The Resurrection Life is A Called Life
October 15, 2015
Jesus calls us through His Word, through the preaching of the gospel or through the love and words of a friend. And when we hear his call, we respond by faith and begin living our calling. His call begins to transform our thinking, shape our behavior and give direction to our lives. And a big part of His call is to unite us with others who follow Him. God has called us to a new life together as His people.
1.Balancing the Scales
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1
The goal of our calling is that since we have been called by God’s grace and been recipients of God’s grace, we would now live a life of grace.
2. Walking the Walk
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2
The way of our calling is to walk in…
Humility: Just as pride is behind every conflict, so humility is behind every harmonious human relationship. Humility is the ABSENCE of self-promotion.
Meekness: Meekness is power under the control of God. Flowing out of humility, meekness values you and treats you with respect and dignity, even if you are wrong. Meekness nurtures you and sees you like fine china marked “Fragile, handle with care.”
Patience: Patience values people enough to give them room to grow, time to fail and space to learn. As we do, we give them grace. Patience endures the annoyances of difficult personalities and patience means we stop expecting people to measure up to standards of behavior.
Tolerant Love: The Christian life is a life of putting up with other people, and this tolerance finds its ability and motivation in love.
The picture of this forbearing love is throwing a blanket over the sins of others, not to justify them or excuse them, but to keep them from being defined by them. That’s how gracious people treat one another. They never condemn. They put up with our failures and sins because that’s what God does with us. He puts up with us and NEVER EVER gives up on us.
3. The Tie that Binds
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3
This is the bond of our calling: an exhortation, to be eager to put into practice the ways of our calling. Because as we do, we will guard or protect the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Each of these qualities when lived out in our relationships with one another create a bond of peace:
As humility grows in us, we will create a serving community where we are looking out for the needs of one another.
As humility gives birth to meekness, we will create a safe community we everyone is treated with sensitivity and respect.
As meekness gives birth to patience, we will create a gracious community were people are allowed to fail.
And as patience gives birth to tolerant love, we will create a loving community who never gives up on anyone.
This is the tie that binds. For when we walk the walk and bless others with the same weight of grace that God has blessed us, our peace with one another protects the oneness God has already given us in Christ.