Eph 4,25-5,2 - Immitators of Christ
Its good to be back from Holidays
and to see all of you here today.
We have enjoyed our time with Hedi’s parents,
and then we spent some time with friends
at their cottage.
It was a really good time to relax
from the daily routine,
play games with the kids
go fishing and find God also in nature.
Thank you for your prayers during our time away.
Immitators of God
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood
and speak truthfully to his neighbor,
for we are all members of one body.
26 “In your anger do not sin”:
Do not let the sun go down
while you are still angry,
27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
28 He who has been stealing
must steal no longer,
but must work,
doing something useful
with his own hands,
that he may have something to share
with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk
come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful
for building others up
according to their needs,
that it may benefit those who listen.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness,
rage and anger,
brawling and slander,
along with every form of malice.
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.
5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore,
as dearly loved children
2 and live a life of love,
just as Christ loved us
and gave himself up for us
as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
From this text,
and also from personal experience
we know that life
- and especially the Christian life of discipleship –
isn’t always a walk in the park.
Sometimes it’s a real struggle.
And you can just feel
how the devil is having a hay day with us.
Today’s text deals – among other things –
with the problem of anger and bitterness,
and Paul tells the Ephesians
that the only thing that can change
our life around
is that we seek to immitate Christ,
who gave himself up for us
as a fragrant offering to God.
Paul wants the Ephesians to make a connections
between the new relationship they have with Christ
and with each other in the church,
and specific behavior in real life.
Paul knew that you cannot be a Christian in isolation.
Our attitudes and behaviors affect
the entire body of Christ.
There were people from many different cultural
and religious backgrounds in the Ephesian church
and it must have been a real challenge
to keep the church focussed
on its mission and witness in the world.
As we revisit the letter to the Ephesians
it becomes clear that the effectiveness
of the witness of the church
depends on the unity of the body.
We are one body together
and Christ is the head of the body.
There is a rich diversity of gifts in the body,
to build up the community of faith.
But everything was not a bed of roses
in the Ephesian church.
There was also trouble!
The early followers of Christ came into the faith
from a variety of cultural and religious experiences Many had been Gentiles and Pagans
who came into the church
with a lot of baggage.
Some were undoubtedly business people
who made their financial gain
by misrepresenting themselves
and the products they were selling.
Some came from broken and shattered family situations
where abuse and violence was the order of the day. Some were poor people who stole from others
in order to eat or ware clothes.
Some were rough tough kinds of people
who dominated over others
with their coarse language and swearing.
Some were angry people
who were unable to control their rage,
and got themselves into all kinds of fights.
Some had become bitter through years and years
of bottled-up anger, frustration, and resentment.
And some had lived their lives slandering other people
and spreading bad rumors
about their fellow church members.
As the Good News of Jesus Christ spread through the land,
these kinds of people were attracted to the church
and became a part of the community of faith.
But old habits are hard to give up.
Breaking with their old habits and traditions
meant that they would seek to live their life
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
They would seek to pattern their lives after the life
Of Jesus Christ, their Lord and Master.
The Apostle warns them not to grieve the Holy Spirit
by ignoring the true Christian virtues
and continuing in their pagan vices.
When we look at the text more closely,
Paul uses this wonderful image
of putting off the old
and putting on the new.
Toward the end of this letter
he addresses several serious issues.
Let’s look at some of them…
1. Falsehood: each of you must put off falsehood
and speak truthfully to his neighbor,
for we are all members of one body.
We say, “Well, of course,
we’re suppposed to always tell the truth.”
But isn’t it odd how often we speak a half-truth
or we twist a story just a little bit
to our advantage.
It’s so easily done,
and we think that it’s not a big deal.
But Paul gives us the reason why it’s important.
We are all members of one body.
It’s for the health and well being
of the Body of Christ.
2. Anger: “In your anger do not sin”:
Do not let the sun go down
while you are still angry,
27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
And
31 Get rid of all bitterness,
rage and anger,
brawling and slander,
along with every form of malice.
Let me state right away
that anger in itself is not a sin.
In the Old Testament we often see a very angry God,
who vows to wipe out his entire people
because they have disobeyed him.
But, this is not the dominant picture of God
that the Bible shows us.
Again and again
God’s unending love and forgiveness
replaces His wrath and anger
towards unfaithful Israel.
When we read the prophets,
we quickly realize that some of them
seem to have had some serious issues
with anger.
At times, Jesus was angry with his disciples
who didn’t understand his mission.
“Get behind me Satan,” he said to Peter at one time. Another time he went on a rampage in the temple
driving out money changers and sales people.
Paul in fact teaches us to be angry.
The original Greek translation says,
“Being angry, do not sin.”
In other words,
Anger is assumed.
We are human.
At times we will get angry.
But, when you are angry, do not sin.
Anger is a powerful human emotion
that God has built into us.
Anger is there for a reason.
It is a natural defense mechanism
that kicks in
when we are threatened or hurt.
The problem is that God has created some of us
With a very short fuse,
or like somebody said to me,
“I have a very small cooling system.”
The problem with many of us,
just like the people in the early church
is that our anger is often uncontrolled
and we let it escalate
to the point of sinning.
Paul says, “In your anger do not sin”
that is,
we must deal with the cause of our anger.
So often our anger is misdirected
as the following ILL shows:
There is a cartoon where the wife comes home
from work and says to her husband:
"Honey, I had a lousy day at work,
so I'll just yell at you for a while."
How many of you have experienced that before?
You have a problem with the boss,
and you come home and take it out on the family.
Meanwhile, they are scratching their heads saying,
“What’s with you?”
ILL: A little girl was showing a friend
around her new house.
"This is the kitchen,
here's my bedroom;
there's the den.
Do you have a den in your house?"
"No, we don't", replied her friend
"My dad just growls all around the house."
Growling all over the house is one way
To express anger.
But, not everybody expresses their anger
by “being a Bear”
and I’m not talkin’ about a Teddy Bear
(if you know what I mean).
There are also those among us
who swollow their anger
until it eats them up from the inside.
Unexpressed anger turns into resentment
and bitterness and often leads to addictions
which is a way of running away from
our problems.
In your anger do not sin, says Paul.
The best way to avoid falling into sin
when we are angry
is to deal with it at the source.
And as we address the issue that is causing us anger
we must remember that love
and restoration of the relationship
is the ultimate goal.
In order to keep the unity of the spirit
it is important that anger
is not allowed to fester
and destroy the relationship.
“Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”
There is a sense of urgency in these words.
Because, when we do not deal with our anger,
we ultimately hurt ourselves
as well as the other person.
ILL: But sometimes we are like these two little brothers.
Harry and James had finished supper
and were playing until bedtime.
Somehow, Harry hit James with a stick,
and tears and bitter words followed.
Charges and accusations were still being exchanged
as mother prepared them for bed.
The mother instructed,
"Now James, before you go to bed
you're going to have to forgive your brother,
because the Bible says,
‘Do not let the sun go down
whwn you are still angry."
James was quiet for a moment, and then he replied,
“Well OK, I'll forgive him tonight,
but if I don't die overnight,
he'd better look out in the morning."
Not letting the sun go down on one's anger (4:26)
is about dealing with anger:
being honest with with ourselves
and with the other person,
and to do it in a helpful way.
When we allow unresolved anger to stay with us
we give the devil a foothold
that is – we allow him a foot in the door.
It doesn’t take long and we become an angry person,
full of resentment, bitterness
and even hate and depression.
The funny thing is that after a few days
we don’t remember what we were so mad about .
We just remember that we are angry.
As we read these verses from Ephesians,
Paul invites us to look at our own anger.
What do you do with your anger?
Do you take it out on others in a hostile manner?
Or do you let it eat you up on the inside?
Jesus teaches us that we can use that angry energy
And use to God’s glory
If we deal with our anger
In a healthy way.
3. Let’s move on to the next one: Stealing.
We have to remember that Paul is talking here
to the community of faith that has made a covenant
of sharing their possessions with one another
(They had all things in common).
When we think of stealing,
the first thing that comes to mind
is something like shoplifting,
or stealing someone’s bike
and stuff like that.
For Paul, not sharing what you had,
like food, shelter, money, spiritual gifts, and so on,
with the community of faith,
is the same thing as stealing.
You must work,
doing something useful with your hands –
not in order to stay off social assistance
or even to get yourself a nice savings account,
but, so that you may have
something to share with those in need.
The focus again is the health and wellbeing,
And the unity of the Body of Christ.
Paul would ask us today, “Are you stealing from God and Christ’s Body by withholding your material and spiritual gifts?”
To immitate God means to share
all the gifts that he has given us
and not to hold anything back.
4. Unholesome talk. Do not let any unwholesome talk
come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful
for building others up
according to their needs,
that it may benefit those who listen.
Let me ask you,
“Is all of your talking responsible,
wholesome,
seasoned with love and compassion
for others?”
Do you seek to build up the image
Of Christ’s Body by what you say?
Is your conversation helpful?
Does it build others up according to their need? Does it benefit all those who listen?
5. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we disappoint Christ
through our selfish behavior
that destroys community.
When we quench the spirit,
we refuse to give him room in our lives
to work in and through us
to the Glory of God.
The Spirit wants to bear the fruits of love in our lives.
6. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.
A fundamental component of our life together
As the Body of Christ
Is forgiveness.
Forgiveness means letting go of
that which we hold against people,
and embracing them as God has embraced us
in Jesus Christ.
Kindness and compassion
are the marks of a forgiving spirit.
When we take the immitation of Christ seriously
in our lives and in the church
"the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"
will grow.
And the world will know that we are Christians
by our love.