Ehpesians 4 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.8 Therefore it is said,
“When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people.”
he gave gifts to his people.”
9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended[a] into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Are you being spiritually fed?
I want to share several things that you
can do to make sure you are being spiritually fed.
First, love. As simple as that.
Now that makes sense – we all want to be
loved. And being loved makes us feel
good. We feel supported by others when
they love us.
But
that is not exactly what the author of Ephesians has in mind.
He is
not talking about the love you receive, but the love you give.
In our
New Testament lesson for today, the writer says, "As a prisoner for the
Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have
received. Be completely humble and
gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
Love is central to everything written in
the Gospels.
It is
foundational to everything else in the Christian experience. If you want to grow in your faith, if you
want to feed and nurture your spiritual life, then learn to love others.
In Matthew (Matt 22:36-40), a man
approaches Jesus and asks, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
the Law?"
Jesus replied: "'Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.' This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love
your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law
and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Man!
Is this boring?
Don’t answer that!
It’s just that we are always talking
about love in the church, and maybe sometimes it gets a bit boring.
I mean, if there is one thing we know
how to do in the Christian Church, it is love.
Right?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Have you heard about the fellow who sold
his soul on ebay? Hemant Mehta offered
his soul on ebay. Actually, he didn’t
sell his soul – he rented it. For every
$10 the winning bid paid, Mehta would spend one hour in a church of the buyer’s
choice. He promised to go with an open
mind and he promised to conduct himself in a respectful manner.
Retired pastor Jim Henderson won the
soul – but instead of selecting his own church, he asked Mehta to pick a
different place of worship every week.
The plan was they would go together and Mehta would share his impressions
with the retired pastor.
Mehta said he was surprised at what he
discovered in the churches. They were
energetic and dynamic places. People
cared about each other. The preaching
was interesting. He loved the live
music.
What he didn’t like, however, was how
Christians talk so badly about other people.
Christians regarded all Muslims as terrorists. When Christians talked about gays, they
talked with hatred. There was racist
talk in the Sunday School discussions.
(Leadership Magazine, Summer 2006)
And when they talked about the preacher or the bishop or one of the
church leaders – some of them sounded so full of hate and anger!
Maybe love is easier to talk about, than
to do.
It’s
time we begin to do more than talk about love.
It is time for us to do it.
If you come to church and think, “My
soul isn’t being fed” – maybe it is because you aren’t loving others.
Notice, what is important is not so much
that we find someone to love us. What is
important is that we love others.
In the motion picture, Marvin's Room,
there are two sisters who have been estranged for many years. When one of them is diagnosed with cancer,
the other sister arrives to help take care of her. In one of the final scenes of the movie, the
two sisters are talking about their lives, and the one with cancer says,
"I'm so lucky. I'm so lucky. I've had so much love in my life."
"Yes, yes," the other sister
agrees, barely looking at her sister while she cleans the kitchen. "You've always had people around you who
loved you."
"Oh no," the other sister says
with a look of surprise. "I'm lucky
because I've been able to love so many people."
It is the loving of others that nurtures
and feeds our souls.
John said in one of his letters (I Jn
3:10), "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the
children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not
a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother or
sister."
Whenever someone says, "I'm not
being fed," I wonder if that person is trying to love others.
You want to nurture your soul?
Then
renew your vow to God that you will love others.
A second step to spiritual nurture is to
study the Word of God.
In the New Testament lesson, the author
wrote about how we should work toward spiritual growth "until we all reach
unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature..."
On the front of our bulletin covers we
list Seven Marks of Discipleship. Your
elders have approved a list this list a few years ago in the hopes that every
elder and every member of our church should be demonstrating and living out
these 7 marks. One of these marks is
reading the Bible on a daily basis.
And
that mark of discipleship can be clearly seen in this New Testament text.
Becoming
spiritually mature is dependent on building up a knowledge of the Son of God
through the study of Scripture.
In the Old Testament, the Psalmist says
(Ps 119:11), "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin
against you."
If you want to grow spiritually, then
study and read the Word of God.
In the Old Testament book of
Deuteronomy, there is a wonderful imagery of the study of God's Word. In chapter 11, the writer says, (Deut
11:18-20), "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as
symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about
them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down
and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your
gates."
Imagine that imagery being
practiced. You wake up in the morning,
and you leave the house, and there on the doorframe is a Scripture verse. As you drive out of your community, there is
a sign on the gate that has a Bible
verse. While you are riding in your car,
you are talking with others about the Bible.
As you type on your computer, you see the Word of God because you have,
as Deuteronomy said, "tied them on you hands and bound them on your
forehead." At the end of the day,
you return home and as you enter the house, there is the Bible verse on your
doorframe. The Bible saturates your
whole day -- your life.
If you want to grow spiritually, then
renew your commitment to study God's Word.
The third step in spiritual growth is
practice what is preached!
Don't just study God's Word. Live God's Word.
Jesus said in Matthew's Gospel
(Matt 7:24), "Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into
practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."
If you want to grow physically, then you
must exercise. The same is true with the
spiritual life. If you want to grow spiritually,
then you must exercise and practice the lifestyle of the Christian.
In our New Testament lesson, the writer
says that we are to "live a life worthy of the calling you have
received. Be completely humble and
gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
You want to grow spiritually? Then renew your commitment to act like a
spiritually grown up by putting into practice the things you learn from
Scripture.
So are
you being spiritually fed?
You will be if you love others,
Study God’s Word,
And practice in your life what you learn in
Scripture.
Copyright 2015.
Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights reserved
