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Ephesians 4:1-16 (TNIV)
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
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 took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly region? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
John 13:1-5 (TNIV)
1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Luke 22:24-28 (TNIV)
24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials.
Resurrected LivingLiving in the wake of the resurrection, everything looks different! New insights! New understandings! An awesome picture of God, and a new message to share with the world! It is all of those things . . . but it is more. It is also a new life. A new way of being in the world that we not only talk about, but that we are invited to experience. It means not only receiving and sharing the amazing message of Jesus, it also means entering into a whole new way of life! Not one that is built around impersonal efficiency or pursuing competitive aspirations, but one that understands the gifts and the calling that God has given us as opportunities to serve and to bless others. While what we know, and how well we can do what we do are important, what matters the most who we have become, and are becoming. Sunday has come and gone, and what a message we have to share! But now Monday has come. What does this mean for us who live in the wake of the resurrection?
That is what Pastor Jon explores with us in this message. If you would like to listen to the sermon again, or perhaps for the first time, you can access our sermon library by clicking here.
One of many links to the "Picking up Butch" story - do a Google search and find more!
A Couple of Quotes:The verb "call" is the root of the Greek word for church, ekklesia . . . For the Greeks it was not a religious or cultic word. It simply meant assembly, a gathering of people, men and women, who have been called together . . . some have strapped this word to a chair and tried to etymologically torture a spiritual or theological meaning out of it. Our best scholars have advised us of the futility of such forced exegesis. No. It is an ordinary word taken out of ordinary life -- public meetings, celebrations, family reunions, whatever -- to refer to an assembly of people. That in itself seems to me to be significant . . . The useful thing the word does at its root keep us mindful that this assembly . . . is the community of the called -- who now have a calling. God's call and our calling fuse into church. Eugene Peterson, Practice Resurrection: a Conversation on Growing Up in Christ, 170.
The
only atmosphere congenial to . . . [the kind of personal, relational speech Paul uses in Ephesians 4] is a community in which love and peace are actively pursued. Which means that treating others in a depersonalizing way (not bearing with one another in love) violates the very nature of those who share the calling. And it means that treating others in a competitive way (not treating others as companions bound together in a covenant of peace) violates the "broken wall" conditions created by Christ that make the church church. . . . no matter how brilliantly and forcefully we preach the good news . . . and no matter how accurately and thoroughly we teach the truth of the kingdom . . . if we don't master [this personal, relational way of the being together] . . . the chances of growing to the "measure of the full stature of Christ" are dim. Eugene Peterson, Practice Resurrection: a Conversation on Growing Up in Christ, 175-6.
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