We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience and Christlike character. It’s interesting to think about obedience like a glass that can be filled with something. And it’s also interesting to think of that same glass with little beads of perspiration on the outside that proves how hot or cold the character of the glass is.
It’s the same with our lives. We fill our lives with some flavor of hope and then like a glass with perspiration our obedience has a certain character to it. A certain temperature that proves what kind of hope we’ve filled ourselves with. So let me ask you, are you walking in hope-filled obedience and Christlike character? What does your character say about what kind of hope you’ve filled yourself with?
Look at Ephesians 4:1 – 6…
1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Last week we examined verses 1 and 4 where Paul says “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called… just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.” We learned that to be called by God is to be a prisoner for the Lord who walks in a worthy manner because of a single hope. If God has called you then you belong to God and the way you walk is a serious subject because the way you walk is directly tied to the hope you have.
Think about what you hope for…
What do you long for? What do you dream about the most? I am absolutely convinced that the urgency of what I hope for, shapes my character and my character produces more hope. In other words, desperation fuels hope, hope changes my character and my character produces more hope.
Think of desperation like a cold glass of water to a thirsty person or a nine-course meal to a starving person. When that person sees the opportunity to get the glass of water or the plate of food he’s been dreaming about for so long he becomes consumed with satisfying the hunger and satisfying the thirst he’s been living with for so long.
What are you desperate for?
If I am desperate to be loved and accepted by someone then what do I do? And what do I hope will satisfy that longing? Maybe it’s a relationship or a pat on the back from someone. If I am desperate to be respected and successful then what do I do? And what do I hope will satisfy that longing? Maybe it’s the next job promotion or personal accomplishment. If I am desperate to be released from pain and suffering then what do I do? What do I hope will satisfy that longing? Maybe it’s an addiction or another form of escape.
What do you do when you catch a vision for the thing that has become the ultimate answer for the hope you have? This is where our character shines in light of the hope we have. When my hope (or satisfaction for my desperation) becomes fixated on an object that I believe will satisfy me then my true character becomes visible.
Desperation fuels hope, hope shapes character and character produces more hope…
Paul says it this way in Romans 5:2 – 5, “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Paul is talking to Christians who have placed their hope in Christ. And he calls them to rejoice in hope and rejoice in suffering because desperation fuels hope, hope shapes character and character produces more hope.
This is what I love about what the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4…
Paul is suffering and he is desperate. He is alone in a jail cell. He hardly appears to be successful at leading a spiritual revolution. The business down the street isn’t looking to hire a dude in jail. The single ladies in town aren’t interested in hooking up with the apostle Paul. He’s not making the cover of the magazine for the most successful man of the year. Paul is just an ordinary guy with a set of extraordinary circumstances.
And yet this particular set of circumstances makes Paul extremely qualified to urge each of us to walk out our calling in a manner that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called… just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. And right in the middle of verses 1 and 4 are verses 2 – 3 where he says that our walk should be characterized “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.” We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience and Christlike character.
Think about the apostle Paul again…
When Paul heard the call of God on the road to Damascus his world got turned upside down by Jesus. Previously he wasn’t a man whose only hope was in Christ alone. And he wasn’t a man who was full of Christlike character. On that road Paul’s hope was radically transformed by the presence and the vision of Christ and his character was radically altered by that one new hope.
Previously Paul was a proud and arrogant man but now he is full of humility. Previously he was a harsh and angry man but now he is a gentle and passionate man. Previously he was an impatient man headed to Damascus to make a name for himself. But now he is full of patience as he bears with the slow growth of the people he shepherds.
Previously he was a wolf who fed his belly on the suffering of the saints. But now he is a man who loves God’s people. Previously he was a man who caused disunity and division. But now he is a man who seeks unity in the church. Previously he was a man who was known for his war against Christ and his bride. But now he is a man on a peace-making mission from God.
Paul’s hope was radically reoriented and his character was radically transformed…
The reorientation of the object of Paul’s hope transformed his character and gave him the credibility to urge his listeners to walk “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.” The apostle Paul wasn’t the kind of man who urged his followers to do the things he refused to do. He was a man who urged his followers to do what they saw him doing.
When the apostle Paul called the Ephesians to walk the walk he did it as a person who was also seeking to walk the walk and not just talking the talk. Paul wasn’t interested in lip service he was interested in hope-filled obedience. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience. We are called to walk in Christlike character.
But what does that look like? What does it look like to walk in hope-filled obedience and Christlike character? I want to propose six simple Christlike character attributes from verses 2 – 3.
#1. We are called to walk in humility…
When I think of humility I think of what Paul says in Philippians 2:3 – 8, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
So a person with humility isn’t selfish but instead thinks of others as more important. A person with humility pays attention to the interests or needs of others. A person with humility doesn’t strive to play the role of God. A person with humility is empty of self-centeredness and delights in serving others. A person with humility is humble and teachable and obedient to the point of death on behalf of his enemies. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience with the evidence of Christlike humility.
#2. We are called to walk in gentleness…
When I think of gentleness I think of my grandma Leah from my mom’s side of the family. She was one of the gentlest people I’ve ever known. But she wasn’t a pushover either. Grandma Leah was no doormat but her gentleness was obvious. She could tell you stories of being a descendant of the Blackfoot Indian tribe in some of the sweetest ways while smacking your hand with a wooden spoon for reaching for an extra slice of bacon.
We are called to walk in gentleness but we are not called to be doormats or pushovers especially when it comes to sin. Reminds me of what the apostle Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:24 – 3:5. He says, “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” You see? Gentle with a smack on the hand. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience with the evidence of Christlike gentleness.
#3. We are called to walk in patience…
Patience is an interesting thing. Every time I pray for the Lord to give me patience he shows me opportunities where I can become more patient. Sometimes I get impatient with my lack of patience. But I am encouraged by the promises and the patience of God. 2 Peter 3:8 – 9 tells us that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
The Day of Judgment will come. That’s an awesome promise to trust that some day God will right every wrong. God is the God of justice and on the Day of Judgment justice will be served against those who have continued to live as his enemies rather than turning in repentance. But, in the meantime, the patience of God, while it may appear to be slower than slow, is perfect and good and happy to wait until the last sinner humbles himself in repentance. It is the kind patience of God that brings men to repentance. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience with the evidence of Christlike patience.
#4. We are called to walk in love…
There are many passages throughout the Bible about walking in love. But here in Ephesians 4 Paul describes one aspect of our calling to walk in love as bearing with one another in love. This phrase is one of the many famous one-another passages in the Bible. And it reminds me that we are called to bear each other’s burdens lovingly.
Paul echoes this in Galatians 6:1 – 2 where he says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” And in Romans 12:9 – 10 where it says, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” We are called to walk in love as we bear one another’s burdens and seek to restore our friends who have fallen into sin. We are called to walk in genuine love not fake love towards one another. We aren’t called to just grin and bear it when we are around one another. We are called to hate evil and love doing good by competing with each other to honor one another in brotherly affection. This is what true love looks like. Don’t settle for cheap imitations that are controlled by your emotions.
1 Corinthians 13:4 – 8 echoes this same thought when Paul says, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” Don’t settle for cheap imitations of love that are controlled by your emotions. We are called to walk in love with one another as we bear each other’s burdens patiently, humbly, truthfully and joyfully. Love really is a verb not an adjective. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience with the evidence of Christlike love.
#5. We are called to walk in unity…
One of my favorite television programs is a show called The Voice. I love music and I love my wife. So we typically record The Voice and wait for each other so we can watch it together. On the evenings when I’m away from home because of church meetings or other responsibilities I look forward to getting home and settling in to watch The Voice with my wife. You could say I look forward to the opportunity. You could say I am eager to get home.
Paul says we are to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.” We are to look forward to walking in unity. We are to look for opportunities to strengthen the unity of our church family. The key to this kind of eagerness or readiness or anticipation of unity is the Spirit of God. When the Spirit of God is at work among God’s children there will be the evidence of Christlike unity because each person is clinging to the same cross and the same Savior and the result is unity among God’s children. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience with the evidence of Christlike unity.
#6. We are called to walk in peace…
The way the apostle Paul says this is that we are called to walk in “the bond of peace.” Its almost as though Paul is continuing his thought in regards to unity. And it’s a reminder that when Jesus died on the cross he took the wrath of God against us for our sin and he purchased our peace so that we can now live in peace with God. We are no longer enemies of God. We are no longer at war with God. We are children of God. We are at peace with God. Therefore, because we are at peace with God we can obediently walk in peace with others. Our horizontal peace with people flows out of our vertical peace with God.
A friend of mine pastors a church that he planted a few years ago. His church has grown over the years and they’ve added a number of new members to their church family from various different backgrounds. Ex-drug addicts, ex-workaholics, ex-alcoholics, people from various social, economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Talk about a melting pot right? Talk about a recipe for disaster and disunity right?
But the craziest story of my friend’s church walking in the bond of peace is the story he told me about his dad and his stepmom and his mom and his stepdad all becoming members of his church. True story! That’s a real miracle! There’s no other place on earth that can produce the fruit of this kind of real peace where broken families can worship the same Savior together in the same room in the bond of peace. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience with the evidence of Christlike peace.
In conclusion…
Paul was a man who traded pride for humility, violence for gentleness, selfish impatience for patience, hate for love, division for unity and war for peace. He was able to do this because his hope had been reoriented and his character had been transformed by that one hope.
Remember that when the apostle Paul calls us to walk this walk he does it as a person who is also seeking to walk the walk. He’s not just talking the talk. Paul isn’t interested in lip service. He’s interested in hope-filled obedience. We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience and Christlike character “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.”
You might find yourself lacking in some of these character traits. And you might be asking, “How do I walk this out?” The answer is simple but it requires a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. You need to reorient your hope to Christ and your character will become like Christ. The more you look to Christ and hope in him the more you will become just like him.
Hope in Christ and his humility will become your humility. His gentleness will become your gentleness. His patience will become your patience. His love will become your love. His unity will become your unity. His peace will become your peace. Look to Christ. Place your hope in him. Look at him hanging on the cross bleeding and dying for your sin. Look at the empty tomb and trust that Jesus has been victorious where you have failed.
Christ has beaten Satan, sin and the grave and their power over you has been broken. The power of the resurrected Christ is available to you and his Spirit is waiting to fill you. This is the hope that fills the believer that produces Christlike character.
We are called to walk in hope-filled obedience. We are called to walk in Christlike character. So let’s get to walking!!