Set Apart But United

For the past few of weeks, a local and historical movie based on the life of Antonio Luna has been generating plenty of buzz. Why shouldn’t it? It’s masterfully done; with perhaps the most gratuitous aspect of it would be the graphic battle scenes. But to the people who appreciate history, the movie more than satisfies. One scene in particular stuck a chord. (I suppose this is the part where one says spoiler alert?) It was a cabinet meeting, and Luna – who felt as though he has reached his daily limit of absurdity – spoke up about the people’s sense of nationality and in essence, their unity as the nation’s leaders.

He erupts, “Negosyo o kalayaan? Bayan o sarili?” and in that moment one realizes that the struggle to be united in achieving one goal is still something that our country experiences. Thus begs the question: Do we sometimes find our Church to be in a similar situation? Do we sometimes find ourselves to be disagreeing more than agreeing with regards to certain topics or issues surrounding our Church, even if it’s to say that everyone has good intentions just different ways of going about it?

Ephesians speaks about God’s redemptive love and how it is inclusive of both Gentiles and Jews; and Ephesians 4 specifically speaks about unity in the body of Christ. In a world that often tells us to stand out, to be unique, and to be opinionated, how do we live above the pressures of the world and in the way that is appropriate for a child of God?

I.  THE URGE TO BECOME WORTHY OF THEIR CALLING

Paul explains it well in chapter 4. He begins in verse one by urging the Ephesian Christians to be worthy of their calling. He believed that God set a standard for each Christian to behave or conduct themselves in a certain manner. Paul is basically asking us to live and act in the way that will bring glory to God. In his book Live Life On Purpose, Claude Hickman emphasizes how much importance God places in His name. He further explains it by comparing it to being a simple brand ambassador. Brands will only sponsor athletes or celebrities who are at the peak of their fame, because they want consumers to be invested in their brands. While this may be an oversimplification of how evangelism works, there are similarities. God holds His name at such a high esteem that He would naturally want us – His ambassadors, witnesses, and children – to represent Him well.

How do you represent God? When you go to school, do your classmates think that there’s something different about you compared to how they live their lives? If you’re working, do you join in idle gossip instead of respecting the other person that is just as important to God? How do we, as God’s children, show that He is a God that is worthy of being glorified?

In verse two of chapter four, Paul now gives us the pointers on how to be worthy of our calling. He listed down characteristics that are worthy of our calling. He called us to be humble, be gentle, be patient with one another, and bear with one another in love. Of course this might just be a more detailed or specific of Christ’s command in Matthew 22: 37-39, particularly 39 as it pertains to a person’s relationship with other people. These are teachings that we’ve known since we were in Sunday School. We know what it means to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving towards each other, but how often do we emulate these characteristics?

Going back to Heneral Luna, how many of our country’s leaders at that time showed humility, gentleness, patience, and love? How many of them came to the meeting with their own agenda, or something personal which they wanted to protect? The movie line that I mentioned earlier summarizes perfectly our dilemma when we don’t have the characteristics that show that we are set apart by God. Paul’s guidelines on how to live according to God’s standards are basically a set of “how to” tips in relating to other people better. When we stop thinking that our opinion is the only one that matters – and by extension, that we are the only ones that matter – and start regarding others to be just as important as ourselves, that maybe a small step towards unity.

In verse 3, Paul speaks about the unity that is worthy of their calling and the attitude that we should have in maintaining it. He qualifies the kind of unity that he mentions – the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Why does Paul have to qualify what kind of unity it is, and why does he say that we have to maintain it? To the first question, it is because peace is a bond that unites all believers. It’s not something that we create or dependent on us. It is a peace that is solely dependent on the Holy Spirit, one that was given to us. To the second question, since it is only given to us our responsibility is making sure that it is upheld.

Paul touches on this back in chapter 2 of Ephesians, particularly in verses 11 to 22. The reason why Jews and Gentiles are united is because of the redemptive act that God the Father did through Christ. He says in Ephesians 2 verse 13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Here, he is referring to the way that Jews and Gentiles worship, wherein the temple courts were still divided according to social status. It was a time when the ceremonially unclean were in the outer courts while the Jews and the priests were in the inner courts. But Paul says that that doesn’t matter anymore – that the race of the people worshipping God isn’t of importance because they all have a new race in Christ.

In a way, it reminds me of how our history as a nation came to be. Before any of the powerful countries back in the 1500s decided that it was the best time to explore the world and land on our shores, we were quite literally tribes of people who only cared about the people in their own tribes. But having been formed as a country and nation taught us – rather, is still teaching us – that some things are more important than our personal interests or preferences.

II.  THE FOUNDATION OF THEIR CALLING

In order to maintain in the unity the Spirit provided, Paul gives the foundation of the Ephesian believers’ calling. He believed that believers have the responsibility to keep unity in the body of Christ. In verse 4, Paul mentions that the basis for their unity in the body and in the spirit is rooted in the hope that belongs to their call. This is the hope that Christians will one day be with God forever. Simply being united shouldn’t be the end goal, rather it needs the further qualification that we know why we need to be united and what should keep us united. Paul reminds us that there’s a reason why we need to stick together and what it is that we can look forward to in the future.  

Think of it this way: recall news events when there are rallies for one cause or another and when a reporter asks one of the people around why they’re there, they wouldn’t be able to give a straight answer. What answer do you give when people notice that there’s something different about you? I remember a time when I was going through a rough patch at work, and every fiber in me wanted to leave. I shared to my workmates about how God had wanted me to remain still, despite my own reservations. My friend asked me how it is that I was so sure that God was speaking. Very simply, I said that it’s because I have faith and that His Word spoke to me. It was a year later that God gave me the opportunity to share the Gospel to her. I hope that when we are asked why we are hopeful, or why we are able to be gracious with each other, we would be able to point it back to the source and reason behind everything – that is our faith in our God.

Verse 5 further enumerates that hope isn’t the only thing that belongs with our call. He includes the very foundation and manifestation of our faith – that we have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. It begins with knowing and accepting our Lord, building our faith, and manifesting it through baptism. It is through baptism that we further realize what being united truly means. While it is a declaration, an act that shows that we believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior, it is also being incorporated into One Body – that is the Church, as seen in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13.

What does this mean for us? Perhaps these facts have been ingrained in us since we were children in Sunday school or that we’ve been oversaturated with the “Bible Thing” that we go through the motions of serving God with fellow worshippers that it ends up being a routine. It is always good to go back to our roots – the who (Christ) and the what (baptism) of our faith.

III.  THE ONE POWER BEHIND OUR CALLING

                Lastly, Paul gives us the one power behind our calling. He reminds us that God’s oneness defines the Church’s oneness. Verses 4-6 subtly illustrates the oneness of God. Verse 4 spoke about having One Spirit, and verses 5 and 6 speak about Christ and God the Father respectively. These verses defines the unity of the Trinity. Each person of the trinity had a part to play in reminding or empowering us to remain united, and it is through God’s oneness that the Church models what it is to be one as well.

                We know that verse 6 reminds us of the indisputability of God – He is over all, through all, and in all. He is a God who is ever present, boundless by time, and sovereign over all. We can find a clearer picture of this in Psalm 139 verses 7 to 12. The Psalmist says,

⁷Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed Sheol, you are there!

[…] ¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;

The night is bright as the day,

For darkness is as light with you.

His presence is more than enough to saturate us. Imagine being wrapped in the coziest blanket that you own during a rainy day. We’ve all probably had that experience in one way or another, and we all know how difficult that made it for us to get out of bed. This is how we should view God’s presence in our lives. The knowledge that He lives among us and that His Spirit is with us shouldn’t be thought of with disdain. His presence should excite us and comfort us. We should always be reluctant to move away or stray from His presence. Remember: It is because of His nature and His desire to commune with Him that He has called us, together, for His purpose. He has called us for Him, the only One who can, that we may belong to Him and be a part of His kingdom.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

                Antonio Luna isn’t known for his patience. His contemporaries would rather vilify him for the very things that made him a good strategic general. He wasn’t the most compassionate person in the room (neither was he likely to extend grace to those who’ve slighted him). It is not the intention of this sermon to paint him as a saint. However, for all his faults, Luna got one thing right: That the unity of a nation towards one goal is far more important than the wants of an individual.

                In the movie, Antonio Luna says to his apprentice, “Malaking trabaho ang ipagkaisa ang isang bansang watak-watak.” It’s not easy uniting people into doing something they don’t think is important. Unity is never going to be about blindly doing the same thing as everyone else without knowing the reason. Unity is realizing that we are all called to one purpose, called to one God, and called to be a part of one Church.

                Each day we live at a crossroad – do we do what we want or do we do what is right (and by extension, right by God?) Do we choose to live for ourselves at the cost of discord, or do we die to ourselves for the sake of unity? When conflicts arise, do we let it settle and fester instead of addressing it by rebuking each other in love? Unity is fragile if it is dependent on the sentiments of people, but it is empowering when we remember the ultimate source of this unity and peace. Be encouraged in the knowledge that our God is not only the root of that unity, but the model as well. He is a united God that united us all under the cross.