Sunday, September 30, 2007
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16
As a new school year gets into full swing, I enjoy watching all the activities and remembering my own school days. It is also a time of reflection on the whole process of growing up. Growing up, after all is what it is all about isn’t it? How do we determine if we have truly “grown up” or just grown older? Here is a portion of a list I found online that gives some of the signs that you have grown up: 1) 6am is when you get up, not when you go to bed, 2) You hear your favorite song on an elevator, 3) You watch the Weather Channel, 4) You don’t know what time Taco Bell closes anymore, 5) You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonalds leftovers. This is a intended to be a funny list, but as you think about these items (with the possible exception of the elevator music) you will see that these are signs of maturity, choices that mean you are being more responsible with your time and hopefully more responsible with your talents. That is what we are here to think about today – maturing in our Christian life.
The writer of Ephesians was very interested in what was involved in maturing in the Christian life. Most scholars believe that this writer was a disciple of the apostle Paul, possibly someone who had traveled with Paul and had seen the early beginnings of the Christian churches around parts of Macedonia and Asia Minor. He held the same passion as Paul for this young church – he had learned from Paul how important it was for all the people who called themselves Christians to understand what it meant to live out the gospel in their daily lives. This letter to the Ephesians continues Paul’s passion and Paul’s message as the church in the area around Ephesus “grows up.” He wants the church to understand that if this all important message of God’s love and salvation is to make it to all people, those in the church must each do their part. He sees the church in all its power and glory as the vehicle God has chosen to carry on God’s work in the world.
John Wesley also had such a passion. He too believed that the church could and should be the agent that changed a world full of hurt and uncertainty. He had a passion for the church which led him to worry about whether the Church of England was living out a mature faith. The apostle Paul traveled many miles to encourage people who had been outside the faith to embrace the gospel and take care of their neighbors. Likewise, John Wesley traveled many, many miles in his lifetime to reach out to those whom the church had ignored and formed them into faithful groups he called Bands and Societies. The purpose of these groups was to help people grow up by both encouraging them in their faith and challenging them to take their faith a little deeper and broader.
Just like Paul, John Wesley left the day-to-day work of these groups of believers to other leaders while he traveled on to the next location. Wesley actually saw this as a Biblical principle. He believed that by raising up new leaders, he was carrying on the work written in the book of Ephesians. He was “equipping the saints for the work of ministry.” He was teaching them how to “build up the body of Christ.” And, a wonderful thing happened – God blessed this vision and many people who would never have seen themselves as leaders in the great Church of England began to blossom. They saw they did have gifts for daily ministry. Some of them began to go out into the countryside sharing the gospel and inviting others to join their group while others found that they were good at starting new groups. Some of them found that they had a gift for speaking God’s word or teaching others how to understand God’s word. Some of the these people found that they had tender, caring hearts and were able to care for others in the name of Jesus Christ.
One of the things historians often say about John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism, is that they were practical theologians. They saw what needed to be done for the growth of the gospel and they did whatever if would take to see that grown happened. If this meant training and encouraging lay people to do the work of the church, it didn’t matter to Wesley whether those people had a formal seminary education; what mattered was that they had a love of the Lord and the natural gifts which the Holy Spirit could use. Wesley saw “raw talent” and was able to encourage people to step outside their comfort zones to use those talents for God’s glory. It didn’t matter what their social standing was or even whether they were male or female, he saw where they could best be put to work in God’s kingdom. One such leader was Grace Murray. I have included a portion of her memoires in your sermon outline today:
“ Mr. Wesley fixed me in that part of the work which he thought proper; and when the House was finished, I was appointed to be the Housekeep….I had full a hundred in Classes, whom I met in two separate meetings; and a Band for each day of the week. I likewise visited the Sick and Backsliders… And oh, what pouring out of the Spirit have I seen at those times! It warms my heart now while I relate it.”
Grace Murray was given a chance to use the gifts God had given her and it became a great blessing for many people. This is the vision of Paul, this is the role of the church as called by God. Did the Grace Murrays of the 18th century set out to be great leaders? Of course not. But God had a plan for the life of the church and it included the “growing up” of God’s people. Because John Wesley had such a vision and such a faith in the work of God, people have been blessed for over 200 years by the work of Methodists around the world. Did you know that in Oklahoma today the United Methodist church is the only denomination that has a presence in every county of Oklahoma? This is possible in part because of John Wesley’s “practical” theology. Wesley saw the talents and passions of lay people. He saw that they could and should be an important part of God’s plan for the spreading of the gospel. He so he began a “Course of Study” for these people. He searched throughout his vast library of books and developed a training program for those who would never attend a formal seminary. We still have “Course of Study” today for our licensed local pastors. We also have a strong and vital Lay Speaking program as well as one of the finest Bible Study curriculums anywhere in the world called Disciple Bible Study. All of this and so many more other ways to help raise up future leaders for the church.
In fact, the very vision of itinerate ministry where an ordained clergy person is appointed only for a certain period of time is a reflection of our Methodist heritage. By moving clergy around, the church body is saying that ordained clergy have gifts to share at a certain time in the certain place for the purpose of sharing those gifts and helping the local lay people in that church learn and grow from these clergy. While ordained clergy are charged with certain leadership responsibilities while appointed to a specific congregation, the ongoing leadership of a congregation is in the hands of the local leaders of that congregation.
It is interesting to think that the church has come full circle from the early church in places like Ephesus where the leadership was found within the church membership itself through the years where the “professional leadership” ran the church back to an understanding today that a strong, vital church is one in which there is local lay leadership. Just a couple of years ago a British pastor and a pastor from the US collaborated on a fascinating book called A Passionate Life. Several in our congregation have already studied this book (there is a copy in the church library if you should want to read it yourself). These two men have seen the same vision that Paul and John Wesley and so many others have seen. They recognized that for the church to live out the role it was intended to play in God’s plan it will take all God’s people finding their primary role, perhaps stepping outside their comfort zone and counting on the power of the Spirit to give them what they need.
Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad read Ephesians 4 and recognized the 5 primary roles that everyone who call themselves Christian must claim as they “grow up” in God’s grace. You will not be strong in all of these areas, but if you are in the church, you are expected to find your role and contribute in one of these areas. They saw that some of the people of the church must be willing to go into new territory, stepping out with new vision, challenging the church to grow and change. Others will find their role in helping the church maintain and deepen it’s daily life. Which might you be? Let’s take a quick look at their interpretations of the 5 roles found in Ephesians. They saw the first three roles listed in Ephesians as the “pioneers” helping the church grow through extension and change.
Apostles are not just those who walked with Jesus 2,000 years ago. They are the visionary and pioneering folks in our churches today who are always pushing into new territory. They like to establish new ministries. They come up with new, innovative means to do Kingdom work. IS THIS YOUR ROLE?
Prophets are not people who have their own 900 telephone line and read people’s pasts and futures. They hear and listen to God. Sometimes the prophet is the one who can stand back from circumstances to get a clear picture of what is happening. This clarity of vision results in creative solutions and a vision for situations that others don’t see. IS THIS YOUR ROLE?
Evangelists bring good news and share the message readily. They love spending time with non-Christians and often remind other Christians that non-Christians are still out there in the world. They are “people gatherers.” IS THIS YOUR ROLE?
Pastors are not just ordained clergy. They are people who care for others with a tender heart. The pastor sees needs, provides comfort, and encourages others. Pastors spend most of their time with other Christians. They feel the burden of others’ problems and speak the truth in love. IS THIS YOUR ROLE?
Teachers hold forth the Truth and are excited by it. Teachers look for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply Truth. IS THIS YOUR ROLE?
I encourage you to take these descriptions home with you and pray over them. Ask God to show you where God sees you in the life of the church today. If you want to talk more about this, please get in contact with David or I. or get together with a prayer group or members of your Sunday School class. Together we can help each other discern our role in the life of the church. As you do this, remember something very important – something that was at the very heart of Paul’s theology; something that John Wesley believed so strongly that he formed Bands of Methodists and then got back on his horse to continue on to the next town. Remember, you do not do this work alone. You are asked to grow up, but you are always growing up IN GRACE. God is always with you; God’s Spirit will walk beside you guiding you and teaching you, giving you inspiration and strength.
When the church is functioning as God intended, all these roles will be filled by all the members
of that congregation. God calls together different people into a certain congregation so that each congregation will have what it needs to grow in breadth and in depth.
So what is your role here at First Church???