Gifts of Grace: Ligaments of the Body of Christ

This is part 10 of an sermon series on Ephesians. We say here that our mission is:

To prepare God’s people for works of service,so that the body of Christ may be built up (Eph 4:12)

but does that really mean? The body of Christ is a frequent metaphor of Paul’s for the church: Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12,27; Eph. 1:22-23; Eph. 3:6; Eph. 4:12; Eph.5:23,29-30; Col. 1:24. Paul uses this metaphor to stress that:

we are diverse, but united under Christ,

we are diverse, but no one should see their gifts as less important than anyone else’s,

we are diverse, but we are necessarily dependent on each other.

Being dependent on each other, today we are talking about how we, as a group, are held together: the ligaments of the body of Christ!

Ephesians 4:11-16

Commentary

Although this verse starts with a list of spiritual gifts, or leadership titles, the main point of the chapter is not about spiritual gifts. Remember the context: v1-6 is about unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace; v7-10 is about the gift of Christ; these verses are about unity in and under Christ. (Note in passing: in the Greek, these verses are all one sentence—one long, convoluted thought—so we must read the verses as a unified, but convoluted, whole.)

v11 A list of leadership positions. Since this list is not exhaustive (other leadership positions are mentioned in the other two main lists of spiritual gifts: Rom. 12:6-8 & 1 Cor. 12:8-10,28) one is left with an interpretation issue: are these the only positions involved in the work that follows, or are these positions merely illustrative, i.e. God gifts all for the purposes listed in v12-16?

v12 The purpose of leadership gifts ... it is not to direct, control, or guide, but rather to serve others by preparing them for future service.

… building up. The word here is actually a noun, meaning edification, or building. A literal translation of v12b is, "for edification of the body of Christ." In the NT (e.g. Eph. 2:19-22) the church is commonly called the Lord’s temple, an edifice or edification painstakingly built upon Christ the cornerstone. The word is repeated again in v16 and later in v29.

v13 The goal of our labor ... is unity and maturity in Christ. Presumably one cannot have one without the other.

v14 The contrast. This verse portrays the opposite of the unity and maturity of the previous verse and the opposite of the leadership envisioned in v11-12. The alternative to maturity in Christ is remaining an infant subject to the whims of evil forces. The alternative to the godly leadership in v11-12 is deceitful and cunning leadership marked by randomness & divisiveness. The alternative to unity in Christ is chaos. The storm-blown sea pictured here is a metaphor of chaos and destruction and contrasts with the solidity and certainty of Christ’s building.

v15-16 The real leader: Christ. Every other leader at church is merely doing their part. Every other leader at church is like a ligament, holding the body together in order for the body to grow.

Application

The human body has 1 head, 2 eyes, 10 fingers, 32 teeth, 206 bones, over 600 muscles, but over 1,000 ligaments! In the overall scheme of things, a ligament here or there doesn’t sound like a lot, but consider your favorite football player, sidelined by a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), or your favorite pitcher, out for a year for Tommy John surgery (aka ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction). One ligament out of whack can radically affect the entire body.

Given the preponderance of ligaments in the body, and the importance of the ligaments in holding the parts of the body in place in v16, I repeat the question I asked in the commentary:

Are the leadership positions mentioned in v11 the only positions involved in the work that follows, or are these positions merely illustrative, i.e. God gifts all for the purposes listed in v12-16?

When leadership is seen through worldly eyes as decision-making, command, and risk-taking, many want nothing to do with it. If we see v11 as describing a few special leadership gifts, then most of us are willing to abdicate responsibility to somebody else. Even in the Bible, Moses (Ex. 4:1-17; Ex. 6:28-30), Gideon (Judges 6:12-22), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:4-8), and others are slow to accept the mantle of leadership. Few people are willing to see themselves as leaders in the worldly sense.

However, what if godly leadership meant something complete different from what the world sees as leadership? Jesus tells the disciples that they are called to be servants (Matthew 20:25-28). Before the Last Supper, he washes the disciples’ feet as a model of leadership: we are no greater than the ones we serve (John 13:12-17).

Since Christ is the leader, the head of the body, our spiritual gifts within the church have little to do with decision-making, command, and risk-taking. Rather, our gifts and our calling have to do with serving others by building them up and by holding them together (being good ligaments). When we look at our calling at church as building each other up and holding us together as a group, then many of the other spiritual gifts—hospitality, helps, mercy, faith, and wisdom—seem just as important as the high-profile jobs, like pastor or teacher. Some build up others via encouragement; some build up others via prayer; some build up others via love; some build up others via fellowship and simple time spent together. All have the effect of keeping the body together.

If the purpose of our gifts is to build each other up as a group, to hold each other together as a group, then what are we to make of church leaders who bring discord, division, and disharmony into the church? What are we to make of church leaders who insist on their own way? Sadly, given the metaphor of v14, they are deceitful blowhards, churning up the waters of chaos and destruction for their own reasons.

Points to Ponder

Trivia Fact: The three main passages about spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:8-10,28; Eph 4:11) occur right next to metaphors about the body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12,27; Eph. 4:12). (Look them up!) Paul says the two ideas go together! How does this change your ideas about he reasons for your gifts?

You have maybe never considered yourself to be much of a leader, but where in the church, in your family, or at work are you building others up and holding the group together? How do you do it? Could it be that what you are doing there is your giftedness?

Considering today’s lesson, do you think people who clamor to be leaders understand servant leadership? What would you want to tell them?

Considering today’s lesson, do you think people who insist on their own way at church understand the importance of unity in the body of Christ? What would you want to tell them?

As a pastor, I really do take holding the body together—or failing to hold the body together—seriously. I struggle when people leave the church, wondering what I should have done differently. I read Ezekiel 34, and I worry if I am on track. How do you explain when people come & go at church? How do you think Ezekiel 34 applies? (Leave a comment on the blog, please!)

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5

Gifts of Grace: Better to Give than to Receive

This is the 9th sermon in a series on Ephesians. When we think of Easter gifts, perhaps we think of Easter eggs, maybe Easter baskets, a nice Easter hat (but that’s probably old school), a nice bunch of fresh flowers, or a fancy dinner. Maybe we think about Jesus rising from the grave, the gift of eternal life, the gift of eternal love. There are two more gifts mentioned in today’s passage—gifts that convey the full importance of what God has done.

Ephesians 4:7-10

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

8 This is why it says:

When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.

9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?

10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

Commentary

This short passage uses three different terms for a gift, each of which has been underlined. The three terms collectively point to the biggest gift of all. Frequently, these verses are grouped with v11-13 and are construed to refer to spiritual gifts. That’s all very well and good, but they miss today’s points completely.

v7 The NIV translation isn’t very good here. A more literal translation is:

And to each one of us has been given the divine gift according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Grace is a divine gift, a gift of God’s presence and mercy. However, the source of the gift is Christ. Christ is the big gift, the treasure, the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-46). In the Greek the word for the gift of Christ is usually used for the most valuable gifts, or legally endowed gifts, and in the NT it always refers to gifts given by God to men (e.g. Acts 2:38; Rom. 5:15; Eph. 3:7).

v8 The word for gifts here refers to less valuable gifts. This is part of why I don’t want to rush to conclude that this is part of a longer passage on spiritual gifts—that would be to miss the most valuable gift: the person of Jesus! Later, at the end of 1 Cor 12, Paul chides the Corinthians for their fascination with spiritual gifts, and says, “And now I’ll show you the most excellent way.” I feel the same about this passage here—to focus on spiritual gifts is to miss the most excellent gift in the passage.

There’s an interesting interpretation issue here: in the Hebrew & Greek versions of the OT, the psalm, Ps. 68:18, is misquoted here! In the Hebrew, the verse reads:

When you ascended on high,
you led captives in your train;
you received gifts from men,
even from the rebellious—
that you, O Lord God, might dwell there.

How did Paul get this wrong—turning receiving gifts into giving gifts? Long after the psalm was written, Aramaic paraphrases of the psalms were written, and some of these paraphrases have the reversal. So why did Paul use the paraphrased version?

A word on captives: Psalm 68, speaks of God as a conquering king. In those days, conquerors would take prisoners back as slaves, or as hostages to be ransomed off … or just as booty! The word translated as captives here means something more like “prisoners of war,” and a better translation of v8 might be:

Going up into heaven,
he took as captives the POWs.

There is a spiritual battle going on, and when God takes POWs from the enemy, he is capturing humans imprisoned by death and the evil one.

Application

How did Paul get it so wrong? I think he got it exactly right!

The greatest gift is not eternal life, a resurrection body, or even peace with God. The greatest peace available to us today is the person of Christ. Christ is the first of the two important gifts today. Without Christ, none of the rest is even possible; but with Christ, everything changes, everything is available, everything is new.

In the spiritual war between good and evil, our lives were not our own. We were prisoners, POWs of the evil one. But the love of God is this: while we were still sinners, powerless to help ourselves, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He descended to hell and broke the power of the evil one.

The Hebrew version of Psalm 68:18 says, “He received gifts from men.” Conquering kings historically have demands gifts, or ransoms, from their captives; but there is only one gift Jesus asks for saving us: ourselves. This is the second of the two important gifts today. We give our lives to him, and he gives us our lives back better than they were before.

You received gifts from men,
even from the rebellious—
that you, O Lord God, might dwell there [with us].

Even the rebellious, those true captives of the evil one, are now free to give their lives to Christ, and get them back again. Eternal life; freedom from fear; healing of mind, body, and spirit; all of these gifts he offers us after we give our lives over to him. But none of these—not eternal life, not healing, not peace, nothing—is worth anything without the Spirit of Jesus living within us.

I ask you to give your life over to him today. Lay it down, only to receive it back again with Jesus and his blessing.

Points to Ponder

Curiously, for as many times as Paul refers to himself as a prisoner, he never refers to himself as a captive, or POW of the evil one. (He does call others captives when they are led astray by lies or temptation.) What does this suggest about how Paul sees trials and temptations?

End Notes

1 - Strangely, I have not found any commentaries that suggest this interpretation! John Calvin says that Paul changed the wording to showing the magnanimity of Jesus. John Wesley distinguishes between captives and the men to whom gifts are given as different groups! Most simply note the anomaly between the Hebrew original and Paul’s use of the paraphrase—and then move on without explanation.

Barack Obama and Rev. Wright

By now I'm sure you've heard all of the outrage over Obama's pastor's "God damn America" sermon. Although many seem to think that the remark was over the line, I am reminded of the following "fabled damned of nations" quote:

I say of all this tremendous and dominant play of solely materialistic bearings upon current life in the United States, with the results as already seen, accumulating, and reaching far into the future, that they must either be confronted and met by at least an equally subtle and tremendous force-infusion for purposes of spiritualization, for the pure conscience, for genuine esthetics, and for absolute and primal manliness and womanliness--or else our modern civilization, with all its improvements, is in vain, and we are on the road to a destiny, a status, equivalent, in its real world, to that of the fabled damned.

Walt Whitman - Democratic Vistas, 1871

(For the immediate context, go to http://www.fullbooks.com/Complete-Prose-Works5.html and for the full text for his essay go to http://www.fullbooks.com/Complete-Prose-Works4.html) .

Is it fair, or not, to assert that America, with all of its blessings, should be judged harshly when it fails to extend those blessings to others?

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48)

Jesus harshest criticisms are always for those who should have known better, frequently Pharisees, but also notably stewards, the caretakers or managers of a master's estate. I read parables like Luke 12:42-48, and the social justice aspect of the parable is clear: those who hold the power will be held accountable for how they used, or misused, the power delegated by the master.

Comments?

Gifts of Grace: Give an Inch, Take an Inch

This is the 8th sermon in a series on Ephesians. When we talk about gifts and grace, the tendency is to idealize harmony—to assume that Christian community is a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit that “just happens” then the Spirit moves. The reality is frequently very different. The harmony and unity that we think should be the hallmarks of Christian community are often hard work and heavy lifting. Peace is often preceded by conflict. Unity is often preceded by discord. The tensions can be internal, between only a couple of members of the community, or rampant throughout the community.

Peace and unity do not come through masking problems; rather they come through identifying problems, dealing with them, and becoming reconciled to one another.

Ephesians 4:1-6

Commentary

v1 This is the second time in the letter where Paul refers to himself as a prisoner (see also Eph 3:1). The word prisoner is part of the word group from the verb desmeo, meaning to tie up. There is a pun at work here that will be picked up again in v3. A prisoner for the Lord is not just in prison due to willingness to be a martyr for God; a prisoner for the Lord is also one who is willing to be have life & liberty tied up, or constrained by God, in the service of God.

What is at stake here is one’s recognition of the sovereignty of God. Are we, like Paul, willing to be prisoners for the Lord—not just suffering for him, but also being willing to be bound to that time, that place, that person to which he has called us?

v2 Be patient. The word used here is a compound word made up of the words for long/far and incense. Since incense is symbol of and vehicle for prayer, the kind of response to problems being extolled here is an attitude that drives one to continual prayer over a long period of time.

We live at a frantic pace. We buy ever more powerful microwave ovens so that we can heat our foods ever more quickly. “Simmer” is too agonizingly slow. We want to zap our dinner and get on with the enjoyment of eating it. With our preoccupation for instant results, counting to 10 sounds like the pinnacle of patience. The kind of patience being extolled here might be more like counting to 1,000,000 ... and praying all along the way.

v3 Make every effort. There is a sense of urgency here as well as the word can also be translated “make haste.”

Unity. Literally the word here is oneness.

Bond of peace. This is the key phrase in the entire passage. The word for bond is a compound word made up of the words with and tied up. Here we pick up the wordplay from v1. If we are a prisoner, then we are part of a chain gang. If we are a prisoner for God, then we are tied to the people with whom God has placed us.

The Greek metaphysical notion of a bond is crucial here. A bond is a third entity, joining two other objects together to form a new thing—think of a weld joining two pieces of metal together to form a tool, or a biscuit & glue joining two pieces of wood together to form a piece of furniture.

v4-6 In Greek metaphysics, the highest form of beauty for a bond was to join the 3 entities (the two parts, plus the bond itself) into a single new object with no seams, no boundaries, no indication where one object ended and the other objects began—truly making a new creation.In the bond of peace, we are the parts, the bond is the Spirit of peace, and what is created is a new community in the Spirit.

Application

Al Pacino in the movie Any Given Sunday, plays a football coach who gives his team a pep talk, saying, in part:

We can fight our way back into the light, we can climb out of hell, one inch at a time ... Life is a game of inches, so is football ... The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second ... When we add up all those inches it will make the [sic] difference between winning and losing, between living and dying ... It is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. I know if I am going to have any life anymore, it’s because I’m still willing to fight and die for that inch. Because that’s what living is: the six inches in front of your face ...

Unity comes not through denial of conflict; rather, it comes through persevering through conflict and taking on an attitude of humility, even meekness, in the midst of conflict. The conflicts rarely come in great battles; rather, they usually come in skirmishes that happen every day. The conflicts rarely come in great changes that happen overnight; rather, they usually come in small increments—inches really—that add up over time. Because that’s what living is: the next inch in front of your face.

The conflicts may be internal: where do you need to hold your tongue, or stay the course for another hour, or resist that temptation one more time? The conflicts may be external: whom do you need to encourage, or forgive, or ask forgiveness from?

The conflicts may involve giving an inch—the Bible calls it dying to self—getting out of the way of another, or letting another advance at our expense. The conflicts may involve taking an inch—the Koran calls it the greater jihad, the jihad of the soul—becoming complete, as our Father in heaven is complete (Matt. 5:48).

In the conflict, we admit our weakness; we admit our need for the Spirit of Christ to work in our lives. We draw near to God and let God draw near to us (James 4:8). In the conflict, God’s Spirit is the bond—the metaphysical glue that joins us one to another—that changes us from a rag-tag collection of individuals into a new creation under God: a community.

Sports teams call it team spirit; the Marines call it esprit de corps; Christians call it koinonia. We know it when we see it, as the community has a oneness, a life of its own.

Points to Ponder

Unity does not mean that we all have to be alike—cookie-cutter copies of each other. Unity does not mean that we have to walk, talk, and act the same. Paul’s main metaphor for Christian community is a body (1 Cor. 12:14-27) where diversity within the body is part of God’s design. Rather, unity with diversity requires that we are willing to struggle to gain an inch for our Christian brothers, to give an inch of ours to our Christian sisters, as much as we are willing to fight for our own. We struggle for the inch all the while knowing that the other is distinct and different in their walk, their gifts, and the outworking of their faith.

Preacher Fred Craddock, in an address to ministers, once said:

To give my life for Christ appears glorious. To pour myself out for others … to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom—I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l,000 bill and laying it on the table—‘Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’ But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $l,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ‘Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.

What would Craddock think of Al Pacino’s speech as a metaphor of unity?

End Notes

1 - Counting to a million non-stop at one number per second would take 277.8 hours, or about 11.5 days if one never took a break. How does that change our sense of patience?

Gifts of Grace: Filled Beyond Measure

Evangelical and charismatic theology emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Our interaction with God’s Spirit is variously described as being filled with the Spirit, being indwelt by the Spirit, and having the fruit of the Spirit. We tend to throw these descriptions around indiscriminately and they actually have very specific meanings. The point, rather, is this:

What is the point of the Holy Spirit in you?

When do you know the Holy Spirit is in you? Does the Holy Spirit come and go? Is the Holy Spirit only at work in Christians? (Wouldn’t non-Christians see that as being a little exclusivist?) Can you turn the Holy Spirit off and on?

So what is the point of the Holy Spirit in you?

Ephesians 3

Commentary

“For this reason …” is a tipoff to check the context. Go back to v1 and what do you read? “For this reason …” again! Near the end of chapter two, Paul proclaims that Jewish and non-Jewish Christians are to be united in Christ. In chapter 3 Paul has said, “for this reason” he is happy to be part of the divine insurgency working to bring Jews and Gentiles together in Christ. Being a prisoner, now Paul prays for the sake of those he serves. v16-19 is Paul’s intercessory prayer, and v20-21 is a closing doxology.

Paul’s intercession has three main points: strength (v16), comprehension (v18, literally “power to grasp”), and certitude (v19, literally “power to know”). Through these will come the fullness of God.

Strength. Paul’s request is that the Ephesians might be strengthened. Elsewhere Paul repeatedly speaks of the outer person wasting away even as the inner person is strengthened (2 Cor. 4:16-18). What is the desire of your inner person? It is really all that superficial stuff and the daily dramas?

Consider the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:18-24). Without roots, the gospel is received with joy, but believer withers when trouble comes. Likewise here, joy in the Spirit is not enough, not the point. John Calvin says in his commentary on this verse, “It is a mistake to imagine that the Spirit can be obtained without obtaining Christ; and it is equally foolish and absurd to dream that we can receive Christ without the Spirit.” The presence of Christ gives us roots to endure the trials.

Comprehension. Paul claims that the only way that we can truly grasp the love of Christ is through the Spirit. In our human pettiness, we misunderstand God’s love for us, but the Spirit allows us to understand the spiritual truths of the love of Christ. What are the limits of the love of Christ? If you say there are none, then why do you act as it there are?

When we understand how Christ loves us, the circumstances of our petty trials change, and they lose their power to frighten us.

Certitude. Beyond knowledge there is belief that changes how we act. Consider when you have been in love. Love changed how you acted—but you couldn’t prove that you loved or were loved. When the love of Christ touches us, our place in the world changes, and we are healed. Where do you fear & what will change when the fear is gone?

Points to Ponder

If the fullness of God is power to do and not a feeling, where are you been waiting for a feeling instead of doing?