understand that you understand what it's like to be betrayed because the Bible says, on the night you were betrayed, you took bread, somebody did you wrong, and you still did right.

And so people can do us wrong, people can betray us, and we still have the capacity to do the right thing.

This is only because of God.

And so, Lord, we want to be Christ-like.

So by being kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving people, we're being Christ-like.

And so, Holy Spirit, just brood over us now for just a moment before we come to the table and proclaim your death together.

We ponder, we think, and we prepare in Jesus' name.

God, our confession this morning is it's hard when we look around our culture, we look around our school, and no one's kind, they're catty.

They say mean things about each other on Instagram.

They start rumors, they slander, they accuse.

They're small and they're backbiting, they're competitive, and they just lie.

And in such a culture, you say to us, be kind.

Because that is the most explosive reality we could introduce to this culture these days is just kindness.

It's to walk into a room and instead of walking in and going, Here I am, we walk into the room and we go, Oh, there you are.

Yay you! Only the cross makes us capable of that.

To be tender-hearted is not to be weak, it's to be Christ-like, it's to be a compassionate presence in a culture that lacks compassion, in a culture that likes to cancel people that disagrees with them or believe something that contrary to what they believe.

And to be forgiving, that's stupendous.

That's crazy, God.

But it's crazy until we realize for us to be forgiven, a perfect being has to die.

And for us to forgive other people, all we've got to do is act like people who've been forgiven.

We got the better end of that deal.

So, Holy Spirit, lead us into this time now and brood over us.

Knock off anything unnecessary off of us and remind us of the necessary.

We pray in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Just be still for a minute.

Fix and be dismissed.

Just ask yourself what you experienced today, and how do you take it with you?

Because of the cross.

Communion reminds us that God made the first move.

The Bible says we love him because he first loved us.

He made the first move.

And because he made the first move, the Bible also says in Philippians 1 that he began a good work in you will continue to the day of Christ Jesus.

He made the first move, he's never gonna stop moving in your life.

You are the sustained people of God.

So just take a few moments.

If you're visiting today, uh we we don't do communion, we do it about four times a year because it's the whole service.

Our service started a little late.

It's not an apology, it's just an acknowledgement.

Our people like a meal.

If you have any questions about anything you saw or heard today, some of our pastors will be available here at the front.

We'd love to help you process and take your next step spiritually.

If it's your first time, we'd love to just meet you.

Learn your name.

Let's leave with this taste in our mouth.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.