Unity Is Strength (Ephesians 4:1-7)

Unity Is Strength

(Ephesians 4:1-7)

Greetings to you all in the mighty name of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Illustration

            In a village lived an elderly father and his four sons. The elderly guy was concerned. His boys were constantly fighting with one another. He had made many attempts to warn them not to fight. However, his sons refused to hear him out. He called his four sons one day. He offered them a little bundle of sticks and instructed them to split it in half. Four sticks made up the bundle. The eldest son remarked, “It’s child’s play.” Taking the package, he attempted to shatter it. The sticks in the bundle stayed whole, which shocked him. He exerted greater power. He made repeated attempts. He began to gasp for air. The package was not going to break. He gave up trying.

            The four sticks were then attempted to be broken by his brothers, but they were unsuccessful. With a grin, their father motioned for them to untie the package. He gave each brother a stick and instructed them to attempt breaking it. The sons each picked up a stick. The sticks shattered and bent in a matter of seconds. It is simple to break a single stick. “It is hard to break four sticks that have joined together,” the elderly man remarked, casting his sons a critical glance. The lesson got home this time. The brothers ceased their altercations. They would successfully complete any task assigned to them by cooperating as a team. The four lads had learned that power comes from togetherness.

    The read passage Ephesians 4:1-7 calls us to be united, despite all difficulties and differences. Ephesians is considered one of Paul’s “prison letters or epistles,” Paul wrote this epistle around 60-61 CE in Rome, while he was imprisoned. The purpose of this epistle is to strengthen the community of faith in Christ and also to encourage people to lead a life of holiness. In these verses, Paul calls the Ephesians to live a sanctified life, bearing with one another in humility and love to maintain the gift of unity that God had given them. Paul reminds the Ephesians that God chose both Gentiles and Jews to be saved through the promise guaranteed by Christ. Paul urges the Ephesians to live a life worthy of the calling they received, as people united with one another through Christ’s saving work. This calling is not an easy task, it requires patience, self-denial, and unconditional love for one another.

    Paul reminds the Ephesians to be united in one spirit and body of Christ. In another sense, he encourages people to ‘come with union’ which means “communion.” It is one of the important sacraments of the present-day church. The sacrament is the visible sign of the invisible grace and it is one of the solemn Christian rites considered to have been instituted by Jesus Christ to symbolize or confer grace. Through this sacrament, the ‘grace of God’ is assured to the receiver.

1. Grace of God is for the unity of the Church

    In the context of the Ephesian church, the sacrament brings the Jews and the Gentiles into one body through Christ. In Ephesians chapter 4, Apostle Paul calls the church to live worthy of her calling. In the life of the Ephesian church, unity is seen but it is not uniformity. The primary call of the church is for unity and he further asks the church to make “every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit” because the church reflects the oneness of God. In Ephesians chapters 1-3, the apostle has elaborated upon the reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles that God has brought through Christ. While both Jews and Gentiles once lived according to the flesh (2:3), Jews were nevertheless “near” to God, while Gentiles were “far off.” Both groups are joined through Christ and draw nearer to God. Part of the call in Eph. 4:1-7 is for tolerance, or “bearing with one another” (4:2). The appeal for the church is to grow together as one body even though there are some differences among them.

    The contemporary church has many dividing walls such as race, caste, class, gender, and a huge gap between the generations within the church and the traditional and doctrinal differences between the churches. Only through the grace of God through the gift of Christ one can grow to the stature of the fullness of Christ from whom the whole body is joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly makes the body grow. With this growth and maturity, one can overcome the intra and inter-church differences and become ‘oneness in Christ.’

2. Grace of God is for the witness of the Church

    In the early church, baptism (4:5) was a declaration that the person was definitely identifying him/herself with that group of people who were called ‘Christians’ and were despised and hated. To be a Christian meant persecution, maybe death or it meant being ostracized from family, and shunned by friends. In baptism, therefore, the believer entered into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. As we read in Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gives himself for me” so it is clear that baptism gives us the courage to be the witnesses by the power of the one who is crucified for us. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, says “Anybody living in the strength of Christ’s baptism lives in the strength of Christ’s death.” Only through suffering we can be the witnesses of God and for this Grace of God that is Baptism is essential.

    In the present context to be the witnessing Church, we should be ready to face the struggles on the path of our ministry. Especially we should be ready to fight for justice and to stand against the evil forces for this will be the true living of Christ’s faithful servants in the society. And for this witnessing community (Church) the gates of hell shall not prevail against and the keys of the kingdom will be given to the church which stands for justice and peace. (Matt 16: 18,19)

Conclusion

            The present-day Churches are widely divided into many denominations and some of these divisions are mainly in the name of church doctrines. Lack of understanding, wrong teaching, misleading, selfish motives, ego clashes, to show strength and power status, and laziness in learning are some of the important causes that lead the Church into chaos. But what actually this sacrament meant is to bring unity and witness. So, let us try to understand the important concepts of sacraments and why it was instituted by our God? And try to practice it in a meaningful way. Let us be the channels of God’s love and solidarity in this challenging and changing world. Amen

A. JENIL DHAS

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