PERMEATED WITH SPIRIT

Ephesians 4:1-16 (MSG)
In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
     You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
     But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
         He climbed the high mountain,
         He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
         He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
     No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

This week's message was in the form of a congregation-wide conversation, rather than a sermon in it's usual form.  I asked the congregation in advance to read Ephesians 4:1-16, in a couple of different translations if possible, and then to come in prepared to discuss where they found the work of the Holy Spirit in the reading and how they would describe just what the Spirit was doing here.

These are my opening thoughts, just to get us started.....


Last week, if you’ll recall, we heard from the chapter right before this one today, where Paul (or someone writing in Paul’s name) told us all to 

...take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. .....to experience it’s breadth! Test its length!  Plumb the depths!  Rise to the heights!  To live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

and then reminded us

God can do anything—far more than we can ever imagine or guess or request in our wildest dreams!  He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

After reading this last week, I thought it would be beneficial for us all to pay some deliberate attention to the presence of the Spirit in our Sunday readings and maybe by doing so, start to think more about the presence of the Spirit in our everyday lives. After all – honestly – how often do you truly think about whether or not the Spirit is present and active in your day to day living?  

Do we think about the Holy Spirit when we are in church but not so much outside of Sunday morning? How often do we seek the Spirit’s leading when we have to make a decision?  How often do we take time at the end of the day, to look back and see if we recognize the actions of the Spirit in our choices and actions during the day?  Are we truly living lives, full in the fullness of God?

What would be your answers?


(P.S.  We had a wonderful discussion!)