BUILD UP THE BODY OF CHRIST

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Old Testament Lesson; Exodus 24:3-7
Epistle Lesson; Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16
Gospel Lesson; John 6:1-15
Sermon Text; Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16

The text or scripture reading that we will look at today is the Epistle Lesson. Again, it is taken from Ephesians, chapter four, selected verses.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 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. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it...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.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

These are Your Words, Heavenly Father. Lead us in the way of truth. Your Word is truth.

Amen

Psalm 133 begins this way.

"How pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" One of the disastrous results of the fall into sin was disunity. Before the fall into sin, Adam and Eve were united with God. They would walk with God in the garden. But as soon as they fell into sin, what happened? Disunity between them and God happened. In fact, they hid from God in the garden. They understood there was a separation now, between them and God, a deadly separation.

What happened between human beings, after the fall into sin? Well, brothers, Cain and Abel were separated from one another. And Cain even killed his brother Abel. One of the terrible results of the fall into sin is disunity.

"How pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity."

Our Lord Jesus Christ came to restore everything that Adam and Eve lost, when they fell into sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to restore unity between God and man, and unity between human beings.

Today's scripture reading talks about the unity that we have as believers in Christ, the unity, the oneness we have as the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Christian Church. It also talks about the diversity that you and I have as members of the body of Christ, and how there is unity, as we work together with our diverse and different gifts.

First of all, let's look at the basis of the unity that we have. Then, let's look at God's exhortation to live in unity. Finally, let's look at how the different diverse gifts that we have are to be used together for the unity of the Holy Christian Church.

So, what's the basis of the unity that you and I have in Jesus Christ? The basis of the unity that we have is this. (And we need to understand this. It is a critical point that I want to make.) You and I cannot create unity.

You and I cannot create unity.

The unity that we have

has been created by Christ.

Jesus has created unity. He has called us into that unity and He has made us part of that unity, as He has called us into the Holy Christian Church. Our scripture reading says,

"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."

There it talks about the unity that has been created by our Lord Jesus Christ, the unity that exists and that we stand in. It is what we call the unity of the Holy Christian Church. This scripture reading understands that anyone who is a member of the Holy Christian Church, (that is, anyone who is a believer in Christ), knows that they are a sinner, and they know that they need a Savior. It says,

"There is one faith."

What is that one faith that unites us all together? That one faith is that Jesus Christ has died for my sins. He has paid for my sins. I am forgiven, by Christ. That is the one faith that unites us all together. And, it has been created, not by us, but by God. Jesus has restored unity between you and God the Father. The Bible says,

"God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,

not counting men's sins against them."

And so, Jesus created unity between you and God, the Father, by forgiving all of your sins. So, there is one faith.

We have one Lord. And that one Lord is Jesus. There are no other masters that we serve. There is one Lord. He redeemed us. He paid for our sins. He is our Master. And, we serve Him. That is a unity that has been created by Christ.

There is one Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that lives in you, the same Holy Spirit that has brought you to faith in Christ as your Savior, lives in every believer in Christ. It does not matter how smart they are. It does not matter how old they are. It does not matter what they do for a job. It is the same Spirit that lives in each one of us. There is one Spirit.

There is one baptism. One baptism. And, that has been created by Christ. All of us have been baptized into Jesus.

"Be baptized and wash away your sins,

and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

That is a unity that has been created by Christ. And so, here we have one hope. There is one hope, scripture says. And what is our one hope that we all stand in? Some day there will be a resurrection of the dead, and the life everlasting. That unites us together. That is a unity that belongs to the Holy Christian Church. We stand in that unity. It is a blessed unity that God has given us. We stand in that by faith, and we cling to that.

We can't create that unity. It has been given to us. You have been called into that unity. Our scripture reading says,

"I urge you to live a life

worthy of the calling you have received."

Then it says,

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit

through the bond of peace."

While you and I can't create that unity, it has been created by God, we are called to keep that unity and to preserve the unity that exists among us, as members of the Holy Christian Church. Scripture calls us to this. Certainly, you believe in the unity that we have in Christ, our Savior. That is ours. It exists! So, how do we keep that unity? Scripture says,

"Live a life worthy of the calling..."

Live a life worthy of that. You have a high calling, the highest calling you can imagine. You are one with God, one with Christ, and one with your fellow believers. Scripture says, "Live like it. Live like that."

How do we strive to live like that, as God's forgiven people? Here is what it says.

"Be completely humble and gentle;

be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Scripture calls us to a certain demeanor that creates and keeps unity among us. It says,

"Be completely humble."

What is the opposite of humility? Pride. What does pride do? Pride separates. Pride says, "I am better than you are." Pride says, "You don't do it the right way. I do it the right way." Pride separates. But, humility unites. Humility says, "I want to hold you as if you are more important than I am." Humility says, "As my Savior lived and died for me, I want to serve you." And so, scripture says, "Be completely humble." Humility unites. Let's strive for that demeanor as God's people.

Scripture says,

"Be completely gentle."

What is the opposite of gentleness? Unkindness, meanness, gruffness. Unkindness, meanness, and gruffness - what do they do? They separate people. But, scripture here calls us to gentleness, to be kind, as our Savior is kind to us. That unites. Let's strive for that demeanor.

Scripture says,

bearing with one another in love."

What is the opposite of patience? Impatience. What does impatience do? Impatience separates. Impatience says, "Come on. Don't you get it?" Impatience says, "What's the matter with you?" Impatience says, "Why can't you do things better?" Impatience says, "Why do you keep making the same mistakes?" Impatience separates. But, scripture calls us to patience and to bear with one another, just as our Lord does with us. Scripture calls us to the demeanor of unity that says, "I want to be like Jesus. Jesus is patient with me. He daily and richly forgives me all of my sins. He daily and richly overlooks my faults, and still loves me, and keeps me in His family." Let's strive for that demeanor.

By God's grace, we strive for that type of unity in the church. Unity has been created by Christ. We stand as one, in Christ. And, we are to keep that unity, by the way we treat one another.

But then, scripture also recognizes this. It has been using, so far in our text, words like "all", and "every one of you". But now, scripture changes direction and it points to each one of you individually and says,

"But to each one of us

grace has been given

as Christ apportioned it."

So, even though we are all united, now scripture points at you individually, personally, singles you out, and says that you have been given grace as Christ apportioned it. Scripture is going to go on to say that each one of us has different gifts, different skills, different abilities. There is diversity among the church, a diversity of gifts, abilities, interests, and skills. Those are all to be used together, as the body of Christ, just like a body is made of many parts, but there is one body. And so, those many parts are to be used together in unity to accomplish the building up of the body of Christ.

So, I want you to think about this, because our scripture reading talks about different levels of maturity in the faith. It talks about people being 'infants'. It talks about people 'growing up'. It talks about people being 'mature'. You know, there are people who come to church, sit in the pew, and they are 'spiritual infants'. Maybe they are brand new in the Christian faith. Maybe they haven't 'grown up' much in the Christian faith. Maybe they don't know much about their knowledge of Christ and His Word. Maybe they have not applied God's Word to their lives, deeply. And maybe, like infants, they still are 'carried around' by the more 'mature' in the church, and protected by the more 'mature' in the church. So, there are "infants", scripture says, in the church.

There are 'teenagers' in the church - those who are developing and growing in the faith, in their knowledge, and their application of scripture.

Then, scripture says there are those who are 'mature', those who have a deep knowledge and deep understanding of the Word of God and have learned to take, and apply the Word of God to their lives in a mature way, and use those skills and abilities to the purposes that God has given them.

Our scripture reading today urges us not to be 'infants', but to grow up in our maturity and in our understanding of God's Word. It explains how we do that in order to use our skills and abilities wisely. First of all, it points to some of the different gifts that God has given to the church. It is going to talk first of all about what we call the gifts of the public ministry. It says,

"But to each one of us

grace has been given

as Christ apportioned it..."

Now it says,

"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 faith

and in knowledge of the Son of God and become mature."

And so some, not everybody, some were called to be prophets. Some were called to be apostles, but not everybody. Some were called to be evangelists, but not everybody. Some were called to be ordinary pastors and teachers, but not everybody.

Some were called to be called to be prophets in the Old Testament. Some had a direct revelation from God, and they spoke that direct revelation from God to the people. Some even wrote holy scripture by direct revelation of the Holy Spirit. Some were called to be prophets.

Some were called to be apostles. The apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ were His eye witnesses. They followed Him throughout His ministry. They were eye witnesses of His resurrection. They spoke with divine authority, as the Holy Spirit moved them. And some of them were authors of the Holy Scriptures, the inerrant Word of God, as the Holy Spirit worked through them. Their calling was to build up the body of Christ. They have delivered to us the Holy Scriptures and that builds up the body of Christ. Some were called to be apostles, but not all.

Some of them were called to be ordinary pastors and teachers, not prophets or apostles. But, what does an ordinary pastor or teacher do? An ordinary pastor or teacher is to take the Word of God, the word of the apostles and prophets, and to deliver it to the people, to deliver it to the body of Christ. It says, "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", so that we can use our skills and abilities. And so, it is the duty of the pastor to preach the Word of God, so that you and I understand that we are sinners, that we have a Savior, and that our sins are forgiven. That motivates us, then, as forgiven sinners, to want to live for our Savior and then to point out in scripture how God's Word applies to every area of life.

Some are called to be pastors and teachers

to equip the saints

so that the body of Christ may be built up

and God's people can do works of service.

I encourage you to come to church regularly. (So many of you do.) And, use the Bible studies that are available here. Through the Word of God we grow, and we mature in our faith. We don't remain 'infants'. We don't remain 'little babies' in the faith. But, as we learn the Word, sit around the Word, study the Word, and delve into the Word, our knowledge grows. Our faith grows. Our desire to serve Christ grows. Our application of scripture to our own personal life grows, so that we take the different skills and abilities that God has given us, and we use them in a mature way.

Our scripture reading is translated here to even say that we want to strive to obtain 'the maturity of Christ'. Basically, in Greek, it says 'the age level of Christ'. I want to grow up to a certain age and it says 'the age level of Christ'. That is maturity! That is the maturity we strive for. Jesus had a perfect knowledge of scripture. He perfectly applied scripture to His life. That is what we strive for, to grow to that level in our own lives. And when we do that with the diverse skills and abilities that God has given to us, how the body of Christ, the Church of Christ works together in unity and accomplishes great things!

Let me give you some examples, just as you sit in the church today and look around you. Thank God somebody used the skills and abilities God had given them to translate words from one language to another. They used them in a mature way so that they translated the Word of God from Greek and Hebrew into English so that you and I can read the English translation of the Bible. How the use of their skills and abilities in a God-pleasing, mature way in Christ have built up us as a body!

Thank God somebody took the skills and abilities that God had given them, used those skills in a mature way for the body of Christ, and printed the words that had been translated. You and I can actually go to the store, buy a Bible, open it up, and read the Word of God. That is the body of Christ, working together, using skills and abilities to build up the body of Christ.

Thank God somebody used their musical skills and abilities in a mature way in Christ, to write hymns! They have become beloved hymns that you and I love to sing!

Thank God somebody used their intellectual abilities to write the verses in hymns that you and I love to sing. Those verses teach the Word of God, and that builds up the body of Christ.

Thank God somebody used their mechanical abilities to put together an organ that can lead us in worship of God. Another mature use of the gifts and abilities that God has given for the building up of the body of Christ.

Thank God somebody used their woodworking skills to make this pulpit. The Bible carved in the front of it reminds us that whoever stands behind here, should only be speaking from the authority of scripture and from nothing else. A mature use of those woodworking skills to build up the body of Christ.

Thank God somebody used their woodworking skills to make our cross, which every Sunday reminds us that Jesus Christ conquers by the cross. Another example of the mature use of the skills and abilities God has given, diverse skills and abilities, for the building up of the body of Christ.

We all have different skills and abilities. We are united. We are one in Jesus. And, that is a unity that has been created by Christ.

We have one faith.

We have one Lord.

We have one Spirit.

We have one baptism.

We have one Father.

We have one hope.

That is ours. We stand in it. Let's live like it. Let's live with a demeanor of unity with one another. Let's all strive to grow in the Word of God so that we learn to use our diverse skills and abilities in conjunction, so that the body of Christ continues to grow, be fed, and accomplish great things!

Amen

Amen.

Top of Page || Church Sermons || Return to Home Page