Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Eph. 4. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- You’ve no doubt heard the expression that leading and supervising people is somewhat like “herding cats.” I suppose that cats can be excused, since their behavior is instinctually driven. People are certainly different. We can behave in a cooperative manner – and many people become very good at this. But human beings also have the capacity to be disobedient, obstinate, and even rebellious. This is part of our sinful nature – our natural distaste for the Fourth Commandment, for authority, even God’s authority.
- In that Christians, children of God, remain “simul justus et peccator,” at the same time saint and sinner, there is need for the encouragement of our text, that we be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” There is a God-given unity in the church, according to our text: “there is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.”
- But there are also many aspects of our sinful nature which compel us toward the destruction of unity and harmony even within the church – just as there are evil and hypocritical infiltrators within the church who are highly motivated to destroy the church. There is no question that we must have discernment in addition to cultivating “humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love.”
- The Bible is a book that is filled with conflict and dissension – including rebellion against God. Virtually every account and plot-line involves conflict. We see it in the Old Testament lesson, and also in the Gospel reading. So as we think about the “herding” we are called to do, and how God seeks to “sheep-herd” us, we need to understand that:
I. There Are Plenty Of Excuses For Disunity
A. Ingratitude, Discontentment, And Unbelief Breed Conflict And Disunity
OT Lesson: “The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”
Statement: It is difficult to overstate the degree of ingratitude, discontentment, and plain unbelief that was expressed by the people of Israel. And I might add, an amazing degree of selective memory! These people were slaves in Egypt, groaning to God day and night in regard to their captivity and inhumane conditions. He had delivered them with mighty signs and wonders, and had reduced their enemies to utter devastation and death. And yet they compare their former condition favorably to their current blessedness as free men and women!
Application: The discontentment of the people seemed fully justified and reasonable to them – and it led to the greatest disunity, that of rebellion. This is quite common to sinful human beings who struggle to place full faith, trust, and confidence in God. We no doubt have the same feelings at times – even in the midst of the blessedness and plenty of America – that God still hasn’t given us enough, that we would be better off without His goodness and love being upon us! I know full well the depth of this sinful discontentment and grumbling – I not only listen to it in my own heart, but I hear it all the time in conversations with others.
Transition: And this discontentment is essentially against God – as Moses taught the people of Israel: “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against Him – what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.” Nonetheless, our ingratitude to God often leads to:
B. Jealousy And Rebellion Against God’s Servants Also Breed Conflict And Disunity
OT Lesson: “you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Statement: It is supposed that God’s servants can be separated from God – and that attacks upon God’s servants are legitimate and “safe.” This is a constant temptation that we have – so that when we rebel against God and His servants, we excuse ourselves with the thought that we are far too holy and pious to rebel against God. It’s just His servants who stink! But this is never the case in the sight of God. Of course His servants have sin, foibles, follies, and weaknesses! Every servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is described in this manner in Holy Scripture – all of the prophets, all of the disciples, all of the apostles. Nonetheless, it is certain that they remained servants of God – and God refused to be separated from them when the rebellion was always essentially against Him.
Application: The same remains true to this very day – and if we are to enjoy and maintain our “UNITY IN CHRIST” we must take cognizance of this reality, and take care not to repeat the folly of the ancient children of Israel or of those who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. I suppose that we can look at how God seeks to build up and maintain His church in the world, and judge and evaluate His ways just as the people of Israel felt free to evaluate and judge Moses and Aaron – but we should be aware that:
II. Unity Is Given And Maintained In The Church By The Grace Of God Given To Each Of Us
A. As His Servants Build Us Up In Faith – Feeding Us The Bread Of Life, Jesus Himself – And Equip Us For The Work Of Ministry
Text: “He [the ascended Lord Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
B. And As We Receive Their Ministry And Instruction, And Attain Unity Of Faith And Knowledge Of The Son Of God, And Mature To The Fullness Of Christ, Unity Is Maintained And Strengthened
Text: “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
C. And This Blessedness Comes By Teaching And Admonition – Speaking The Truth In Love – So That The Whole Body Builds Itself Up in Love
Text: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him Who is the head, into Christ, from Whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Statement: This is God’s provision – just as Jesus was God’s provision of eternal life. God dispenses this life by means of His Word, and equips and sends servants of His Word to feed the body of Christ with the Lord Jesus Himself – Who is “the bread of life.” This occurs in worship and also especially in Bible Study – and so the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh find these activities particularly difficult and loathsome. But, so as not to appear to be ingrates and utter rebels against God, we rather find reasons to rebel against God’s servants and their ministry – as if God will allow these things to be separated, and will not receive our rejection of His Word and Sacraments as rejection of Him personally.
Application: But our text makes clear, as does the rest of Holy Scripture, that this will not work out well for us. Jesus Himself urges us: “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” And this food that He seeks to give us comes through those whom He has given to the church – “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.” It comes to us through His Word and Sacraments, which He Himself bestows upon us through those whom He has made “stewards of the mysteries of God.”
Now we can be ungrateful, and consider this manna from God to be “loathsome,” and we can be jealous and rebellious against God’s servants. But they will remain His servants, and will continue doing the work of God – that people may believe and be equipped, and may become “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” May God grant it to us all!
Conclusion: Yes, the Bible is all about conflict – between God and the devil, between good and evil, between servants of God and people who reject them. But the message of the kingdom, and the redemption that is ours in Christ Jesus, is all about unity, “the unity of the Spirit – one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.” This unity is the gift of God, part of the blessings of our redemption and salvation in Christ Jesus – “by the grace given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”
So let us enjoy it, and grow in it, and eagerly maintain it within the church, bearing with one another in love, and building up one another in love. Then we will not miss the mark, but will indeed come to Jesus – so that we shall not hunger and shall never thirst. God grant it to each of us in greatest measure! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.