Ephesians 4:1-6 * September 10, 2006 * Unity Sunday * Pastor Pagels

In the name of the One who has made us one, dear friends:

Do you know who hates this day? I’m not talking about the Thursday night people who had to rearrange their schedules to attend church on the weekend. And I’m not talking about the 8:00 AM worshippers who needed to come a little later or the 10:30 AM worshippers who needed to get going a little earlier this morning.

Do you know who really hates this day? The devil hates this day. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has the second Sunday in September marked with a big black “X” on his calendar. If the devil dreads a singing Christian, how do you think he feels about it when almost 700 Christians come together in one place to sing and pray and praise God? He can’t stand it, and he will do everything in his power to disrupt and, if possible, destroy our unity.

That is precisely what makes this day so important. As children of God we need to constantly be built up and build up each other. As brothers and sisters in Christ we need to appreciate and protect the unity we enjoy.

In our sermon text for today the apostle Paul shared a similar message with a group of Christians living in Ephesus. He wanted them to cherish their faith. He wanted them to live their faith. And his words of encouragement provide us with a timely (and timeless) reminder as we celebrate our seventh annual Unity Sunday…

KEEP IT UP!

I. Preserve your unity (1-3)

II. Praise the Trinity (4-6)

Ephesus was considered a first class city in the Roman Empire. It was an international trade center and the home of the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Paul made this bustling metropolis the home base for his mission work in Asia Minor, and the Lord blessed his efforts.

Paul spent the better part of three years preaching and teaching in the city (Acts 19:10). In spite of strong opposition the church blossomed and grew and even gave birth to a number of daughter congregations.

But when Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus several years later something had changed. There was no immediate threat to the congregation. Paul didn’t warn the people about any particular false teachers or false teachings. He wrote to them because he was concerned. He was concerned that their initial excitement had worn off and that the devil would see this as an opportunity to stir up trouble.

And so he wrote: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (1). With the beginning of this chapter Paul moves from the doctrinal to the practical. He had assured the Ephesians that God had chosen them to be his own before the creation of the world (1:4). He had reminded them that they were saved only and entirely by God’s grace (2:8).

And he wanted them to show their appreciation. Paul encouraged the Ephesians to thank God by living up to their high calling. He encouraged the Jews and Gentiles that made up the congregation to be “imitators of God” (5:1). And he gave them some specific examples to show how they could put their faith into practice.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (2). Paul could have chosen any number of different ways for the Christians in Ephesus to let their lights shine, but perhaps his choices reveal some underlying issues in the congregation.

Humility. Gentleness. Patience. Bearing with one another in love. All of these qualities are important for maintaining positive personal relationships. So what was the problem? Were the Jewish Christians insisting (maybe even demanding) that things had to be done a certain way? Were the Gentile Christians growing impatient with their Jewish brothers and sisters who were having a hard time giving up their time-honored (but no longer commanded) traditions? Was the growing church experiencing growing pains? Was their loving growing cold? Did they dwell on their differences, and in the process lose sight of what they had in common?

Paul doesn’t single out any specific issues, but he does bring the conversation back to the main issue: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (3). Paul wanted the Christians in Ephesus to understand that they had something special. They were one. They were united in faith by the Spirit. They were linked together by the bond of peace, the true and lasting peace that comes only through Jesus. They couldn’t do anything themselves to establish this bond, but by their words and actions and attitudes they could damage it. That is why Paul encouraged them to do everything in their power to preserve their unity.

This is a fitting text for Unity Sunday, and not just because it has the word “unity” in it. Even though Paul was addressing Christians thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away, I believe that Paul has an important message to share with us today.

As I mentioned before, this is our seventh Unity Sunday. I can remember the first Unity Sunday held at Wisconsin Lutheran High School in 2000. At that time Unity Sunday was something new and different and exciting. I can remember the first Unity Sunday held here at St. John’s in 2003. That also was an exciting day, the day we dedicated our new educational facility.

A few years have passed since then. The new school isn’t quite as new. Some of the initial excitement has worn off, and the devil can sense it. And as soon as we let our guard down, he attacks. Instead of giving thanks for the many blessings we have, he wants us to fixate on the few things we don’t have. Instead of bearing with one another, he wants us to find fault with each other. Instead of giving thanks for our unity, he wants to create an atmosphere of disharmony.

And sometimes, far too many times, Satan succeeds. We are proud, not humble. We are harsh, not gentle. Patience is a virtue that is not always so easy to find in our church or in ourselves. And when Satan divides us, we fall. We fall into sin, and we fall farther and farther away from God.

So if the Ephesians had such a hard time getting along with each other, if a group of Christians like ourselves has to struggle mightily to keep it together, why should we have a Unity Sunday? Because the unity that Paul encourages us to preserve is the unity that the Lord himself provides. And for that precious gift, for the blessing of our Christian unity, we praise the Trinity.

To emphasize the concept of unity, Paul repeats the word, “one,” seven times in three verses. And in each of these verses, he highlights the unifying work of a different person in the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit is the first to get his due: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called” (4). Paul begins with a comparison that he develops more fully in other epistles (e.g. Romans 12). The members of the church are like the parts of the body. Every part is different. Every part is important. But no matter how many parts there are they all come together to form one body.

This body of believers owes its existence to the one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the one who creates spiritual life and gives us the hope of eternal life. No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except through him (I Corinthians 12:3). Our lives have meaning and purpose because of him. For the miracle of faith he has worked in our hearts, for the amazing things he still does in our lives, we thank and praise him.

But the Spirit is not the only One who is worthy of praise. Without hesitation Paul moves on to God the Son: “—one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (5). Many of the Ephesian Christians had come out of pagan backgrounds. They had a smorgasbord of gods and goddesses to choose from, and then Paul came along with a radically different message:

“There is only one God. There is only one Lord. His name is Jesus. You don’t have to appease him. You don’t have to offer sacrifices to him…because he sacrificed himself for you. He is the way to heaven. He is the one and only way to heaven. Believe in him, and you will live forever.”

As I look out at this mass of Christianity, I can see all kinds of different people with different educational backgrounds. Some have phds. Some have master’s degrees. Others are still working toward their high school diploma. But there is one certificate we share. There is one mark of distinction almost all of us have in common. We are baptized. Our sins have been washed away. Our hearts have been made pure. Our Lord looks at us and says: “You belong to me.”

Normally we describe the Trinity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but in this text Paul saves the first person in the Trinity for last: “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (6). Our God is not a stern judge who is just waiting to punish us when we slip up. Our God is not a gray-bearded grandpa who is willing to let us get away with anything either.

Our God is our Father. He loves us. He cares for us. He is there when we need to be lifted up. He’s there when we need to be knocked down. He is a constant presence in our lives, watching over us and working through us and living in us.

When we look at everything our triune God has done for us, how he knit us together in our mother’s womb, how he suffered and died on the cross to save us from our sins, how he has made us one with Him and one with each other, we need to respond. And so we praise him.

We praise the Triune God today as we celebrate another Unity Sunday. We praise him with hymns and prayers and songs of praise. We give him glory when we love each other, when we forgive each other, when we bear with one another in love, when we live up to the high calling we have received.

I have this picture of the devil in my mind right about now. He is sitting on the ground with his arms crossed. There is a nasty scowl on his face because he is angry. He is furious because he knows what is going on in this gymnasium this morning, and he is powerless to stop it.

I don’t want you to feel sorry for him. You don’t have to apologize because you are a part of this gathering today. In fact, this is what I want you to do. I want you to do what the apostle Paul encouraged the Christians in Ephesus to do.

Keep it up! As brothers and sisters in Christ, preserve your unity. And as blood bought children of the one true God, praise the Trinity. Amen.