Bearing with One Another - 2. A life Worthy of the Calling

In the last post I affirmed that humans are made for love in community, but that our ability to love is broken. What might an unbroken love worthy of the name look like? One of the places in the New Testament where that is illustrated is in the fourth chapter of Ephesians which begins with

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Before we go any farther, note that the chapter begins with “I therefore.” Any time we see a “therefore” in the Bible, we should ask, “What is the therefore there for? What came before that this is building on?”

In this case what has gone before in Ephesians is the declaration that in Jesus Christ, heaven and earth which have been so separated by sin and brokenness have been made to rhyme. And, with that, the disharmony of humankind exemplified by the divide between Jew and Gentile has been harmonized.  And that the Church has been created to be the community living the harmony of that new humanity in all its rich variety rooted in “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with the fullness of God.”

Based on that, Chapter 4 begins with “Therefore lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” And what does that look like? Like humility. Like gentleness. Like patience. Like forbearance – bearing with one another. Let’s face it, this is a tall order. Some of us are more bearable than others. And all of us can be unbearable sometimes. But it is learning to bear with one another in all of our unbearable-ness that we learn to love as Christ loved us, to love as we were made to love.

It is in learning to bear the burden of one another, especially those we find unbearable that our compassion moves in the direction of being like God’s (cf. Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:35-40). As Paul puts it in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Ephesians 4 portray further what a life worthy of this call looks like:

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called

means to live

with all humility

and gentleness,

with patience,

bearing with one another in love,

making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called means

                                                                   

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of       Christ, until 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.

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called means

speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from 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.

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called is to

put away your former way of life, your old self,

corrupt and deluded by its lusts,

                       and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

and to

clothe yourselves with the new self,

created according to the likeness of God

in true righteousness and holiness.

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called means

putting away falsehood,

let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors,

for we are members of one another.

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called means to

Be angry but do not sin;

do not let the sun go down on your anger,

and do not make room for the devil.

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called means Christians must

give up stealing;

work honestly with their own hands,

so as to have something to share with the needy.

To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called means to

Let no evil talk come out of your mouths,

but only what is useful for building up,

Put away from you

all bitterness

and wrath

and anger

and wrangling

and slander,

together with all malice,

be kind to one another,

tender-hearted,

forgiving one another,

as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

 The Church is called to be the community gathered in the power of the Holy Spirit where our broken loves are healed. It is not easy. It requires some effort on our part. But, we cannot hope to do it without the grace of God. More on that beginning tomorrow.

Bearing with One Another

1. Broken Love

2. A Life Worthy of the Calling

3. Grace First and Last