“Growing up”
Ephesians 4:1-16 (August 4, 2024)
I’m guessing that some of you may have been watching the Olympics this week. Every four years, athletes gather from around the world to compete. For these few weeks of summer, the Olympics dominate the airwaves. They’re a big deal. Especially for those who have been training hard, toning their bodies, honing skills to perfection.
This morning, I want to talk about bodies. But not necessarily athletic ones. I don’t have an athletic body. But I am amazed at the variety of bodies those Olympians have. Each one is perfectly suited to their sport. A swimmer’s body is different from a weight-lifter. A rugby player is not the same as a gymnast. Which gives me some comfort. Every one of us, at every stage of our lives, is different. The important thing is to be the people we’re made to be.
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“I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” says our scripture for today. These summer Sundays we’re focussing on the letter to the Ephesians. And Ephesians presents the church as a certain kind of body, the “body of Christ.”
We, collectively, in this life we share together, are Jesus’ body in the world. Not the historical Jesus, God incarnate in a first-century Jewish, Palestinian man. But rather the Christ who is risen and present by his Spirit among his people in the gathered community of faith.
“Live a life worthy of your calling.” So what is this “body of Christ” meant to look like?
Unity is an important theme in the letter to the Ephesians, which claims that God has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile. Jesus has brought us together, creating one new humanity, making peace, reconciling us to God in one body through the cross. (Eph. 2:15-16)
But Paul knows as well as anyone that we have yet to fully live into this new humanity. So he pleads with us, implores us, begs us to live a life worthy of our calling.
Be the people you are called to be! “Be humble, be gentle, be patient.” Do these qualities describe our community of faith? When people come to be among us here at First Mennonite, is this what they discover?
I don’t think it’s far off, actually. Pastors aren’t privy to everything, and maybe there are secrets you’ve been holding back. But it’s hard to keep secrets for long. I don’t see many of us strutting about. Being proud, overbearing, or unkind. I don’t hear “talk” going on behind people’s backs. Or criticism that is harsh and uncalled for.
I think we’re mostly gracious with one another. But of course, we’re not perfect. So this advice still stands as a gentle reminder. Live up to your calling. With humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another.
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I’m struck with that last phrase especially. “Bearing with.” Partly because one of my professors, back in seminary, told us that “agape love”, the divine love that comes from God in the person of Jesus, has to do with “bearing with” and “putting up” and God’s “sticking with” us – even when we turn away.
God does not turn away! We are loved to the very core of our being. And yet … there are times we discount that love, and choose to follow our own tragically destructive path. Isn’t this the story of our lives?
God’s love wants the best for us. And is determined to make it so. Determined to set things right. To forgive and mend and heal and renew. To recreate our lives, so that we can be the beautiful people God intends us to be.
Ephesians reminds us of the thing God is doing, and invites us to be part of it. Live this way. Even with that person who’s hard to live with.
Is there anyone like that in your life? What, here in the church? Of course there is. But we’re called to hang in there with them when the going gets tough.
Olympic athletes train for years. And I guess that’s what being part of a community of faith is all about. It’s a kind of training ground.
A friend of mine says if the church is not presenting a challenge to us then it’s really not doing its job! This is where we learn how to be humble and gentle and patient. By rubbing up against others. And discovery they have their faults, and that we do too. And then learning how to grow beyond that.
Here we discover people at all different stages in their journey of faith. And some are easy to live with and some are not.
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Jesus does not call us to be with people who think and feel and act as we do, in every single detail. But together, we are called to be God’s people, “making every effort,” says the writer of Ephesians, “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Yes, it does take effort. But it’s not up to us alone.
To use an Olympic analogy, being a Christian is meant to be a team activity. We’re part of a Kingdom community. That means more than just one of us. And we don’t get to choose God calls!
Yet for all our differences, there is a unity that goes far deeper. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
There is a “oneness” to our life together. And we pray for the unity of the church. Not just here, in our own congregation – but the whole church, in its many expressions all around the world.
Early in the new year, we hosted a service that was part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Followers of Jesus here in our city came together across denominational lines. It was a cold winter day and there weren’t that many people. But we prayed. And we bore witness to this truth Ephesians speaks of: That the church is fundamentally one body. Despite appearances, sometimes, to the contrary. This is not to gloss over differences. Or to say that our convictions don’t matter. But it is to acknowledge that all of us are on a journey 
together. That none of us have fully arrived.
Ephesians says that “each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” These gifts are given to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”
What are your gifts? What have you been given to contribute to the whole?
In a world of tearing down, we’re called to build each other up. In a world full of division, we are called to demonstrate God’s new humanity. The church is God’s instrument for healing and reconciliation. It is nothing less than the body of our risen Lord here on earth. That is amazing thing to say! It includes both privilege and responsibility.
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“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine. … But “speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”
When I hear these words I wonder, are we being admonished? Don’t behave as little children! Rather, put aside your childish ways.
Maturity, you know, does not come automatically as we age. I’ve met young people who are wise beyond their years. And I’ve also met older people who shock me with how little they’ve learned.
“Grow up in every way,” says the writer of Ephesians. In character. In faith. In your treatment of other people. In your walk of discipleship. Live as fully fledged members of this community of faith.
And what does that look like? Well, I think it looks like Jesus!
I remember, when I was kid, people asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Maybe that question isn’t asked so much any more. We’ve learned to value people at all stages: The playfulness of childhood. The vitality of youth. The strength and athleticism of young adults. The productivity of middle age. The experience and wisdom of the elderly. Every part of life has its strength and beauty.
But what is the ultimate goal of our lives? And what is the mark of a church that has become what it’s meant to be? Please be warned: It’s not the size of the church, the age of the church, the wealth of the church, the programs of the church. But rather this one thing: It looks like Jesus!
When people look at our congregation here at First Mennonite, what do you think they see? I’m talking about more than superficial things. Would they see a church that looks like Jesus?
Or maybe this would be more realistic: Would they see a people who are striving to be that kind of church? A people who are on the way? A people on the move? With their eyes on something greater, something better, something that calls us forward, step by step, on our lifelong journey? Until we reach “the measure of the full stature of Christ.”
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Watching the Olympics, it’s wonderful to see people who win their competition. To be the best in the world. They step up to the platform. A medal is placed around their neck. Their country’s anthem is played. The crowd cheers, and they beam with joy.
Do you know what makes God beam with joy? It’s when any of us reach the end of the race and become completely the people God has created us to be. It’s when the fullness of God has filled our life. When the image of Christ has been lived out.
Then we shall stand before the throne and take our place among the saints of God. And maybe someone in the crowd will whisper: “Don’t they look like Jesus?”
We’re not there yet. But that is the goal. May the Christ who calls forth a new humanity bless us on our journey. Amen.