Good morning Garden Church. In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm thankful to the Lord and to
Pastor Josh for the opportunity to be with you today.
We're actually doing a pulpit swap.
So I get to be with you and he gets to be with my folks.
So I thought I, I think I have the better end of the deal, but
I'm, I'm, I'm really thankful for the chance to do this and
congratulations and blessings on the merger.
I know that was a long time in coming for the garden church.
And I love your name. It's very cool.
So I, I grew up in the United Arab Emirates in the 90s.
So my earliest associations with gardens actually came from books
and pictures and not actual gardens.
That's for two reasons. One, because it's a desert
climate. And two, I grew up in a kind of
increasingly urban environment. So, like, gardens weren't, you
know, found very often. So I never really thought about
them much until I met my husband's family.
And they are very into gardening.
He comes from the New England area.
My husband's grandmother lives, well, right now.
She lives in a Senior Center out in, like, the suburbs.
And every time we visit, she always invites us.
I don't know, it's like Bridger to ask to, like, walk around the
grounds, like, walk around the gardens.
And she's 90, and she can't plant anything.
But she talks about the gardens with this, like, pride and this
admiration that you think like, oh, that they're her gardens.
So that's when I realized that there are a few basic things
that make a garden a garden. OK.
So the first thing is that some kind of plant needs to be
growing. And that's like, really obvious
because if it was Astroturf or like faux plants, you wouldn't
say, like, look at my garden. So the first attribute is
growth. The second attribute is
intentionality. Like someone has planted
something, someone has cultivated something it didn't
like, create itself or sustain itself at random.
Like there is a gardener. Amen.
Yeah, thank you. There is a gardener involved
somewhere. They put in thoughts about the
plant selection. They tended to the water, they
tended to the soil. They checked in every so often
to like prune or to weed. So the second attribute is
intentionality. The third attribute is not as
obvious. But when you think about a
garden, there has to be some variety.
There has to be some diversity. I mean, imagine if imagine a
garden where every plant was the same, Like no variety in height,
no variety in color, no variety in function, just rows and rows
and rows of identical plants. And that's not exactly what we
would call a garden. Like you'd say, it's a field,
maybe totally legitimate, but it's not a garden.
It doesn't reflect the creativity of our God.
Yet sometimes we often try to make our churches look exactly
like that. And I say that as a church
pastor. Uniform, predictable, maybe a
little bit boring even. As human beings, we we gravitate
towards people who are just like us.
Sometimes we even pressure people into uniformity without
knowing it. Maybe we do this in our circles
saying like, oh, that's that's the only Christian way to think.
Or like, oh, real Christians don't worship like that.
One of my secret challenges as a guest preacher is to determine
how far I can push the button and still get invited back.
So when Pastor Josh asks you what the sermon was about, you
can say anarchy. Like 3 emoji, Like 3 fire
emojis. Just kidding, don't do that.
But because that's not what this scripture text is about, what
the apostle Paul is talking about in our scripture for today
is unity, more specifically, unity in Christ.
And I, I understand it that you, you're going through a series on
the book of Ephesians. And so you've seen in the first
few chapters, Paul says that God's purpose was always to have
this huge family of restored humanity, of new humanity, of
restored humans who are unified in Jesus, who are unified
through Jesus and through Jesus's love that was expressed,
that was embodied on the cross. Now anyone can be part of God's
family, which includes people of all ethnicities and cultures and
social classes and genders. It's a unity that that goes
beyond barriers and boundaries and binaries, unity that goes
beyond country and creed and constitution.
And it's this unity that is rooted and established in the
love of Jesus Christ. So in chapter 4, where we find
our text for today, Paul makes a move from talking about God's
story to connecting it to our story, how we live our lives.
And so Paul begins with this passionate plea that sets our
foundation. And I, I encourage you to follow
along in your text, whether in your Bibles or in the liturgy,
he says, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you
have received in this calling that he's talking about is unity
in the spirit, the peace of Christ.
We don't create that unity on our own that has to 1st come
from God, but we are called to cultivate it, to keep it, to
preserve it. And Paul wants to make sure that
we get the picture. So he talks like he's spitting
bars. He's like there's one body and
one spirit, just as you were called to 1 hope and you were
called 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
all who is over all and through all and in all.
Apostle on the beat, yo. But you might be saying like,
Hey, wait, P cat, weren't you just giving churches the side
eye for uniformity? But yes, I was, and Paul would
be too, because unity is not uniformity.
I'll say it again, Unity is not uniformity.
Being one in Christ means that we are to be united in Christ,
but in all of our diversity. And Paul uses the analogy of a
human body. He says from Jesus Christ, the
whole body. This is verse 16, joined and
held together by every supporting ligament grows and
builds itself up in love as each part does its work.
The first thing about preserving unity while also embrace
embracing diversity is that we are connected to each other and
we are connected to grow this worthy life that Paul is talking
about. It isn't about individual
achievement or elevating one person or one personality over
the others. It's about bearing with one
another in love, where we're each called to play a vital
part, a necessary part. We're called to be an ecosystem,
not an ego system. So I need to call out the lie of
worthlessness that maybe some of us feel when we compare
ourselves to others. Maybe you looked at someone that
you admired at church. Maybe it was because they had a
skill or a gift that you didn't have.
Maybe they seemed like so spiritually like up there and
you felt like, oh man, I have nothing to give.
When was the last time you questioned your worth in the
body of Christ? Who do you know today that is
questioning their worth in the body of Christ?
Can we affirm their worth in the body of Christ?
Because in this new family, this new family of God, this we are
all part of one body, That means each of us has a profound is of
profound value. We can't do this without you.
We need to get used to saying this to one another.
We can't do this without you. We need you, I need you.
Being one in Christ means that I am incomplete in my knowledge
and in my love of God without you.
And that's what Paul envisions for the church, that every part
of the body matters for the whole body to grow.
In verses 11 into 12, Paul outlines 5 vital functions in
the body of Christ. We often summarize in this in
the church culture as the acronym Apest.
APEST, Like the muscular skeletal system, apostles
provide structure. They pioneer new paths forward.
Like nerve endings in our nervous system, profits sense
God's heart and God's call for alignment.
Like the circulatory system, evangelists spread life giving
truth. Like the immune system,
shepherds protect and nurture growth.
Like the digestive system, teachers help us absorb and
apply God's Word. And each of these functions can
operate in healthy ways and in unhealthy ways.
Apostles can become reckless pioneers who leave wreckage
behind. Prophets can become harsh
critics who tear down without building up.
Evangelists can prioritize numbers over the depth of
discipleship. Shepherds can create unhealthy
emotional dependencies. Teachers can become prideful in
knowledge without application that's functioning unhealthily.
But when they're functioning healthily, when they're
functioning for the good of the body, apostles build sustainable
foundations for growth. Prophets speak truth with love
and hope. Evangelists invite others into
genuine relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Shepherds empower others towards maturity.
Teachers connect truth to transformation.
Here's the thing, we might hear the different categories of
giftings in Apest and think, wow, so cool.
Like who am I? And yeah, it is super cool if
you take an online test and learn about your particular
gifting. Definitely cool to e-mail Josh
at josh@thegardenboston.com right now in the middle of
church and say, hey, I think I'm an E on the apest.
How can I learn more and put that to use?
In fact, like he would love it if 10 of you emailed him and was
like, I think I'm a how can I put that to use?
It would be a gift, but this isn't like Myers Briggs or the
Enneagram where we kind of learn deeper aspects about ourselves
and then call it a day. Paul mentions a PES not for the
purpose of self-awareness, but for the purpose of service.
These gifts aren't for building platforms, they're for building
people. They're not about power, but
they're about empowerment because Paul says each function
exists to equip, to equip the Saints for the work of ministry.
So I want you to identify and think about the gift that God
has given you. How has God uniquely equipped
you to serve? How has God uniquely equipped
you to equip others to serve? When we say unity in Christ in
all our diversity, we're not talking about having the perfect
multicultural picture for our website.
Diversity isn't saying hey, everyone's welcome to the table
when all you'll allow on the menu is white rice.
The diversity pollen visions goes much deeper.
It's about recognizing that this full image of Jesus Christ
cannot be reflected through any singular cultural lens or single
generation or single set of gifts.
So if you say everyone is welcome to this table, awesome.
And also show me who gets to be in the kitchen.
Just as the body needs all of these different systems to
function, the church needs diverse perspectives,
experiences, gifts to all come together to function together as
God intended. Because when we limit leadership
and influence to 1 demographic or cultural expression, we're
like a garden trying to grow only one type of plant.
And so I know that many people might be out for the summer, but
I want you to look around. Just turn, turn.
Whose presence are you missing in this body of Christ?
Whose giftings tend to be overlooked?
Whose voices haven't been heard yet?
Whose input hasn't been sought? Who is undervalued?
Who is overlooked? Maybe who is missing or who is
excluded? And I get that that's not an
easy question to ask of ourselves.
Gosh, the audacity of a guest preacher to ask that of you.
For half of my life, I grew up in an environment that said that
women could not be true spiritual leaders.
As a little girl, I never saw a woman preach.
I never saw a woman teach. I never saw a woman pray over
the congregation or serve on a board or even lead a worship
song unless it was solely in the company of other women or kids
under the age of 12 and much less even a woman of color.
I grew up thinking that that was normal for the 1st 18 years of
my life. Now, whatever you believe about
women in pastoral ministry in particular, imagine if only half
of the human body were allowed to move around, to think, to
function. News flash, it wouldn't work too
well. At least it wouldn't be healthy.
It wouldn't go as far as maybe God intended.
Every part of the body matters for the whole body to grow.
Sometimes I hear people say I care about discipleship and
that's more important than justice.
Church when something is keeping a chunk of the body back from
expressing their gifts or equipping others to serve.
When something is preventing or devaluing parts of the body from
sharing their gifts for the great good of the greater body,
that is a justice issue in your discipleship and it ends up
hurting not just part of the body, but all of the body.
And that's why in verse 15, Paul pears speaking the truth in love
with growing up in Christ. Because unity isn't just
glossing over things. Unity can't exist where
injustice is ignored or when truth is compromised.
When one part of the body hurts, the whole body must respond.
If I trip over my skirt and I stub my toe, my whole body will
respond. My eyes will look down, my hands
will reach out. My other leg will be like, whoa,
what just happened? My body doesn't just say, oh,
that's the toe's problem. Clumsy toe.
No, that's a whole body problem. I mean, by church community in
Brookline, there's a young man who who's an international
student. He has no family in the United
States. So our church has kind of become
like his family. He's humble, he's kind, he's
thoughtful, he's prayerful. He's a musical genius.
He doesn't, like, read notes, but he hears the most
complicated chords and he gets it.
And his whole face lights up when he's jamming out on the
keys to like a legit gospel song.
Those chords are complicated and he gets it.
And he is a gift to our church, but recently he can't share the
gift of his music, his gentleness or his presence
because of what's happening in the country with with ICE
arrests, the curtailing of visas, etcetera.
No matter what you tell him to comfort him, he is terrified to
leave his house. He is terrified to go to the
grocery store. He is terrified to go to work.
He is terrified to go to school. He is terrified to go to church.
So for US, immigration justice is not just a hymn problem, it's
a whole body problem. And so when statistics come out
from Gordon Conwell from the National Association of
Evangelicals, from World Relief, when they released findings
about how 10 million Christian immigrants present in the United
States are vulnerable to deportation for any number of
reasons, that's a whole nother thing.
These people are are Christian siblings.
So it's not just a them problem, it's a whole body problem.
In 2014, after the news at the time that Michael Brown and Eric
Garner, who are two unarmed black men, were killed by
police, I was on staff at Inter Varsity Campus Ministries and I
remember leading a Bible study on Jesus parable of the Good
Samaritan with a diverse group of students.
I posed a standard question like who are you most like in the
story? Like are you the Levite?
Are you the priest? I was trying to get my students
to consider, like, what it means to be a neighbor to those who
are hurting. And I'll never forget that.
One of my black students looked me in the eye, and she said I am
neither. I'm the man who was left dead on
the side of the road, who everybody is passing without so
much as a glance. My people are hurting and I
don't know who is doing anything about it.
And that's when I that was my point where I realized that when
one part of the body hurts, the whole body hurts.
Church, every part of the body matters for the whole to grow.
And I'm going to start to wrap it up here.
The end goal that Paul talks about is beautiful.
It's a body joined and knitted together by every ligament, each
part working properly, building itself up in love, going from a
me attitude to a we attitude to finding our place.
Is it going to be hard? Yes.
Is it going to be complicated? Yes.
I'm not saying it's easy, but it's finding our place in
something bigger than ourselves. So here are a few growth
checkpoints that I humbly offer as the Garden Church.
One, Are you connected? Are you connected in Christ?
2 Are you contributing, using your gifts to equip others to
serve in ministry? And lastly, are you caring?
Are you caring? Do you care about the other
parts of the body? In Christ's body, every member
matters. In God's garden, every plant
matters. You matter.
You have a purpose. You are needed.
The church is not primarily an organization.
It's an Organism. We're called to be this living,
breathing body growing together into the fullness of Christ for
all the world to see. Every part of the body matters
for the whole to grow.