Forgiveness
Failing Forward Pursuing Spiritual Disciplines • Sermon • Submitted
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· 1 viewChristians will fail us, but we must persevere in love, knowing that we have failed too.
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
One of the more difficult tasks the follower of Jesus (as well as those who do not follow Jesus) face is what to do when we are wronged, hurt, taken advantage of, or anything that happens to us that would require us to forgive someone who does not deserve to be forgiven for the relationship to continue in some fashion.
It's hard to accept other people's failures—especially in the church!
Christians can hurt us.
We can easily quote the lyrics from the 2012 song "Losing" by Tenth Avenue North (written by Ruben Juarez, Jeff Owen, and Mike Donehey):
"I can't believe what he did / Oh, don't they know it's wrong?"
We can face a hard tension, showing forgiveness and love to believers who ought to know better!
It shatters our expectations of a Christian community.
When Christians fail, it is easy to become cynical.
We can wonder if following Jesus makes any difference at all.
But sometimes, the brokenness in our community comes from us, as believers, not living as a gospel-centered community where we can be broken and vulnerable.
There's" that expectation issue again.
The implications of the subject of forgiveness have deeper roots than just how I feel.
In the church, not being willing to forgive others can do significant damage within the church in the same way it can negatively affect your family.
In our passage today, we will see that when one is unwilling to forgive, that lack of forgiveness can fracture the unity we are called to as a part of God's family and church.
We have to make sure we do not have the attitude that Garfield the comic-strip cat offered:
"Forgive and Forget, or as we cats say…hold a grudge and plot your revenge." Houston Chronicle, 6/18/19, p.B6
Big Idea of the Message: Christians will fail us, but we must persevere in love, knowing that we have failed too.
Let's turn to Ephesians 4. We will be in verses 1-3 today.
Ephesians 4:1 (NET 2nd ed.)
1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called,
SERMON
SERMON
I. The call.
I. The call.
Paul uses the phrase "THEREFORE" to connect what he is about to share in chapters 4-6 to all written in the letter's first three chapters.
The flow of thought is that since God has done so much for the readers, like lavishly giving them spiritual blessings and revealing the great mystery of redemption, Paul unveils how the redeemed life should be lived.
Interestingly, Paul points out he is a prisoner of the Lord because Paul is writing this letter to the church at Ephesus from prison.
The implication is that if Paul can live out his faith in the manner he will lay out while he is in prison for his faith, those of you who are reading this letter as free people can also live your life in the same manner!
Paul does not dramatize the fact that he is chained to a soldier, awaiting a verdict of life or death (Acts 28:16).
It is a matter of fact, appropriate to the discussion, but mentioned in passing (cf. Eph 6:20).
It should remind Paul's readers that he has earned the right to be heard. (Kenneth L. Boles, Galatians & Ephesians, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1993), Eph 4:1.)
What is the call?
This call is so vital to our walk with Jesus that Paul uses the word URGE!
The word URGE or EXHORT means to call to one's side.
Galatians & Ephesians (1. Unity in the Body (4:1–6))
This kind of exhortation is not so much a command to go do something, but an appeal to join forces with the speaker in doing something. It is often a stirring call to action in public or military life
The call to action is to live worthy of the calling with which you were called!
We must remember that we will never be worthy of the calling.
In other words, we cannot earn salvation by our walk; our walk should reflect who we serve.
What Paul wants is a willing response on their part.
He wants them to decide to behave as he has asked them.
This walk he speaks of refers to how we live our life.
Galatians & Ephesians (1. Unity in the Body (4:1–6))
What Paul is urging is that his readers recognize the purpose to which God has called them, and to conduct themselves accordingly.
“Worthy” introduces the high standard to which the Christian’s living is expected to conform.
Even when this standard seems out of reach, it is still the right goal; to be content with anything less would be unworthy.
Paul’s exhortation can be stated succinctly: “Be what you are!”
What are you?
To whom do you belong?
I think we can all lose sight of how important we live is to God.
It is so easy to think that we are saved, so we do not have to put much thought or effort into how we live our lives.
ISN'T THAT ENOUGH if I put a few Christian-sounding posts or bible verses on social media?
Is that enough if I come to church when it works for me, or I give?
A manner worthy translates the Greek adverb which means having the same weight.
In the balance of life, our walk should be the same weight as Our Calling.
Christians have an exalted position in Christ.
For our lives to measure up to our position in Christ, some attitudes and behaviors must be cultivated.
The primary call is a call to reflect who you belong to by how you live!
What does that look like?
Is the worthy walk simply a checklist of actions, do's, and don't's, or is there more to it?
Look at verse two.
Ephesians 4:2 (NET 2nd ed.)
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love,
II. The calling.
II. The calling.
If you did not know what verse two said, we might think that our calling is a list of actions we take.
Instead, we see three attitudes or mindsets we are to display so that our walk matches up with our call!
Our calling within the call is explained in verse two.
In verse two, Paul identifies four temperaments or attitudes that each Christian must nurture and develop if we're going to walk in a worthy manner.
These temperaments are not external checklist items; they are matters of the heart.
These temperaments are more than going through the motions; they are deep-seated matters of the heart that take a great deal of prayer and reliance on the Lord to possess.
If Christians are careless and fail to cultivate these dispositions, the result will be the rupturing of unity and harmony that Christ desires in his church.
Humility is the opposite of pride and arrogance.
Galatians & Ephesians (1. Unity in the Body (4:1–6))
Humility, also translated “lowliness of mind,” this word was always used in a bad light in the secular literature of Paul’s day, because lowliness was not considered to be much of a virtue.
It was associated with contemptible servility, an attitude proper only for slaves.
In the Greek version of the O.T., however, the word began to take on a positive connotation: God will bring down the proud and exalt the lowly.
How many problems are caused in our lives because of arrogance, jealousy, and pride?
When one lacks humility, problems within the church will happen.
I think Jesus was humble, don't you?
Gentleness describes an attitude that is the opposite of self-assertion.
It describes my unresisting, uncomplaining disposition, which enables us to bear without irritation or resentment the faults and injuries of others.
The word is also translated as MEEKNESS.
Meekness is a controlled strength or temperament in the face of adversity and persecution.
Meekness relates to how we react when we receive injuries from others.
The third mindset is PATIENCE!
Patience speaks of a long temper, especially when putting up with people.
Another way to say this would be long-suffering.
Long-suffering deals with being patient with people, while patience expresses endurance in respect of things.
The long-suffering person is one who, having to do with injurious persons, does not suffer himself easily to be provoked by them or to blaze up and anger.
The person who is patient is the one who is under a great siege of trials, bears them up, and doesn't lose courage when people do things that provoke us; the patient person suffers a long time, patiently bearing some things one does not like. (Gareth Reese Commentary on Ephesians)
Then, to make it easier, Paul puts the cherry on top by telling us to put up with one another in love!
Thank you, Paul!
The phrase "putting up with one another" is translated as forbearance in many places.
Forbearance is holding back the arm or word of retaliation.
People will inevitably disappoint us and will tax our patients at times.
We must never forget how much we need people to be patient with us.
Tolerating some unpleasantness is a small price to pay for the privilege of unity with God's people.
We may teach, reprove, or correct those who have sinned, but at the same time, as we do it, we must hold them up, sustain them, and support them.
The phrase ONE ANOTHER implies mutual forbearance.
In love, we make allowances for the faults of others we love.
Our goal is to do what is spiritually best for the other person.
For many of us, this seems easier said than done!
And should we be naive about sins and truth in the church so we can get along with people?
Paul understands the harsh reality of relationships.
As Darrell Bock clarifies, "Being humble, gentle and patient, and giving each other the benefit of the doubt by bearing with each other, represent the key character elements of this walk of unity. … Bearing with one another in love allows one to negotiate the conflicts that inevitably emerge in relationships.
It is enduring a behavior and then working through it.
Unity requires tolerance at a relational level without being indifferent to truth" (Darrell L. Bock, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 10 [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2019], Logos).
Ephesians 4:3 (NET 2nd ed.)
3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
III. The objective.
III. The objective.
Why is God calling us to walk a worthy walk?
It is simple; it is not about earning a ticket to heaven; it is about keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace!
We are told to make EVERY effort!
This is what humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance are all about.
These traits are essential if we are to be diligent in preserving the unity between brothers and sisters in Christ.
Making EVERY effort speaks of careful and earnest efforts.
The phrase suggests difficulty in a relentless determination to overcome it.
Unity is something that must be worked at.
Part of the effort to preserve unity after becoming Christians is by being gentle, humble, patient, and displaying forbearance with one another.
A lack of effort by anyone of us in developing these four qualities just named will jeopardize unity.
We should take note that we are to make every effort to KEEP the unity of the Spirit.
Greek verb KEEP means to guard something by exercising a watchful concern.
Both "making every effort" and "to keep" are present tense verb forms indicating a constant action.
It is assumed that unity between Christians already exists; the job of Christians is to preserve it, not create it.
The bond of peace is what helps bind us together.
We preserve the unity of the Spirit by working to maintain the peace that holds us together and by trying to live at peace with one another.
If we demand our way, are furious at every slight, and seek revenge for every wrong, we shatter the peace that is the bond of unity.
Such a way is unworthy of our call.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
When Jesus was asked what the greatest command was, what did He say?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31)
When you look Ephesians 4:1-3, this passage is a reflection of this command as well as how to live it out.
In writing about his lyrics to the song "Losing," Mike Donehey said, "So we wrote a song called '"Losing,' about how when you forgive people, it feels like you're losing.
But that's what we're called to do: absorb more pain than we inflict.
But to give grace means someone has to die.
Spiritually speaking, you have to take that pain to get back mercy; you have to absorb the pain of defense" (Dan MacIntosh, "Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North," SongFacts, March 2, 2012, https://www.songfacts.com/facts/tenth-avenue-north/losing).
We are all growing! We are all failing forward together!
As we grow in our walk with Jesus, we must give grace to each other.
We must give each other accountability and safety, never thinking we are beyond the sin in our own hearts.
Our Application Point is: We will forgive other believers when they fail us.