Ephesians 5:1-6
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.
3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient.
These words for today’s devotion come from a sermon by Pastor Vince Gerhardy.“Imitate God.” Are you serious? Imitate God that means speak and act like God, mimic God, be like God, copy God, emulate God, match God – who can do that? God is so “totally other”, so different, so perfect – how can we even begin to imitate God in everything we do? There is one major stumbling block when it comes to imitating God – thinking, speaking and acting like God and it’s this – God is so perfect, and God never gets things wrong while we are so imperfect and are always messing things up.
In fact, Paul is writing to Christians and lists a whole lot of things that have messed up their lives:
- anger that leads to hurting others,
- lying and speaking deceptively,
- disrespecting other people’s property,
- bad language,
- bitterness and put downs,
- insulting speech and hateful feelings and that’s not the half of it.
His readers know the love of Jesus and yet that love doesn’t flow over into their daily lives. We know the love of Jesus and yet Jesus’ love doesn’t flow over into our daily lives. So Paul says it as plainly as he can, “Imitate God.”
This is the only place in the New Testament where this phrase is used. Paul uses language like “imitate me” or “imitate other churches” but not “imitate God”. That is a very demanding challenge. He explains what he means by this, saying, “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ”. In other words, Imitating God means
- living like Christ,
- loving like Christ,
- sacrificing oneself like Christ,
- being dedicated and committed like Christ,
- forgiving like Christ and
- avoiding everything that would draw you away from being Christ-like.
Does any of that make Paul’s words, “Imitate God in everything you do” any easier to fulfill? Maybe it simply highlights the fact that even though we claim to be “children of the light”, being like Christ and imitating Christ is something that is really difficult. The more we consider these words the greater the awareness of how hard it is to imitate God. Read the rest of chapter 5 where Paul talks about obscene talk, coarse language, bad jokes, greediness, sexual immorality in the broadest sense and we end swallowing very hard.
Let’s take one aspect of God’s love as an example – forgiveness. We see Jesus generous love on the cross. At our baptism he embraced us sinful beggars and poured on us his grace and love and declared us to be free and clean of everything that stains us.
He gives us his body and blood in Holy Communion and again declares his love for us and promises that we are his and that we will live forever. His forgiveness is given generously, extravagantly, completely, unconditionally, graciously. When God forgives sin God no longer remembers it; our sin is no longer held against us. It has been wiped away forever.
We all know that forgiveness is something that is badly needed in our community and our world today. But it is so hard to forgive. Most of us have a skeleton or two in the cupboard of our lives – things we have said or done that causes our conscience to nag us. And most of us have been around the church long enough to know that church members haven’t always been as generous as Jesus with their forgiveness.
A story at this time might help us focus on what it means to “imitate God.” The story is told of a girl, Louise, who turned her back on her widowed mother, considering her Mom too restrictive. They had an argument when she came home with a tattoo, and after shouting, “I hate you,” packed her bags and left home without telling her mother where she was going.
Night after night the mother waited for Louise, but she didn’t come back. Not knowing what to do next, the mother decided to have some photos taken of herself and then wrote on each of them “I love you. Come back”. She posted the pictures on bulletin boards wherever she thought her daughter might see them.
In the meantime, Louise’s attempts at finding a job had limited success. Mostly she lived on the street. At night she would lie awake, frightened and cold, her pockets and her stomach empty, and with newspapers tucked under her coat to keep her warm. Thoughts of home popped into her head. The smell of something delicious coming from the kitchen. Her bedroom and the bed with sheets and blankets. She missed her cat and realized he was warm, well-fed, and healthy. But the idea of going home was out of the question. She was not going back. Her pride wouldn’t let her.
One night, something on a community bulletin board caught her attention. Louise took a closer look, and there it was – her own mother, looking much older now. Then she saw what was written on the photo, “I love you. Come back”, and knew it was addressed to her. Those words hit her with an unbelievable force. With tears in her eyes and a heart burning with remorse, she took the first train home.
When she arrived, she was surprised to find the door of the house open; no need to knock; in she went. “Mom, I’m so sorry. Can you ever…”
“Shh,” her mother interrupted. She threw her arms around her daughter, held her tight and with tears in their eyes, they both stood there embraced in love and warmth and forgiveness.
After a while the streetwise Louise asked, “Mom, why do you leave your front door open?”
“Oh, Louise, the door has never been closed since the day you left. I’ve left it open all the time you’ve been gone, waiting for my precious child to walk through it.”
God gives us the hug of forgiveness. God says to you at this moment, “I love you even though you aren’t perfect. I forgive you for the sake of my Son, Jesus.” That’s the hug of God.
Jesus continues to hug us with his love and forgiveness. We are held together in his loving arms as brothers and sisters. We are united in the Body of Christ sharing the same Bread of Life that gives life forever. Jesus has blessed us with his grace, and now Paul says, “Imitate what Christ has done for you. Be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving and loving toward one another, and like Christ, put other’s needs above your own.”
“Imitate God in everything you do because you are God’s dear children” is a tough call. As much as we might look for loopholes or for reasons not to forgive those who hurt us, Jesus leaves no room for doubt that just as God has forgiven us for our persistent and blatant wrong against God, so also we are to forgive one another.
It is a hard thing to be “like Christ” or to “imitate God” and Paul knows it. We can only “imitate God” in God’s grace. We know that we will fail often. We need God’s constant hug of forgiveness around us. We need that baptismal hug to remind us that we are still God’s, and God’s love burns ever stronger for us. We need God’s hug as we receive Jesus’ body and blood in the Sacrament and are reminded that all is forgiven. We are hugged by God and then challenged as we go forth to imitate God.
Let us pray:
Dear God, may we strive to imitate you in our love for one another. Bless our efforts, and forgive our shortcomings. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.