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August 6, 2006

Ephesians 4:1-16

"Gift of Grace"

I don’t know many people who enjoyed middle school or would repeat the experience for that matter. It is an experience in itself. We go from elementary school where there are usually one, maybe two teachers, recess, an afternoon snack depending on the grade, nap time, (maybe) to middle school where everything changes. This world of elementary school makes sense. Easy, Straightforward. You know what to expect. Not like Middle school.

Middle School: students changing rooms each class period. A new teacher with every new class period. Lunch in the cafeteria. Who and where you sit is pre-determined by cliques in the school and if you decide to break free of this pre-determined choice, your middle school career is ruined!
And I don’t know who thought up P.E. class, but P.E. class is not like recess. It truly is the separation of the strongest from the weak. People are taken out one by one until only one is left! Usually it is the kid who has hid all game left standing on the line. Just go ahead and paint a target on that kid!

But these things are not the worst part of middle school. There is something worse than P.E. It is the cruel joke that the universe plays on us during this time: the way our bodies change! We go to bed one night, thinking that everything is okay and the next morning, we wake up and things have changed! Our feet have minds of their own. We can’t seem to hold onto anything. For the unfortunate few, you have braces on your teeth with only adds to the beauty of gangly youthfulness! It feels like each and every part of our body is working separately and there is no hope of coordination! No one is in control. Nothing is working together. How are you going to function, let alone walk without falling on your face!

We all thought there was no hope during this period of our live. During the middle school years, our world had come to an end. Everything was ruined. We would never be the same again. But just like before, we go to bed one night, uncoordinated, gangly and awkward, and the next morning, we wake up and things have changed again! It’s a miracle. We are not tripping over our feet! We can play games without worrying about dropping the ball! The ugly duckling is gone and in its place is actually a functioning human being! We have grown into our bodies. Things are working together. The brain is sending the right signals to our feet and our hands. We have the gift of coordination once again!

When the author wrote this letter to the Ephesians, he may not have had this image of a gangly awkward middle schooler in his mind when he began to write and describe the body of Christ. But the image does capture his point of awkwardness verses coordination that he wanted to get across to the community at Ephesus. In this letter, the author is describing the body of Christ and how everyone must work together to help bring about the kingdom of God.

The background of this letter will shed light on what the author was hoping to achieve by writing this letter to the community of faith at Ephesus. The church at Ephesus was racially and economically diverse. In this congregation, there were Gentiles and Jews, worshipping together, struggling to figure out how everything and everyone was going to come together as the church.
In this letter, the author is reminding the community that they are now one in the body of Christ. There is no Gentile or Jew. There is no male or female but one body of Christ. All together in unity. All responding to the calling to be God’s people and to live their lives in a manner that reflects that calling.
One Body, One Spirit, One hope of your calling, One Lord, one faith, one baptism, and One God.

But the unity that the author is talking about is not a feeling or a common goal or static. When the author talks about unity, he is talking about something alive and vital. The unity that the author describes is about us being incorporated in the body of Christ, which is thriving with life. The unity in this case “is to be engaged in a process which is about bringing hope and life to the whole world.”
One commentator uses the analogy of the human body to explain this unity. “The human body is first an organic unity. It consists of many parts: toes, fingers, hands, feet, legs, eyes, ears, etc. But it is not a collection of parts put together as in an automobile or in a house. It begins from one cell, which begins to develop and to grow, and shoots off little buds that eventually make up the variegated parts. This is an organic and living unity by creation. So is the church, spiritually speaking.
True, when a person believes in Christ, he is joined into union with Christ by baptism and becomes a member of the body, but by the …power of the Holy Spirit, he [sic] is not merely an add on. He [sic] miraculously and spiritually becomes an organic part of the body of Christ.”

Each piece of the body has the same DNA! We can all trace our beginnings back to God. We are created out of the same material. Unity! One faith. One baptism. One body. Alive. Vital.

But the author of this letter does not want the community to think that unity means that all should act, think and talk alike. How boring and that’s not how God created the world. Creation is diverse in color, in texture, in life forms!
The community’s diversity should be celebrated and understood as a gift from God! All these different gifts help the community to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” One of the interesting things in this passage is the wording. “ ‘Equip’ has an interesting medical history in classical Greek. To equip often meant to put a bone or a part of the human body into right relationship with the other parts other body so that every part fits thoroughly…The equipping [here] is much more than simply giving people skills for teaching, evangelism, or other ministries in the local church. It is primarily concerned with character formation.”

The great thing about our diverse gifts is that they help create an environment where everyone can grow in relationship with one another and with God. The wonderful thing about our diverse gifts is that they allow everyone to use his or her own gifts to contribute to building up the body of Christ!

Once again, same material, but something changes as the body grows and develops. A click in the code of the DNA tells this cell that it will grow and become the eye. A click in this code of the DNA tells this cell that it will grow and become the hand.
I remember a project that I had to do in AP biology. We had been studying genetics and were given this sheet of tiny “xs”. We were suppose to pair up the “xs” on the sheet and map out the chromosomes. There were large xs and small xs. But when I was finished, I had the 23 chromosome pairs of a human being all laid out. Each one made up of the same material but each one telling the cells what function they would do in the body. It was really amazing.
The author of this letter uses the image of the body to describe the church’s purpose: unity and diversity living out God’s calling. Using our gifts. Recognizing that we are one.
The wonderful combination of unity and diversity empowers the community to create an environment of love and growth. An environment where people are challenged, supported, growing in relationship with one another, centered in God. I love this image that the author uses at the end of our text today. Christ as the head, nurturing, supporting, energizing all the different parts of the body. The body joined together, knitted together in right relationship with each part, continuously growing, spreading the Gospel of love. We have grown into the body of Christ, fed by God’s grace and love. We have matured in our faith to become the people of God. We have embraced our calling to be the body of Christ and share this wonderful combination of unity and diversity, using our varied gifts to spread the Word!

I used this Scripture at my ordination service because it truly captures my vision of ministry and the Church. Unity and diversity. All working together to help bring about the kingdom of God. All ministry and mission centered in God. One body, one spirit, one calling, one faith, one baptism, and one God. Unity. “Some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, teachers.” Diversity.
All parts and people working in harmony to create an environment of ministry, growth, and love. All spreading the Gospel message of peace and justice. One body, many gifts.

This is my prayer and hope as I begin and become part of the body of Christ at Midway Christian Church.

May we continue to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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