Ephesians 4: Good Words

1. I want to begin with a song from Patty Griffin. The Oregonian reporter who reviewed her August concert in Portland wrote – she has a voice so pure it would melt metal. "Long Ride Home" is her song about a 40 yr marriage. One of the spouses has just died. The living spouse is thinking about their marriage which death just ended –

one day I took your tiny hand
put your finger in the wedding band
daddy gave a piece of land
made ourselves the best of plans
40 years go by with someone laying in your bed
40 years of things you say you wished you’d never said
how hard would it have been to say some kinder words instead
I wonder as I stare at the sky a turnin’ red

2. the nitty-gritty of a 40 year relationship. 40 years of
things said & not said. The power of words to both
inflict pain & heal pain. In marriage. In families. In friendships. In the church. The nitty-gritty of relationships.

Back to Ephesians 4
1. we’ve been slowly working our way through Ephesians 4. This is message #7. And today we wade into Paul’s teaching for how Christ-followers are treat one another. This is what it comes down to in community. This is how we will be known by others.

2. 4:25-32 is a picture of 4:22-24. When we put off our old self and put on our new self this (25-32) is what will emerge out of our actions, words, attitudes.

Truth: don’t tell lies; tell the truth (25)
1. truth matters to Paul in this chapter:
§ 4:15 – speak truth in love
§ 4:21 – truth that is in Jesus
§ 4:25 – speak truthfully to his neighbor
The opposite of truth is falsehood, literally “the lie.”

2. as Christ-followers we are to be honest people. People whose word can be trusted.

3. why? For we are all members of one body. The Message, In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself. Christian community is built on trust. Trust is built on truth. Falsehood & lies undermine Christian community. Truth, on the other hand, strengthens it.

4. this is a critical issue for leaders. It’s easy to become defensive. It’s easy to tell lies to protect yourself, hide your faults, hid your sins, make yourself look good at the expense of others.

5. I’ve had to go to people & confess that I lied to them. It’s humiliating. But it’s also liberating. Told any lies lately? Is there someone you need to go to & make things right?

Anger: don’t lose your temper; don’t let your anger endure (26-27)
1. there is such a thing as righteous anger:
§ Jesus got angry & ran the money-changers out of the temple
§ Martin Luther expressed his anger at the medieval Catholic Church for their skewing of the gospel message
§ William Wilberforce was angry at slavery in 19th century England & became an abolitionist
§ 25 years ago Francis Schaeffer was angered by what he saw as the cheapening of human life & wrote a book & made a film that addressed the issues of infanticide, abortion & euthanasia

2. but this is not the kind of anger Paul wrote about. Not anger over evil BUT anger toward people. Our boss, our husband, our mother, our pastor – you fill in the blank.

3. Paul is so practical. He leaves us 3 steps to address our anger at people:
§ do not sin – we have to make sure that our anger doesn’t come from injured pride, spite, malice, animosity or revenge
§ do not nurse your anger – in other words, don’t let it smolder. Don’t feed it. Don’t let it build up. ‘Never go to bed angry’ is a good rule, and is seldom more applicable than to a married couple, writes John Stott

When you think about it, anger is largely a self-centered emotion. It’s about us. We’re not getting what we want. The world is not what we wish it to be. My husband doesn’t understand me. My boss takes me for granted. The oil companies care more about lining their pockets with profits than about how much it costs me to drive into Portland everyday to work. Our anger says something about us.

§ don’t give the devil a place in your life – the word here for foothold means literally ‘a place.’ We can’t let anger take us residence in our lives. It infects. It mutates. It becomes the avenue the devil uses to cause us to sin even more

**The New King James – Jamie Netter & Anne Chambers**

Stealing – don’t steal; work & give (28)
1. this is a striking picture of conversion. The thief becomes a philanthropist. The one doing wrong to meet his own selfish needs – is now – to do right to meet not only his needs but the needs of others.

2. Klyne Snodgrass writes of this verse in his commentary, (4:28) ignites a bomb under our self-centered thinking. Our goal is productivity so that we can give. We do not exist for ourselves, but for relations with other people and with God.

3. the 2 richest men in the world – Warren Buffet & Bill Gates – were interviewed in Fortune magazine in October. Together the 2 of them are worth around $100 billion. Both of them feel that a tremendous responsibility comes with the wealth they’ve acquired. Both have plans to give away 99% of their money – Buffet after he dies & Gates is working on it right now. They are applying the truth of this verse whether they realize it or not.

4. our application of this truth has very little to do with income. This is a mindset that becomes ours as our old self gives way to our new self. We work. We strive to become productive. We become God-honoring stewards. We make sure the community benefits from our productivity.

5. this is what our weekly offering is all about. This is what the Miracle Sunday Offering is all about. And the Habitat for Humanity dinner/auction. And the benefit concert for Habitat for Humanity. And our weekly offering.

6. For the Christ-follower we all of us need to ask ourselves a question – when does satisfying our wants leave unsatisfied the needs of others? I agree with Snodgrass. This verse ignites a bomb underneath our greed.

Speech – don’t use destructive words; build others up (29)
1. now we go from hands to mouth. Our God speaks & like him we also speak. Our speech distinguishes us from animals – cows moo, dogs bark, pigs grunt, sheep bleat, lions roar, birds sing. But only humans speak words.

2. unwholesome words are not to be found among us. Unwholesome in Paul’s time referred to spoiled fish & rotten fruit. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth (Message).

3. 3 pointers for our speech:
§ our words are to build people up
§ address people’s needs
§ benefit others
Words are powerful. They mold & shape. They do good & evil. By them people’s lives are made or destroyed, found or lost.

4. how are you doing with your words? Building people up? Speaking into their needs? Make a positive difference in people’s lives?

Attitude – don’t be unkind & bitter; be kind & forgiving (31-32)
1. Paul starts us off with 6 unpleasant attitudes/actions. They are descriptive of what destroys human relationships. Instead of love, various expressions of hostility reign:
§ bitterness – hardness of heart, a sour spirit, sour speech, negative & cynical outlook, acidity disposition
§ rage & anger – these mean the same thing; outbursts of anger; anger directed at another person; personal attack
§ brawling – not physical violence but shouting, yelling, screaming at someone
§ slander – this is speaking bad or evil of someone, especially behind their backs; spreading gossip; tearing someone down; calling into question their character, reputation
§ malice – harboring grudges, simmering anger, public attack, wishing some kind of evil or setback for someone

2. what’s the operative word? Get rid of all this stuff! Back to 4:22f., - put off your old self & put on the new self. Stott, there is no place for any of these horrid things in the Christian community; they have to be totally rejected.

3. these things destroy marriages, families, friendships & churches. These things annihilate human beings. They are the nuclear threats to our love, unity & peace. They are terrorist attacks upon our mission to make a difference for Christ in our community & world.

In my 25 years of pastoring I’ve seen more
relationships shattered by these 6 things than I have
by alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, greed or
gambling. The church has been guilty of crusading
against social evils while overlooking the evil
at work in their human, Christian hearts.

4. what’s the alternative? Putting on the new self, w/c is Christ’s self, w/c reflects the person of God:
§ be kind – a Greek word spelled almost like Christ; used by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount for God’s kindness toward the unrighteous (5:45). Means = be like Christ.
§ be compassionate – not bitter or angry or slanderous or poisoned by malice
§ be forgiving – literally ‘act in grace toward one another.’

5. our treatment of others is to be grounded in God’s treatment of us in Jesus Christ. The way God has treated me in my sin, my failure, my rebellion, my selfishness, my jealously is the way I am to treat you in yours – especially when you mistreat me.

6. the nitty-gritty of lying, anger, stealing, speech & attitude.

Holy Spirit – 30
1. to engage in any of these negative attitudes, words or actions of 4:25-32 is to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Grieve means sorrow or pain or distress. God is a person & we can cause God grief & we do.

2. this is huge. I’m afraid we miss this in our failed human relationships. Ultimately, all this is about God, not us. When we fail each other we fail God. Anything we say or do that weakens the purity or unity of the church is a sin against the Holy Spirit.

3. confession & repentance are to start with God & go on to those we have hurt or mistreated.

4. 2 things in leaving:
§ 1st, if you have things you need to make right with God or people this week, do it. Don’t put it off. I’ve never had someone come to me & say – oh, boy, I wish I hadn’t asked forgiveness of ???...or made things right with ???...or taken the 1st step to heal my broken relationship with???

§ 2nd, we need to realize that on our own we can’t be Christ-like in our relationships. We can’t grind it out on good intentions. We need God. We need Jesus. We need the power of the Holy Spirit.

Listen to The Message (4:22-23) – everything – and I do mean everything – connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life – a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

**New Living Translation – Jeff Cook & Jeff Cook**

Guest Speakers: The Champs

John & Marie Champ will be speaking this week and John will come to our Sunday school class as well.

John may be able to provide some notes for his talk which will be posted here.

“Let’s Talk About Money & Spirituality”

1. many of you are familiar with Rick Warren’s book The Purpose-Driven Life, the best-selling book in the world since 2003. This book has made Warren a millionaire many times over. What’s he doing with all his money?

2. Warren & his wife have made five decisions:
* they did not upgrade their lifestyle
* Warren stopped taking a paycheck from Saddleback Church where he is the pastor
* he repaid 25 years of his salary to the church he founded in 1980
* they created three charitable foundations
* they started "reverse tithing," meaning they live on 10 percent of their income and give away 90 percent.

3. in 2003 Warren traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa the help lead an HIV/AIDS conference. He was struck by the needs in Africa. He began to reexamine Scripture & was humbled – I found those 2,000 verses on the poor. How did I miss that? I went to Bible college, two seminaries, and I got a doctorate. How did I miss God’s compassion for the poor? I was not seeing all the purposes of God.

4. today Warren is mobilizing his church to be on the frontlines of ministry fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Money & Spirituality
1. today I want to talk about money & spirituality. The 2 go hand-in-hand. Does money come up very often in the Bible? Listen to these numbers:
* baptism – 40xs in Bible
* prayer – 275xs
* faith – 350xs
* love – 650xs
* money/wealth/material possessions – 2350xs!
Money & our relationships with God & others can’t be dismissed or divided.

5. let me take you on a little tour of the Bible & show you what it teaches us about money & spirituality – Solomon, John the Baptist, Jesus, the early church & Paul.

Solomon: Proverbs 3:9-10
1. these are my all-time favorite Bible verses about money, wealth, giving.

2. 1st we honor God with how we use my money. Our money matters to God. The way we spend our money is a statement of faith!

3. 2nd God deserves the 1st cut from our paycheck. First-fruits = crops, herds, labor for the Israelites AND 1st allotment of our paycheck.

4. 3rd God blesses those who give their first-fruits. Their barns will not be able to hold the harvest. Their wine vats will overflow with wine. This is a picture of abundance & blessing.

5. we can’t out-give God. God blesses those who give. If we honor God with our money, he will honor us with his blessings. You can’t out-give God!

John the Baptist: Luke 3:7-14
1. John the Baptist is preaching. He’s calling people to repentance, produce fruit in keeping with repentance (8). The crowd asks him, what shall we do then (10)? In other words, how do we need to change? How do we get on board with what you’re saying? Tell us what to do.

2. John gave them 3 answers:
* everyone should share clothes & food with the poor (11)
* tax collectors shouldn’t pocket extra money (12)
* soldiers should be content with their wages & not extort money (14)
Each answer relates to money & possessions.

3. think hard. John was not asked about money & possessions. He was asked what they needed to do to demonstrate the fruit of spiritual transformation. John couldn’t talk about spirituality without talking about how to handle money & possessions.

4. John’s point – we won’t fully serve God unless we’ve dethroned the money idol in our lives. Luke 16:13, No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

5. 15% of Jesus’ teaching focused on money & possessions. He spoke more about money than he did about heaven & hell combined.

Jesus: Luke 12:13-21
1. Jesus is with a huge crowd – thousands had gathered (12:1). Someone in the crowd had money on his mind & asked Jesus a question – teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me (13).

2. Jesus knows that money issues are heart issues. He issues a warning about greed – watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (15). In God’s eyes, the one with the most toys doesn’t automatically win. Life is more than money, stuff, possessions, holdings.

3. he tells a parable – read. And then the clincher, this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.

4. rich toward God, rich toward God, rich toward God. Let that sink in. This is not a matter of income. Of being rich or poor. Lower or middle or higher class. Living in the Dunsthrope area of Portland or in a humble manufactured home in Gresham.

5. rich toward God. What does this mean? The book of Acts tells us so let’s move on…

the early church
Acts 2:45
1. 1 mark of the first church of Christ-followers in Jerusalem was radical generosity! They sold their ‘stuff’ & gave the money to the needy.

2. when the Holy Spirit fills the church, the Holy Spirit will lead the followers of Christ into revolutionary acts of generosity. When God gets a hold of our lives our financial priorities change.

3. instead of a ‘helping others’ sale like we just had 2 weeks ago, we should hold a ‘helping others give-away’ event – sell our stuff & give the money away, bring our stuff & give it away!

Acts 4:32-37
1. here’s more of the same, radical, revolutionary acts of giving. Possessions were shared. Bill, Rae, I’d like to use your mini Cooper this week. Harry, I’d like to use your rain gear. Jeff, I’d like to use your office. When the Holy Spirit moves in our lives suddenly our possessions have less of a grip on our lives!

2. houses were sold. Land was sold. The money was brought to the church leadership. it was given to the poor. Holy Spirit-driven church growth principle – the ‘haves’ share with the ‘have-nots.’

3. good case-in-point = Joe Barney sold a piece of land & gave the money to the apostles.

4. bad case-in-point = Ananias & Sapphira sold a piece of land & lied to the apostles & to the Holy Spirit about what they got for the land. They wanted to look more generous than they were. They died as a result.

5. if this kind of thing happened today, some of us wouldn’t be here. We’d be dead & buried, 6 ft under ground.

6. when the Holy Spirit moves in our lives 1 thing we can count on is a greater desire to give give give. Even radically.

Paul
Galatians 2:10
1. when the hater-of-Christians Saul turned lover-of-Christians Paul, he went before the church leadership in Jerusalem for acceptance. They said, yes, you’re one of us! Followed by remember the poor.

2. faith & giving, faith & money, faith & generosity, faith & compassion are to mark our lives.

Ephesians 4:28
1. I love this verse – quit stealing, get a job, do something useful, make your life count, set aside some of your income to help the needy.

2. to be a follower of Christ means that part of our income goes to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

3. in 2 weeks we are going to take up our annual Miracle Sunday Thanksgiving offering. This offering has averaged $30,000 over the past 10 years. We’re going to give all the money away:
* 10% to Christian workers @ CAC
* $1500 to Josh , Bev Harlan’s grandson who is an Assemblies of God missionary in China, studying the Chinese language so he can teach English as a 2nd language & share Christ with his students
* ½ to dig wells & buy medicine & food in the name of Christ for needy Muslins that the Susu church in Guinea, West Africa are trying to reach
* ½ to CAMA Services, the social relief arm of the C&MA who are involved in working with the needy all around the world

4. we have so much & others have so little. To remember the poor, to write out some big checks, to say “no” to our wants in order to say “yes” to other’s needs is part of what it means to be rich toward God.

2 Corinthians 9:6-11
1. 1st we reap what we sow. Tight-fisted giving = little blessings. Generous, sacrificial giving = huge blessings. Scripture clearly teaches that God’s blessing follows our giving. Giving leads to the goodness of God.

2. 2nd God loves cheerful giving. Giving out of want, gratitude, passion, desire, obedience.

3. 3rd God will meet all our needs in our generous giving.

4. like I’ve already said, we can’t out-give God.

The last word
1. I want you to give. I want all of you to give. I want you to give consistently. I want you to give generously. I want you to give cheerfully. I want you to give sacrificially.

2. some of you don’t give. I want you to start. I want you to get with it.

3. some of you sort-of-give. Token amounts. Not anything like a tithe (10%) of your income. I want you to increase you giving till you get up to a tithe.

4. some of you have lots of money. Some of you have some money. Some of you have very little money. Doesn’t matter how much or how little you have. I want you to give. I want you to follow the advice & model of Solomon, John the Baptist, Jesus, the early church & Paul.

5. I believe that your 1st responsibility for giving is right here, your own church. I want you to give to our church. Our vision, our ministry will be limited by your lack of giving & multiplied by your generous giving.

6. I have no trouble looking all of you in the eye & saying as your pastor – I want you to give! Why? Because…
* I want what’s spiritually best for your life
* I want God to bless you
* I want you to learn to trust in God rather than in your bank account
* I want you to experience how God takes care of us when we give
* I want you to experience the joy of giving to others
* I want you to experience the joy of seeing your dollars make a difference in someone’s life
* I want you to be a part of touching our community & our world for Christ
* I want you to know the joy of being rich toward God!

7. we have 7 weeks left in 2005. I want you to use those weeks to bring your giving up to the level that will please God.

Church: The Way It’s Supposed To Be

“The Good News”
Ephesians 4:17-24

1. last Sunday we looked at the bad news of 4:17-19. That people who live their lives without God are caught in a downward spiral of:
* hardened hearts
* darkened understanding
* spiritual death
* unbridled impurity --> pornography
This doesn’t describe every single person who lives a “minus-God” lifestyle BUT it’s generally true of cultures, societies & peoples who do.

2. today, I have good news for you.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, open our ears so we can hear you speak to us this morning. Do something in our lives, in our church, in our community that we are not used to. Make us desperate for Jesus and the truth that is found only in him. Amen.

Change
1. bad news becomes good news through change. Donald Miller writes of change in his book, Through Painted Deserts: "I want to keep my soul fertile for the changes, so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it is time for things to die. Only the good stories have the characters different at the end than they were at the beginning. And the closest thing I can liken life to is a book, the way it stretches out on paper, page after page."

2. the change that turns the bad news into the good news is tied up in one name – Jesus. Read 4:20-21.
Jesus the Good News
1. Paul defines Jesus by 3 verbs – know, heard & taught. Know is better translated learn.

1st. we learn about Jesus = Jesus is the content of the good news
2. Jesus is the substance of the good news that brings about change. Jesus is Christianity. Jesus is the core of our faith. It all starts & comes back to Jesus.

3. remove Jesus from our Christian faith & you have nothing. The Apostles Creed is centrally taken up with Jesus:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

4. Jesus is our one true vision!

2nd, we hear from him = Jesus is our teacher of the good news
5. literally, him we heard. Where do we hear Jesus? 1st in the written Word – the Bible. This is why it’s imperative that we become a people of the ‘the Book.’ Jesus shows up in these words. These words reveal Jesus to us.

6. where do we hear Jesus? 2nd as the Living Word who speaks not just through the Bible but through people, events & everything he has created.

7. Jesus speaks to us through people. This means that we hear the voice of Jesus in the voices of our human teachers. When I was a freshman in college, barely a 9-month old Christ-follower, I heard Jesus ask me to give my life to serve him through the words of Dr. L.L. King, who at that time was President of the Alliance. I’ve never turned my back on those words.

8. I’m blown away by this every week – people are going to hear the words of Jesus when I teach. And so I begin my sermon on Monday morning. I pray. I study. I stare at my Greek New Testament. I jot down observations. I look for connections. I consult commentaries. I may read a sermon online from the text I’m preaching. I try to allow the Scriptures to address me. And at the end of the week I walk up here with a sermon in hand & heart.

9. I speak through incomplete sentences & miss-pronounced words. And miracle of all miracles – you hear Jesus speaking to you. And I pray that you won’t turn your back on his words.

10. after speaking on pornography last week I received an email from someone who’s struggled with this issue. About 2 years ago I told this person it was time to get some help. He wrote, I have been involved for over a year in the ministry For Men Only / Pure Life Alliance. Tim, as you recall, this comes after your Christ-like counsel to me to get serious about this issue. Thank you, this was the guidance I needed to get serious and get help. I opened my mouth & Jesus spoke to this person.

11. Jesus speaks through events. Last Sunday morning Kyle Lake, pastor of the University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, was electrocuted in front of 800 people in his church during a baptismal service. He reached for a microphone while in the water, something went wrong, and he was killed. 33 yrs old, he leaves behind a wife & 3 young kids.

12. one of his friends trying to make sense of this senseless tragedy wrote on the internet – Kyle died young. Where is God in that? I think He is in those of us who are so deeply shaken by his loss that we have found a new determination to make our lives as meaningful as possible. Death is always what wakes us up to life. Jesus is saying to 800 people in Waco, Texas right now – live, live, live. Live your life for me as if this is your last day on planet earth!

13. Jesus speaks through everything he has created. One of my spiritual pathways – the avenues through which I experience God – is creation. I took Wednesday away from the office & went to the Trappist monastery in Lafayette. I read. I prayed. I journaled. I did some planning. I took a walk. I prayed with the monks at noon. And I kept looking out of the window of the room I was staying in at a magnificent sight – a large, old gnarly oak tree, losing it’s yellow & red leaves, the topside of its branches covered with different shades of green moss.

14. The tree spoke to me not just of beauty & creativity. It spoke to me of perseverance. I thought of all the autumns & winters it had weathered. The tree spoke to me of refuge, safe places. The birds & squirrels it had sheltered. The monks it had shaded. The tree spoke to me of its life-giving nature. Season after season its leaves having fallen to the ground, decompose into the ground to feed its roots for another round of 4 seasons.

15. Jesus was speaking to me about my life & the kind of person I want to be – someone who appreciates & encourages beauty & creativity; someone who perseveres in the hard seasons of life; someone who is a safe place for people to come find rest & encouragement; someone who is a conduit of Jesus’ very life to others.

16. Jesus speaks to us all the time. Through his written Word & as the Living Word through people, events & all that he has made. If we don’t hear the voice of Jesus it’s not his fault. This universe reverberates with his Living Voice!

17. Jesus is the content of the good news as well as the teacher of the good news.

3rd, we are taught the truth in Jesus = he’s the context of the good news
18. Christ himself is the truth of the good news. He doesn’t just speak truth – he is the truth. The truth is a living person. For the follower of Christ, truth is personal.

19. I can speak the truth But I am not the truth. You can speak the truth But you are not the truth. Jesus speaks the truth & he is the truth. Every ounce of truth in the universe emanates from the person of Jesus. I am the way, the truth, and the life Jesus says in John 14:6.

20. truth is always found in the context, the environment, atmosphere of Jesus himself.

Communion
1. communion is a picture of how the bad news is changed by the good news. Jesus is the change-maker. He sees us with hardened hearts, with darkened understanding, with spiritual death & with all our impurities.

2. and he loves us still. He dies for us. He takes all of our bad news upon himself. And by the cross, his death & his resurrection he changes that bad news into good news.

3. he comes to us & says, if you acknowledge me, confess me, follow me, invite me to be yours, Than yours is unconditional forgiveness, mercy, grace, love & eternal life here & now, there & then.

4. he is the content of this meal. He is the teacher of this meal. He is the environment in which we enjoy this meal.

5. let’s eat, let’s drink, let’s enjoy sweet, sweet communion with our Maker & Redeemer.