Be Imitators of God
Notes
Transcript
Be Imitators of God
Be Imitators of God
Introduction
This week we continue with the theme of building up community. Today we are going to talk about some of the things we do which tear down rather than build up community. Nobody wants to tear down community but sometimes we take part in things or do things which do the very thing we don’t want to happen. The positive side though is that getting rid of these behaviors, the community bonds grow stronger and we can grow into becoming Christ like to this community.
Be Imitators
Our passage today you heard earlier is continuing from last week in Ephesians 4:25-5:2.
Verse 5:1 is our key verse today. It bears worth repeat.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,
How do you imitate someone? What behavior, attitude, or actions do we see in God that if we can imitate, we can show both ourselves and God that we have truly sought to be worthy of the title beloved children? Verse 5:2 shares that piece.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,
2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Not imitating God
However, we often do things we are in some ways quite the opposite of imitating God. Listen again to verses 25-31.
25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.
26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27 and do not make room for the devil.
28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.
29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.
31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,
There are four main behaviors here that are not imitating God and in fact cause problems not only in your own lives but also the community which you are part of.
Lying - Verse 25
Take lying for example. Scripture here tells us to put away falsehood, that is git rid of that ability altogether. The way you do this is by telling the truth. We need to not only stop lying but in fact, we need to remove lying as even a possibility of what we utter. We cannot be truth tellers if we waffle back and forth between truth telling and lying. We are either true or false in our speech. If people know you to tell the truth then they will listen. If they know you to lie then they stop listening. How can we claim to declare the truth about God is lies ever cross our lips? How can we believe each other if we second guess each other because of past lies that have been told. Lying not only damages our own credibility but also if Christians are known as liars, then how will the world ever listen to them. How will we believe each other even as this church? Truth telling must be how we imitate God.
Anger - Verse 26-27
Anger is tricky isn’t it? How can we deal with anger that is not in a sinful manner? Anger is a natural emotion. Anger is also a destructive force. We must deal carefully in balancing these two. If you listen carefully here and read both verses 26 and 27 together you notice that it is dwelling in anger that moves it past an emotion and into a destructive force. It is one thing to try and avoid all things that might make you angry but to be honest, that is impossible to always avoid anger. How often does simply driving down the road give rise to some anger, being late or running into traffic or people driving poorly? I believe you would be hard pressed to simply avoid anything and everything that might cause you to become angry. However, what Paul is saying here is do not sin by dwelling on that anger. How many are quick to forgive and forget those moments that made you angry? How often do we dwell on that moment and we become even more angry? This is how it works, if we dwell on it, then we give room for an emotion of anger to become a destructive force. Instead forgive and let it go. I am not saying to place yourself in danger with others behaviors but the more you dwell on that anger the more it is going to consume you.
Stealing - Verse 28
Verse 28 focuses on thieves to give up stealing and work honestly. One of the things Paul was contending with in his day was people who were used to a society were there were the rich and there were the poor and there was nothing to be done to change your stature in life. Slaves grew accustomed to stealing because that was the only way they thought they could get by. Poor got used to depending on the rich benefactors to support them. Even in the early church this same cultural norm was invading. There was a common offering and everything was shared amongst the church member’s needs. Some took advantage of this and stopped working and started depending on the church. In Paul’s time, the church was there for the widows and orphans and those who were unable to help themselves. Yet people took advantage of the situation and thought it was a way to take advantage of a system.
What does that look like for us though? How do we focus on working hard and not abusing any systems? Lets face it in some ways there are systems in place that help people in need. In other ways these same systems, make it difficult for those in need to access them in time of need. And yet in other ways still, if you know the system, you can manipulate it to work to your advantage, even in you may not truly need it. This is what this looks like today. Are you taking advantage of something you probably should not be? If so, stop. I’ve known people who demonstrate the meaning of being a hard worker and I’ve also encountered people who see nothing wrong in taking advantage of a situation or system that they should not be. We are admonished to be the hard worker.
Last part of this passage is something a bit unique. Not only does Paul tell the thief to stop stealing but he also charges him to work hard and contribute to the needs of others. There is something intangible that happens inside us when we work hard and are able to help someone in need. Our hearts grow. If a person who is used taking from others now is working hard to provide for others, their heart is changed
No Evil Talk - Verse 29
Foul talk is a funny phrase. Evil talk sounds pretty ominous. Yet this is something I hear every day and people are oblivious to it. How many times a day do you listen or read something that makes fun of someone or puts someone down? And we justify it because that person deserves it or it is all just in good fun. I could spend a whole sermon on this but you get the point. Verse 29 says “let no evil talk com out of your mouths”. In place of this evil talk is words that build up, words that extend grace to others. How do we replace our evil talk with words that build up and extend grace to others? Speak words of encouragement. Speak words that build up a person rather than degrades them or tears them down. This is part of imitating God. If God spoke to us daily reminding us of our mistakes and faults and shortcomings, where would we be? Instead, God speaks grace to us. God speaks words that build us up rather than tears us down. There is a way to show that we need change without tearing us down. We can be a voice of grace and encouragement in the midst of a world that tears people down. This is who we can be and are called by God to be in this community.
Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit - Verse 30
This phrase don’t grieve the Holy Spirit goes hand in hand with everything we have talked about so far today. First understand what the word grieve means. This means to sadden or disappoint or cause frustration. By the way we act and speak, are we showing evidence of the Spirit at work in us? Or are we showing the opposite by continuing to lie, thieve, and speak evil? We should be imitators of God and not imitators of this world.
Put away these things that grieve the Spirit - Verse 31
As verse 31 says if we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit in our words and actions, then we must put away bitterness, wrath, anger, shouting at each other (wrangling), slander, and malice. These are the things that not only grieve the Spirit of God but also tear down the community in general. If we are to help in building up the body of Christ, then these things can’t be part of our normalcy. Christians cannot be known for their angry shouting at each other, their slandering of others, their malice towards others.
Kind, tenderhearted, forgiving - imitators of God Verse 32-5:2
Instead, we should be known for our kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiving nature. Why are we this way? Because Christ has demonstrated this love which we are to imitate. As Christ has loved us so we are to love others. Notice these characteristics are the opposite of the ones which we we are prohibited from being like. With Christ all things are possible and we quote this often and this is true today in the case of what we imitate. We can throw off or cast off the ways where we have been imitating the world. By the Spirit, we can live in love as beloved children, imitators of God’s goodness.