Wilted or Worthy?

 

Wilted or Worthy?

 

Ephesians 4:1-16

Maintain the unity of the faith

 

4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 

 

4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

 

4:3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace:

 

4:4 there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,

 

4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

 

4:6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

 

4:7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.

 

4:8 Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people."

 

4:9 (When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

 

4:10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)

 

4:11 He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers

 

4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

 

4:13 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.

 

4:14 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;

 

4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

 

4:16 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.

 

Paul loved the church at Ephesus. He SO wanted them to be the “prototype” of what a Christian faith community could look like. If you don’t believe that, just look at the “gushing” language of this week’s lectionary passage from Ephesians 4. We have to remind ourselves that what would become the Christian church was just getting off the ground, and the early going was pretty rugged. The early Christ-followers were being persecuted by religious leaders on one side of them, and feared and repressed by the leaders of the Roman Empire on the other. In the middle, they were already starting to squabble among themselves over what were “right beliefs” and discerning what were “real sins” to be weeded out, versus gripes and complaints that were more over personal preference and “customs.” When the United States was forming, and a constitution was being crafted, remember how the Founders struggled over putting “form” to their new nation while protecting individual liberties, and guarding against authoritarian leadership? So it was with the early church, as prior religious traditions had become oppressive, in the minds of the early Christians. And yet, some “form” was needed, or the budding organization would fall apart under its own brand of anarchy. 

 

As one who just started a new “job” in retirement of pastoring a local church, I can attest to the fact that “job one” is building both trust and relationships with “the folk,” as Bishop Nichols used to call them. If “the folk” don’t trust you, they not only won’t follow you, but they might not even cotton to your suggestions! And if you don’t cultivate relationships with them, and respect them, how can you expect them to trust you? I’m an energetic, passionate person, and I have found that these “people person” characteristics have generally been a “positive” in the relationship and trust building departments, at least early on. However, once that “honeymoon” is over, you had better show some substance, or the shine will wear off very soon. Paul had all of these issues to deal with and more. After all, his first-wave pub was that he held Stephen’s cloak as he was being stoned to death. You don’t think those early Christians didn’t know that? At least the folk who now have to face ME as their pastor know that in 36 years of ministry, I didn’t ruin any churches! (My goal was to always leave them better off than I found them, and I think we were able to do that, most of the time?)

 

The language of Ephesians sure seems to say that Paul was both energetic and passionate. Like the American Founders, Paul also had a brilliant idea about what the emerging organization should look like, and it was truly “counter cultural” for most of what passes as the “human condition.” Is it not true that we TEND toward selfish pursuits and “guarding” our individual rights and liberties? Is it not also true that we are often threatened by “losing” ourselves to the collective “spirit” of any organization? These are some of the reasons our politics can become so polarized: “liberal” voices lean toward “building community” and subjugating individual “rights” for the good of the collective, while “conservative” ones, while certainly NOT opposed to the idea of “community building,” eschew doing so by “giving up” or even attenuating at all our individual rights. Similar concerns have woven their way into the faith community, as well. What is “salvation” for one group may be considered “heresy” by another. What is “good stewardship” in one view is labeled “controlling” by another, often expressed in statements like: “All they want is my money!” Believe me, these aren’t “new” emotions nor novel philosophical/theological views! Why? Because we are all human. The question for Paul—and for us in the church today—is: Are we “wilted” or worthy?

 

Why do things wilt, anyway? Here are a few reasons I came up with:

 

·      Things wilt because they have been kept around for too long

 

·      Things wilt because they are being neglected

 

·      Things wilt because they are kept at the wrong temperature

 

·      Things wilt because they are beginning to rot

 

I’m sure you can read these and apply your own “spiritual truths” to them, whether thinking about your own spiritual journey or that of the church. As a pastor, I have seen both people and churches “wilt” because they have been neglected. I have also seen both entities wilt because they have kept “things” (doctrines, sacred “stuff,” or archaic biblical views) around too long, and reality has moved on. Think about it, if we believe we, as Christian people or collectively as “the church,” should be growing, does this not mean we will change? And if we grow and change, what is to be one with the “stuff” we collect along the way that is no longer applicable or necessary to our journey? That stuff “wilts,” or should be allowed to “die on the vine,” in order for us to move forward. But if we baptize it as “sacred,” it may weigh us down.

 

The Christian church today often behaves like it is wilted. We argue over tired doctrines, fight over archaic issues that have either been “settled” by society or cast aside by it. We think the “secret” of recovering power and relevance in the church is something like “biblical authority” or cornering what “personal piety” should look like. The larger world, which we were commanded by Jesus to go into and “make disciples” has no interest in these things. They are looking for a love that won’t let them down, and a power that might bring peace, prosperity, and safety to everyone. Hmmm. Sure sounds like what Jesus preached about, to me! Why, then, are we “wilting” over religious artifacts and becoming hung up over the meaningless “anchors” we keep throwing over the side of the boat? Because we can, I guess, and because doing the “righteous” thing means sacrifice and “giving up” stuff we choose to guard and protect.

 

Years ago, my pastor/brother and I went to a preaching seminar in Nashville, put on by our United Methodist Board of Discipleship. The keynote speaker was author and homiletics professor, Tom Troeger. Troeger told of a church that was in crisis over a “red, horse-hair sofa” that had become a precious relic in a small church. It had been a gift from some “saint” of the church’s past, and now symbolized his idolized heritage. Given that it was ratty and disintegrating, any normal “home” would have long since tossed it, but because of what it stood for, it had become a legendary “landmark” for some in that congregation. The “sofa people” chose to park the eyesore in the chancel and make it the “seat of honor” for the pastor on Sunday mornings, while newer, younger members sought to honor it by placing it in the dumpster. The “extremes” were overruled by the middle-ground folk who were split over WHERE to put the sofa in the chancel, not whether it should be there at all. Frankly, I don’t even remember how the story ended, for its lesson was more about what is “wilted” or “worthy” in our own faith, AND in our faith community. (The label “wilted” is mine, not Troeger’s, and “worthy” comes from Paul in verse one of today’s lectionary passage.)  Now, try to imagine a new, young group of “seekers” coming into one of our churches and asking an important question of us: “What are the key issues for you all in this church?” It’s a serious question, and all visitors ask it, if not outwardly, in what they are thinking about us! Now imagine if our answer is honest: “We’re fighting over that old, red, horse-hair sofa up there.” Yeah, THEY’LL stick around…is it any wonder why most churches today have trouble landing new folk? And especially having little success with younger people who have never been a part of our “Hatfield vs. McCoy” feuds? IF we get them into faith communities, they will come with serious questions about life, the universe, and everything, and they will not want to hear about our decorations, or even our doctrines. ALL studies, though, show they ARE interested in what Jesus taught us, and how that impacts their lives. The “wilted” church is a dying church; the worthy church is one where the gifts of the Spirit are working, current, and forward-looking.

 

For me, personally, right now, my “red, horse-hair sofa” is my unresolved anger over the disputes that resulted in the disaffiliation of thousands of church, key leaders, and pastoral colleagues away from the United Methodist Church. I’m having a real problem letting it go, and I know I have to, or I will be “wilting on the vine,” so to speak. It’s not a question of “forgiveness,” but one of the incredible disruption to the witness of both “sides,” I keep telling myself. Why couldn’t we just agree to disagree on some of the “nonessentials,” as Mr. Wesley would have called them, and focus on the “essentials” on which we DID agree? I know that this oversimplification of the complexity of the issues is partly to blame for my errant anger, but I guess I just have to process through it. It doesn’t help when, occasionally, a former colleague publicly “gloats” over how “righteous” they were to disaffiliate from our denomination, as I don’t believe it was. Again, this raises my ire and in my humanness, warts and all, I want to “retaliate,” either with a post to Facebook or in a “return” email. I am reminded of an episode of one of my favorite shows, “The West Wing,” the White House political director—Josh Lyman—gets angry at someone for something they did that threatens to create much negative “press” for his party, and he wants to “zing” the individual by way of a public humiliation, of which he is capable of unleashing. The White House chief of staff—Leo—calls Josh on the carpet, telling him, “NO, NO, NO,” to which Josh questions, “Why NOT, Leo?” Leo’s answer: “Because it’s NOT WHAT WE DO, Josh!” Josh continues to protest, rationalizing his proposed retaliation, but Leo again repeats, even more emphatically, “It’s NOT WHAT WE DO, Josh!” I need to be reminded of this, and so does any “wilting” church! Getting angry, fighting over the “sofa,” attacking the pastor because she or he doesn’t agree with us, or even withholding our GIVING because of something we don’t like—“That’s NOT what WE DO” in the Church of Jesus Christ. THAT’S. NOT. WHAT. WE. DO.

 

Learning how NOT to be a “wilting” church is not easy, but neither is it what will make us a WORTHY church, at least according to Paul, in Ephesians. First of all, there is the whole Pauline message of “salvation by faith,” reminding us that we are redeemed (and BEING redeemed) by the grace of God, NOT by our behavior. However, once we get over that important speed bump, we are reminded that our BEHAVIOR has to do with our priorities, whether we are utilizing our gifts for ministry, the effectiveness of our personal and corporate witness, and ultimately, whether “community” will ever be possible in the church. Obviously, a lot is hanging on how we act, just not necessarily our redemption, in God’s eyes. So, how DO we act in a “manner worthy of our calling,” to borrow Paul’s phrase? Here are the things he “fire-hoses” at us in this compact passage:

 

·      Conducting ourselves with “humility, gentleness, and patience”—THIS is “what we do!”

 

·      We “bear WITH one another in love”—If you want a definition of “working” love, here it is: “bearing WITH one another,” which is hard to do, but edifying, energizing, redemptive, and inspiring. 

 

·      Striving for UNITY in the BOND of peace—if only left as a platitude, this phrase is powerless, but if converted into a process—“peacemaking,” as the verbal form says—we can become a “bonded” community, at peace with one another, even though we may not all agree what to do with the sofa.

 

·      Knowing that GOD’S aim is for “one body” and “one Spirit,” “one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” and that anything less we might “build” will not realize God’s aim, not matter how “good” we think it might be. Again, Mr. Wesley would include these “ones” as “essentials of the faith.” If we build our church around “the essentials,” and “think and let think” (another Wesley phrase) about the “non-essentials,” we CAN find both peace AND unity!

 

·      God has gone so far as to “equip” us with spiritual gifts for service. If used according to the instructions, they will build up and edify the Body of Christ, and help it be a powerful witness to the uninitiated “world” for Jesus Christ. 

 

I’ve always wondered why the name of Jesus Christ used in vain is a “favorite” form of worldly profanity. Outside of the linguists who tell us that our profane words are those with hard “k” or “t” sounds, after reading Paul’s missive in Ephesians, I am made to wonder if it has more to do with how FRUSTRATED people are with what the CHURCH, in its “wilted” form, has done with the power, love, and witness of Jesus Christ? Might people use the name of Jesus as a SWEAR word because we have done such an injustice to the message of Jesus with our bickering, our infighting, and our hurtful accusations against other “believers” within our own organization? Is our world crying out for a “worthy” church, filled with people whose behaviors and systemic UNITY might show them a better way? Maybe we ALL should start swearing, if we can’t get our act together! 

 

Paul finishes up telling the fledgling church to “stop acting like children,” being tossed “to and fro” by theological trinkets. What, then, does “maturity” look like? We find it in the TRUTH and LOVE in Jesus Christ. Essentials again, wouldn’t you say? As an almost seventy-year-old, I can say this: it’s a terrible thing when your body starts “warring” within itself and fighting you. It’s the wrong kind of maturity. As we age, we have to become much more diligent about what we eat, how we exercise, and what we attempt to do, with what we have. Otherwise, our body will rebel, and we will lose that competition. A “wilted” body rapidly degrades, along with its ability to accomplish anything. A cared-for, well-nurtured, and “honest” body will maintain functionality and integrity, and it “won’t write checks it can’t cash,” as they say. This is good counsel for the Body of Christ, too. 

 

Walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called—THAT’S what we do! And this is what makes us a “worthy” church! Amen.