Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-january-2-2026
Ephesians 4:1-16
Unity in the Body of Christ
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – 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 to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he led many captives in his train
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Today’s reading comes from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, a letter the apostle wrote to the church in the Greek city of Ephesus. It’s a passage that touches on several topics, but before we get to the things Paul covers, we should probably remind ourselves that Paul’s letters were addressed to people who had not ‘grown up in the church.’ The church had not existed for long enough for many people to have grown up in it. Its members had all had been either Jews or pagans, so they needed guidance on how to live as followers of Jesus.
We should also keep in mind that Paul was writing to a church that was a lot different than the worldwide body we know today. The church was smaller, and with rare exceptions, it hadn’t begun to divide into denominations. There was a degree of unity in the church that we don’t experience today. So when you think about it, Paul’s direction to them is probably even more critical to those of us who are trying to follow Jesus in our time.
Paul begins by urging all followers of Jesus to live “a life worthy of the calling you have received.” And he describes that life as one marked by some of the “fruits of the Spirit” he lists elsewhere in his letters. We’re called to be humble and gentle, and to be patient and loving with one another. We’re called to work for the unity of the church – Paul says that in God’s mind, we are intended to be a single body, because we share a common baptism, and we’re united by a single Holy Spirit in service to one God and Father of all.
Then Paul goes on to another of his common themes – that the Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts to be used in the ministries of the church. All of us are ‘gifted’ to serve the church, and to serve others in Jesus’ name. What’s more, Paul says, as we use the gifts we’ve been given, we’ll be united more and more in our faith and in our understanding of Jesus.
The apostle also writes that as we come to a deeper understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus, we’ll be less susceptible to the kind of pseudo-Christian teachings that might sound clever and innovative, but that are really the products of human imagination rather than inspirations by the Holy Spirit. In Paul’s day, these varieties of doctrine would have included the teaching of those who taught that followers of Jesus need to practice Hebrew customs like circumcision and eating kosher foods. They would also have included the teachings of the “gnostic Christians,” who said there were mystical secrets and good and evil divinities.
In our time, there are obviously an even greater variety of theologies being taught. That includes the different perspectives of the many denominations in the world, but also ideas like the “prosperity gospel” that teaches that material prosperity is a sign of God’s favor. There are also a number of nationalistic churches that combine patriotism and the Christian faith in ways Jesus would never bless. Many churches in our country teach a “God and country” theology that is really the mirror image of the theology being advanced in Russia today by Vladimir Putin’s supporters in the Russian Orthodox Church.
But Paul writes that the true way of Jesus is one that brings us closer and closer to others who follow him, not one that divides us from each other. Paul says we are to “grow up into him who is the head” of the church, so that the love shared among believers becomes a connecting tissue that unites the church as ligaments hold a body together.
It strikes me as really interesting that Paul uses the metaphor of ligaments supporting the body that is the church. When you think about it, unlike bones, ligaments are flexible, and allow the body to bend and flex in different directions. Too often we followers of Jesus become rigid in our beliefs – we’re so sure we’re right that we don’t extend to others the grace to follow Jesus as they feel called.
We obviously don’t always agree with all the theological positions of our brothers and sisters in Jesus. But remembering what Paul has written here about how we are united by our baptism and by the one Holy Spirit in the service of our one Lord, it seems clear that the more we focus on what unites us rather than what divides us, the more we model Jesus for the world.
We tend to think that the path of Christian unity lies in persuading other believers that we’re right and they’re wrong. But maybe the true path of Christian unity lies in looking for opportunities to pray and study and serve together in spite of our differences. The apostle Paul seemed to believe that as we all mature in our faith, the love that grows between us will be more important in God’s eyes than the doctrines that are so precious to us.
Let’s pray. Lord, help us to be humble and gentle and patient with other believers, not just with the friends we see in worship on Sunday, but also with those of other traditions. By your Spirit, foster genuine unity among us, so that those who see us will know we are followers of your Son by our love for one another. Amen.
May you be richly blessed throughout this new year.
Henry
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