Bear, Body, Believers

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Bear, Body and Believers and my focus is Ephesians (4:1-16). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

My friend, Dave Gruseck, once told me that he was known as The Bear. At that time, Dave was a broad-shouldered man with forearms like Popeye. He was also a Civics teacher and the Athletic Director at Oliver High School on Pittsburgh’s Northside. Yet, I never knew how he came to be known as The Bear. Until recently. I sent Dave an email and he responded quickly.

“There were actually several elements that all came together to make the Great Bear my totem. First, I just was fascinated by Grizzlies, particularly their power. My temperament for a long time resembled that of the bear. I often needed to get my pound of flesh before I showed mercy. Reserved until disturbed then reactive and aggressive.  When I got to Oliver High School, the mascot was the brown bear....but I made it the Grizzly.

I was also impressed with the bear's protective nature toward cubs. I purchased a ceramic statue with a Native American wearing a bear hide wrapped around his family. The protector, the provider.

Finally, he added, “Check the hymn ‘Lift high the Cross.’ it mentions a crucified bear.  Have fun with it.” Dave is right about that, but not exactly as one stanza reads, “All newborn soldiers of the Crucified Bear on their brows the seal of Him who died.”

That said, we examine first the word Bear. The English word "bear" comes from Old English bera and belongs to a family of names for the bear in Germanic languages, such as Swedish björn, also used as a first name. Remember Björn Borg?

That said, a bear is any of the family of large heavy mammals of America and Eurasia that have long shaggy hair, simple tails, and feet with soles. They eat fruit, plant matter, and insects as well as flesh.

There are brown, black and spectacled bears, sun and polar bears, sloth bears and pandas. Bears are names of places in Arkansas, Delaware and Idaho. Bear is the title of books, movies and radio stations. Baylor, Brown and California are among colleges who adopted the bear as a team name, as have professional teams in Chicago, Hershey and Memphis (Grizzlies).

A bear can also be a surly, burly or shambling person. Investors use the word to describe one who sells securities or commodities in expectation of a price decline. Lastly, it also means something difficult to do or deal with. To bear down means to press or weigh down; to strive harder or intensify one's efforts.

Paul did not have in mind hairy animals when he wrote to the Ephesians. Rather, after spending three chapters detailing all that God freely did for us, he exhorted Christians to live rightly. In short, when Christians understand how much God did, they naturally want to serve and obey Him out of gratitude. Understanding who we are is the foundation of this worthy walk. In other words, Christians walk worthily because God loves us and not so that God will love us. Christians are motivated out of gratitude, and not out of a desire to earn merit.

So, when Paul wrote, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” it was a reminder that a worthy walk before God is marked by lowliness and gentleness, not a pushy desire to defend our own rights and advance our own agenda. Before Christianity, the word lowliness always had a bad association to it. In the minds of many it still does; but it is a glorious Christian virtue. A Christian can be happy and content when not in control or steering things his or her way.

When Paul advised Christians to bear with one another in love, he meant that the inevitable wrongs that occur between people in God’s family will not work against God’s purpose of bringing all things together in Jesus – illustrated through His current work in the church. In short, if God is for us, who can be against us?[1] The Church Father John Chrysostom defined this as the spirit that has the power to take revenge, but never does. It is characteristic of a forgiving, generous heart.

And when Paul encouraged Church member in Ephesus to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, he taught that this humble, forgiving attitude towards each other naturally fulfills this gift of the unity of the Spirit. Christians must endeavor to keep this unity because we do not create it. God never commands us to create unity among believers. He created it by His Spirit; our duty is to recognize it and keep it. This is a spiritual unity, not necessarily a structural or denominational unity. It is evident in the fellowship possible among Christians of different races, nationalities, languages and economic classes.

Okay, let’s move from my first point, Bear, to my second, Body. Paul continues his letter by writing about the one Body. Now, I’m not going to delve into the word body as I did bear. Instead, I am going to delve into what many see here as the Seven Unities of the Church. Often, when we hear or read this passage, we gloss over these unities.

The seven-fold foundation for church unity is described in verses 4-6. These seven unities reflect the triune structure of our creeds. The church is one because it is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

The church should reflect unity, however, Paul made clear that the perfection of the church is a process and not a completed event. Christ equipped the church with gifts so that the church as Christ’s body may reach maturity. The body metaphor shows the church as growing into its own body. Christ is already mature. Yet the church, which is Christ’s body, must build up the body until it arrives at the stature of Christ. Likewise, the image evoked at the end of our lesson today is that of the body growing up to meet its head, Christ. In Paul’s view, the church is already the body of Christ, even as it continues to grow toward Christ.

The unity to which the church is called can have challenging implications for contemporary churches. In the first century, many Jews and Gentiles struggled to accept the message of reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles. We see that especially in Acts, Chapter 10. Yet, God’s gift of reconciliation means that those who were understood to be “far off” are now those who are equally gifted by God. In its unity the church should embody the reconciliation made possible in Christ, who “has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (2:14).

Unity, we know, is not the same as uniformity. The mystery of God that is revealed in Christ and results in the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles does not obliterate the distinctions between these different groups. Instead, what is made known through the church is “the wisdom of God in its rich variety.” Part of the call of Chapter 4 is to tolerance, or “bearing with one another.” The assumption is not that all distinctions will cease, but that even with the persistence of differences, the church may nevertheless grow together as a body.

So, how do we grow together as one body? How do we mature? As an example, I use my granddaughter, Emma. She stayed with us two weeks last summer and three weeks this summer. Over a year, I noticed how she had matured in her ability to assume responsibility with household chores and entertain or occupy herself. This took some doing on our part – we chose chores a 7-year-old could complete, such as making her bed, cleaning her room and setting the table. We made several trips to the library so she could choose books and movies. In short, she is in the process of maturing. We see this not only in children and teenagers, but also adults in their spiritual, professional and personal lives. We grow more proficient in particular skills and more polished as we live in relationship with spouse, family and community.

When you examine your own life as an individual member of the Body of Christ, how have you matured? When you examine our congregation as the Body of Christ, how has it matured? As you ponder those questions, allow me to move from my second to my third point, from Body to Believers.

As mature believers we have as many opportunities to share our faith as we have members. In the midst of the Olympic trials, I read this story about American track and field athlete Sydney McLaughlin who set a world record in the 400-meter hurdles at 51.9 seconds.[2] The article states, “McLaughlin isn’t just praiseworthy because she’s good. She also seems to be heading to the Olympics with all the right priorities, using the competition as a chance to glorify God and honor her country instead of a means to cheap self-ingratiating publicity.”

After chronicling her track and field history beginning at age six to being the youngest Olympian in 50 years at age sixteen, the article goes on to say that the two-time Olympian gives all the credit to God. It quotes McLaughlin’s words.

“I think the biggest difference this year is my faith, trusting God and trusting that process, and knowing that He’s in control of everything. As long as I put the hard work in, He’s going to carry me through. And I really cannot do anything more but give the glory to Him at this point.”

After setting her world record at the Olympic trials earlier this summer, McLaughlin noted on Instagram: “I no longer run for self-recognition, but to reflect His perfect will that is already set in stone. I don’t deserve anything. But by grace, through faith, Jesus has given me everything. Records come and go. The glory of God is eternal.”

She uses her Instagram account to share scriptural encouragement and personal testimony. “It’s not me, it’s literally Christ inside of me. The goal of my life is to glorify him in everything that I do and to be more like him every single day when I wake up.”

The goal of my life is to glorify him in everything that I do and to be more like him every single day when I wake up. I repeat that line because it’s one that each mature believer can state. There will be times when bearing with one another may be about as easy as a loving confrontation with a grizzly. There will be times when we think that the Church Body is fractured and broken beyond unity. There will be occasions when we fall flat where we have the opportunity to glorify our Triune God.

But, my friends, do not despair, hope. God is not finished with any of us individually or corporately. We will continue to grow. We will continue to sin. We will continue to be forgiven and forgive, to be loved and to love, to reach deep within and to reach out. So, never despair and always hope. Hope in God who pours forth into your heart the Holy Spirit who will move you not only to bear with one another, but love one another as Christ loves us. When we do that, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Romans 8:31.

[2] Elle Reynolds, “Record-Breaking Olympian Sydney McLaughlin Is Using Her Platform The Right Way,” The Federalist, July 9, 2021. https://thefederalist.com/2021/07/09/record-breaking-olympian-sydney-mclaughlin-is-using-her-platform-the-right-way/