The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
Ephesians 4:1-16
One
Proper [13] B, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, 02 August 2009
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
To the saints who are… faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:1b-2) Amen.
20Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
This morning, we begin with an Amen. Yes, yes, it shall be so, he means. And then St. Paul builds on the foundation of all that has gone on before.
1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
The Holy Spirit has called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified you, and keeps you and the whole Church with Jesus Christ in the true faith. You are the baptized. God’s gracious working in you has consequences.
Living in habitual sins is not walking in a manner worthy of God’s call. Insisting on our own way is the opposite of bearing with one another in love. Asserting human thinking or human traditions, or political correctness over God’s Word is not how one maintains the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
What peace is there when people disagree on the fundamentals of Christianity? Is Jesus primarily an example, or first and foremost the Savior from sin, death, and hell? Is Jesus the illegitimate son of a Roman solider, or truly begotten of the Father from eternity, Virgin-born Son of God? Was it all faked—the biggest cover-up of human history, or was the tomb truly empty because of Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead?
Faith knows the difference between true Biblical history and the devil’s seductive lie. Secular historical evidence is on our side. Archaeology is on our side. Leave it to the modern and post-modern world to throw the faith in the trash.
Unity means something significant in common. Tolerating false teaching alongside truth does not foster unity. Two is not the same as One. How can the mainline denominations survive while there are both Christians proclaiming the Biblical message, and also those who insist on positions exactly opposite of what the Bible says: accepting and promoting homosexual behavior, ordinations, and so-called “marriages”, demanding the ordination of women as pastors, ignoring cohabitation, and replacing historic worship with entertainment, spectacle, and psychobabble. St. Paul would shout, “No!”
1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
The unity our congregation enjoys, the unity the Wyoming District defends, and the unity the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod largely has, is a gift from God. Sadly, it is a gift some in the LCMS don’t see as a gift.
9(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints [ , ] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until 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…
The One message the Lord has given to the Church in Christ, in the Word is proclaimed in these diverse ways. We should heed the advice of our late Synod President Barry: “Keep the message straight…Get the message out…”
11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints [ , ] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until 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, 14so 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. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from 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.
St. Paul calls for Christian maturity. We are to avoid “every wind of doctrine.” A Lutheran radio host calls this the “Fad-Driven Church.”
See http://www.issuesetcarchive.org/issues_site/resource/archives/wilken4.htm for the full article.
Pastor Todd Wilken writes: The dictionary defines a fad as "a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal." This could just as well be a description of congregational life of many Christian churches today. There is a new book, a new program or a new emphasis every year or so. It’s all anyone can talk about; it's all the preacher preaches about - for a while. Then, as quickly as it came, it's gone. As eagerly as it was received, it's abandoned and forgotten. Welcome to the Fad-Driven church.
At first this might not sound like a problem. Some Christians can remember when the Church didn't jump from bandwagon to bandwagon every year or two. But for others, this is all they have ever known. For them, it is hard to imagine what the Church would be like without the constant ebb and flow of church fads. For them, the long list of church fads represents their personal history as a Christian: Spiritual Gift inventories, Spiritual Warfare, Promise Keepers, Weigh Down Workshop, The Prayer of Jabez; the Left Behind Series, Becoming a Contagious Christian, a long succession of evangelism and stewardship programs, and most recently, The Purpose-Driven Life and 40 Days of Purpose. There are many Christians for whom this list (give or take one or two) is Christianity. Some church fads come and go, some come and stay. A few are genuinely harmless; most contain serious theological error. All are popular - while they last In the fad-driven church, “exaggerated zeal” has replaced "the faith once for all delivered to the Saints."
Wilken continues: In the course of hosting Issues, Etc. I've examined most if not all of the recent church fads. I am always surprised - not by the fads themselves, but by something else. I am always surprised by how uncritically churches accept a fad, how enthusiastically churches embrace a fad and how carelessly churches abandon a fad. That is why this article isn't about the fads themselves, but about the kind of churches that accept, embrace and abandon fads.
Every fad has a life cycle. The fad is first accepted, then embraced and finally abandoned. For the fad-driven church, this life cycle is a way life.
The cycle begins with acceptance. The fad-driven church is practiced at this. Too close an examination of the fad at the outset might raise too many questions. "After all, this book is a best-seller!" "Thousands of churches are doing it, how can we go wrong?" Accept first, examine later, if at all. This acceptance may come through the pastor's active promotion or through grassroots popularity. Either way, the fad spreads like wildfire in the congregation.
The cycle continues with enthusiastic embrace. By "enthusiastic" I don't mean excitement or emotion, although those things may be involved. What I mean is that the fad-driven church embraces its latest fad with creedal intensity. While the fad has currency, it is an article of faith. Belief in the fad becomes a mark of loyalty to the church. During this phase of the fad's life cycle, critics of the fad may be dismissed as unloving, judgmental or unconcerned for saving souls. At the very least, they are viewed as troublemakers and obstacles to the church's mission. During this phase, in some cases, the fad may dictate what is preached, the content of bible study or even the focus of congregational life.
The life cycle ends with the abandonment of the fad. Some fads have a built-in expiration date... most simply linger until something better comes along. The fad-driven church may cling with a martyr's fervor to the fad while it lasts, but everyone knows that its days are numbered. Sooner or later it will have to be abandoned. Accept the fad, embrace the fad and abandon the fad. This is the life of a fad-driven church. There are exceptions to this life cycle. In a few cases a fad doesn't die; it grows into something bigger than a fad. It grows into a movement... [Pastor Wilken says,]I have often been critical of church fads at the height of their popularity. After several encounters with fad defenders, I noticed something. The seasoned member of the fad-driven church will defend his fad today. But he will happily abandon the same fad six months from now. I realized that the fad itself is inconsequential; everyone knows that it will be forgotten sooner or later. Christians caught in the cycle of church fads must defend a particular fad, because by doing so, they are defending their willingness to accept, embrace and abandon fads in general. They are defending their fad-driven-ness.
The need of discernment in the Church is one of the most frequent admonitions in Scripture. Paul's warning to the Ephesians is typical: We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects unto Him, who is the head even Christ.
The church is supposed to stand immovable against “every wind of doctrine." By contrast the fad-driven church is a windsock. If you want to know which way the wind is blowing, the latest teachings, the newest programs or the most current methods, just look at the fad-driven church. If you want to know what the fad-driven church will be doing next, just walk through your local Christian bookstore or page through a Christian publisher's catalogue.
In the fad-driven church, books, programs and seminars are evaluated primarily by their sales, popularity and attendance records, rather than on their theological merit, "False teaching? Why would so many churches be reading this book if it contained false teaching?” Can millions of Christians be wrong? Yes, they can. [End Quote.]
Therefore, it is important for Biblical Christians to be ready to speak / the truth / in love. Our sharing is done with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience. We share the truth in love, that is, lovingly and out of a loving motivation. We're not about winning arguments. We're not about shoving religion down someone's throat. Being obnoxious or pushy is out of line.
We show respect by asking questions and genuinely caring about their answers. We want to find out about them, their hurts, concerns, needs. And we bring the Word of God to bear upon those hurts, concerns and needs to bring about healing, understanding, and reconciliation with God.
Finally, we do all of this out of a good conscience. We speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God! We don't sugar-coat the truth. We don't rewrite the truth to fit what they want to hear. We don't add to God's Word or cut anything out. All of those actions would be lying, and unloving.
So, we are to be prepared. If we are to be prepared to share our hope in Christ, we ourselves should know of that hope and be comforted. That takes time in the Word, individual prayer and Bible Study, family devotions, Bible Classes, time reading good Christian books or articles, and time each Sunday at the Divine Service and Sunday School.
Telling the Good News about Jesus is not a burden, but a privilege. Consider yourself. Someone told you about the hope they had in Christ Jesus. That Word took root in you and the Holy Spirit brought about the fruit of faith. You believe because someone told you the good news about Jesus. You may have heard this Word from infancy. It may have happened later in life. You may have fallen away and then returned. Whatever the occasions God used to draw you to Himself through His Word and Spirit, He used someone who was prepared to share Christ's hope with you.
Therefore…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Amen.
Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. (Ephesians 6:23) Amen.
