Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  July 29, 2018

There’s almost always more than one way to do something, right? “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” “There’s more than one way to crack an egg.” “There’s more than one way to eat a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.” The point is simple: for almost everything in life, there’s more than one way to accomplish the task, more than one way to reach the goal. That line of thinking has crept its way into people’s spiritual thinking. It used to be said: “All roads lead to Rome.”  For hundreds of years, Rome was the center of trade and commerce. All activity in the empire eventually made its way to Rome. And that’s what many people today believe about God. It doesn’t matter what religion you follow. It doesn’t matter what you believe. All roads lead to the same God. All ways lead to a relationship with God. All paths lead to heaven. But then you’ve got Paul here, standing up in the middle of this universalist mentality and saying: “One. There’s only one way.” Seven times in these verses Paul says, “There is one.” Is that possible? Could that really be true? Is there truly only one way? That’s the question we want to explore today. As we continue to speak of Gospel Unity, we need to answer that question: Is there really only one way?

We hear for the first time in chapter 3 that Paul is writing this letter from prison. Again in chapter 4, Paul begins his encouragement to the Ephesians by saying: “As a prisoner in the Lord, therefore, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” There’s a lot to unpack in this first verse, isn’t there? First and foremost, before we can walk in a worthy manner, we have to understand this: what is our calling? What is the calling with which we have been called? Perhaps you feel your calling in life is to be a business person. Perhaps you feel you’re called to be an advocate for the less fortunate. Perhaps you feel your calling is that of a parent. But that’s not what Paul is talking about here. No, Paul is talking about the calling you received when you were called out of the darkness of sin into the light of faith, when you were called from the ranks of the damned to join the ranks of the righteous. It’s the call to faith, the call that you received as a gift. The faith that believes in a Savior, Jesus who lived and died and rose for you. That’s the calling with which you have been called. So what does a life worthy of that calling look like? Paul describes it: “Live with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love.” Paul motivates us with the good news of the gospel, the calling we have received, to live like Christ. These are the very virtues that Christ displayed as he perfectly kept God’s Law in our place.

And all of this makes sense. But then we get to verse three and Paul says: “Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Unity of the Spirit? Bond of peace? I think we can understand Paul’s encouragement to live with humility, gentleness, patience. We totally get bearing with one another in love. But why would Paul need to talk about unity? Why peace? And not just talk about it, not just mention it, but use such a strong word. Make every effort, do your very best? Pastor Schlicht mentioned it last week, but there was a sense of disunity in the congregation at Ephesus. There was almost in inherent social divide that was threatening the unity. Is the same true here at Eastside? Perhaps it’s not a social divide or a class war, but have we allowed petty quarrels and inconsiderate actions to threaten the “unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace?”

It’s important for us to understand that the unity Paul speaks of here doesn’t mean that everyone agrees on everything all the time. No, the unity described here is a unity that is created by the Holy Spirit when he calls us to faith. This Christian unity is a a gift of God in the same way that faith is a gift of God. The basis of the entire Church is faith in Christ, a faith that comes to us as a gift and recognizes the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, who comes to us through his Word. While this gift of unity doesn’t originate from us, it is something we can spoil. If we don’t work at maintaining it, it is something we can throw away. And Paul doesn’t want that to happen. It is so important that Paul uses that strong phrase, “make every effort.” So important, in fact that Paul says it is the masterpiece of the Triune God. All three persons of the Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—were involved in creating this unity.

The word we translate as unity literally means “oneness.” Look at verses 4-6. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your calling. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.” What word jumps out at you? One. Seven times Paul uses that word, seven, the number of completeness for God.  We have a “oneness” with each other because of the work of our Triune God. And within those seven “ones” we have three sets of “threes,” one for each person of the Trinity. Interestingly, Paul reverses the order from what we’re used to seeing: Spirit, Son, Father. So what does this oneness look like?  

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your calling.” Gospel unity starts with our calling. We were all called by the same Spirit into the body of Christ. Luther said it so well in his explanation of the 3rd Article of the Apostles’ Creed: “The Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel…In the same way he calls…the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” It is the gospel, the good news of what Jesus has done for us that unites us. It is the same hope, the hope of heaven, that stitches us together as Christ’s body. Having one Spirit is the sure and certain promise that an eternity with God awaits us because the Holy Spirit has called us to faith. That’s gospel unity.

“There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism…” Why is Jesus called Lord? Twice in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds them: “You are not your own, you were bought at a price.” Jesus is Lord because he owns us. He purchased us. Again Luther helps us: “Jesus redeemed me, a lost a condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. All this he did that I should be his own.” And unlike the poor examples of ownership of slavery, Jesus has only our best interests in mind. He was willing to lay down his own life, shed his very blood that we might belong to him. He is the only Lord we will ever want or need. And it’s because of what Jesus has done for us that we believe in him. Jesus is the object of our faith. Jesus is the only way to heaven. Jesus himself said, “I am the way…no one comes to the Father except through me.” Peter told the Sanhedrin concerning Jesus: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” In Paul’s words, “There is one Lord.” And there is one faith in the one Lord. The faith which is created and sustained through the Means of Grace. It’s through Word and Sacrament. All of us were baptized into the same name: the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no restriction, no distinction on who is to be baptized. Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them.

Finally, Paul says:  “one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.” There is only one God who watches over everything with his almighty power. There is only one God who works through his believers to accomplish his saving purpose. There is only one God, who has such a close relationship with us, that Paul says he is “in us all.”

Why would Paul go to such lengths to describe this unity? Because it’s this unity that allows those Ephesians to grow.   Since there is really only one way, then there is an urgency to to grow up in our knowledge of that one way. Listen to what Paul says: “Jesus himself gave the apostles, as well as the prophets, as well as the evangelists, as well as the pastors and teachers, for the purpose of training the saints for the work of serving, in order to build up the body of Christ. This is to continue until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, resulting in a mature man with a stature reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ. The goal is that we would no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, when people use tricks and invent clever ways to lead us astray.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we would in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. From him the whole body, being joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows in accordance with Christ’s activity when he measured out each individual part. He causes the growth of the body so that it builds itself up in love.”

The goal of Gospel Unity is growth. Growth in our individual and collective faith. Growth past the idea that “Jesus loves me this I know and that is all I want to know.” Growth to maturity so we can stand up to the wind and waves of false teaching. Growth that builds up the body of Christ. And how is that growth achieved? Look at verse 16. “He causes the growth of the body so that it builds itself up in love.” Jesus causes the growth. And how does he do that ? “Jesus himself gave the apostles, as well as the prophets, as well as the evangelists, as well as the pastors and teachers, for the purpose of training the saints for the work of serving, in order to build up the body of Christ.”  My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the growth that God desires, the unity that Paul urges us to maintain with our very best effort only comes through regular, consistent contact with God’s Word and sacraments. That’s the only tool that Jesus has given the pastors and teachers that he himself has given to his church to use. That’s the only thing that will train the saints for the work of serving. Take advantage of that training. Immerse yourself in God’s Word: in worship, in personal Bible study, in upcoming Bible Study opportunities here at Eastside and be amazed at how the unity we share becomes more evident, how the unity we share becomes more important, how the unity we share becomes a treasure. Because there really is only one way to Gospel Unity: through Christ and his Word. Amen.