Walk worthy of your calling

(The following is an edited summary of the message preached on April 28, 2019.)

Ephesians 4:1-3

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (NIV)

As we look at these verses, let's ask two questions.

1. What is the calling you have received?

If we’re going to answer this question properly, we need to look at this word “calling”. What does that mean?

Basically, it’s a call to have life. When we’re born, when we come into this world, from the very beginning of our lives, we’re headed straight for death. Two deaths, actually. The first death might be from sickness, or being hit by a bus, or by war or famine or any number of things. That’s when a person physically dies. Then, there is a second death. That’s when a person then stands before a holy and mighty God, and all his sins are there. All those terrible things he did when he was alive. And all those kind and loving things that he never did … they are all put before the Lord. And then that person is judged and condemned for that.

Now, the calling that you have received, that is a call to not go through that. The Lord calls out and says, “Don’t go that way. Stop. There’s no need to walk down that path and die. Follow me and have life.”

You can see that call in Deuteronomy chapter 30:15-16.

"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess."

When God calls people, he says to them, “Look. You’re headed for disaster. Don’t go that way. Come and follow me, and have life.”

So that is the call. Now, there are two ways in which that happens. One of those ways is a general calling, and the other is an effectual calling.

General calling

A general calling is a call to all people, everywhere. This is a call that reaches to everyone. At Christmas last year, some of us went to Oasis 21 with invitations and tracts about the true meaning of Christmas. I wasn’t there myself, but those who did go handed those out to everyone walking by. There was no selection or discrimination. It wasn’t like, “Well, I’ll give this guy an invitation to church, but I won’t give one to her.” Everyone was called and invited. That’s a general call.

Effectual calling

An effectual call is when the power of the Holy Spirit goes with the call, and so when someone hears that call, they don’t ignore it, but they answer it.

You see, none of us, in our natural human condition, wants to hear the call of God. We’re not interested. Our hearts are too attached to the things of this world. We’re much too obsessed with our own desires. We want to have people like us, we want to live in a comfortable house, we want to have respect in our community. We want to be in control of our own lives. We don’t want to obey and follow some God who is going to keep telling us what to do. And so when we hear a general call, it’s not enough. Someone gives us a tract and we throw it in the trash. A friend tells us about how wonderful God is, and we smile and say, “That’s nice,” and quickly change the subject. A family member invites us to church, but you know, we’re just so busy, and Sunday is my only day off, and well … maybe next time.

A general call is rejected. Our own hearts are much too wicked and sinful. But not an effectual call. An effectual call has the power of God, that stirs deep inside our soul and draws us to Christ.

Two examples of this kind of call are Lydia and Lazarus. The apostle Paul goes outside the city of Philippi, and he starts talking to some women there, and telling them the gospel. And one of the women is named Lydia, and she was a dealer in purple cloth. And we read in verse Acts 16:14, “… the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.”

The Lord opened her heart. She had a heart that was dead, hard, closed. But when Paul spoke to her, the Lord opened her heart, and she believed.

As for Lazarus, he was dead and buried in a tomb. He’d been dead for 4 days. His sisters and his friends are all upset and mourning. Then Jesus comes to the tomb. He orders that the stone in front of the tomb be taken away. And Jesus calls in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43). And there is power in that call.

That is an effectual call. That is “the calling that you have received”. And none of it was from your own strength or wisdom. We read exactly that two chapters before, in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

God saved you as a free gift. He called you to follow him. You have received a calling to be a child of God. It is a calling to be a citizen of heaven.

2. How do you live a life that is worthy of that?

What does this word “worthy” mean? Well, the scholars who are experts in this kind of thing will tell you that the word used in this verse means, “in balance”, or “to balance a set of scales”.

Imagine that there is a set of scales. Let’s say that in the left tray, there is your calling. “Child of God. Citizen of heaven.” And then, in the other tray, we have your life. The way you do your job. The way you speak to your family. The books you read and the shows you watch on TV.

Are they balanced? Do they match? Are you living your life in a way that is worthy, in a way that is “balanced”, with the calling you’ve received?

There are many ways you can get your life in balance with your calling, but Paul mentions five specific things. This is in the very next verse. Ephesians 4:2-3, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

So, here are the 5:

1. Be completely humble

2. Be gentle

3. Be patient

4. Bear with one another in love

5. Keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace

If you want to live your life worthy of your calling, here’s what you have to do: Be a nobody.

Can I give you just one example, which should convince you this is true? OK, here it is: Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate nobody.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:5-7)

Jesus Christ made himself nothing. He left his place with God, in heaven, and was born in a barn, surrounded by dirt and animals. For the first 30 years of his life, he did absolutely nothing amazing or wonderful. Think about it. For 30 years, Jesus Christ the Son of God got up in the morning … had some breakfast … probably went with Joseph to work in the carpenter shop … came home … maybe he helped his mother with some chores around the house … then went to bed. Every day for 30 years. Just like that.

He was a complete nobody.

In your daily life, when you go through the routine of everyday, you can do it all for the glory of God. Just be completely humble and gentle.

Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.