Meditation for May 7, 2008

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16

 

1 "I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.  7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift...  11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 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.  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.  15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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."

 

Unity and Speaking the Truth in Love

 

As a community of faith, we would do well to turn to this section of Ephesians 4 again and again, and keep pondering it - again and again.  I know that as a pastor, I find myself returning to it over and over again.  It is also true that in my everyday relationships with other people, whether those other folks are parishioners or not, this passage is never very far from my thoughts. 

 

"Peter, are you 'speaking the truth in love' here?"  That is... am I speaking the truth?  And... am I doing it "in love"?  Both things are necessary - the truthful part, and the "in love" part. 

 

Am I acting in a way that promotes the unity of the body?  Do I serve with humility and gentleness?  Am I patient?  Do I "bear with others in love"? (verse 2)  Am I making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? (verse 3)

 

Despite all of our diversity - in personality, theological and political views, age, gender, race, etc. -  am I able to regularly see that, through Christ and by the working of the Holy Spirit, we are one body with one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, "who is above all and through all and in all."  In other words, what unites us is way more powerful and more real that what divides us!  Am I remembering that?

 

Am I able to celebrate the diversity of gifts that is represented by all of the people in our community of faith?  (verse 7)  By the way, those gifts are not limited to the ones listed in verse 7.  The list of our gifts goes on and on, and all of those gifts are needed for the good of the community, just as all of our members are needed - if we are going to be equipped for the work of ministry and build up the body of Christ, if we all going to "come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God" and "to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." (verses 12-13)

 

It is not a mistake or a coincidence that this phrase about "speaking the truth in love" is found within a passage that is about Christian unity.  If we are to be one, and remain one, then we must strive to continually speak the truth in love.  What does this look like?

 

If something is bothering you at St. Ambrose, you need to share that with the person who you have an issue with, and share your concern honestly, in a Spirit of love, and no matter who it is with - whether it's with me, a member of the Vestry, or another member of the parish.  We cannot grow into who we are called to be, or grow as a community, if we do not address whatever issues come up among us.  And issues come up.  It's just a fact of life!  To put it another way, it's what you might call a "fact of relationships".  Think about your family of origin or the family that you are currently a part of, or think about your relationships with your friends.  Stuff happens!  Conflicts arise.  Misunderstandings happen.  We get our feelings hurt.  We say things to each other at times that we haven't really thought through very well.  In other words, we are human.

 

If we are to continue in the unity of the faith, we must "come clean". With the strength of Christ leadiing us, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must "grow up" - "grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ". (verse 15)  And we do a lot of that growing up by learning to "speak the truth in love" (also in verse 15).  It is not growing up to spout off the truth in a destructive way.  "You want the truth?  I'll give you the truth!  Bam!"  No.  But it is also not growing up if we swallow the things that shouldn't be swallowed, if we withhold the truth that needs to be shared for the good of our community.  By this I mean: What needs to be shared so that we keep the air between us clean and the connections between us strong?  (This is one important part of what Julia and I talk about in our couples' workshops.)

 

Far too often in the church, we don't say the things that need to be said, in the name of "being nice".  Or, we don't say the things that need to be said because we have this very misguided notion that "churches should be perfect", or "these kinds of things shouldn't happen in churches".  Well... guess what?  They do.  As I said above, we are human.  This is a fact of life, a fact of relationships.  Just because we proclaim faith in Christ doesn't mean that our Lord is suddenly going to zap us and we will never struggle with our relationships again!  We are in process; we are being transformed day by day and year by year; we are still "growing up", as this passage from Ephesians makes clear.

 

Got a problem with someone at St. Ambrose?  Got a problem with me?  Let's talk!  Let's have some dialogue!  Let's trust in our Lord to help us learn how to "speak the truth in love".  Let's keep practicing together.  We won't always do it right.  We're going to to hurt each other at times.  That's where asking for forgiveness and granting forgiveness come in.  (We need practice in those areas, too.)  Let's remember that our unity is in the Spirit, in Christ, in our baptism, in our faith, in the God and Father who is "above all and through all and in all" - and that our Lord wants us "to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (verse 3)  To do that, we have to keep working at it, with God's help.

 

Final note:  It has moved me greatly to be a witness to all the cards, phone calls, prayers, meals (received and yet to come), and warm, caring thoughts that you have extended to Julia during her time of need.  We have been reminded of how important it is to share in a community of faith.  Thank you, from the very depths of our hearts.  As we strive to learn all that we are supposed to learn from this ordeal, know that we have already re-learned the importance of being part of a community of faith.  God bless each of you.  And thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you!