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Advent - Ephesians 4:3

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Ephesians 4:1-6

4Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to live in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called: 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, 3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; 4 one body and one Spirit (just as also you were called with one hope of your calling), 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

Unity and Peace

Once again I say "Praise God" this morning for more words of Scripture that succinctly highlight the beauty of the Gospel.

  1. "I, the prisoner in the Lord..." No one knows better than Paul that if Jesus says "Come to me" you have no choice but to obey.
  2. "with humility, gentleness, and patience put up with one another in love, be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace". Christian community was literally the talk of the town in the early church - it was so odd that historians have written about "The Way" (the early early name of the Christian movement). Acts says believers "had all things in common". Jesus brings unity that transcends any differences between us.
  3. "one...one...one..." Paul is saying so clearly that we are one family in Christa. Later in the same letter he says "be eager to do good to all, and especially to those in the household of faith". Christians should be meeting the needs of those around them, but even more so meeting the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I really strive for unity... My whole life people have accused me of loving an argument (which is true) but I am not pugnacious. I do not enjoy fighting - I do enjoy rhetoric and debate, but by God's grace I hate division. There are several examples I can point to in my life where unity and "team spirit" was important to me.

Simple Example

I worked for Summit Ministries for several summers, eventually serving on some leadership positions. While in those positions I wanted to do "extra" things to unify our counselors, and one was that every year I'd design a sweatshirt that we'd all (or most of us) would buy. I just love the idea of being united for a common and GOOD goal.o

Christians should be the most unified and loving people on the planet... unfortunately that isn't the case, and I know a lot of people in and out of the Church who have experienced great disunity and division. That really is unfortunate, but I think the only thing I can do is march forward to the beat of the drum Jesus has for me. And one of those beats is to strive for unity "putting up with one another in love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"