H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
23 July 2006
US OR THEM?
Ephesians 2:11-22; 4:1-6
Sometimes you hear a story that just gets stuck in your head. A couple of years ago I read about a small
country church whose building burned to the ground late one night. The authorities suspected arson, so they
began investigating. In the end, the preacher tearfully confessed to torching his own church.
“Why would you do that?” the police asked him.
He said, “My congregation is so divided, there are so many conflicts and disagreements, I thought maybe
if we had to rebuild the church it would pull us back together and heal our divisions.”
Feuds and squabbles have a long history in the church. The Letter to the Ephesians addresses what may
have been the first of those feuds, the conflict between Christians with a Jewish background, and Christians
with a Gentile background. This is the tension that lurks in the background of the Letter to the Ephesians. In
fact, the letter is a brief manual on how Christians ought to get along with each other—and why.
Actually the why part comes first. The first half of the letter consists of theology, describing how the cross
of Christ has broken down the old dividing walls. The second half of the letter applies that belief to everyday
life. So if we skip ahead, we find practice and theology mingling. “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you
to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with
patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3 NRSV)
- Live a life worthy of your calling. We are saved by grace, but the truly saved will want to live up to what
God has done for us. That can take many shapes, but here the issue is community life in the church. If
God has saved a wretched sinner you, then live up your salvation in the way you deal with other
wretched sinners.
- Live with all humility. Being humble was not a virtue in Greco-Roman culture. Christians pioneered the
idea that humbleness might be a good thing. In fact, that conclusion is unavoidable if we recall how
Christ emptied himself, took the form of a servant, and offered himself up on the cross. The church is
a community where we practice thinking at least as highly of the needs of others as we do of our own
needs.
- Live with all gentleness. The Greek word used for “gentle” here actually means domesticated. A gentle
animal was a beast under control. Thus, our passions and reactions are tamed by Christ, and we live
under the gentle control of God.
- Live with patience. William Barclay offers a lovely definition of this particular Greek word. He says it
means bearing with the unpleasantness of other people without becoming unpleasant.
- Bear with one another in love. Love is the keystone here. Love makes possible the other things this
passage talks about, things like “the unity of the Spirit” and “the bond of peace.”
William Willimon is a Methodist preacher and college chaplain. He filled the pulpit one Sunday for a
vacationing minister. Afterwards he was chatting with folks at the door, and one fellow said to him, “I guess
that was pretty good sermon. I’m not sure because it was over my head.” Willimon started to apologize, but
the fellow said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been a member of this church for nearly twenty years and I never
understand the sermons. This is a university church. Half the people in the pews are professors and Ph.D.s,
and I never finished high school.” Willimon said, “Why are you here?” The guy said, “I’m here because we’re a
family in this church. We take care of each other. Even though I don’t fit in here, I’m still welcome. I may not
understand theology, but I understand love. And that’s why I’m here.”
Only love can keep the peace in the church, not love the emotion, but love the deed, love the decision,
love that shows itself in patience, in humility, in making allowances. In the church, maybe we know something
that the world hasn’t figured out yet. We do not love other people because of who they are; we love other
people because of who we are! And who are we? The people of Christ, called to live and love as Christ lived
and loved.
A couple of thousand years later, we still find stuff to fight about. In his book, Gentle Thunder, popular
writer Max Lucado tells a tongue-in-cheek story on the subject. Lucado says, “One day on a trip I met a
stranger who was carrying a Bible. Are you a believer?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said with conviction.
“Virgin birth?” I asked.
“I accept it.”
“Deity of Jesus?”
“No doubt.”
“Death of Christ on the cross?”
“He died for all people.”
Could it be that I was face to face with a Christian? Perhaps. Nonetheless, I continued my checklist.
“Status of humanity.”
“Sinners in need of grace.”
“Definition of grace.”
“God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.”
“Return of Christ?”
“Imminent.”
“Bible?”
“Inspired.”
“The church?”
“The Body of Christ.”
I started getting excited. “Conservative or liberal?”
He was getting interested, too. “Conservative.”
My heart began to beat faster.
“Heritage?”
“Southern Congregationalist Holy Son of God Dispensationalist Triune Convention.”
That was mine!
“What branch?”
“Pre-millennial, post-tribulation, non-charismatic, King James, one-cup communion.”
My eyes misted. I had only one other question.
“Is your pulpit wooden or fiberglass?”
“Fiberglass,” he responded.
I withdrew my hand and stiffened my neck.
“Heretic!” I said and walked away.
The interesting thing about the Ephesian letter is that nowhere in here do you get the feeling that
Christians are always going to agree about things like wood vs. fiberglass, or how many services to schedule
each Sunday, or what kind of songs to sing, or where to set the thermostat. I doubt if you could use this letter
to argue that Christians should always agree. As I read church history, Christianity is usually healthier when
there are some disagreements boiling and bubbling. The heart of this letter is the conviction that church
disagreements ought not to become church divisions.
Whenever we disagree, and on whatever topic, Christians do so with love, patience, humbleness, and
mutual respect. We make a genuine and mighty effort to believe that the motives of other people are every bit
as honest and sincere as our own. We are open to the possibility that we may learn something from other
perspectives, even if it doesn’t change our minds. We maintain our conviction that we are all working to build
up the church, even if we differ on how to do that.
We are, after all, a new humanity, citizens of the commonwealth of heaven, members of the family of God,
bricks and timbers in the holy Temple of the Lord. The old dividing walls of mistrust and blame have been
broken down by the cross of Christ. Through the blood of Christ, we are reconciled not only to God, but we are
also reconciled to each other. Which means that our unity does not depend on sharing one opinion. Instead,
we are family because we have each of us been to the water, confessing one hope of salvation, sharing one
baptism into one Lord in the power of one Spirit.
This is who we are called to be, and the church is at its best when we refuse to let walls or fences grow up
between us. The church is strongest, the church gives its best witness, when you and I are really trying—in
our words, our actions, our shared life together—really trying to lead lives that are worthy of our calling in
Christ. That’s when beliefs take on flesh and abstract theology becomes visible reality.
Soli Deo Gloria!