Through the New Testament Reading - Mark 14-16
Ephesians 4
Ephesians 4:1-6
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. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:15-16
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Day 4 – Key Verses Engaged
In Christian community life, all members strike the balance of serving as though they are essential, while being served by others as though they are interdependent. We need one another, and others need us. Each member does their part.
When this is how we understand community, the unity that this passage is talking about becomes essential. It isn't just a nice idea or a romantic notion that we live together and serve one another in unity. This is basic survival. Unity isn't even a goal. Unity is only a basic beginning point, so we can get started being the body of Christ together. When a person's body is done being formed together, all the parts are working, and it has matured, that person begins practicing their occupation in the world. This is basic maturation. Once we get unity down, then we can get to business.
The gift of forgiveness was the missing piece that allowed unity to be possible. Eye for eye justice tears a community apart. Offenses are inevitable. We are imperfect. Without forgiveness, any community can become a complicated network of vengeance and allegiances of convenience. Our own selfishness rots us out from within.
When Jesus took every sin, and every offense onto himself, he opened the door to forgiveness for all of us. Any eye lost has already been repaid. I have been forgiven, so I can forgive. This is the Jesus centred unity of Christian community.
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