Walking the Talk Ephesians 4:1-7 Sermon by Dennis Gleason, January 11, 2004
1Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace.4We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. 5There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all. 7However, he has given each one of us a special gift according to the generosity of Christ.
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.
Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."
LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
There you have an illustration of grace…undeserved favor. The woman was guilty and deserved the punishment the law would provide. But La Guardia offered her an undeserved favor by paying her fine and collecting the money for her. So it is that God offers us his loving kindness and undeserved favor in Jesus Christ.
Today we are picking up our series on the Book of Ephesians that we put on hold for the Holiday season. We saw, as we began the series on Paul’s letter, that the letter is easily divided into two parts:
The First Section is chapters 1-3 and in this section, Paul speaks to who we are in Christ. If that is so, then Who and What are we in Christ?
Blessed, Chosen, Predestined, Redeemed, Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise.
Once we were dead, but now made alive with Christ, raised up and seated in heavenly places with Christ; saved through faith; once we were far off from God but now brought near to God by the blood of Jesus. We now have access to God in the Holy Spirit because we are no longer strangers or aliens, but citizens, saints and members of God’s own household with a boldness and confidence in our access to God through faith in Jesus.
The second section of his letter is made up of chapters 4-6. Whereas the first section was doctrine; the second section is exhortation. Paul begins to plead with us about how we are to live as believers. This is where the rubber meets the road. It is as if Paul is now saying here, “I have shown you who and what you are in Christ; now live like the saint you are.”
He begins the fourth chapter with these words: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” NASV . He could have commanded them to do so, but instead pleads with the Ephesians and with us as well.
You will also remember that I have often suggested when you see a “therefore” in the text you should stop and ask yourself what it is there for. This one goes all the way back to all the blessings and the exalted position in salvation that saints enjoy and then reaches out ahead of us to the obligations that these blessings place upon us as saints.
Notice that Paul refers to himself as “a prisoner of the Lord…” He is guarded by Roman soldiers but he is there because of his connection with Christ and for no other reason. He will be there so long as Christ deems it necessary.
And then we have the reason for the remainder of his letter: It is to “entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…”
The verb “walk” is used in the sense of “live your life” and therefore it is about how we conduct ourselves and order our behavior as we live out our lives in this world.
What Paul is insisting on here is that the saints, in Ephesus and all who will read or hear his letter, see to it that their Christian experience, the Christian life they live, should weigh as much as the profession of Christianity they make. Our walk must bear equal weight to our talk about being a Christian. We have to be sure that we practice what we preach, and measure up to the standing we have in Christ because of God’s grace.
Our responsibility to our world is spoken of in the following: “I now send you, to open their eyes … that they may receive forgiveness of sins …” (Acts 26:17–18).This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.
God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “… that they may receive forgiveness of sins … .” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ.
Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion—only the effort of an awakened human being.
I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today.
When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins. My Utmost For His Highest - January 10 – Electronic Version
The calling Paul has in mind here is that Divine summons to believe, to come into Salvation which God gives to the sinner. It is a summons to which a sinner willingly accepts the salvation offered. God offers us his grace…that is his Divine Favor, His loving Kindness which we do not deserve. That is the calling. Paul is saying to us…”be obedient to that heavenly calling to be saints and to live saintly lives.” So how we live once we have become Christians is important.
Let me offer you one more illustration to make the point that what we receive from God is something wonderful that we do not deserve:
Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she slipped away, breaking her mother's heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing. Pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janiero. Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or prostitutes. She went to them all. And at each place she left her picture--taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo she wrote a note. It wasn't too long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village.
It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet. Yet the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Christina's eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation. "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home." She did. Max Lucade, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Multnomah Press, 1986, pp. 158-9.
Is there a better way to express God’s invitation to us than that note on the back of her picture? “The reality of Chapters 1-3 is that God because of his great love for us has said to us: “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.” – when he offers us salvation, forgiveness of our sins and life in Christ that will last forever. The pathway home leads through Jesus Christ. The door is always open because of God’s grace as it is expressed to us in Christ.
And now in Chapter 4 Paul begins making the case for the requirement that we must live out who we are.
How are we supposed to live this way? Paul tells us that we are to walk in a manner worthy…”with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love.”
Here we have lowliness of mind – humility…which springs from a true estimate of ourselves.
The gentleness is the word for meekness, which is strength under control. It is that temper of the spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good and therefore without disputing.
Longsuffering is a word that expresses patience with respect to persons. The word patience, on the other hand, expresses this concept with respect to things.
Forbearing means to hold up, to bear with, to endure. Forbearance is an explanation of longsuffering. Notice that the context of this forbearing is love for one another.
Watching a trapeze show is breathtaking. We wonder at the dexterity and timing. We gasp at near-misses. In most cases, there is a net underneath. When they fall, they jump up and bounce back to the trapeze.
In Christ, we live on the trapeze. The whole world should be able to watch and say, "Look how they live, how they love one another. Look how well the husbands treat their wives. And aren't they the best workers in the factories and offices, the best neighbors, the best students?" That is to live on the trapeze, being a show to the world.
What happens when we slip? The net is surely there. The blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, has provided forgiveness for ALL our trespasses. Both the net and the ability to stay on the trapeze are works of God's grace. Of course, we cannot be continually sleeping on the net., If that is the case, I doubt whether that person is a trapezist. Juan Carlos Ortiz.
Paul certainly expects that becoming a believer in Jesus Christ and accepting the call of God carries with it a corresponding responsibility to live differently than people in the world. If you want to know how you should live as a Christian, ask a non-Christian. They certainly have expectations of us and how we should live. If we are light in their darkness, there is the possibility that they will be drawn to that light and find Jesus in the process.
However, if we do not live a life worthy of the calling we have received, we should not be surprised if there is no light for them to be drawn to. Someone once said, “If being a Christian one day became illegal, would there be enough evidence to convict us?”
Look at what you believe.
Compare how you are living with what you believe you are in Christ.
Are you living in a manner worthy of your calling in Christ?
If you are, praise God and seek his help in maintaining your walk with Christ.
If you are not…God’s word to you is this: “No matter what you have done, no matter what you have become. Please come home.”
--Dennis Gleason
