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.
- Hebrews 13:8, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Although the words we just read were originally written to the Ephesian Christians of the 1st Century, these words – like all of Scripture – transcend the lines of time and speak just as effectively to us some 20 centuries later. And what we have before us is some intensely practical counsel on why and how we are to live our lives as Christians.
As you probably picked up from the opening verse of our text, when the Apostle Paul wrote these words he was in prison. His "crime" was that he had been faithful in carrying out his role as a Christian missionary. Faithfulness to his calling resulted in imprison-ment – and in these words he calls for faithfulness in us as he, by divine inspiration, urges us as believers to
LIVE UP TO OUR CALLING
Paul’s words of encouragement to us today can be summarized in three main points, which we’d like to expand upon:
1. Remember what our calling is.
2. Recognize our responsibilities in view of this call.
3. Rejoice in our unity as Christians.
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Paul begins by talking about our "calling." What does he mean by this? And what is it that we are "called" to be?
Here is the answer: At the time the Holy Spirit worked faith in our hearts, we were called to be Christians. And the simple definition of a Christian is a believer in and a follower of Jesus Christ…
A Christian is one who recognizes his or her imperfections before a holy God, acknowledges and confesses this sinfulness, and knows that eternal salvation lies outside of him or herself.
A Christian is one who trusts that eternal life comes not by what we do for God, but by what God has done for us through the perfect life and death of Jesus Christ as our substitute; a salvation that was proven to be genuine by His glorious resurrection from the dead three days after His crucifixion.
Also presumed in the idea that we have been called to be Christians is the understanding that this is not something which we initiated. God – out of His limitless storehouse of pure grace – is the One who made the move. He is the One who called us to be His own and called us to faith in Christ, just as Jesus once told us His disciples: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you."
That God has called us to be His own is the most important relationship any one of us will ever enter into. To have the Christian faith with all it means for here and the hereafter is by far our greatest possession. Consequently, Paul urges us to live a life "worthy of the calling we have received…"
The word translated "worthy" is interesting. The original Greek word is axios, which provides the root for the English term "axiom," meaning a worthy statement. The original idea behind the word is "worthy" in the sense of "having equal weight." In other words, where faith is in one pan of the scale, God looks for Christian conduct in the other.
What Paul is telling us, then, is that a certain kind of behavior and life ought to be expected from one who has been called to be a Christian. Or to put it simply, Children of God are to act like Children of God. And we hasten to add that this is not perceived as some sort of problem or legalistic burden for the believer. As believers reflect on the good news of Jesus and stay close to the Word of God, the Christian life simply happens.
Nevertheless, in the spirit of evangelical exhortation Paul now goes on to give us practical examples of what this conduct is to be. We’ll note that he does not provide us with an exhaustive list, but rather basic items and attitudes that are to be found in the Christian life. We’ll also note that – going back to the meaning of the word "worthy" – these attitudes are not just what God would like to see in us, but rather the responsibilities of those who are worthy of the high calling of Christians. In the next verse, then, Paul tells us to recognize our responsibilities…
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Let’s take a look at this list one by one. To be "humble" in the Biblical sense means to have a correct understanding of our place before God. The humble person recognizes how much God has done for him or her and is filled with gratitude. An Arabian proverb says the plant laden with the most fruit bows itself lowest to the ground. The same can be said of the believer. The more we understand what we’ve been given, the more we humbly and gratefully bow down before our gracious God.
The Apostle Paul himself is a good example of Christian humility. Paul is and always will be considered the premier Christian missionary; one whom the Lord used mightily for His kingdom. Paul was given special visions and revelations by God that others weren’t. He was even given the occasional ability to perform miracles.
And yet, toward the very end of his life, when he was looking for words to describe himself to his young colleague Timothy, Paul called himself "the chief of sinners." Was he simply engaging in false modesty? Did he say that as a set-up line so Timothy might respond by saying, "Oh come on, Paul, you’re not that bad"?
I don’t think so. He made that claim about himself because Paul was a truly humble man. He recognized his basic unworthiness before a holy God and rejoiced in the fact that God would and did save a sinner such as himself…
And while the believer is "humble" before God, we are also to be "gentle" before our fellow man and our fellow Christian. Implied in the word "gentle" is willing, voluntarily submissiveness. In other words, putting others ahead of ourselves and not always demanding our rights.
Let us recognize that these virtues are not natural qualities, but qualities of renewed, reborn Children of God. In our world (which seems to be getting increasingly rude, demanding and promoting an "in your face" mentality) things like humility and gentleness are often seen as signs of weakness or softness. To God, however, they are virtues. As well as our responsibilities as Christians who are living out our lives before a watching world…
Along with humility and gentleness, the Christian is to be "patient." The King James Version of the Bible translates this with the word "longsuffering." Actually, there are two Greek words for patience. One means patience toward things, the other means patience toward other people. It is patience toward people that is referred to here.
Whether toward a stranger, acquaintance or family member, patience is a virtue, and is to be practiced. Equally important – odd as it may sound – is exercising patience before God. We must recognize that God in His wisdom operates and orchestrates our lives according to His divine timetable. We must guard ourselves against becoming impatient with God if things don’t happen as quickly as we’d like them too, and we must always understand that our Heavenly Father knows best…
Hand in hand with patience is the next attitude: "Bearing with one another in love." One modern Bible translation translates this: "Put up with one another’s faults." The idea behind this is the recognition that individuals are indeed individuals, each with his or her own set of faults, flaws, habits and idiosyncrasies.
"Bear with one another" means don’t be so critical of others if they don’t happen to conform to our personal way of thinking or doing things. Have you ever noticed how we often set ourselves up as the ideal or standard of how things should be done or considered? After hearing someone express the same opinion that we have on a matter, ever hear yourself saying, "You know, I like that person. He/she’s got a good head on their shoulders." Why? Because they agree with us.
How many ill feelings, tense situations and arguments could be avoided if this principle was practiced and everyone "put up with one another IN LOVE." "Love" is the key. Love, meaning recognizing that as Christ loved us faults and all, we are to love others…
Humility toward God, patience and forbearance toward others – Paul speaks of these as being our responsibilities and the marks of the Christian living a life worthy of his or her calling. And when they are practiced, the result is peace and unity. This is the final area Paul addresses: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called –one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
Paul talks about the unity we have as believers and the source of our unity. Note that the numeral "one" is used seven times. "Unity" denotes the bond of faith that holds us together. It is a bond that far transcends the earthly tie of family or nationality or common interest. Paul is talking about the unity we have in knowing Jesus Christ and placing ourselves under God’s verbally inspired Word. It is not a unity that we sought out – Paul speaks of it as something that has been bestowed upon us. But it is something that can be lost. Therefore we are told to "make every effort" to keep. Why effort?
Because there is someone who would like nothing more than to break up the unity a group of Christians enjoy. That someone is Satan. One of his age-old tactics among Christians is to divide and conquer. When Satan can get a group to start focusing on their personal differences or opinions or likes and dislikes rather than their unity in Christ and in doctrine, he can do some real damage. The result: broken or fragmented congregations; shaken, damaged or even lost faith among individuals…
The Ephesian congregation that Paul was originally addressing was made up of Jews and Gentiles. Formerly these two groups didn’t get along at all. They saw things differently, did things differently, etc. Therefore Paul urges them to make efforts to focus on their unity in Christ, and not on their personal differences…
Because there are tremendous blessings in this unity. Unity in Christ and all of God’s Word gives us a sense of family, of closeness, of caring. Have you ever noticed how often family terms are used to describe believers? We speak of the "family of God," "children of God," and "brothers and sisters in Christ." Jesus teaches us to refer to God as our "Father." God chose those terms for a reason, for regardless of our backgrounds or our own personal stories, through Christ we are members of the same Christian family…
That’s a good enough reason to do what we’re planning to do three weeks from today when we celebrate our first Unity Sunday with a single service at Wisconsin Lutheran High School. The unity that Paul speaks about is something to be cherished, something to be enjoyed, something to find strength and consolation in. And on that high note, Paul brings our text for today to a close.
What have we learned? Paul wrote to the Ephesians and us regarding three things. He urges us to 1) remember our calling, 2) recognize our responsibilities to each other, and 3) rejoice in our unity.
May God grant us the strength and resolve to heed the encouragement of Paul, and, to the glory of God and the benefit of those around us always, willingly, live up to our high calling as Christians. Amen.