Growing Up in Christ
August 2, 2009
A kindergarten teacher was observing the children in her class while they were drawing. She’d
occasionally walk around the room and look at each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was
working with unusual intensity, she asked what her drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing
God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without looking up
the girl promptly replied, "They will in a minute.”
Actually, this confident little girl may have been on to something. The fact of the matter is that, in a
very real way, we can know what God looks like. Because He took on flesh and came to us in the
form of a man some 2000 years ago in the country of Palestine. God’s character, His priorities, His
words, and His very identity are expressed in Jesus of Nazareth. In fact St. Paul writes pointedly to
the Corinthians that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
What I find enthralling in the piece of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we heard a few moments
ago, is that he shows us how you and I begin to share in that life and that identity. Paul gives us at
least part of the picture of what we then look like as we become more and more conformed to the
likeness of Christ. The original term ‘Christian’ meant ‘little Christ.’ If, like the little girl, we were one
day to draw a self-portrait as successful Christians, in a sense, it would look very much like a picture
of Jesus.
You see, when we invite Jesus to be our Savior and Lord, this is just the beginning. We begin the
slow process of growing up in Him. Of fully becoming who we were always meant to be by uniting
with Him and receiving all of the good things He has for us. When we first receive the gift of grace it’
s tempting to think that we’re “done.” We’re in the club, and now it’s all downhill. But Paul reminds
us that there’s so much more that the Lord has for us as He fits us for eternal life in His presence.
God’s not content to leave us in a weak or broken state. He’s not content to leave us as new
hatchlings fresh out of the egg, but wants to see us grow in strength, and one day spread our wings
and fly confidently in the warm air currents of His love. He wants to see us grow to maturity, and use
us to spread His love and truth to a hurting world.
This growing up into Christ is what Paul writes about in his letter. He begins by begging us to live a
life worthy of the mission to which we’ve been called. Growing up in our behavior. A life featuring
those things that Jesus exemplified in His own life. Humility—that quality of placing others ahead of
ourselves. Jesus demonstrated amazing humility in washing the disciples’ feet, then by his
obedience to death on the Cross on our behalf. Gentleness and patience—those qualities that are
so hard to display when we’re not practicing humility. Making the decision to bear with each other
even when we don’t feel like it. Cooperating with each other to stay united in the Lord’s body, under
His headship.
And then Paul uses those familiar words in our baptismal liturgy to emphasize this: “There is one
body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Isn’t it amazing how
much of the Bible is taken right out of the Prayer Book?)
And here’s a point that’s absolutely essential. All these qualities to which Paul calls us are not things
that we simply generate in ourselves. In fact when we try under our own steam we often meet with
frustration. Instead, these very qualities are planted and nourished in us by our Lord. They come
about as a result of “good infection” from spending time with Him! They’re a direct result of being
spiritually taken into Jesus and taking Jesus into us. “Abide in me as I abide in you,” Jesus said.
This isn’t some abstract symbol, but the reality of life in Christ. It’s an actual intermingling of our
spirits that makes us more like Him. We’ll talk in a few minutes about how, practically, to do this.
Next Paul turns to the gifts from Christ that ‘grow us’ into our roles. He says, “each of us was given
grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” He might have added, “Other gifts were that some
would be encouragers, others would be number-crunchers, still others would be architects,
musicians, artists, child nurturers or investment wizards—each Christian has gifts that enable them
to glorify God by doing Christ’s work. No exceptions!
What are your gifts? Do you know them? And if you say, “I don’t really have any gifts”, God’s reply
is “Wrong answer!” Because He made you unlike anyone else in the history of the world. You are
handcrafted, custom built by the greatest artisan in the universe! You are “fearfully and wonderfully
made,” in the words of the Psalmist. God made you with a purpose in this life, and when you belong
to Jesus He gives you the tools to fulfill that purpose. Discovering and using our gifts for God’s glory
is a joyful part of the growing up process, and if you haven’t yet done this, there’s no time like the
present. If you’re not sure what gifts He’s given you, let’s talk later.
The other major part of Paul’s maturation process in our passage has to do with growing up in our
faith. Paul says, “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind
of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in
love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [from whom the whole body
is joined together, working properly, and is equipped to promote the growth of that body in love].”
If I were to cook Paul’s words down to a simple message, it’s this: Now that you’ve been redeemed
by faith and born anew in the waters of baptism, get on with being a Christian! Stop being diverted
by cynics and conspiracy theorists. Stop being distracted by tantalizing philosophies designed to
tickle your ears and turn you away from the truth. Stop allowing your life to be guided by the fleeting
whims of culture. The Christian band Casting Crowns says it well: “What if the life that we pursue
came from a hunger for the truth, what if the family followed Jesus, and stopped asking Oprah what
to do!” OK?
Now, please allow me to address what this doesn’t mean. This doesn’t mean we turn our brains off.
It doesn’t mean we have to run away or plug our ears when someone issues a challenge to our faith.
I find that our faith actually stands up very well to the intellectual gauntlets thrown before it from time
to time. What it does mean is to stop letting ourselves drift off in another direction every time
someone gives the least little nudge to the boat of our faith. It means to drop anchor! To see that
we’re in good waters, to be resolute, and to decide to trust that the faith we’ve been given is the real
thing. Amy Grant once sang the words, “I have decided I’m gonna live like a believer, turn my back
on the deceiver, I’m gonna live what I believe.” I think this is exactly what Paul is calling us to
do. He wants us to move forward as a fully functioning member of the Body of Christ, stoked with
resolute faith, and displaying those qualities of humility, gentleness and patience we talked about
earlier as we go about the business of doing the Lord’s work.
I mentioned earlier that these things that bring us to maturity come about as a result of spending
time with the Lord. It’s really the difference between knowing about the Lord and knowing the Lord.
Does that make sense? I can say that I know all about Bob Sutton. “I believe in him; he’s sitting
right there. I can see him.” But unless I actually spend time with him, I don’t really get to know him. I
need to listen, and converse, and even observe someone to really get to know them. This is the
way it is with the Lord. I can believe all the right things and say the Creeds on Sunday morning, but I
don’t really get to know the Lord unless I spend time with Him.
The good news is: this isn’t rocket science. Many who’ve blazed the trail of successful Christian life
before us have observed that this comes down to a few basics. Two of the basics are these: Spend
daily time reading the Scriptures, and pray. Read the Bible and pray!
Simply put, reading the scriptures is the way to know the Lord’s character and personality better and
better. It’s the story—the great story, our story, that’s the foundation of our beliefs and of our entire
lives. Reading the Bible not only gives us the words of life, but it also gives us delightful and
surprising insights into the nature of the God who made us, and the Savior he sent to redeem us.
And praying is simply conversing with the Lord. Speaking from our hearts and waiting for a reply in
the stillness of our soul. Sometimes in my own devotion times it even helps me to speak out loud to
the Lord, as I would to anyone else sitting in the room with me. It helps remind me that this isn’t just
some empty exercise, but that the Lord’s actually there listening. But whether we pray silently or
aloud, interesting things may start happening. Scripture verses that answer our questions will seem
to pop out of nowhere. Impressions that seem very much like intuitions will give us guidance. We
might see surprising and gratifying answers to prayer. On rare occasions we might even be given
the gift of a sensory experience of the Lord’s presence, perhaps in the form of a voice, or a vision,
or even a pleasant fragrance. As a former therapist I want to reassure you that this isn’t a mental
health issue, but a special blessing from the Lord.
The point is, practicing His presence opens us to the reality of experiencing His presence, and
opens us to his gifts that build us up into mature Christians. Our job, our privilege, is to make the
space in our busy lives for this to happen. I think C. S. Lewis puts it especially well. He says, “…the
real problem with the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very
moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild
animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that
other voice taking that other point of view, letting that larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.
And so on, all day. Standing back from your natural fussings and frettings, coming in out of the
wind. We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be
spreading through our system: because now we are letting him work at the right part of us.”
My brothers and sisters, as we spend time with the Lord, and are gradually molded in the image of
Christ and grow into His character, the peace that was given us when we first consciously placed our
faith in Jesus soaks us more and more. We feel His blessed assurance and know He’s with us. I
wish I could say that I feel a constant connection with the Lord. I don’t—not yet, anyway. But I hope
to be there one day. And I invite all of us to join together in that goal. May we hold each other
accountable by speaking the truth in love, and may we as members of one body encourage each
other in the joyous adventure of growing up in Christ. Paul writes “Now we see through a glass
darkly but one day we’ll see face to face. My prayer is that, because of the space we’ve made for
the Lord in our lives, the One we see will be so familiar and so comforting that we’ll run to Him
without even a heartbeat of hesitation, there to remain in never-ending love for all eternity. Amen.
August 2, 2009
A kindergarten teacher was observing the children in her class while they were drawing. She’d
occasionally walk around the room and look at each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was
working with unusual intensity, she asked what her drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing
God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without looking up
the girl promptly replied, "They will in a minute.”
Actually, this confident little girl may have been on to something. The fact of the matter is that, in a
very real way, we can know what God looks like. Because He took on flesh and came to us in the
form of a man some 2000 years ago in the country of Palestine. God’s character, His priorities, His
words, and His very identity are expressed in Jesus of Nazareth. In fact St. Paul writes pointedly to
the Corinthians that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
What I find enthralling in the piece of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we heard a few moments
ago, is that he shows us how you and I begin to share in that life and that identity. Paul gives us at
least part of the picture of what we then look like as we become more and more conformed to the
likeness of Christ. The original term ‘Christian’ meant ‘little Christ.’ If, like the little girl, we were one
day to draw a self-portrait as successful Christians, in a sense, it would look very much like a picture
of Jesus.
You see, when we invite Jesus to be our Savior and Lord, this is just the beginning. We begin the
slow process of growing up in Him. Of fully becoming who we were always meant to be by uniting
with Him and receiving all of the good things He has for us. When we first receive the gift of grace it’
s tempting to think that we’re “done.” We’re in the club, and now it’s all downhill. But Paul reminds
us that there’s so much more that the Lord has for us as He fits us for eternal life in His presence.
God’s not content to leave us in a weak or broken state. He’s not content to leave us as new
hatchlings fresh out of the egg, but wants to see us grow in strength, and one day spread our wings
and fly confidently in the warm air currents of His love. He wants to see us grow to maturity, and use
us to spread His love and truth to a hurting world.
This growing up into Christ is what Paul writes about in his letter. He begins by begging us to live a
life worthy of the mission to which we’ve been called. Growing up in our behavior. A life featuring
those things that Jesus exemplified in His own life. Humility—that quality of placing others ahead of
ourselves. Jesus demonstrated amazing humility in washing the disciples’ feet, then by his
obedience to death on the Cross on our behalf. Gentleness and patience—those qualities that are
so hard to display when we’re not practicing humility. Making the decision to bear with each other
even when we don’t feel like it. Cooperating with each other to stay united in the Lord’s body, under
His headship.
And then Paul uses those familiar words in our baptismal liturgy to emphasize this: “There is one
body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Isn’t it amazing how
much of the Bible is taken right out of the Prayer Book?)
And here’s a point that’s absolutely essential. All these qualities to which Paul calls us are not things
that we simply generate in ourselves. In fact when we try under our own steam we often meet with
frustration. Instead, these very qualities are planted and nourished in us by our Lord. They come
about as a result of “good infection” from spending time with Him! They’re a direct result of being
spiritually taken into Jesus and taking Jesus into us. “Abide in me as I abide in you,” Jesus said.
This isn’t some abstract symbol, but the reality of life in Christ. It’s an actual intermingling of our
spirits that makes us more like Him. We’ll talk in a few minutes about how, practically, to do this.
Next Paul turns to the gifts from Christ that ‘grow us’ into our roles. He says, “each of us was given
grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” He might have added, “Other gifts were that some
would be encouragers, others would be number-crunchers, still others would be architects,
musicians, artists, child nurturers or investment wizards—each Christian has gifts that enable them
to glorify God by doing Christ’s work. No exceptions!
What are your gifts? Do you know them? And if you say, “I don’t really have any gifts”, God’s reply
is “Wrong answer!” Because He made you unlike anyone else in the history of the world. You are
handcrafted, custom built by the greatest artisan in the universe! You are “fearfully and wonderfully
made,” in the words of the Psalmist. God made you with a purpose in this life, and when you belong
to Jesus He gives you the tools to fulfill that purpose. Discovering and using our gifts for God’s glory
is a joyful part of the growing up process, and if you haven’t yet done this, there’s no time like the
present. If you’re not sure what gifts He’s given you, let’s talk later.
The other major part of Paul’s maturation process in our passage has to do with growing up in our
faith. Paul says, “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind
of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in
love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [from whom the whole body
is joined together, working properly, and is equipped to promote the growth of that body in love].”
If I were to cook Paul’s words down to a simple message, it’s this: Now that you’ve been redeemed
by faith and born anew in the waters of baptism, get on with being a Christian! Stop being diverted
by cynics and conspiracy theorists. Stop being distracted by tantalizing philosophies designed to
tickle your ears and turn you away from the truth. Stop allowing your life to be guided by the fleeting
whims of culture. The Christian band Casting Crowns says it well: “What if the life that we pursue
came from a hunger for the truth, what if the family followed Jesus, and stopped asking Oprah what
to do!” OK?
Now, please allow me to address what this doesn’t mean. This doesn’t mean we turn our brains off.
It doesn’t mean we have to run away or plug our ears when someone issues a challenge to our faith.
I find that our faith actually stands up very well to the intellectual gauntlets thrown before it from time
to time. What it does mean is to stop letting ourselves drift off in another direction every time
someone gives the least little nudge to the boat of our faith. It means to drop anchor! To see that
we’re in good waters, to be resolute, and to decide to trust that the faith we’ve been given is the real
thing. Amy Grant once sang the words, “I have decided I’m gonna live like a believer, turn my back
on the deceiver, I’m gonna live what I believe.” I think this is exactly what Paul is calling us to
do. He wants us to move forward as a fully functioning member of the Body of Christ, stoked with
resolute faith, and displaying those qualities of humility, gentleness and patience we talked about
earlier as we go about the business of doing the Lord’s work.
I mentioned earlier that these things that bring us to maturity come about as a result of spending
time with the Lord. It’s really the difference between knowing about the Lord and knowing the Lord.
Does that make sense? I can say that I know all about Bob Sutton. “I believe in him; he’s sitting
right there. I can see him.” But unless I actually spend time with him, I don’t really get to know him. I
need to listen, and converse, and even observe someone to really get to know them. This is the
way it is with the Lord. I can believe all the right things and say the Creeds on Sunday morning, but I
don’t really get to know the Lord unless I spend time with Him.
The good news is: this isn’t rocket science. Many who’ve blazed the trail of successful Christian life
before us have observed that this comes down to a few basics. Two of the basics are these: Spend
daily time reading the Scriptures, and pray. Read the Bible and pray!
Simply put, reading the scriptures is the way to know the Lord’s character and personality better and
better. It’s the story—the great story, our story, that’s the foundation of our beliefs and of our entire
lives. Reading the Bible not only gives us the words of life, but it also gives us delightful and
surprising insights into the nature of the God who made us, and the Savior he sent to redeem us.
And praying is simply conversing with the Lord. Speaking from our hearts and waiting for a reply in
the stillness of our soul. Sometimes in my own devotion times it even helps me to speak out loud to
the Lord, as I would to anyone else sitting in the room with me. It helps remind me that this isn’t just
some empty exercise, but that the Lord’s actually there listening. But whether we pray silently or
aloud, interesting things may start happening. Scripture verses that answer our questions will seem
to pop out of nowhere. Impressions that seem very much like intuitions will give us guidance. We
might see surprising and gratifying answers to prayer. On rare occasions we might even be given
the gift of a sensory experience of the Lord’s presence, perhaps in the form of a voice, or a vision,
or even a pleasant fragrance. As a former therapist I want to reassure you that this isn’t a mental
health issue, but a special blessing from the Lord.
The point is, practicing His presence opens us to the reality of experiencing His presence, and
opens us to his gifts that build us up into mature Christians. Our job, our privilege, is to make the
space in our busy lives for this to happen. I think C. S. Lewis puts it especially well. He says, “…the
real problem with the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very
moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild
animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that
other voice taking that other point of view, letting that larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.
And so on, all day. Standing back from your natural fussings and frettings, coming in out of the
wind. We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be
spreading through our system: because now we are letting him work at the right part of us.”
My brothers and sisters, as we spend time with the Lord, and are gradually molded in the image of
Christ and grow into His character, the peace that was given us when we first consciously placed our
faith in Jesus soaks us more and more. We feel His blessed assurance and know He’s with us. I
wish I could say that I feel a constant connection with the Lord. I don’t—not yet, anyway. But I hope
to be there one day. And I invite all of us to join together in that goal. May we hold each other
accountable by speaking the truth in love, and may we as members of one body encourage each
other in the joyous adventure of growing up in Christ. Paul writes “Now we see through a glass
darkly but one day we’ll see face to face. My prayer is that, because of the space we’ve made for
the Lord in our lives, the One we see will be so familiar and so comforting that we’ll run to Him
without even a heartbeat of hesitation, there to remain in never-ending love for all eternity. Amen.
Growing Up in Christ
August 2, 2009
The Rev. Daniel Tuton
The Rev. Daniel Tuton
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