Grace, mercy, and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
A portion of our text: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord,
beseech you to walk in the calling to which you were called, with all humility
and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; being eager
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in one body and one
Spirit; as you were also called in one hope of your calling:
Unity! What a goal for the church in
every age. Bound in peace! What joyous fetters these? A calling! What a
privilege to live in Christ’s order for the church. Listen to this man, whom
Christ called for our sake. The Apostle Paul says “You were called, so walk in
your calling.” You were called into one hope: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, the one
over all and through all and in all. It’s simple, and if it is difficult,
that’s not God’s fault. You just heard who calls you, what joys you are called
into, and do you remember what are you called for? Let’s review the last two week’s readings:
Eph 1:4 says: According as he has chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
blameless before him… In whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace… Eph. 3:19 says …to know
the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all
the fullness of God. This is the destination of your calling.
How do we walk in this calling? We
walk by faith in the grace that named you holy and blameless. We walk by faith,
trusting our sins are forgiven by Jesus Christ. We walk by faith in The Faith,
in what Scripture reveals. We walk by faith, praying for strength to follow our
Lord. Every step in Christ is a step of faith; and faith, that gift from God,
your faith, is alive and active. The Holy Spirit stirred up faith to believe in
grace, in Christ’s imputed righteous. The same Spirit dwells in you so that you
walk as one called. For example, He teaches you humility and meekness when you
are wronged, teaching you to commit yourself not to vengeance, but to God. Likewise, you learn patience through
affliction as you wait for your heavenly Father to supply your needs. Because
of need we listen more closely to Paul’s encouragement that Christ redeemed us,
and also to his teaching of how to walk. Yes, we get discouraged because we still
sin, so we heed the calling to daily repentance. There we are encouraged by
forgiveness (that’s the doctrine of justification). That encouragement returns
us to living in Christ (the doctrine of sanctification). And sanctification returns us to Christ
crucified for us, that is to justification. The Ephesian Christians, justified,
redeemed, called to be children of God and walk in the holiness of Christ, they
needed correction and encouragement too. We all do. We need reminding to repent
daily that the Father forgives our sins, and the Holy Spirit indwells us for
hope in our calling.
This doctrine matters for unity
because it means we are joined to one another. Whoever has a living faith is in
Christ, is His bride, the church. That’s reason to be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in one
body and one Spirit; as you were also called in one hope of your calling: Into
what are you called, into One Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, the one over all and through all
and in all. As one theologian put it, the true church is not “congeries of
religious miscellanea.” (F.F.
Bruce) The true church is united in the one faith,
in Christ’s teaching. This too is the church’s
calling, to receive the one faith in order to walk with one Lord. We were brought into the unity of one faith through one
baptism, so we are taught the content of that unity in the one holy and
apostolic church.
So why do disagreements occur in
doctrine and over the practices that teach doctrine? The Word of God is not
muddy or unclear. The problem is in us, in our dullness, our readiness to jump
ship, to discard what we don’t like or to add what we do. There is perpetual
struggle in this life to keep the one doctrine; that’s why the Apostle said approach
this with humility, meekness, patience and longsuffering. Watch yourself and
others, since the church on earth must fight to preserve pure doctrine. The
church militant marches on her knees, wielding but the sword of the Word. How
did it happen that the early church evolved into the corruptions of the
Middle-Ages, of peasants to lords flagellating themselves for forgiveness? How
did it happen that a once sound Lutheran church in San Francisco
Into what and whom where you called?
You are called to walk in your calling in one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
That’s where we received redemption, forgiveness, the riches of grace, the love
of Christ unto the fullness of God! We are called to walk in all humility and
patience for a goal given by our Lord. What is the goal? The peace and unity of
the church in the one faith Unity is possible because it is God’s will for us,
and what we were baptized into… for grace
was given to each of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Christ has supplied His Church with all
necessary to have unity; including this: And
he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as
pastors-and-teachers, for the
equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ. This does not necessarily mean if you have a pastor
everything is OK. We recently read a Scripture about bad shepherds who misled
sheep. Yet Christ gave the office of
pastor/teacher for building up His body.
And the pastor/teacher is given tasks. By God’s help, he is: 2) to do
the work of the ministry; 1) to equip
the saints; 3) to build up the body of Christ.
That’s why a pastor’s work is about
declaring the word and administering the Sacraments. (Col. 4:7, 17; I Tim 1:12,
II Tim 4:5, 11). That’s why a pastor teaches law and gospel, so that the body
of Christ together grows in unity. That’s why Mt. Zion
The first translation appeared in the
1930’s, and by popular demand is now the version in some Bibles. But the second
translation is what the text says. The first translation seems like a small
alteration, a convenient change for the mindset of the day, for democracy and
all that. Does it matter? Here’s the issue: Is everyone a “minister” who does the ministry; and the pastor’s job is to
equip you to do the work of the ministry? Is the pastor a CEO rather than a
shepherd, and your job is to publicly declare the word and administer the
sacraments? The phrase “everyone a minister” distorts the relation of the
priesthood of believers to the pastoral office. It also shifts the focus from
Christ for you to what you do for Christ. Church quickly
becomes law, what you must do. Scripture gives the church a divinely appointed
office, setting stewards over the mysteries (sacramentum) of God, calling
pastors through the church to preach and teach (see I Cor. 3:5; Ac 20:24;
21:19; Rm. 11:13; II Cor. 4:1; 6:3; Eph. 6:21). As Christ’s representatives,
pastors feed Christ’s flock, even those who can do nothing, like infants or the
infirm or the dying, and it’s OK they can’t do ministry. As the public office
preaches and administers the Sacraments, you are equipped; so that as Christ’s
body, called by grace, you are strengthened to live by faith, faith that Christ
has done it all. Then in liberty, all Christians, the Royal Priesthood, the
justified, are enabled to serve in your vocations sharing the hope that is
within you.
You minister in the broad sense of the
word, meaning a servant, a servant of Christ. In that general sense we all
minister, or serve, everywhere our vocations take us in the world, for Christ’s
sake. Christ has a goal for the church:
that… we all arrive at the unity of the
faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a complete (mature)
manhood and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This
is ours since the word of God is clear and living, and dwells in all who have
faith. For this end the Lord created the offices of apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors/teachers to provide what we need to receive such gifts.
Pastors provide the Word and Sacrament in
order that we no longer may be infants, being blown and carried around by every
wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie
in wait to deceive. You have enemies intending to deceive you with false
doctrine, presented through slight of men with craftiness demonically driven.
But your Saviour rescues you through His truth, building your faith through
those appointed to offices created for your benefit. Through these, He calls
you to faithfulness, strengthening you by the Word that ministers to you, equipping and building you in
maturity: (that you) may grow into him in
all things, who is the head, even Christ; 16 From whom the whole body joined
and knit together with which it is supplied, according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love.
Such is the calling of the whole
church, hearing Christ speak the truth in love so that you grow stronger in
love. That is what truth does, truth spoken, heard, believed and lived. That is
why you pray for your pastor, for those who influence the church, and for all
in Christ’s body. That is why you give heed in your station in life as to your
calling in the one faith, as to your life of faith. You are called, given
Christ’s holiness through the redemption of His blood. We look forward to being
filled with the fullness of God. And Christ, the head of the church, supplies
grace according to the rich measure of His gifts. He works effectively in and
through His church for the sake of unity and peace. He called you, calling you
into one sure hope: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all
who is over all and through all and in all.
He is the source of unity and peace in the church, having united you to
Him through one baptism in the one faith, in one Spirit, One Lord, one God and
Father of all.
The peace of God that
passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Amen)
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