The Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians. (4:1-7)

It is not often that an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ begs. Yet that is exactly what is happening in today’s epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians. He writes to the Christians in Ephesus and what he says here is applicable in every place, even here in our own community. He writes, “Brethren, I, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” Sometimes we forget the sorts of trials and struggles that were faced by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. We forget what they must have undergone and what they went through in order to preach this gospel that we often take so lightly and so casually. St. Paul reminds his hearers that he is writing this while he is a prisoner, under house arrest in Rome. Yet what is his focus and goal during that time? It was the well being and the care of the Church of God, for which he had toiled day and night.

Here St. Paul gives us as Christians some really important guidance, and it is important for each of us to hear these words. He says “lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” and then he goes on to describe this life, and how one lives it in a way that is worthy of the name of Christian. It is not enough to claim to be Christians. It is not enough to believe we are Christians internally. We are called to live the life of Christians and He tells us to do this “with all lowliness and meekness”. What do these words “lowliness” and “meekness” mean? One of the Bible dictionaries describes lowliness in the following ways, 1) the having a humble opinion of one’s self 2) a deep sense of one’s (moral) littleness 3) modesty, humility… 

When St. Paul begs us to live the life of Christians, he begins by turning our attention to our own demeanor of humility. He tells us that a Christian is one who is humble, one who has a great sense of their own moral littleness. It reminds me that the great saints of our Church are truly humble people. They are people who don’t judge and condemn others even quietly, internally, because they are focused on their own shortcomings and striving to repent. They don’t have time to judge others because they are solely focused on how they can please Christ. We are told that meekness is similar and goes hand in hand with lowliness, it also goes hand in hand withbeinggentle and mild with others. So much damage is done when we are rude or pushy or when we try forcing people to do things our way, or when we try to force people to see our way and be swayed by our opinions. We are all guilty of this at times, no one is perfect, yet the Lord expects us to strive for perfection. Demonstrategentlenesswith one another because thisis one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Next, St Paul tells us that Christians must have “patience, forbearing one another in love.” Patience is defined here as“endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance” as well as “longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs.” Forbearing is defined as “to sustain, to bear, or to endure.”St. Paul is not trying to establish some new moral code, he is trying to give us a glimpse into the kingdom of heaven, and the Church is the image of the kingdom on earth, for the Church is the place where we unite withChrist and His saintsand participate in the Holy Spirit. How can brothers and sisters who live together in Christ, in the midst of the saints and the angels,be impatient with one another? How can brothers and sisters in Christ be boastful and arrogant? Do you not know that without the mercy of God you are like a speck of dust? 

We are reminded that while we are all human, we are called to be holy and transfigured humans together in the Church. Why? St. Paul tells us that we are “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” If one person begins to act in a way that is rash or unkind to someone else within the Church what will be the result? It is possible that some of the people will be pushed away from the Church. We as Christians are not called to push people away from the Church, that is the job of the evil one. We are called to be like the apostles and evangelists of the Lord. We are called to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity. We do this through our living example of love.

We don’t come here simply for ourselves and what we can get, we come here in a spirit of service and love, we come to be with others and share with others in this great joy of the universe, in the joy of the resurrection of our Lord. We are bound to one another through baptism into Christ and through the receiving of the Holy Spirit. We are bound to one another and united through our participation in the body and blood of Jesus Christ, who died for us. So when someone holds a grudge against anotherwithin the community it is a great sin. How do we pray the Lord’s prayer while we hold grudges or are angry with one another? It is impossible. 

You see that the priest turns around during the liturgy to ask God to forgive the people who love him and the people who hate him. He also turns around to ask the people to forgive him, since he knows that he is not perfect but sins and offends others. What the priest doesphysically,should be done by each of you, internally and through your attitudes towards everyone else. Make a low bow in your minds and hearts and strive to serve one another because you are one family. Strive to be united and put aside any minor differences you have so that you may show yourselves to be the faithful children of your Father in heaven.

St. John Chrysostom says “The purpose for which the Spirit was given was to bring into unity all who remain separated by different ethnic and cultural divisions: young and old, rich and poor, women and men.” He continues “Bind yourselves to your brethren. Those thus bound together in love bear everything with ease.… If now you want to make the bond double, your brother must also be bound together with you. Thus he wants us to be bound together with one another, not only to be at peace, not only to be friends, but to be all one, a single soul. Beautiful is this bond. With this bond we bind ourselves together both to one another and to God. This is not a chain that bruises. It does not cramp the hands. It leaves them free, gives them ample room and greater courage.”

St. John tells us that the bond that we have to one anotheris powerful. More powerful than any secret societies or fraternities or organizations of men. The holy bond we have allows each of us to grow and be nourished in Christ as one body with one soul! So nourish and care for the body, because it will be your strength and your salvation in Christ. St. Silouan once said “our brother is our life.” May the Lord truly help us to alwaysbe united as brothers and sisters in love, this will allow the Church to be what it is meant to be, a place of healing, hope, and peace….a place where we strongly sense the presence of the living God. To Him alone be the glory, together with His only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Source: Sermons