“What’s the point?”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, April 25, 2023

Ephesians 4:7-8,11-16 (Forward, p. 86) CEV p. 1224

The apostle is quite notable for his various lists of the gifts that God has given to the church—more precisely, to its various members. Apart from today’s passage, he also mentions gifts in Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). And, in the latter passage, he also stresses that these gifts were meant for ‘the common good’. Here, however, in today’s passage, he gets a bit more specific on how this applies, and particularly specific in stipulating what the leadership gifts are meant to achieve.

He mentions five leadership gifts, apostles, prophets, missionaries (evangelists), and pastors and teachers (the latter two joked together). He goes on to specify that all of these do not exist for themselves, for their own benefit, but for the good of the wider church. According to the NRSV, it was ‘to equip the saints [that’s all of us] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (verse 12). Or, as the Contemporary English Version puts it, “so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong.”

And, what is the end goal, the point of all this? According to the CEV, “this will continue until we are united by our faith in and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.” Yes, into ‘the full stature of Christ.’

But Paul doesn’t leave it just there: he wants to press this point home, because, to be honest, his readers aren’t ‘quite at that point yet.’ They, like us, have ‘a ways to go.’ His advice therefore:

-we should stop acting like children, presumably pouting and fretting about things, and wanting our own way;

-we should be careful not to be led astray by deceitful or crafty words or teachings;

-we should be honest with each other, truthful, but always in words that reflect a sense of love and mutual respect. In other words, not wanting our own way;

-we should learn how to work together as a body, each contributing Its ‘bit’ and working as a harmonious unit;

-and, above all else, we should sincerely love each other, listening to and respecting and caring for each other in practical ways.

It is good to know, enheartening to realize, that each of us has a vital and important part to play in God’s plan, and more specifically, in the Church. But also good to know that God allocates these gifts as He sees fit, so there is no need, or room, for competition or one-upmanship. Instead, we should all exercise our gifts, carry out our duties, to the best of our ability. That is what God wants, and what God will use to build up the church—and bless the world as well. That’s the point of all these gifts, and indeed, of all of our lives. Amen.

Forward notes: “Speaking the truth in love” (verse 15).

“In our corporate confession, we ask forgiveness for things done and left undone. Maybe we lied by doing something contrary to our deepest values. Or maybe we lied because it was easier than starting an argument or explaining ourselves. But we are called to reconcile ourselves to God and neighbor and to our inner being. That is why we offer ourselves, our souls, our bodies as a living sacrifice when we come to communion.

“Becoming beloved community is predicated on being in right relation with ourselves, with our neighbor, and with God. Yet healing cannot happen if we as a church do not first confess complicity in horrors such as the cultural genocide at government boarding schools. By speaking the truth in love, we let the Creator’s love embolden us to fulfill our baptismal covenant to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every person.”

Moving Forward: “Jesus was often in conflict with religious and political authorities because he spoke the truth in love. Will we claim the authority of our baptism to do the same?”

A concluding note: Having stated, correctly, that we must speak the truth in love, we must be careful on two counts. First of all, that we are speaking it in love. Far too often I have been at church meetings, local, regional, or national, where it has not been spoken in love, but in anger, hostility and just plain nastiness. Erupting into name-calling and labeling can never be said to be done in love. And secondly, we must be humble enough to recognize that our truth may be just that, our truth, and not the whole truth or the unbiased truth. Far too often people get up to spout off, seemingly ‘righteously’, when what they are saying is only partially right, or sometimes not at all, because they have only received partial or incorrect information, or because they have received it, filtered it, through their own prejudices and misconceptions, or through what they have been led to believe is right—or politically correct. There is far too much so-called truth out there that is not really truth at all. And so, we need to be very careful, and rather humble, in how and what we say.