By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
August 4, 2024
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Ephesians 4:1–16 (ESV)
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
I have spent a great deal of time this week just contemplating life. I try not to get caught up in the 24 hour news cycle, but there are times where I get sucked into it. We need to be careful. We need to be careful because media is constructed in a way to manipulate our emotions. It does not matter if it is a song, a sculpture, or a story written for the ten o’clock news each form of media is constructed to prompt the emotional centers of your body to start firing. The same could be said about the sermons I and every pastor gives every Meeting for Worship. We are all artists in our own manner. Artist that encourage those around us to look at the world in a different perspective and giving us an emotional prompt directing that journey.
I got sucked into the cyclone of news media this week, as many of us have. It is an emotional period within the cycles of history. Every four years the nations of the world compete in athletic competitions for the pride of their people. It is a time where we battle not with weapons of war but in well regulated and civilized games. Some nations that do not wish to follow civilized rules of engagement are disqualified and face international mockery and those that complete within the predetermined rules and excel are cheered and honored by not only their nation but the entire world.
It is an emotional cycle of history. I remember watching the Olympics as child, I remember wishing to be like the people that competed in the games. I wanted to run and jump, play basketball or swim like the people that graced my television screen. They encourage us to strive toward the goal, to put everything we have into that one thing we deem within us as being important.
The Olympic games have a deep history. What we celebrate today is a reemergence of and ancient Greek tradition. In history of the Greek culture there was not a single unified nation. Instead it was a loose conglomeration of city-states that shared similar cultural identity. Each of these cities warred against each other: Athens, Thebes, Sparta, and others. They made alliances and battled, but eventually they determined that there was an alternate manner they could use to exert influence over their neighbors. They took the skills of warfare. The throwing of a javelin, the close combat of wrestling, the swiftness of the attack, or the great endurance of the march, and they formed competitions and games. These games allowed for the continued training of the military forces, but preserved the lives of their citizens. They were called the Panhellenic games. There were several sites within ancient Greece where games were conducted but they would culminate every four years in Olympia where every branch of Greek culture would come together at the temple of their chief god and remind themselves of who they truly were. They were powerful people united by a shared cultural heritage.
I do like the Olympics. I like the idea of letting champions compete in games self regulated by sets of rules agreed upon by all competitors. I like the idea of nations facing off against each other in a manner that does not take life but promotes mutual excellence. I like the idea.
Why do I speak about the Olympics? Paul speaks fo these games. In Philippians, Galatians, and Corinthians Paul speaks of running the race. In Timothy he speaks of fighting a good fight. And in Corinthians he speaks of the training boxer beating their body to obtain the prize. Each of these analogies point to the discipline and training required to participate in the ancient Olympic games. And he uses this language because people in those regions participated in them, or they looked up to the people that participated in the. He uses these analogies to illustrate, that the dedication needed to participate in those games, is the same dedication needed to live our lives.
He says” I therefore, a prisoner for the lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”. In Paul’s era walking was not an Olympic sport, but walking was added to the slate of competitions in 1908. The athletic illustration can still be made, because there is determination in walking. One does not just walk. You walk with a purpose, you might have forgotten the purpose of your walk as you move from one room to another but the fact still remains, you began that journey for a reason. Paul tells us that life is a walk. We are not just wondering around aimlessly, but we are here in this place at this time for a reason and purpose.
I want us to consider that purpose. There is a reason you do the things that you do. You might be going to work to support your family or you might be working to gain financial wealth. You might go to school for the love of learning, or you might be going to pursue a specific career goal. You might be here at this meeting for worship simply because it is a good place to take a nap or you could be here because it is a place you can interact with God. Your reasons and goals, the thought that goes into why you do what you do may not be well thought out, but you have a reason.
Paul urges us. He pleads and encourages us to be mindful of why you do what you do. He urges us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have ben called.
Last weekend some of us went to your Yearly Meeting’s Ministry Conference. If you did not attend I hope you take the time to search for the YouTube steams and watch each of the sessions because they are worth your time. In these sessions Alan spoke about our calling. He stressed that each of us are called to make disciples.
I want us to consider what that means. We often use words within faith traditions and we set definitions on those words. We then designate those definitions to be performed by people, usually not us. This is often what happens with discipleship. It is my job as a pastor to make disciples, but if we look deeper into scripture the role of the pastor is to equip the disciples or the saints to do the work they are called to do. We are all called to live or to walk the walk of a disciple.
A disciple is someone that walks the path or lives the lifestyle of a teacher. And to encourage discipleship we pass those life lessons on to others, letting them know how various teachings you learned along the way helped you through the struggles you face in life. To baptize disciples into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, to immerse others into a lifestyle devoted to God instead of self requires something of us. That is what baptism represents it is an immersion, derived from the artistic discipline of textiles. It is immersing the thread, yarn or fabric into dye to change its color. This change in color then gives that substance a new purpose.
When we answer the call in our lives, when we respond to the Spirit on our day of visitation, as the Barclay the Quaker theologian says, we are changed. We are given a new life, a new lifestyle, and a new purpose. The walk we now take is has a different destination than it had previously. As we no longer walk in the ways of kingdoms of men, but in the kingdom of God. Our mission is no longer to promote the things of this world, but to encourage those around us to change their direction and return to the God in whose image we bear.
Paul urges us to walk this walk, “with humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
When we look at this list, what is the goal? Peace.
Peace is not the absence of war as we so often consider it to be. Peace is a relationship where there is a promotion of mutual well-being. Peace is difficult to obtain. It is difficult to obtain because for peace to occur the various parties involved must be willing to communicate, and be willing to submit to the good of others instead of themselves. Peace is cooperation with mutual profit as it’s goal.
Peace is the goal, but how do we get to peace? Humility. Humility is not putting yourself down. It is not oppression or persecution. Humility is right thinking about one’s self and submission to each others. I am humble when I say that I that I know more about computers than many within this meeting. I am humble when I say that I can do more physically than my wife, it is not pride because it is the truth. Humility is knowing that and it is acknowledging that I am not able to do all things. If it comes to design, I am not your man. You would be bettered served speaking to my wife. I am not an artist. Humility is being able to recognize the strengths of others and encouraging those that have those strengths to use them for the mutual profit of all involved. To walk toward peace we first need to be humble. We need to see where each of us fit within the larger culture. Everyone is important in a peaceful society. Without the bakers baking bread there will not be peace, without retailers selling products there will not be peace, without teachers encouraging our children there will not be peace.
Humility is mutual submission to each other. It is the recognition that I cannot do everything and seeking out someone to help. But peace is also fragile. We need gentleness in our pursuit of true peace. When we use power over others, when we use force we might get the desired result, but how long will that last? Jesus said to his disciples, those that live by the sword will die by the sword. Jesus is not being pessimistic but he is speaking truth. We cannot force change. At best the use of force will convince the powerful to be a bit more humble. Peace comes not by the sword but by gentleness.
William Penn is said to have made this statement, “A good end cannot sanctify evil means, nor must we ever do evil that good may come of it.” Gentleness. We must do the hard work of listening, and sharing ideas. We must live our lives open for all to see and convincing them not through words or feats of strength but in character and respect.
This does not come easy, especially in our culture. We want everything as soon as possible. I get annoyed if a library book is checked out and in my lack of patience I have spent more money on books than necessary. But to obtain true peace we need patience.
For those that have worked with children we know this. They often have this intense desire to help. They want to help you cook, help you clean, help you do your work. It is important to let them help because that is part of training a child in the way they should go. But it would be so much easier if they would just let you do it yourself. And often they realize they are unable to do what they would like and that is where gentleness comes back into play. We speak calmly, we demonstrate, we show them YouTube videos, we continue step by step until they begin to pick it up. Then we go to the next step. Paul says walk in a manner worthy of the calling. Walking requires patience. One step at a time.
Have you ever watched competitive walking? It is more difficult than you might think, because there is a difference between walking and running. To walk, one foot must be touching the ground at all times. To accomplish walking speeds similar to the speeds of a runner the person really has to be mindful of their body, and they almost slither forward as they insure one foot is firmly placed on the ground before the next is picked up.
This is a image of patients. One step at a time. The intentional waiting, the assurance that everything is clear before we take the next step. We need patience for peace because everyone moves, everyone thinks, and processes things at a different pace. If we move forward without patience someone gets left behind and tension can arise. And we must again resort back to humility and gentleness as we start the process again.
We do this, we continue to loop back, and try again, because it is worth while. “Bear one another in love,” Paul says. Why do we take the time to help a child tie their shoes? Why do we get tutors to help with algebra? Why do we train the new employee? Or even bother hiring someone new? Love.
As many of you know the Greek language has a few words that English translates as love. There is the passion of newly weds which we call love, but in Greek that is eros. Their is the love we share between friends of philia. There is the joyful banter between friends and children, we call it love but to the greeks its ludus. Then there is that longstanding love that happens as the passions of newly wed life cools, pragma. The fifth love is the love of oneself, philautia. And the last love is agape.
This is one of most radical forms of love because it is selfless. CS Lewis call it gift love, it is kindness give to others without any expectation it will be reciprocated. We are willing to repeat the process of building peace within our community over and over because we respect and care for our community. We strive forward in humility, gentleness and patience because our community and our world is better with each of us than it is without and when we all work together for the mutual profit of all we will soon realize that everyone benefits.
I know I might sound like some peace loving hippy. But it does work. I have seen it work as I worked as a manager in retail. I have watched it work while talking to mechanics that worked on my car. I have seen it in school projects. I have watched it work within my family. And we can see it work on the global stage between nations. Some of the greatest allies to the United States were once some of our greatest enemies. What changed?
Humility, gentleness, patience, and love. These build peace.
Paul urges us to walk in that path. That path was the path that Jesus showed us as he walked among the people of first century Judea. He was the word made flesh, of the very same substance as God the Father yet he came and lived as a member of a family, in a community. He worked along side his earthly father and his uncles. He ate bread next to his mother and his brothers. He went to worship with the community on the Sabbath, singing hymns of praise and reciting prayers while standing next to the people that hired him to fix their door.
He ate dinner with sinners and tax collectors. He touched the sick, he reintegrated into the community those that were once shunned due to illness and mental distress. He did this and the religious leaders became irate. If he was the messiah he would know who he is eating with they would say. If he was the messiah he would not heal on the sabbath or allow his disciples to eat the grains of wheat as they walk along the path. If he was.
The past few weeks I have thought a lot about life. I have taken time to read the judgments the prophets of scripture said over the nations. God used many of those nations against even Israel, but yet they too faced judgment. Assyria brought judgment to Israel, yet they were broken because of their warring. Philistia celebrated because of Israel’s fall, yet they faced famine. Moab, Damascus, Tyre, Egypt, and Cush all mentioned by Isaiah. They were not held to the same standard as Israel but they face judgment before the lord of hosts. They face judgment not because they transgress the law. They did not know the law. They faced judgment because they did not seek peace and justice.
I thought about the words God spoke to Cain. “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
God knew Cain was about to kill his brother. God knew nations would rise against nation. God knows that people will do unthinkable evil against each other. And the world says if God was good he would do something about it. God is good, and God does do something about it, the problem is we do not listen. We would rather share memes defending out political position then take the time to look up the truth. We would rather vote for someone saying they will fix all our problems than recognize that most of our problems are self inflicted. We would rather…
We would rather seek our own good than do what is necessary for peace. We would rather let someone suffer than lift a finger to help. We would rather..
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord,” Paul says, “urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
How are we disciplining our bodies? What are we doing to prepare for the race of life we are running? What are we showing those that may not understand what it means to be a follower of Christ? Are we doing all we can to maintain the unity of Spirit in the bond of peace?
Previous Messages:
Living Stones
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
Endure
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
Ransomed to Love
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
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