Ephesians 4:1-16<\/p>\n\n\n\n
August 5, 2012<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just spent the last 5 days at Youth Camp at Redwood Glen. Many of us have been to our American Baptist camp and conference center Redwood Glen and have come to believe in its mission. We can even look back at the times when we felt God\u2019s presence close to us when we were there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s call Redwood Glen because there are coastal redwoods, the tallest living species on Earth. They can exceed 300 feet in height, and may be 18-20 feet in diameter. The roots of a coastal redwood are very shallow, growing only four to six feet deep, but spread out from the tree as far as 125 feet. This isn\u2019t much support for a tall, heavy tree\u2014floodwaters can erode top layers of soil, exposing the roots and weakening a tree\u2019s support system. Heavy rains and strong winds can bring even the biggest giant crashing to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the roots of individual redwoods frequently grow intertwined with those of their neighbors. By \u201cholding hands\u201d underground, the roots form a network that allows the trees to withstand even great storms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides the redwood trees at Redwood Glen holding hands underground, after 5 days of singing together, eating together, praying together, reading the Bible together, taking a group picture together, and sharing the faith with each other, those who were at Youth Camp were holding hands by the end of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul\u2019s Call for Unity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Probably writing from a Roman prison, Paul wants believers in Ephesus to end the Jewish-Gentile division that was fracturing the church. He wants them living together for a purpose and a mission. He wants them to experience healthy interconnections; the same kind of interconnections that the youth and staff experienced last week at Youth Camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul was literally begging them to live a worthy life filled with humility, mutuality, gentleness, interdependence, and making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in peace. Paul was challenging our Western individualism and, verse by verse, he unfolds different aspects of how we are to be connected with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul\u2019s vision for the church is that we are all in one way or another, broken and therefore need to have humility. We should be gentle with one another because when was the last time you needed some grace? We all need forgiveness. We need to be patient because we\u2019ll be imperfect again. And we should bear up one another in love because God knows how much we need help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From this passage, Ephesians 4:1-16, we can see four elements of the kind of relationships a church should have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Quality of Relationships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul\u2019s concept of the church is not that of a physical building one goes to once or twice a week. Experiencing church isn\u2019t about the quantity of time spent at this church building, but it\u2019s about the quality of relationships nurtured in a purpose-built community. It\u2019s what we experience when we\u2019re engaged in relational connections, gathering around the Good News, sharing common beliefs and practices, and living our shared lives in grace and truth with and for one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever some of you hear that I just spent most of last week with youth at Youth Camp, you tend to express your condolences. Truthfully, participating in Youth Camp is a true blessing. Yes, I was away from home for only 4 nights this year and not in my own bed. I had to think about this sermon and get going on what I wanted to say before I even left for camp because once I am there, each day is about 20 hours long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But every youth and camp staff would say and if you were to think back when you were going to Youth Camp as a youth, it\u2019s a taste of what the church is\u2014interdependence. Trusting others. Being dependent on and depended upon. Making mistakes and seeking forgiveness. The quality of the relationships that we develop together is what the church is. Metaphorically, we were like coastal redwoods holding hands together and no storm can take us down\u2014not even when we had to delay the beginning of camp for 2 days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Unity of Relationships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When Paul was seeing the conflicts between the Jews and the Gentiles, he desires unity. In just three verses, the word \u201cone\u201d shows up seven times referring to an element of faith shared by those divided in this church (vv. 4-6). Paul wants singularity. He wants harmony through a shared identity. Knowing that the divisions that kept Jews and Gentiles away from each other means we can\u2019t be naive about unity like this. It doesn\u2019t come naturally, or easily. Paul says we must make every effort to maintain it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unity is like keeping a clean house. Just because you just cleaned your house, it\u2019s not going to remain cleaned forever. Life happens. The youth come home from camp with a whole suitcase of dirty and smelly clothes. So a clean house must be maintained and attended to\u2014on a regular basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our relationships are no different. As soon as you leave church today and go home to your respective homes and neighborhoods, you are going to experience a messy life again. Only you and God know how dirty our lives can be. Like maintaining a clean house, our relationships with each other will degrade unless they are regularly maintained. You might be vacuuming your house on Saturday but we come to church on Sunday to vacuum up all the dirt in our lives and in our relationships so that we would have a clean church community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Paul was thinking about cultural reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles, we can apply this appeal for unity to all forms of division in the church\u2014racial, gender, age, maturity gaps, differences in personality, worship preferences, etc. Just like the youth last week registered and chose to come to Youth Camp instead of staying home or going on a family vacation or going to summer school, we as a church choose unity\u2014which is not always natural. We are \u201cone body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I love the fact that we have Visal Sok as our new pastor\u2014we have never had a Cambodian American serve as a pastor at our church before. Last week at the talent show, Pastor Visal break danced. We are the only church around that has a pastor who break dances! Paul doesn\u2019t care if it doesn\u2019t seem natural. Unity is something you work at, even if it\u2019s sometimes unusual and unfamiliar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Purpose in Relationships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul tells us that not only are there quality and unity in our relationships, there is also a purpose in our relationships. The church is intended to be a body living out the mission and purpose of God in the world. But to get there God envisions ministers making more ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In verse 11, we see five ministries but the focus is on the result of these ministries. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are to encourage even greater ministry in and from the church. They are to equip, build up, come to faith, gain knowledge and mature to the measure like Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I were to ask you how we grow spiritually, I would probably receive a collection of answers addressing good preaching, devotional life, small group Bible study, and coming to worship on Sundays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if I were to ask most youth and college students, they will tell me about going on a mission trip. Our Youth Camp guest speaker, Mike Tam from Cornerstone Church in Seattle talked about missions and for your information, later this Fall, K. and Steven Ng will be going on another medical missions with Mike to Cambodia. We all know how mission leads to maturation. The fruit of service is spiritual growth. Next Sunday, Jon and Joyce Ng and the Missions Committee will have the first session on planning to send a mission team to northern Thailand and to begin a long-term relationship with a hill tribe village under the auspices of American Baptist missionaries Mike and Becky Mann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The youth would tell me that the purpose of their relationship with Christ is to lead someone to become a Christian. They\u2019ll share how their faith was stretched and deepened by feeding the homeless. Would you be open to the possibility that the relationships that you have with Jesus and at this church would mature if you went on missions next year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Security in Relationships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In verse 14, Paul was concerned about the disorienting influence of false doctrine, people\u2019s trickery, and craftiness in deceitful scheming. Now I know these things don\u2019t happen at FCBC! When the world is troubling you, Paul is saying that the church might serve as an anchor of faithfulness in a heretical storm. The church would keep you from being tossed to and fro and blown about from every wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a youth in our church attend Youth Camp, she can go for 7 years. After 7 years, many still want to come back\u2014some are invited to return as counselors and leaders. When they attend college or enter the workplace, they begin to experience a lot of that being tossed to and fro. And when they come back to church, they can return to remember what they really believe. The fourth kind of relationship that the church should have is a security in relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Life Together<\/em>, Dietrich Bonhoeffer captures the security of our shared faith and relationships. He said that in a person\u2019s life, \u201cThe Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother\u2019s is sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of us, and particularly college students when they go away for college, become spiritually disoriented. There are just too many isms out there that challenge our Christian faith. We can feel shaken. Discouraged. Confused. We need to get back to that relationship with security that we have at church and at Youth Camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During times of doubt, we need the security of our Christian relationships. We need others who will speak the truth in love\u2014to remind us of who we are and whose we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knitted Together<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As an interconnected church, Paul uses the image of one body with Christ as the head. We are joined and knitted together by every ligament as each part is working properly and growing together in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the Body of Christ, the church, the relationships that we have here is of quality, unified, purposeful, and secured. After we celebrate the Lord\u2019s Supper together and given our alms for the needy, we\u2019ll stand and hold hands together just like the coastal redwoods roots hold their hands together and sing, \u201cBlest be the Ties that Binds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear God, we see the unity of the Trinity and we desire to live in that same unity. Draw our hearts together, even as we recognize our individuality. Living life on our own is hopeless and futile. You have given us each other for love, support and community. Help us to embrace the beautiful experience of living in community, living for each other and for you, rather than living for ourselves. We believe that you want to do great things through your church. Unite us that we may together join you in your work. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ephesians 4:1-16 August 5, 2012 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. I just spent the last 5 days at Youth Camp