June 28, 2026
The Weakest Link
Ephesians 4:1-7, 16
Rev. Shannon Jordan
We are continuing our sermon series this morning called “One Nation, Under God, Revisited: Exploring Christian Citizenship, Principled Pluralism, and Justice as the nation marks its 250th anniversary.”
If you spend any time in the media right now, there is a ton of conversation around what it means to be Christian in the United States, and so we are looking at how our Christian values should be shaping our citizenship in the United States. What are the biblical and theological lenses that should be shaping our actions in our neighborhoods, and our country? If you have missed some of these sermons and want to catch up, they are on our website, Facebook page, YouTube, and even on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
In week one Patrick used the scripture from Mark 12 to explore the well-known passage to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. He explained that every human is made in the image of God and is God’s. People you love, people you find challenging, people you agree with, and people you disagree with, all bear God’s image and are beloved children of God.
Last week, Patrick talked about compromise. We are called to lean down and listen to others, even if we know we will disagree. We are called to listen to others and learn to compromise for the common good with respect for one another.
This week I have been asked to talk about what we as Christians are to do to be good citizens of our country. What are we called to do where we are?
So I picked these verses from Ephesians, which use the word calling three times and are all about our calling. Hear the word of God:
Ephesians 4 I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: 4 there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.[a]
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
So what does it mean to us, who are largely ordinary people, to live as Christian citizens in one nation under God—especially given the incredible diversity that is the foundation and cornerstone of our country?
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was likely written to be shared with a variety of congregations. It was to teach and equip the churches for fruitful ministry in the context of the Roman Empire. Ephesus was in modern day Turkey and the church was made up of people who had fled Israel after the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 AD and some locals. Paul is describing how are they called to be a part of the body of Christ, the church. And that each has a gift for the greater good.
A healthy church, and a healthy society, are only as strong as the willingness of ordinary people to faithfully contribute their gifts. Neither need superstars, each needs a group of people working together like a team.
If you asked around what a Christian nation looked like many people would answer Christian leaders, Christian laws, Christian symbols or even Christian majorities. This isn’t where Paul starts though. Paul encourages them to live faithfully where they are, in a manner worthy of their calling.
Paul, before talking about the gifts of the people, talks about the character of the people. Paul begs them to walk worthy of their calling—with humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love or I would say compassion. That is their grounding for their gifts.
Humility, gentleness, patience, and compassion.
These are in direct contrast to the Roman culture of the day. Their virtues were honor, status, strength, achievement. Sound familiar?
Paul is calling for unity in the great diversity of the early church.
And then there is a BUT. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
What does that mean? While there is unity, it does not mean that there is uniformity. Different people receive different gifts for use to build the body, or the church. That is hashed out a little bit in the verses that I skipped, and then we go back to that we are all to be joined and knit together to build the church up in love.
As many of you have heard, a foundational verse for me in the Bible is Ephesians 2:10…that we are God’s masterpieces, created in Christ, to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do.
We are created, in God’s image, to do good works. We are all given different gifts, personalities, experiences that will shape what we are called to do. Our jobs are to figure out our calling. Parts of our callings are easy to discern—where you are in your current life stage. Sometimes we are called to be students. Sometimes newlyweds, sometimes parents. Sometimes caregivers. Sometimes care receivers. Sometimes we are in the workforce and sometimes we are spending time at home. Sometimes we can be productive and other times we will need to let others help us. Sometimes we are the strongest links and others times we are the weakest links. It can be hard to be in any of these places with humility, gentleness, patience, or compassion.
We are also called to be part of our church family. Shared experiences around worship, learning, service, and community build up our church—and transformed people will transform our nation. This is part of our calling—to participate. To show up. The church was created to harness the gifts of the members and the church needs your gifts. God calls each of us to contribute something.
We all have strengths to share and we all have weaknesses that we can let others come alongside us to support.
If you don’t think you have a weakness, go back to the previous section of the sermon and start with humility!
The title for the sermon, The Weakest Link, came to me a couple of weeks ago. I have spent the last week mulling over the phrase. Often it is used as a slur or a negative against someone—but that is in direct opposition to God’s way. As Christians we are encouraged to notice and speak up for the discriminated against, the powerless, the marginalized—the weakest.
If you think about it, we all enter and exit the world at our weakest. Clearly, God doesn’t see being weak the same way our culture does.
Being a weak link is in God’s economy is not what it is in our culture. Jesus, in his Beatitudes, highlights that is often what others would call the “weak links” who are blessed. To be Christian citizens, we need to let God shape our perspective in line with scripture.
Again, I ask, what would a truly Christian nation look like? I just don’t think it is more crosses or bumper stickers or Christian leaders…or more money or more power, and certainly not more military victories.
Wouldn’t it be more ordinary people practicing humility, gentleness, patience and compassion?
Wouldn’t it be more people seeing others not as “enemies” or “them” or “wrong,” but as made in the image of God? More people who remember that Jesus said to love not only our neighbors, but our enemies?
More people would love and care for the people they come in contact with on a daily basis.
Let me share with you what is not.
I was on a 6 am flight home last weekend from visiting John’s parents. I was sitting at the back of the plane with only one row behind me. I was tired, as I had to get to the airport super early. The people behind me were talkative. I mean two couples shared their life experiences. We sat on the runway for a while and the flight attendant said we would be leaving in about 10 minutes so if anyone needed to use the restroom to do so. One older man got up and did so. As he left the bathroom the door didn’t automatically shut and one of the super talkative women says “Idiot! He didn’t’ shut the door. Who doesn’t shut the door?”
It sounded so harsh. I immediately thought this will be great for my sermon. This is exactly what is wrong with our country. So many go immediately to “idiot.”
Then, this past week I have recognized that attitude in myself as I judged others with a gross lack of humility. Multiple times I mentally jumped to a version of “idiot” about the actions of others.
OK Shannon. Preach to yourself. Four-way stops will always be a true test of my spiritual wellbeing! And don’t pass judgement on someone else for calling someone an idiot or you may have tourists going the wrong way on one-way streets in Asheville, or pedestrians ignoring the light and you having to wait through another light cycle.
You may think that you don’t have the time or energy or bandwidth right now to be a super volunteer at church or in the wider community. You don’t have time to “participate” in a “meaningful” way. But you can be more kind and loving as you go through the world. That isn’t something you do with will power, but through the power of the Spirit.
I would encourage you to start here. What you may not know unless you experience it, is the way that God uses the people with whom you come in contact on a given day. For example, who you sit next to in worship. The number of times I have heard people say, “So and so” was sitting next to me and was so encouraging. Or a visitor who shared that someone in worship showed them where the bathroom was or how to get to the door to get to where their car is parked. “So and so” was amazing, they invited me to the fellowship time, or to lunch, or to play golf. “So and so” realized I hadn’t been at worship in a while and reached out.” Or, the members who come and say, did you know that “So and so” is having surgery? Or that “So and so’s” mom died?
That can absolutely be walking according to your calling with humility, gentleness, patience, and compassion.
I had already written the previous paragraph when I heard a really amazing story. I visited a member’s farm on Friday. She showed me some beautiful perennials in her yard that another member had given her. They looked lovely and the person was thrilled to have them. I mentally went through how these two members from different generations might know each other and I came up blank. So, I asked. They sit next to each other in worship. One makes space for the other to sit with her so that they have a place they belong. Someone happy to see them on a Sunday morning. They then shared what they loved and found this connection. Now they are beautiful friends.
That is church. That is being the body of Christ. That is taking the time to connect with those you don’t know well. That is hearing that someone loves flowers and sharing what you have with them.
Coming to church with humility, gentleness, patience and compassion is priceless. Going into life, your community with humility, gentleness, patience, and compassion is also priceless. What if we all learned to look at those that the world called the weakest links as an opportunity to show God’s love. An opportunity to walk in the manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
What if instead of thinking more highly of someone by how productive or successful they are, or what kind of car they drive, what if instead we valued more those who respond with the virtues Paul teaches?
I am sure some of you are thinking “but what about…?”
Yes, we do need to hold people accountable—with humility, gentleness, patience, and compassion.
Yes, we do need to hold true to the standards of truth telling and justice—with humility, gentleness, patience, and compassion.
It is less about finding the ways that others are the weakest links and instead letting God work in us so that we can walk in a manner that is worthy of our calling to build up the body of Christ, the church, in love. That can only be good for our country.
The kingdom of God is rarely built by superstars. More often it is built by ordinary people faithfully using the gifts God has given them.
Go be those ordinary people.
Amen.