The
Body Speaks
10/20/13
OCMC
Eph.
4:1-6, 22-32
This sermon began with a demonstration. I had two people join me and we were tied together at the wrist, one person's left arm tied to my right arm, one person's right arm tied to my left. Then we tried to work together as one body.
The bonds that tie us together as believers in Jesus
Christ are spiritual bonds, not physical.
We are united in our belief in the One True God, in our faith and
submission to the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, and in our
baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ.
We follow the leading of one Spirit and we participate in the one
Kingdom of God. But we each have
different parts to play. We each have
our own strengths and weaknesses, our own gifts, talents and passions. And it takes each one of us doing our part
under the direction of the One Lord for the Body of Christ to be effective in
this world. We don’t all do the same
thing. Last week Pastor Leonard preached
about the different gifts that are part of the Body and he spoke about how,
early in his tenure here at OCMC he prayed that God would send him people with
different abilities and gifts and God said “You have all you need right here,
right now.” But he didn’t believe it. You see Pastor Leonard, like the rest of us
who were a part of OCMC at that time, wanted to get to the end result of seeing
the Body mature and growing and functioning well. We wanted to see the neighborhood transformed
and wonderful things happening right then.
We had the raw ingredients among us but they needed to be put together
and cook awhile before we could enjoy the meal.
And I would say, we’ve had a taste of what’s cooking but the meal is
still in the oven.
We are still growing.
People with gifts and abilities are still coming and joining with
us. Vision is still being
developed. We still have a lot of work
to do and it does take all of us working together to keep the mission of this
congregation going forward. And Paul’s
words to the Ephesians in chapter 4 give us some good instructions on how to go
about growing and living and working together.
Beginning in verse 22, we are reminded that, as people who profess faith
in Jesus Christ, we have entered into a new life. Our former way of life is described here as
being old and worn out. It’s like a
piece of clothing that we’ve worn forever and it’s ragged and dirty and
threadbare and needs to be thrown out.
We can’t wear it any more. We
need to put off our old way of life because it’s been corrupted by evil, by
desires for what is forbidden by God.
Instead we are to put on the new self which, rather than being
corrupted, is actually patterned after God.
We are to be made new in the attitude of our minds. We are to think differently, to have a change
in world view. We are to see through the
eyes of God now, to think as He thinks, to view the world as He views it. Our new self which is patterned after God or
created to be like God, is fresh, unworn, unused. It is a new self of righteousness and
holiness and conforms to the truth that is found in Jesus Christ.
Paul is using action words in this chapter. He’s telling us to take specific action, to
put off the old and put on the new so that our lives will conform to the
pattern of the righteousness and holiness of God. If our lives don’t look like Jesus, if they
aren’t conforming to this pattern, it probably means we still have some old to
take off and some new to put on. I don’t
know how many of you watch makeover shows on TV but what Paul is talking about
is like a spiritual makeover. If we
think of a show like The Biggest Loser, where people are trying to lose a
hundred pounds or more, it can help us understand what he’s talking about. On the Biggest Loser, people have to stop
doing things the old way and do things in a new way. They have to stop eating the old way and eat
in a new healthy way. They have to stop
being inactive and start exercising regularly.
They have to stop believing they can’t change and start believing they
can. Then, over the weeks, as they
consistently stop the old and enact the new, change happens in their bodies and
they lose weight. At the end of the
season, they look like new people. The
same thing happens to us spiritually as we renew our minds with the truth of
God’s word, as we stop following old habits that are corrupted by evil, and as
we begin doing those things that originate in righteousness and holiness, as we
follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and rely on His strength and power, we
become new creations and we end up looking like Jesus. It’s hard work, just as it’s hard work to
lose weight. But that’s how it’s done.
Paul says we are to put off falsehood, deception, lying
and instead speak according to the truth.
We are to be free of pretense and deceit in our interactions with
others. If I had said to my helpers this
morning that we were going to walk to the left and then I turned to the right,
that’s lying and the result is confusion.
They won’t know which way to go and we won’t get anywhere. That’s how it is in the Body of Christ. We are bound together and we need to be
truthful with each other so as not to cause confusion. There is a way to speak truth though.
Paul goes on in verses 26 and 27 to talk about anger and
he warns us not to let our anger lead to sin.
We need to stay on the path of uprightness and honor even if we are
angry. We need to seek to resolve things
quickly, not letting conflicts or problems go on and on because they will just
get worse. We have a spiritual enemy who
will take every opportunity to destroy us.
We should not give him any opportunity to act against us. The word devil here means slanderer or
accuser. How many times when we are
angry are we quick to believe the worst about the person we are angry
with? I know there are times I get angry
with Vandy and I’ll find myself thinking all kinds of bad things about him and
then I have to get on myself because I’ve given in to the accuser who is trying
to destroy my relationship with my spouse.
Maybe you’re thinking, well you have a right to be angry and yes I
do. Paul isn’t telling us we don’t have
the right to be angry. But I don’t have
the right to let my anger lead to accusations and slander and a tearing down of
the relationship. That’s the difference. My anger can’t distort the truth.
We are to speak truth to one another, truth that is not
tainted by slander and accusations that come from the devil. The truth needs to be spoken in love. In verse 29, Paul tells us to not let any
unwholesome talk come out of our mouths but only what is helpful for building
up and promoting growth in the other, according to their needs. Truth may be hurtful at times, but it
shouldn’t cause the other person harm.
If truth is spoken in love, it won’t seek to harm or do damage to the
other person. Instead it will seek to
heal and to promote growth. Unwholesome
talk is anything that is corrupted by evil.
Paul uses the same language he uses in describing the old self. Don’t talk in ways that are corrupt and lead
to death. We have to think about the
words we use sometimes. And not just the
words themselves but how they are being said.
If anger, condescension, judgment and other such negative emotions come
through our words, the message is probably not going to communicate love and
promote growth and unity. Instead it can
cause hurt and division.
So again in verse 30 Paul tells us to get rid of all
bitterness, rage, anger, brawling or arguing, slander and malice. These things are not helpful. They don’t help us grow. Instead, if left to fester, they will divide
and destroy relationships. The Body of
Christ exists in relationship as the members are joined together to the head,
who is Christ, and to each other. We
have to get along. My helpers and I this
morning found out how hard it can be to try to do something without any anger
or malice in the equation. How much
worse is it when we are dealing with all these negative emotions as well?
The corruption of the old life must be put away. We think of this most often in terms of our
individual lives. It’s not good for my
own spiritual growth if I hold on to anger or malice or if I’m lying to people. But it’s also not good for the Body of
Christ. Nothing we do as people is in a
vacuum anymore once we become believers in Jesus Christ. The health of my marriage has an effect on
you just as the health of yours has an effect on me. The health of your prayer life has an effect
on me just as the health of mine has an effect on you. We are joined together in the body of
Christ. If you aren’t growing
spiritually, it can cause me problems too.
We don’t think of this though. We
tend to think our spiritual lives are our own business between us and God and
don’t affect anyone else around us but that’s not good theology. Why do you think Paul went to such lengths to
give specific instructions for living in this letter? Because we are bound together and what one
does affects the whole.
When my helpers and I were tied together, every move one
of us made affected the others. So it is
in the body of Christ. The bonds of
faith join us together so that the movements of one affect the others. In chapter 5 Paul goes on to write to the
Ephesians that there should not be even a hint of sexual immorality among
them. Our culture tells us that our sex
lives are private and what happens between 2 consensual adults has no effect on
anyone. Yet looking at our own society
how much are we affected by the sexual mores of others? We can’t listen to popular music, watch a
movie or TV show, see an advertisement without being bombarded with someone’s
sexual mores. It has an effect. And if sex is so private, why is it on every
billboard in America? And why does
pornography even exist if sex is private? Our culture is lying to us people. But in the Body of Christ there is to be no
deception and no corruption of the old way of life.
Neither is there to be greed. Paul writes in 5:5 “For of this you can be
sure: No immoral, impure or greedy
person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the Kingdom of
Christ and of God.” Greed has no place
in the Body. Greed leads to all kinds of
problems and it separates people from one another. In chapter 4 Paul writes about the person who
has been stealing and says he must do this no longer but instead is to do
something useful with his hands.
Stealing is an unuseful use of one’s hands. It’s dishonorable and unworthy of anyone who
confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. You
might say that some people steal because they have no other means of getting
what they need. I’m not saying that
isn’t so. But in the Body of Christ
there should be no reason for someone to need to steal. There should be a generosity of spirit among
us that those who have will provide for those who don’t have. And all who are able to work and do something
useful with their hands will do so, so that the needs of the community are
met. Yes, this is an ideal. I know that. But we have to start moving in
that direction and we won’t if we are greedy.
When Paul speaks of the person who steals doing something
useful with their hands, he is talking about doing something excellent and
honorable and distinguished. To me this
communicates work that a person can take pride in and that will reflect
positively on the Body of Christ. No matter what type of work we do, whatever
we produce should be our best effort. We
shouldn’t have a work ethic that slacks off.
You know I entitled this sermon “The Body Speaks” because Paul writes so
much about language here, but he’s gotten into our sex lives, our finances, our
work habits. He’s just all up in our
business here. Because every part of our
lives speaks. It’s not just the words we
use or how we say them, it’s all our habits, our lifestyle. They all speak something to the world about
the reality of Jesus Christ. This is why
he tells us to take off the old lifestyle, put away the old world view that is
corrupted by evil and put on a new lifestyle, see through a new world view that
is patterned after God. When we do that, we will begin to look like, sound
like, act like Jesus. What is it that we are communicating through
our lives, as individuals and as a church community?
In Ephesians 5 beginning in the last part of verse 18
Paul says that we are “to be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs. Sing and make music in
your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Thanksgiving, praise, joy, these are what we are to be communicating
through our words and our actions. Our
lives should reflect the reality that we have been forgiven of our sins,
cleansed from everything that is corrupted by evil. We’ve been reconciled to God, accepted into
His household as His own children. We’ve
been made new. Our lives are moving in a
new direction and we are now joined together in the Body of Christ. We have hope.
We have the promise of eternal life.
We’ve been given the very Spirit of God to dwell within us as our source
of life and strength. Our lives should
reflect and communicate this. We are not alone in this walk of faith. We have the members of the Body of Christ
around us, as well as the Holy Spirit within us, and we should be learning from
each other, praying for each other, encouraging each other as all of us are in
the process of taking off the old and putting on the new.
I want to invite the worship team up
now to lead us in our closing worship.
We can celebrate today because we are bound together in the bonds of
faith with one Lord, One God, One Father who loves us and is working out His
will in our lives. And we can dedicate
ourselves to continue to put off the old self that is worn out and useless to
us, and with the help of the Holy Spirit to put on the new self which is
patterned after God.
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