How Now Shall We Live?

On this Sunday before Veterans Day, I’d like us to begin by asking our veterans to stand. Whether you served in a war zone, or as a deterrent to war during the Cold War, I’d like you to stand and be honored and thanked by the rest of us who appreciate what you did so very much.

We have been engaged in a study of Ephesians for 10 weeks, and today we reach the mid point of this amazing letter that Paul wrote to the young church in Ephesus. In the first half of the letter, Paul has laid out OUR REALITY IN CHRIST. It has been one dramatic picture after another of the amazing grace of God – how He has adopted us into His own family and given us every spiritual blessing in the heavens. I am convinced that if we could firmly grasp the truth of the first three chapters of Ephesians in our own lives, those lives would be dramatically altered. Everything else in life would be put into a different perspective – a proper perspective that would affect our actions and our reactions to anything life throws at us.

Today, as we move to chapter 4, we embark on the second half of the letter. The theme from this point on is OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN CHRIST. Paul marks this shift with a powerful statement that I believe is the key passage in the entire letter. In chapter 4, verse 1, we read:

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.[i]

In those preceding three chapters Paul has laid out this amazing new eternal life that we have been granted through faith in Christ – something that can never be taken from us – but now he calls us to live a day to day practical existence that mirrors that spiritual reality.

Every time I consider those words, I am humbled. “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Live a life worthy of the name of Christ! What a high calling that is! It is a challenge that is not made as a hollow gesture to make a point – he means it! It’s a tall order, but one that we are expected to conform to.

It’s not unusual for an individual or an organization to expect a standard of behavior from their followers or members. It’s true of the Kiwanis, the Rotary, even at your job. There is an expectation of acceptable behavior. Some have simple, minimum requirements – show up on time, be ready to work, wash your hands before work, etc. Other groups have very demanding requirements.

On this Sunday before Veterans Day, I want to show you a brief video clip from a National Geographic television special about Arlington National Cemetery. A large part of the program is devoted to the soldiers of the 3^rd Infantry (The “Old Guard”), who have the honor of standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They follow a group of young privates as they go through the training to earn the right to stand watch at the Tomb. The efforts they go through are incredibly rigorous. They are expected to be perfect in their uniform, their demeanor, their knowledge, their timing and performance of their duties. If they succeed, they are awarded a badge, to be worn on their uniform, showing that they are part of an elite group. The clip shows one young man being inspected by his Sergeant.

I don’t know if you caught it, but there is something that was said there that I want you to remember – these men, upon receiving their individually numbered pin, have their names placed on a large board. They pledge, at that time, that they will never do anything to dishonor that pin. For the rest of their lives they are prohibited from public displays of anger, foul language, abuse of alcohol or drugs, or any behavior that will bring shame on the Tomb. IF they do – even 40 years later – their pin will be taken from them, and their names removed from the role of honor.

The Tomb Guard Identification Badge is one of the least awarded badges in the Army, second only to the Astronaut Badge. Since the sentinels are held to such a high standard, if they ever do anything that is deemed behavior unbecoming a Tomb Guard or brings dishonor upon the Tomb, their badges may be revoked, even after [the sentinels] have left active duty military service.

As of early 2002, there had been nine revocations of the Tomb Guard Identification Badge.

Imagine making a promise at age 19 that you will never behave badly – for the rest of your life – for the honor of guarding a granite block containing dead bodies!

If we call ourselves “Christians,” then we are, in affect, wearing a badge that identifies us as representatives of Christ, and with that position, comes a responsibility – to live a life that is worthy of the calling we have received.

So what does that life look like? Many will tell you that it’s all about following the rules – “do this, don’t do that.” But that’s not the case at all. It’s not a life of rules – it’s a life of character. Paul is going to spend the next three chapters expanding on the issue – but he gives us a great introduction in the next few verses…Read them with me.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul lists 6 characteristics of a walk that is worthy of the calling we have received. The first is humility – you may have “lowliness” in your translation. Humility means that we place others first – and in this case – we place Christ first, then others, and finally ourselves. Now that does not mean that we have an unhealthy, unbalanced view of ourselves, because the Bible does call us to use our talents for kingdom purposes, but it means that we do not think of ourselves to highly.

Secondly we are called to be “gentle,” or “meek.” Meekness is best defined as “power under control.” Jesus was called “meek and lowly of heart,” but was certainly not week. He used His power to drive out moneychangers in the Temple, and demons from possessed people. He had amazing strength and courage, but He was meek – and we are called to be the same. Colin power had a reminder on his desk during his years as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs that read, “Restraint is the greatest exercise of power.” A Christian should never use power as a tool to manipulate, but to build up.

Thirdly, we are called to be patient. Wow. This is maybe the most difficult item on the list. The King James Bible calls this “longsuffering.” Sometimes it’s hard to decide if it’s more “loooonnng,” or “suf-fer-ring,” but as a Christian, we are called upon to do just that. Paul said in I Corinthians 13 that this is a part of the definition of Love – that it “suffers long.”

This is connected to “bearing with one another in love.” That not only means that we help one another bear burdens, which we are called to do, but sometimes that we actually bear each other – endure their immaturity, their irritating little personality quirks, just as they have to endure mine…..

The next quality is expressed in an interesting phrase – Paul says, in verse 3, “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit…” The Greek word we have translated “make every effort,” is the word from which we get our English word, “endeavor.” It means to “be eager to work at.” And beyond the meaning is the way Paul wrote it – he wrote this phrase in a tense that expresses continual activity – it literally says, in the Greek, “Keep on working constantly to maintain unity…”

Unity in the church does not happen by accident – it has to be diligently worked on. Just like a marriage. When I do pre-marital counseling, especially for younger couples – I make a point of trying to warn them that the warm fuzzy feelings of those days of dating and engagement are going to give way to days of harsh reality – and marriage is going to take work – a lot of work – people who have successful marriages are those who “make every effort to keep the unity of the marriage” to use Paul’s words. Every one of us in the church has the responsibility to work diligently to maintain unity in the body of Christ – and peace.

Peace is the final quality listed and is the glue that holds the people of God together. Peace is described as the “bond.” The Greek word used here is a term used by doctors to describe a ligament – a band of elastic material in the body that holds joints together. If you’ve ever had a knee problem, or seen a schematic of a knee joint – you know that you have bone, muscle, cartilage, all coming together, and then held into place by ligaments that wrap it all up like an internal ace bandage.

That’s the image Paul gives us of the “bond of peace.” It’s like a rubber band that holds the whole thing together. Now that doesn’t mean that we all do exactly the same thing, or believe exactly the same way on every issue – just as the bones, muscles, cartilage and ligaments of the knee each have their own function – but it means that when we all work together, there is effectiveness. We must have the Peace of Christ ruling in our hearts, allowing each other to do what God has called and equipped each of us to do.

These, then, are the qualities that are to mark our lives – this is the high standard to which we have been called.

In Washington DC today there is a 19 year old soldier who is going through incredible self denial and sacrifice, committing himself to a lifestyle of discipline and honor that he will be held to for the remainder of his life – all for the honor of standing watch over the unidentified remains of a fallen soldier.

Will we be found faithful as representatives of the living Christ in this world? Will we pledge ourselves to live a life of humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, unity and peace? Will we live a life worthy of the calling that we have received? God has granted us the grace to do so – verse 7 says, “but to each one of us grace has been given as Christ has apportioned it.” We have all we need to live this life – but we must discipline and commit ourselves to it.

Paul concludes his thoughts on the life of unity by pointing out that we are brought together into “one body and one Spirit, we are called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…”

When a young private in the 3^rd Infantry has proven himself, there is a ceremony held at which he is awarded his honor guard pin. It is a moment of celebration and solemn dedication, remembering the sacrifice of those before him, and commitment to honor and duty.

This morning, as we partake of Communion, I want to ask you to use this as a moment of solemn remembrance and commitment. Remember the price paid for your new life in Christ, and commit yourself to live a life worthy of the grace you have received.