WALKING: OUR LIFE IN THE WORLD
Ephesians 4:1-16
Introduction:
It was said of Alexander the Great, one night
during a campaign, he couldn't sleep and left his tent to walk around the
campgrounds. As he was walking he came across a soldier asleep on guard duty a serious
offense. The penalty for falling asleep on guard duty was, in some cases,
instant death. The soldier began to wake up as Alexander the Great approached
him. Recognizing who was standing in front of him, the young man feared for his
life. "Do you know what the penalty is for falling asleep on guard duty? “Alexander the Great asked the soldier. "Yes,
sir," the soldier responded in a quivering voice. "Soldier, what's
your name?" Demanded
Alexander the Great. "Alexander, sir. “Alexander the great asked again:
"What is your name?" "My name is Alexander, sir," the
soldier repeated. A third time and more loudly Alexander the Great asked,
"What is your name?" The soldier meekly said, "My name is
Alexander, sir." Alexander the Great then looked the young soldier
straight in the eye. "Soldier," he said with intensity, "either
change your name or change your conduct."[1]
Similarly,
some who call themselves Christians should either change their name or their
conduct. It is not just enough to call ourselves Christians but are we living a
life worthy of our calling? Are we walking the walk we talk? Last week we began
discovering a threefold process of Christian maturity based on the book “Sit
Walk Stand” by Watchman Nee. We looked at the first word, “SIT” which talks
about our restful position in Christ. Our Christian
experience does not begin with walking, but with sitting. Every time we reverse
the divine order, the result is disaster. Our sitting with Christ should be followed
by our walking. Sitting describes our position in the heavenlies. Walking is
the practical outworking of that heavenly position here on earth.
In love we
have been adopted as his sons (1:5). We have redemption through his blood and
we have the forgiveness of sins (1:7) Rich grace has been lavished on us (1:8)
We were chosen to be for the praise of his glory ((1:12) We were included in
Christ, and were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit (1:13). After
telling us all that Paul back tracks in Chapter 2 and reminds us that we were
terribly lost and spiritually dead (2:1).
Just like
everybody else you lived just the way you pleased. You obeyed Satan and were
doomed for destruction. That’s where God’s amazing grace caught hold of us and
made us come alive spiritually. The father blended our life together with his
beloved son in ways that we don’t fully understand no. In ages to come God will
showcase his incomparable grace and kindness through us. In the grandeur scheme of things as Gentile
believers we were before we knew Christ, were separated from Christ, excluded
from citizenship in Israel, foreigners to the covenants of promise, without
hope and without God in the world.
This
morning let’s look at what Ephesians have to say to us about walking? Eph 4:1-2, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you
to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.”
Let’s break these two verses. “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you.”
The word “therefore” marks the transition from doctrine to duty, principle to
practice, belief to behavior.
Everything
from this point on is about what we should do and how we should live based on
the principles of chapters 1-3. Paul again references here his status as, “a
prisoner of the Lord.” By doing so he reminded Ephesian believers that the
faithful Christian walk can be costly. Paul had paid the price by being
imprisoned for obeying his call. So, he has the right to call us to obey our
call, even if it means imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. The later part
of the verse reads, “urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to
which you have been called,”
I. WALKING TO MAKE JESUS “PROUD”
In the letter of Ephesians, the word
“Walk” is used, eight times. It has two key meanings “to walk around,”
Figuratively speaking it means, “to conduct oneself; or to order one’s behavior.
It also means “Progress.” “Walk” is frequently used in the NT to refer to daily
conduct. “Worthy” has the idea of living to match one’s position in Christ. In
other words, we behave our conduct ourselves in a certain way to make Jesus
proud. Is it possible to make Jesus proud?
I believe it is possible, when we
walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called. There are
a whole host of people who have gone before us, the writer of Hebrews calls
them, “great cloud of witnesses.” During their time on earth they walked in a
manner worthy of their calling. They did not waver in their faith, they did not
give up their hope in the promises of God and they followed God in obedience,
even unto death.
Their names were recorded in Hebrews
11th chapter. Hebrews 11:13-16, “All these people were still living
by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only
saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners
and strangers on earth…Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God...” These
men and women though they were citizens of the heavenly kingdom lived on earth
like foreigners and strangers. They often went against the popular culture by holding
on to their heavenly calling.
They did not cave in under pressure
but did what was right in the eyes of God through their excellent behavior. They
lived their lives in a manner worthy of their calling. So, God was proud of
them. Let’s ask ourselves these questions, how is my conduct today, is it appalling
or pleasing to God? Is Jesus pleased or ashamed of my behavior?
Earlier we noted that we are a
heavenly people, but it doesn’t mean that all we do is to sit gather in
fellowship of other believers, sing praises, read scriptures and wait
expectantly for the time to come to go to heaven. If that’s all what we do then
our heavenly calling is meaningless. In chapter 4, we are given an opportunity to
work out our heavenly calling in the context of our
Churches, homes,
offices, shops, schools, colleges, communities and government. That is what walking
or behaving to make Jesus proud all about.
Coming back to our passage, Eph
4:1-2, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner
worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing
with one another in love.” Paul is
earnestly persuading the believers to walk in a manner worthy of their heavenly
calling. He shows them how to do so practically by giving a command and four
qualifications. First the command, “bearing with one another in love.” Or Putting
up with one another in love.
II. PUTTING UP WITH ONE ANOTHER (Charlie brown & Lucy)
During our Bible study, when we came
to this verse someone said, Paul is asking us to do something impossible, is
that really impossible? Yes, to put up with one another is not easy but it is
not entirely impossible, if so Jesus would not have commanded us to do so. To
put up with one another implies that in the family of God we should expect to
irritate and annoy one another at times. As long as we live on this earth we
cannot escape annoying people, it is possible that we will rub one another the wrong
way, including in a place like Hope church.
Therefore, our goal is not to get
people to stop being annoying but to work on ourselves so that we can learn to put
up with one another. Paul lays out four qualifications to help us in this
process of growth, and they are: humility, gentleness, patience, and love.” By
humility we respect people as they are made in the image of God. With patience
we accept those who may annoy us, and out of love, we may sometimes suffer for
the sake of others.
We exercise gentleness, following in
the footsteps of our King Jesus who said, “learn
from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls.” Matthew 11:29. We are living in a society where
aggressiveness, and brashness is considered as virtues whereas humility and
gentleness is considered as weakness. In the Kingdom of God, it is the
opposite, we are called to behave differently than the rest of the world.
I am sure you may have heard about
or met some truly humble and gentle people, who were not necessarily week by
any standards. Growing up in India I was deeply
impressed by the life of Mahatma Gandhi, through his humble, gentle and
nonviolent ways without firing a single bullet brought the entire British
empire to its knees, whereby he brought freedom to India.
He is affectionately called, “The
Great soul.” Mahatma Gandhi held the sermon on the mount with great respect. Mahatma
Gandhi said of it, “Christ’s Sermon on the Mount fills me with bliss even
today. Its sweet verses have even today the power to quench my agony of soul.” He also believed that Indians could delve
very deeply into its meaning: “The Sermon on the Mount left a deep impression
on my mind when I read it. I do believe with you that the real meaning of the
teachings of Jesus will be delivered from India.”[2] There is
so much violence and hatred in this world. The need of the hour is to find
people who are gentle and gracious. Could we, who call ourselves Christians,
with a heavenly calling step up and fill this need?
More can be said about how to behave
in manner worthy of our calling. For today let’s head the command that is
coming to us through the apostle Paul and learn to put up with one another in
love. How do we practically do that? By growing in humility, gentleness,
patience and love, by modeling after Jesus our King and desiring the fruit of
the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians may have all the
right doctrine, but live contradicting lives. Similarly, you may know all about
chapters 1 to 3 of Ephesians, but how much of what you know do you put into
practice on a day to day basis? For now, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten
our hearts so that we might see how our behavior has been, and where we need to
change. May the Lord continue to work in all of us by the power of His Holy
Spirit, cultivating humility, gentleness, patience and love so that we may live
in manner worthy of our calling. Amen!
[1] https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/114990-change-your-name-or-change-your-conduct
[2] https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/sermon-mount-hindu-reading-part-1
