INI August 9 & 10, 2009
Sermon preached at Cross of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), 9931 Foley Blvd. NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55433. Please share this with someone else when you have finished. Thank you!
Bible Text—Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
On the night of his betrayal, just before he walked out with his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord Jesus prayed for himself, for his disciples and for all believers of all time. We call this Christ's High Priestly Prayer. It’s recorded for us in John chapter 17 (20, 21). In this prayer Jesus asked his heavenly Father: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
The promoters of the modern ecumenical movement claim that Christ's words have never been fulfilled and have never been answered. When we refer to ecumenism, we’re talking about those who, in the past sixty years or so, believe all the Christian churches in the world should get together under one huge umbrella, in spite of their doctrinal differences. “Just look at how fractured modern Christianity is with its many denominations,” they say! And so they try to fulfill Christ's words with their own actions by merging church bodies and by forming new denominations. But in the process many important teachings of God's Word are ignored or denied.
We would also disagree with the promoters of the modern ecumenical movement that Christ's words in John 17 have never been fulfilled. Our Savior's request to his heavenly Father was answered a long time ago, and it’s still being answered today. There is perfect unity in the Holy Christian Church, God's invisible family of true believers. So let's consider The True Unity of the Church—
1. It’s produced by the Spirit of God; and
2. It’s promoted by the gifts of God.
1. The True Unity of the Church is produced by the Spirit of God.
Because of his preaching of the gospel, the apostle Paul was under house arrest in Rome, awaiting his legal appeal to Caesar. Writing to the Ephesians under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, he encouraged them to live appropriately in light of their gracious calling to faith in Christ. How could they live a life worthy of the calling they had received? How was such a thing done? Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. We put up with all the unpleasant peculiarities of our Christian brothers and sisters, without a hint of impatience.
We’re also to make every possible effort to guard and preserve the oneness the Holy Spirit has established when he calls people to faith in Christ Jesus. We are encouraged to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. The peace we have with God because of the work of our Savior—the peace we have with our heavenly Father because Jesus washed away our sin and guilt in his precious blood—the peace we have with our Creator because Jesus lived the perfect life we were supposed to live and he suffered the terrible death we should have suffered for breaking God's laws—this peace is the glue that holds our unity together!
Paul briefly compares God's family of true believers—the Holy Christian Church—to a body. He does this again at the end of our text. Just as the human body has a soul or a spirit, so the body of Christ—the Holy Christian Church—is filled with the Holy Spirit. Just as there is one body and one Spirit, we were also called to faith in Christ in the one sure hope of eternal salvation and everlasting life.
God's believing children not only have the same one hope, but they all believe in the same one Lord. We have all been brought to faith in the same way as well. The Holy Spirit has created faith in our hearts through the means of grace, through the gospel in Word and sacraments—particularly through the sacrament of holy baptism. Many of us were baptized when we were little children. Paul wrote in another place concerning baptism: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” Galatians 3:26-28.
God is then the Father of us all, especially of those in the invisible family of Christ. His relationship to us is all-encompassing. He is over all and through all and in all.
It’s the Holy Spirit who creates this unity in the Holy Christian Church and who gives us the proper attitudes when it comes to our relationships with our fellow believers. The desired result of all this will be when all believers are united in a mature and thorough understanding of Christ, when we will know everything there is to know about Jesus. Such a lofty goal will hardly be reached until we are raised from the dead and join Christ forever in heaven. But even in this life we still strive for such a goal.
Paul then presents a striking image to show our present condition. We are like babies, bounced around like buoys on a wind-swept sea. We can easily be swayed by the false teachings of people who would like to trick us—as swindlers try to cheat in a dice game. How they would love to lead us away from Christ and his Word, although they might not even realize or understand what they’re doing! That's why Paul said to the Romans and to us: “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them,” Romans 16:17.
In contrast to the lies of false teachers—whether they realize they’re telling lies about God and his Word or not, it doesn’t matter—in contrast to the lies of false religious teachers, we are to speak the truth in love. We are to share God's pure Word with others so they may also believe and be saved. Out of love for the lost, we proclaim God's law that shows us our sins and what we deserve because of them. Out of love for the lost we proclaim the gospel, which shows us our Savior Jesus Christ, who paid for our sins so we could be at peace with God and go to heaven.
Now as we consider these words of our text, I think we would all agree that Paul packs a tremendous amount of meaning in a few little verses. He does this throughout his epistle to the Ephesians. But you could briefly summarize this first part of our text this way: The true unity of the Church is produced by the Spirit of God.
2. The True Unity of the Church is promoted by the gifts of God.
Every member of Christ's family, every part of his body, has received a special, undeserved gift to be used for the benefit and building up of the body. As we learned in our Sunday morning Bible study this past year that was entitled “Heirs Together,” each and every one of us—man, woman and child—has been given a gift or a talent from God that we are to use for the benefit of others. Some of these gifts are listed for us in Romans chapter 12 (5-8) where Paul writes: “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
Now in our text for today from Ephesians, Paul also mentions various offices as Christ's undeserved gifts for preserving the unity of the Church. Apostles are those who are sent out with a commission from Christ to perform a certain work. An example would be the apostle Paul, who was commissioned to serve as Christ's ambassador to the Gentiles. Prophets are those who forthtell the Word of the Lord, whether that Word has to do with the past, the present or the future. Evangelists are missionaries, who proclaim the gospel among people who have never heard it before. Pastors are shepherds, and teachers are those who proclaim and teach the Word publicly. The primary work of the people in these offices is to outfit believers for works of service. They prepare God's people so they can go out and share the Word themselves, and so they can strengthen their fellow Christians in their faith in Christ.
Before we conclude our sermon today, I just want to make some observations. It’s very important to note what Paul says concerning the way we are to conduct ourselves among our fellow believers: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. How tempting it is, how easy it is because of the weakness of our sinful flesh, to deal with our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ with pride, with arrogance and with impatience. For example, if someone among us doesn't quite understand all the nuances and particulars of a certain teaching of the Bible, how tempting it would be to jump down that person's throat, or to rush into a situation like a bull rampaging through a china shop, hurting feelings and bruising simple, child-like faith!
And when it comes to those on the outside, we are to speak the truth in love. Because of misunderstandings some of us might have, we don't even speak the truth at all to those outside of our circles. We’re afraid we might be saying something wrong or incorrectly. And when we do confess our faith to those not of church, how often might it be done with our nose up in the air and with a self-righteous attitude? I honestly think there are some, not necessarily at Cross of Christ, but there are some Christians who feel that to be orthodox—and that word orthodox means true teaching—I honestly think there are some who feel that to be orthodox you must have a sneer and a scowl and you always have to be looking for a fight! But the truth can be spoken with gentleness and patience, out of love and concern for the faith and the eternal salvation of others.
We would also have to say that it would be the height of arrogance and hypocrisy to claim that ours is the only saving church and the only saving church body. I’m sure you’ve heard the old joke about the people who are getting the tour of heaven by St. Peter. When they walk by a certain room, Peter says “Shush! Those are the Wisconsin Synod Lutherans. They think they’re the only ones up here.” Our Lutheran Confessions make it very clear that wherever the Word of God is preached and the sacraments are administered, there are true believers present there. There are Christians in other Christian church bodies.
I learned this in a very real way when, during my seminary training, I vicared for a summer in the state of New Mexico. I was canvassing a neighborhood in Carlsbad, going door to door in the heat, trying to find out who was unchurched. A little old lady invited me in for a glass of iced tea, and we had a wonderful discussion about Bible doctrine. She had been a Baptist all her life, but she believed the same as we did when it came to baptism. She believed the Holy Spirit works through the Word connected with the water to create saving faith. She also believed as we do when it came to the Lord's supper—that Christ gives us his body and blood under the bread and wine for our forgiveness. She had never heard of Luther's Small Catechism, much less read it. But she believed these things solely by studying her Bible!
Being green behind the ears, I opened my big mouth and said that this wasn't what her church believed, and I abruptly pointed out to her what the Baptists officially taught in regard to baptism and the Lord's supper. Sad to say, that was the end of our conversation. But what that whole situation taught me is that there are believers in other churches, and there is perfect unity in the Holy Christian Church, God's invisible family of true believers. But yes, it’s still true and valid, and God's Word teaches us very clearly that we are to practice religious fellowship only with those we are agreed with when it comes to all the teachings of the Bible, and we are to stay away from any who teach even the smallest false doctrine. God doesn’t suggest this, but he commands this for our protection so we are not overcome with the cancer and yeast of error. God doesn't want us to eventually lose the very gospel itself! We’ll be hearing a lot more about what God says about such things in his Word in the weeks ahead.
But there is perfect unity in the Holy Christian Church. The true unity of the Church is produced by the Spirit of God, and it’s promoted by the gifts of God.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
