Unlock the Door and Answer God's Call

Ephesians 4: 1-6

Has someone ever begged you for something? Can you recall that scene in your head when that person was begging in front of you? Usually if someone is begging they are sincere, they have a purpose in mind, and they are earnest and insistent especially in what they are asking for.

Back in the spring, I was taking my oldest daughter to a softball, clinic prior to the season starting. She had never played an organized sport before. We tried upward basketball when she was in kindergarten but it didn’t go well. I digress, we pulled into the parking lot at the softball field and she said she was not going to do it. She even locked the doors of the car. I got out going around to her door in an attempt to assist her out of the car. She locked the door and held her finger on the lock so I could not open the door. I was begging her to get out. I knew she would have fun if she would just make that first step onto the field. She was unwilling to take that step. She was scared and anxious. She did not know what to expect.

In the opening of Ephesians 4: 1 Paul is begging us to live a life “worthy of the calling to which we have been called.” You may say God has not called me, but yes, he has. We have all been called by God to do something as he guides our life. It is up to us to listen to him. He has given each of us fruits and gifts for us to use. “God is like a good gardener, who selects the seeds (our life call) that will blossom in the pristine sunlight of spring (our vocation, ministry, and profession). In our calling God, wants us to live a life “worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”[1]

The story I told you earlier could be analogous to God’s calling on our lives’s. Are you willing to unlock the door and answer God’s call?

John Wesley wrote about this and he referred to this, our life call, as Holiness. Holiness is total dedication to the Lord from all that pollutes, defiles, or draws people away from God. God is love, all encompassing love. This is the character of God, and therefore as John Wesley emphasized it must be the character of Gods people. We are called to live a life of personal and social holiness.

Through love we are united as one in Christ. Unity is the hallmark of the church and all its creation. It is to be maintained by love expressing itself in
lowliness,
meekness,
patience
forbearing.



As Methodist, we read in the Apostles Creed “I believe in the holy catholic church”
(that means universal church not Roman Catholic). When we say this, we are confessing that we believe in one Church of God, not the one true Methodist Church. We want to be conformed to Christ in “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Like John Wesley, “we are eclectic, willing to learn from a wide array of fellow Christians and their traditions.” [2]

In order for us to be truly “United” we have to embrace the fullness of Christian teaching and embrace the concept of inclusivity and ecumenical acceptance. To be ecumenical does not mean we will sacrifice our doctrine or compromise our beliefs, but we focus on the similarities we have with others and love them. To be Methodist, as John Wesley stated, is to be one who has ‘the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him;’ one who ‘loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind and with all his strength.”

Through love, we can unite, as a church, as a community, as a nation and throughout the world. The scripture today is teaching us that we must put our love into practice in order to maintain Christian unity. We as a church are just like a normal family. We have those people that we love to be around and we have those people who get on our last nerve, but we are called to love, to be “worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”

Aristides, a second-century apologist for the Christian faith, wrote this to the Roman emperor Hadrian about believers in his day:“They love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If they have something, they give freely to the man who has nothing; if they see a stranger, they take him home, and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers instead through the Spirit, in God.”As human beings, we all belong to the same family. Even though we are divided by all sorts of barriers and differences, “under the skin” we’re all the same.As believers in Jesus Christ, then, whatever our differences—denominations, preferences, worship styles—we are one spiritual body that acknowledges the same heavenly Father. Let’s do all we can to demonstrate our unity in Christ. Unity in our diversity is the most effective witness to this sin-fractured world. —Vernon C Grounds

I found a poem I want to share with you this morning as it relates to this subject of unity.
Join hands, then, brothers of the faith,Whatever your race may be;Who serves my Father as a sonIs surely kin to me. —OxenhamUnity among Christians comes from their union with Christ.[3]


Earlier I mentioned that we maintain unity in the church through lowliness, meekness, patience and forbearing. I want to walk through each of these concepts with you and explain a little more about what each mean and a context for your life.

Lowliness: We should not be prideful we should not to think of ourselves more highly than we are. We are sons of Adam and have suffered from the results of the fall. We have to be humble and know that our only saving grace is that of God’s grace for our lives and the sacrifice Christ made for us that our sins are washed away. The Crimson Blood of Christ has made us white as snow.

Meekness: In meekness we, with God’s help, must control our anger. As Christian’s we are called to live a peculiar life. When in the workplace or other public areas, we are held to a higher standard. Non believers love to see one of us fall! When we as Christians err in judgment it can sometimes become headline news. We must remember that we are to be “worthy of the calling to which we have been called.”

Patience: When I think of patience I think of my wedding vows, Love is patient, love is kind. I have had to learn patience with my wife over the years, but probably not as much as she has had to learn to deal with me. Just as in a family or in a marriage we are called to be patient with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Forbearing: Bearing with one another in love to me implies being empathetic with our brothers and sisters in Christ as they are carrying their cross. We have to be supportive of our fellow Christians as we support each other. I would say it is analogous to a football team. Each person has a specific role within the church, just as on a football team each player has a different role to fill. Each contributes to the overall success of the church or the team.

John Wesley was quoted as saying "Ye are the light of the world!" Ye are "a city set upon a hill," and "cannot be hid." O "let your light shine before men!" Show them your faith by your works. Let them see, by the whole tenor of your conversation, that your hope is all laid up above! Let all your words and actions evidence the spirit whereby you are animated! Above all things let your love abound. Let it extend to every child of man: Let it overflow to every child of God. By this let all men know whose disciples ye are, because you "love one another."

In his book Great Church Fights, Leslie B. Flynn tells how two porcupines in the freezing north country of Canada huddled together to keep warm. But because they were pricked by each other’s quills, they moved apart. Soon they were shivering again and had to lie side by side once more for their own survival. They needed each other, even though they needled each other!

“How like Christians! Through the centuries the church, instead of majoring in communion, has often muddled in contention. Despite the halo of spirituality imagined over the apostolic church, the dust clouds of sharp collisions were equally visible. There was Paul’s dispute with Barnabas, the clashes of the cliques at Corinth, the contention of the women at Philippi, and several other controversies.” Flynn goes on to show that even though there may be conflicts among Christians, they should not overshadow the greater spiritual warmth received from gathering with the family of God. Because of Jesus’ redemptive work, the Holy Spirit binds us together and gives us the help and strength we need.” [4]

Christ suffered and died for you so that you could be reconciled to God. In Christ, I beg you today; live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Unlock the door and answer God’s call!

[1] Guinness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003.

[2] United Methodist Beliefs: A Brief Introduction William Willimon p.49
[3] http://www.preceptaustin.org/ephesians_sermon_illustrations_4.htm
[4] http://bible.org/illustration/ephesians-41