Real Maturity
Notes
Transcript
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16
Sermon Title: Real Maturity
Brothers and sisters in Christ, some of us more than others have scolded, either playfully or seriously, with the line “Real mature…” One of our jokes goes too far, we do something that’s “not our age,” our antics around long-time friends when seen by our parents or spouses cause disgust or disapproval. When we think about maturity, it usually has to do with particular social norms and expectations; the cultures we are a part of create informal lists of behaviors that are acceptable during particular time frames in life. The maturity that I find here in our passage this morning is not one that functions along those lines necessarily though. The milestones of the Christian faith do not always fit so neatly with age as people may come to Christ late in life and others who come early do not always conform themselves to God’s leading. The Christian rapper, Andy Mineo, says it well, “Being a man has nothing to do with age, you can be a boy until the day you lay in your grave.” As we dive into this passage this morning, we will look the message of unity that Paul gives for the church in Ephesus, focus in on 4 words or phrases that illustrate what being a mature Christian looks like, and then come back to looking at why Paul teaches these messages together.
First, where is this message of unity coming from and what is it about? Paul has almost all good things to say about this church; as you might remember, Ephesus is where Timothy was placed and is noted as the place he is leading when the two pastoral letters are written to him, which seems to be several years after this letter comes to the church. Looking through this letter, Paul uses language about the grace and gifts of God, his prayers and the hope he has for them; in chapter 2 the theme of unity really begins, addressing particularly the Gentiles of this church who had not been united with Jewish believers but Paul tells them that reconciliation has come from God through the cross for both the “circumcised and uncircumcised.” Looking at our text, Paul calls the churches to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received,” and then encourages them to act with humility, gentleness, patience, love, and unity. The language of this passage is very similar to that of Philippians 1:27-2:4 where the Christians of Philippi are called to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel and there are echoes of the “fruits of the Spirit” for the Galatians; we can see that the primary message that all believers needed to hear then and still today is that there are expectations for both belief and action in the Christian life. It is in the context of encouragement that Paul then calls them into one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
It’s easy to read over that quickly and at the first level take away that we’re called to be united and not get in divisions, but we would be remiss to ignore the glue that bonds these all together. Verse 3 reads, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” After encouraging, we might even say commanding the believers to act lovingly, Paul teaches them to also be eager, their action, to keep the unity of the Spirit, that is a unity from God which established among his followers not something they initially implemented, through the bond of peace, a joining together, if connected to the Old Testament “shalom” then there are connotations of wellbeing and to the extent that nothing causing division or pain would exist. Through this lens, Paul is calling the Ephesians to stick together, keep the essentials as some call them, the church is not a model of capitalism, it’s not a model of who can put out the most product or a battle for who can gain the biggest following against other Christian churches in other places, but rather there’s a call to be loyal and charitable to one another without losing the core of our faith, that we might say is who we are as the church, who God is, what God has gifted to us in this life, and what God has ordained that we might grow into him. This unity is a model of seeing that God is sovereign and the church is submitting to him, God is sovereign and we get to see him work in the world, and dwell in his people.
The findings of the Pew Research Center back in 2011 that there are over 41,000 organizations around the globe which claim to be Christian denominations is pretty startling. We could probably pretty quickly see that some of them are on the fringes of orthodoxy and many are probably very similar just in a different location, but most of us might wonder after looking through the still long list, “Don’t we all pretty much believe the same thing?” By and large, my answer is “Yes, most of us do believe the same thing when it comes to these core essentials that we see in Ephesians 4, but it’s the non-essentials as some call them that cause the greater frustrations and divisions.” The glue of peace works until we enter the picture; rather than sticking together and engaging one another in conversation about our differences, we wonder if we can actually extend the peace of Christ to one another. Brothers and sisters, unity is the easy part on the surface, but if we look at the fractured state of the body of Christ, unity is a struggle. I believe that’s why Paul goes on to teach them about maturity, by describing how we can work with God in molding the glue of peace.
I want to go back to the passage and read verses 12-15. Having told the Ephesians that Christ has apportioned grace to each of us, and in so doing has given particular gifts, which in this passage are specific to church leaders, he writes, “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.”
Paul begins instructing on maturity by looking at the church. Parents have always held a burden of teaching their children as they grow about the Scriptures and in the Scriptures, but when Jesus ascended, his commission to go and make disciples was given to his people as they met together. The commission of service was placed in the context of what would become the church, as we read in verse 12 of our passage, to prepare God’s people for works of service. Maturity begins its development by being prepared, and that word in the Greek communicates making someone adequate, complete, sufficient, or fully qualified. As God as given each gifts, it is the duty and responsibility of the church to take the specific role of developing the skills and competencies necessary to not just believe God’s love but to carry it out in how they live their lives. We celebrated this morning the milestone that our 2nd graders have reached and there are so many other ministries of our church and churches in our community and around the world that have programs to faithfully answer the call of God’s Word to be agents in the nurturing and maturing of God’s covenant people. While it is fantastic that we are committed to raising our children, let’s also remember to continue to help those who may be beginning the maturing process a little later in life.
With preparation and development, notice how Paul uses plural language. The maturing process in faith isn’t to make sure one person is on top of the class or that individuals walk alone, but rather the preparation is 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. Unity, particularly around the core of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, that’s a confessional knowledge of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished are signposts that one is becoming mature. To become mature in the word used here is to become whole, complete or perfect. The preparation does not end with knowing Bible stories, but it continues to develop, continues to be nurtured; true faith commits itself to actions of thanksgiving and if one really has the Gospel message in their heart they will desire to serve God through their gifts and through the opportunities he provides. The mature believer in a way completes the circle of faith by giving back and seeking out how God may use us to contribute to the preparation of others.
It is this level of maturity that Paul describes as “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” “The whole” measure is the focus, not meaning that you know and understand every doctrine of the Christian faith, not that you can logically define how a child was conceived by the Holy Spirit in a woman who had never been with a man before, and somehow that child has actually existed for all eternity before and to come and how that man died and raised himself on the third day and how that action takes on the sins of the world and gives us resurrection after we die because we have been chosen. Becoming mature meaning to attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ means that we put our hope in Jesus and acknowledge that changes who we are. It is this type of real maturity that exists when a Christian sees that their faith cannot be separated from how they live and that will have an impact so great on their lives that they recognize a change and so can others. Maturity in the Christian life is recognizing that everything points to Christ, and the confession that he created you, he knows you, and has redeemed you because he loves you. A Christian’s maturity is indicative to others, and as one grows through the grace of God, there are rightfully expectations from God and of his church, particularly striving for unity.
Paul sums this whole message of maturity up in verses 14 and 15, “If we are really committed to this preparation, to giving back, and to seeing our maturity as something not just for the individuals but for the unity of the church, then we won’t act like infants, instead we will grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” This growing up involves connotations of respect, and Paul uses this “growing up” metaphor throughout his writing. But here it’s almost like he’s saying, if you’re an adult, you shouldn’t make characteristics of babies into how people recognize you. Most adults wouldn’t eat baby food on a regular basis, because they have developed past that, developed new tastes and abilities to take in various nutrients. Most adults don’t cry to communicate every need and use a limited number of sounds, no, adults speak up and communicate with words that others know exactly what they mean. I don’t think we look back on eating baby food or communicating like babies wishing we could do that, rather we see the formation that has come and we have grown from that to live differently. If you have been raised in the church, being taught at Sunday School as a child was good but now it is time to develop grow up and own responsibility for finding how you can continue to grow, if you feel like you have been prepared then God calls you read, to talk, and to live out that which you confess. Real maturity invites us to the lifelong process of commitment and adherence to the love of God.
That’s a lot of work you might be thinking, and yes, it is! This work does not save us though; this is the work and lifestyle we are called to as a way of showing our commitment and thanks to God for his gift of salvation. The church is what we are a part of, and that means practice is a part of our identity. Our motives get mixed, we might be more crude or divisive than we should at times, things might even seem boring or even lifeless in the midst of maturity. But that’s why we are a part of the body. The body of which Christ is the Head, the control center. There’s times when weak areas have and will continue to develop, when breaks might happen, but the body includes the support of the functions in the head first, and then support, growth, and building with the other parts. The greatest part of being in this body is that we have been a part of it since God created humankind. This is the body that has been formed for redemption, redemption which of course occurred in the grace of Jesus in and through the cross, which we get to remember, celebrate, and receive every time we gather at the table. Brothers and sisters, wherever we are in our maturity, if we are willing to press on, being called and shaped by Christ and his church, let’s commit ourselves in all areas of life and let’s gather around the table with the confession that there is “One body, one Spirit, we have one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Amen.