Many of us might sympathise with Moses. He has an extraordinary encounter with God in the wilderness, and discovers that God is concerned for the welfare of his people in slavery in Egypt. God reveals to Moses that he is going to help the people of Israel, to rescue them from their oppression in Egypt This is good news for Moses and all his people; but then God reveals that Moses has to play his part in the plan. Moses is going to be God’s spokesperson; Moses is going to have to break the news to Pharaoh, that thousands of his slaves are going to leave. We can imagine Moses’ heart sinking at this point, and he expresses his misgivings to God But God responds This is not terribly specific, and the sign that God then refers to is something that Moses will not see until he has done the job! Moses proceeds to argue further; but the bottom line is that God is not going to leave Moses to face the challenges ahead in his own strength. Just as Moses received a commission and a reassurance from God in this passage, the Christians of Ephesus receive a commission and a reassurance from Paul in chapter 4 of his letter to them. The commission is about their life together. You will remember that we have already touched on the fact that this church was composed of both Jews and Gentiles: and Jews were not supposed to socialise with Gentiles. But now, as a consequence of the work of Jesus on the cross, they are one body, with one hope and one calling, one faith and one baptism, one Lord and Father. They are to make every effort to be united. Every effort. It’s easy enough to socialise with people with similar backgrounds and tastes to our own - but the challenge here (for the Ephesians and for us) is to get on with those who are not like us. There’s a lovely story in a book by Rebecca Manley Pippart, Out of the saltshaker. (I am retelling this from memory, so forgive me if any details are wrong!) A barefoot hippy wandered into her church one day during the main morning service. The sidesman gave him a hymn book and a service sheet. The preacher was already in full swing, and the hippy set off down the centre aisle looking for a seat. He got to the front, and unusually the front rows on both sides were full. He sat down on the floor and listened to the sermon. She then noticed the churchwarden on duty set off down the aisle towards the hippy - the warden was a retired military man, who liked everything done just so - and Rebecca was afraid he would grab the hippy by the ear and drag him out of the church. She and half the congregation were watching to see what would happen. But when the warden got there, he sat down on the floor next to the hippy to keep him company. Make every effort to be united, says Paul. In their unity they are to build the church, in faith and maturity, and the church is to grow (v16). Paul’s experience, and expectation, is that a healthy church will grow. The quality of love between its members will be a witness to the love of God, and the message of forgiveness and hope will attract new people. The commission is about their life together. You will remember that we have already touched on the fact that this church was composed of both Jews and Gentiles: and Jews were not supposed to socialise with Gentiles. But now, as a consequence of the work of Jesus on the cross, they are one body, with one hope and one calling, one faith and one baptism, one Lord and Father. They are to make every effort to be united. Every effort. It’s easy enough to socialise with people with similar backgrounds and tastes to our own - but the challenge here (for the Ephesians and for us) is to get on with those who are not like us. There’s a lovely story in a book by Rebecca Manley Pippart, Out of the saltshaker. (I am retelling this from memory, so forgive me if any details are wrong!)
A barefoot hippy wandered into her church one day during the main morning service. The sidesman gave him a hymn book and a service sheet. The preacher was already in full swing, and the hippy set off down the centre aisle looking for a seat. He got to the front, and unusually the front rows on both sides were full. He sat down on the floor and listened to the sermon. She then noticed the churchwarden on duty set off down the aisle towards the hippy - the warden was a retired military man, who liked everything done just so - and Rebecca was afraid he would grab the hippy by the ear and drag him out of the church. She and half the congregation were watching to see what would happen. But when the warden got there, he sat down on the floor next to the hippy to keep him company.
The reassurance that Paul gives is the grace of God - God’s love for us which we do not deserve. And this grace is made practical in that each Christian is gifted in some way. As an aside here, Paul quotes a verse from Psalm 68 and reinterprets it. The original verse was about an earthly king coming up into Jerusalem after a military victory, and depending on the translation, either giving or receiving gifts. Paul applies the verse to Jesus ascending to heaven, after his victory over death and hell - and now distributing gifts to his people. He mentions five church roles in particular:

• - apostles who are sent to found churches;
• - prophets who speak out the word of God;
• - evangelists who share the good news of God’s love;
• - pastors who care for God’s flock;
• - teachers who deepen the understanding of the faithful.

In Paul’s letters to the Romans and the Corinthians he gives different lists of gifts, which suggests that on each occasion that he writes about gifts he is giving not a definitive list, but a range of examples from a much larger catalogue. But Paul states in this letter a general principle: that the gifts are to equip the saints (yes, we remember that, for Paul, ‘the saints’ means all the believers)... His vision for the church is that with “each part... working properly” the whole body will grow. What does that mean for a local church, like that Ephesus, or our own in Woodford? Each member should be expectant that God will use him or her for the growth of the church. Different people will have different gifts, which they will discover as they dare to try their hand at various tasks in obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. You will only discover whether you have a gift for working with children, if you have a go at it! Some people will make use of different gifts at different times of their lives. One can think of choir members or children’s leaders who become churchwardens for example; and vice versa. There are all kinds of roles to play in our church. Some might look at the floor or stop their ears when we ask for volunteers for something - and if the reason is that you feel you are already going the extra mile in His service, that’s fair enough. But if the reason is fear of the unknown, or fear of being inadequate for the task, then the message for you from today’s readings is, “Don’t be afraid, God is with you!” We don’t all have a dramatic encounter with God in a burning bush, or in tongues of flame as on the day of Pentecost. Some of us might hear the still small voice of quiet prompting us to take on some new responsibility. Some might see something in a church notice sheet, be encouraged by a friend, or get a phone call from their Rector. God can use all these ways to call us into action; and when that happens we hope for, pray for, and trust in his resources for the task to which he calls us.