Text: Ephesians 4:4-16, Book of Discipline P126-139
Last week, I offered a very brief summary of scripture: God forgives us. God loves us. God has a job for us.
And we see this message at work in our scripture for this morning. We are forgiven by the ONE lord, through our ONE faith and in our ONE baptism. We experience God’s love through the ONE body. And empowered by the ONE spirit, we are called to live out ONE common hope.
But this oneness of God is not the sort that drowns out difference.
We are called to make disciples of all people, but we are not called to make all people look, act, worship, or practice the same way.
As our Book of Discipline describes it, the church “demonstrates a common life of gratitude and devotion, witness and service, celebration and discipleship… the forms of this ministry are diverse in locale, in interest, and in denominational accent, yet always catholic in spirit and outreach.” (P126, p.97)
It makes me think about the interplay of color.
In lighting, color has an additive effect.
White light is actually made up of many different wavelengths and like in these spotlights on a stage floor, there is an additive effect.
Conversely, you could take what appears to be a beam of white light and refract it into its many components and see a rainbow.
Color in pigments, however have a subtractive effect.
If you were to blend together various hues you would end up with a muddled black tone.
But if you allow them to be in relationship, complimenting one another, our pictures and our world become more vivid and full of life.
God’s Word – rather than being black and white words on a page that never change – is alive and varied and moving among us.
We understand how it has been shared and blended and shaped through the legacy of our ancestors and we also come to see how God’s Word is refracted in the everyday experiences of people of faith.
As Christians, the Holy Spirit calls us to travel on the same road, in the same direction, sticking together (as the Message translation puts it)… “but that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same.”
Because each of us are different people.
We are each called and gifted and blessed in different ways.
We each have unique and beautiful life experiences to share.
Some of us have spent our whole lives working independently and others have always been part of a team.
Some of us are young and have fresh eyes with which to look at the world and some of us have experienced profound pain in our lives.
Some of us work with machines, and others of us work with our minds.
And in all of those very different experiences, we have each felt the love and grace of God, although none of us in quite the same way.
Because of our difference – we are all a part of the Body of Christ.
Because of our difference – we all have a seat at God’s table.
Because of our difference – we all have a unique ability to proclaim the Word of God.
It might be with our actions… or with our words… or with our attitudes.
But Christian faithfulness demands that “the people of God, who are the church made visible in the world, must convince the world of the reality of the gospel or leave it unconvinced… the church is either faithful as a witnessing and serving community, or it loses its vitality and its impact on an unbelieving world.” (P.130, p. 98).
A week or two ago in one of our UMC 101 small group studies, we talked about the declining influence of the church in the world.
We lamented for a bit about folks who are no longer attending worship on a Sunday morning and all of the other things like sports or travel or events that have taken its place.
It feels like we have lost our vitality.
And our Discipline would call us to reflect upon whether or not we, as individual Christians, have been faithful to this call to witness and serve.
For a while, the church had followed a sort of “if you build it, they will come” attractional model.
The church was established and seemed like the norm and we all got comfortable with showing up to connect with our family and participate in the programs.
But what folks on the outside of the walls of our church saw was a fortress being established.
They didn’t know how to get in or they didn’t think they were welcome.
Or perhaps more importantly, they were out there in the world living their lives and we were so busy in the fortress that we lost track of how the world had shifted around us.
Whether we realized it or not, we built walls around our ministries, and they were only accessible on certain hours on certain days.
Many of us stopped actively inviting neighbors and friends to even join us.
We stopped seeking to meet people where they were and when they were available and how they were able to gather.
But as two of my colleagues, Michael Slaughter and Jason Moore remind us, instead of building a fortress, God invites us to be a force in this world.
We are called to be the living body of Christ, adapting and moving and going wherever the Holy Spirit might send us.
The church is called to be the community that “stretches out to human needs wherever love and service may convey God’s love and ours… the outreach of such ministries knows no limits… all Christians are called to minister wherever Christ would have them serve and witness in deeds and words that heal and free.” (P. 128, p. 97)
Can you just sense and feel the difference in those attitudes?
What would it look like for every single one of us to claim our gifts and our task of ministry and not just hole up in the fortress that is the church, but to go out as a force for God in this world?
That is what the Apostle Paul did.
And God sent him not just to those who were already “in”, but to the outsiders and the Gentiles.
In fact, that is the group of folks he is writing to in our scripture for today: the gentile community in Ephesus.
But he knows that the good news of God is meant for them as well and he puts his life on the line so that they might be able to hear and respond to the mystery of Christ.
He writes in chapter 3 of this letter that he was the least qualified person to do so, but God equipped him to proclaim that good news.
And truth be told, it wasn’t easy.
It landed him in prison.
But through the power of the Holy Spirit, he continued to share and spread words of encouragement to this faith community.
“When we trust in [God],” Paul writes to them, “we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down.” (Ephesians 3:11-13, MSG)
And then, he goes on to pray that they would be filled up that that same spirit and challenges them to be a force for God’s message in this world.
“Get out there and walk – better yet, run! – on the road God has called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes no where… Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given [their] own gift… God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love.” (Ephesians 4, selected verses, MSG)
What I notice about the list of gifts Paul mentions in his letter to the people of Ephesus is that none of these gifts are passive or silent.
Some of us are tasked with being apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers… but NONE of us are benchwarmers.
NONE of us get to sit in the pews or stay home and watch.
ALL of us have something to share in ministry, all of us must build up one another up, all of us are needed.
We are caretakers of an incredible message that the world is hungry to not just hear, but to experience.
If we look at the journey of those first disciples, they allowed the Holy Spirit to turn them into the hands and feet of God in the world.
They directed their eyes and their hearts outward.
They traveled the world with the message and faced controversy and conflict.
Some were killed and persecuted along the way.
But with the Holy Spirit at their backs, they were a force that utterly transformed this world.
You don’t have to become a missionary to a far-flung place.
You don’t have to put yourself in danger.
But the mission of God needs you to reach out in love.
As we proclaim in the Book of Discipline, it is “the witness of the laity, their Christ-like examples of everyday living as well as the sharing of their own faith experiences of the gospel,” that will be “the primary evangelistic ministry through which all people will come to know Christ and the United Methodist Church will fulfill its mission.” (P127, p. 97)
The truth is, I can preach a thousand sermons, but the only people who will hear them are the folks that YOU bring to this church.
My role as an ordained pastor is to keep reminding you of all of the people out there… and their needs and concerns and hopes.
It is to equip and encourage you to be that force for Jesus Christ in this world.
For we are all ministers of the gospel.
We all have unique experiences and gifts that will allow us to spread the light and love of God to different people and places and in varying ways.
Maybe it is the meal you take to a friend…
Or the encouragement you offer on social media…
Or how you invite someone to pray or worship with you…
Wherever you are, in your everyday life, in your own way, you matter.
You represent Christ and God’s love to this world.
And you are vital to God’s mission and this body of Christ.
Thank you for being you.