Ephesians 4:7, 11-16 (NRSV)
7 But each of us was given
grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 11The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for
building up the body of Christ, 13until 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. 14We 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. 15But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who
is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and knitted 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.
Those who
read my blog who are, like me, members of St. Paul’s Lutheran church, probably
are familiar with this passage. It is
posted at the entry to the church office and has been quoted much in the past
year by both Pastor Mark and myself. It
was the part of scripture in fact that got the ball rolling for me to be the
Director of Equipping Ministries.
It’s good to
have a focus – being equipped for ministry – but here Paul tells it is more
than that. We have to have a reason for
being equipped - a reason even for ministry. More than that even, a reason for building up
the body of Christ.
That reason
is for all to “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.”
Mature in the
faith. No longer children, tossed to and
fro. Our faith then is not a static
thing. It is an ever-growing thing.
It strikes me
that as with maturing biologically, maturing in our faith is going to sometimes
be uncomfortable. It’s sometimes going
to be awkward and strange and painful.
Growing is never a smooth process.
That means
part of growing and maturing to this unity Paul is talking about means
sometimes we are going to hear things that confront us and we disagree
with. It means we aren’t always going to
get it right even if people we’ve known and trusted in our growing faith
have assured us that we are.
It’s going to
mean sometimes having our faith shaken.
Growing
hurts. Ligaments and muscles are knitted
together and stretch and grow and it hurts.
Until it
doesn’t anymore.
Equipping God, please remind me
that pain means I am growing. Remind me that as I stumble and fall and get up
again you are there, your truth always surrounding me with love until I am
fully knit together as part of your new creation. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment