Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2006 : August 13, 2006

Theme: God Has Plans for You -- To Keep the Unity of the Spirit

Church year occasion: Pentecost 10

If you grew up with brothers and sisters, you know how easily they can get on your nerves. But some of the most precious memories that people have is of some family vacation that they took as they were growing up. Family vacations promote unity and togetherness -- especially since 9/11. Now more than ever people want to take "quality time" seriously and not just let those precious family moments go by without appreciating them or even making them happen.

Corporate America was quick to pick up on this yearning for family togetherness after 9/11. Walt Disney World started offering "Magical Gatherings" for eight or more family members and friends. You could go to a somewhat secluded area and spend it with family instead of spending all of your time in their theme parks milling around with thousands of strangers. And they aren't dumb -- that extra "quality time" will cost you a little more to do it. Cruises used to be for anyone 55 and over, but today they are much more geared to families. On a given cruise ship these days, 250-400 are children. Even Las Vegas has gotten into the act, trying to promote their city as the bastion of family togetherness. And people have bought into it making Las Vegas one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S.

If people today are realizing that families need to stay together, how much more shouldn't Christians realize the importance of it? As we continue our sermon theme: "God Has Plans for You," we've already seen that God chose you from eternity to be a work of his art and to keep the unity of the Spirit. This morning we look at how God has enabled you through the gospel to work together in unity with fellow Christians until God calls us to our eternal home. God Has Plans for You -- he wants you To Keep the Unity of the Spirit, first of all as we grow in faith, and secondly, as we live our faith.

The first thing Paul tells his fellow Christians in this section is this: "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." That reminds me of a movie that some of you may have seen. Have you ever heard of The Lion King? I assume you have. Since it's been out for over a decade, I think it's safe to tell you some parts of the plot. (And if this ruins the movie for you, then you just need to get out more often!) In The Lion King, Simba is convinced that he is the cause of his father's death, so he runs away from his responsibility to be the next king. He grows up with some friends that teach him the motto by which they live: Hakuna matata -- which means, "no worries." It means that since the world has turned its back on you, you should turn your back on the world. Basically, you can live for yourself and be concerned only about yourself. It is based on selfishness, plain and simple. But living for yourself isn't fulfilling, and it's not God's plan for you. It's not until Simba remembers who he is -- the king -- that he lives as he is meant to live.

If we're honest with ourselves, we realize that we are very good at working under the motto hakuna matata. Our selfishness shows itself constantly in our lives. Do we act like the Good Samaritan and help others all the time, or are we mainly concerned about ourselves -- too busy to help others? Are we always like verse 2: "completely humble and gentle,...patient, bearing with one another in love"? If we're "completely humble," we would submit to others out of reverence for Christ. Do we do that regularly, or are we primarily concerned that our idea and our best interests are realized and followed? Are we gentle? The meaning of the term "gentle" pictures the taming of a wild horse. Which are we -- the one doing the taming of others or the one who is tamed? Are we truly patient with others? The King James translation translates this literally as "long-suffering." Sometimes patience means that we might suffer in some way at the hands of others who should know better, and sometimes it takes a long time for them to see things your way. Are you willing to take the time to see that person come around? Do we bear with one another in love? Are we willing to carry other people's burdens, even when it means that we go way out of our way to accomplish that act of love? None of those things has anything to do with being selfish -- in fact, they are the opposite of being selfish. They show that we care for others, not ourselves, that we think of others more often than we do ourselves, that we are willing and ready to serve others at a moment's notice.

We certainly have good days when we do these things, maybe even on a regular basis. But if we are honest with ourselves, we have failed to do these very basic Christian things many times. And for that, we don't even deserve to be called a follower of Jesus, or an heir of eternal life. In fact, we deserve to be an heir of eternal death. Because of our selfishness and often caring mainly about ourselves and our feelings and our desires, our God should say, "Okay, I will treat you as you treat others and me. I will be self-absorbed and not hear you when you cry out in pain and need. I will live in my heaven and be concerned only about myself when you puny little sinful humans cry out in fear of my judgment. And since I'm concerned only about myself, your crying out will be in vain."

But thank God that he is not like we are. He saw our selfish natures show itself in ungodly living, and he did something that no one could have predicted. He sent his own Son into this world to save us from the punishment of our sins, from hell itself. Our salvation is only possible because God wasn't selfish. In fact, Jesus did all the things Paul requires of us and more. He was completely humble and gentle as he reached out to sinners and those in need of a friend and Savior. We remember him riding humbly into Jerusalem to die for all our sins. He is amazingly patient with us even when we do sin, so he bears with us in love. That love caused him to go to the cross of Calvary where he took all our selfishness on himself and paid the horrible price to save us. Not one sin can condemn us any longer because the Holy Spirit has given us the faith to believe in Jesus as our Savior and the Lord of our lives.

So Paul tells us, "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; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." The Holy Spirit brought us to faith under one head -- we're united to Christ. We're also united by our faith in Christ to fellow Christians. That's always been part of God's plan for you -- not for you to live isolated lives where you are concerned only about yourself, but you are united to Christ and to your fellow Christians. Paul wants us to keep that unity vibrant and active. Keep it, Paul says, by letting that unity to Christ grow as you learn and study his word and hear again and again the beautiful gospel message. That's how you grow in faith and in your unity to Christ. The opposite is also true: If we neglect that unity that is ours by not worshipping, not putting our faith into practice by building others up in the word, then we ourselves can lose our faith because we have cut ourselves off from the power source -- Jesus Christ.

There is a picture that comes to mind here. Paul is describing the Church as a ship. Even in church architecture we see a picture of this. The place where the congregation sits in a traditional church building is called the nave. We think of similar words like navy or navigation. In this ship is every Christian. We are unified by our faith in Christ and we strive to be completely unified in every belief in Scripture. But the beautiful part of this unity is that it is also very diverse. On a ship, each one has a role. Imagine if everyone wanted to be the captain, or if everyone wanted to be the one on the lookout, or if everyone wanted to be the ship's cook. Nothing would work. So Paul says in verse 16 that this unity is also like a human body, "From [Christ, the head] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." So it is clear that we not only grow in faith as we keep the unity of the Spirit, but we also live our faith.

Paul says, "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." Why? Why did God call me to be your pastor, his undershepherd? God gave me to you with my special training and gifts of being able to teach the word of God to you 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." You have gifts I'll never have. And God wants you to use your gifts the way God gave them to you. And yet, even though we are all different, like pieces in a puzzle or parts in a body or sailors on a ship, we have one goal: "grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." Notice, Paul doesn't say here that our goal is heaven. That's certainly true, ultimately. But really our goal is not a place that can be reached. It is something that can never be reached on this side of heaven. Our goal is to discover more of who Jesus is and what he's done for us. Can you ever know Jesus enough? Can you ever know all there is to know about him? Not even in heaven itself will we know all things about our Savior God -- only he himself knows all things. But that is our goal -- to continually be learning how deep and high and broad is the grace of God given to us in Christ through the working of God's Spirit.

We can't do that as we follow the ideas of men -- they only look to glory and fame and wealth in this world. We are not like that. We can't reach that fullness of Christ by following our sinful desires and living for ourselves. We are not like that either. Instead, God wants us to 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."

God tells us that we are a work in progress. God has declared us to be perfect in his eyes through Christ. Yet we will never reach perfection in our own daily lives this side of heaven. We will never be a totally mature Christian who has attained the fullness and perfection of Christ until we reach heaven. But until then, we strive for perfection and do the work to which God has called us. That is God's plan for you, to keep the unity of the Spirit by growing in faith and by living your faith. Amen.