First United Methodist Church
August 11th, 2024
Rev. Lauren Hall
Live In Love
Let’s begin with a short quiz. I’m going to take you back in time – let’s see what you remember. Don’t be polite and raise your hand. Just shout out the answer if you know it.
You deserve a break today…what’s that from?
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
Silly rabbit…Trix (are for kids)!
Only you can prevent (forest fires).
This is your brain…this is your brain on drugs. Any questions?
He won’t eat it. He hates everything. (Life)
All of these are, of course, taglines from commercials we saw around 30 years ago. And we remember them!!!
What is it about commercials that have a way of sticking with us? Think about this for a minute.
Do you remember last week when I commented that somehow social media is able to sense the things we need even when we don’t realize that we’re looking for it? How do they figure it out?
I did some research this past week and this is what I discovered. Did you know that successful advertising is based on articulating a message that appeals to human nature? That’s their goal! They don’t actually know what you are lacking in your life, but if they design their advertisements properly, and you are struggling with a situation that their product might resolve, then you will respond.
Advertising doesn’t seek to manipulate us or subvert the laws of our nature; but it is designed to appeal to them and connect us with their product.
How do you feel about that? I’m not actually expecting a response to this question. But doesn’t it bother you that we live in a world where advertising is such a reality that we just accept it?
Imagine how our entire culture might change if advertisers stopped focusing on how great their product was and instead started focusing on the fact that at the end of every product sale is a person. A REAL LIVE PERSON WHO MATTERS. And that person is you. Because, you see, that’s what Jesus was trying to get across in our gospel.
He wasn’t interested in being the bread provider. He wasn’t interested in being King. And he wasn’t interested in making people’s lives easier by providing manna everyday. He wanted us to recognize that in him there is life – an everlasting life. Bread sustains life, but you have to eat it everyday. When Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life he is telling us that he came to give his life so that we could have everlasting life. And we need a little Jesus every single day. And that’s pretty much what Paul is trying to explain in his letter to the Ephesians.
Romans 12:2 says: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
In other words: Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God so that you can be changed from the inside out. The purpose of advertising is to sell us a product, quite often a product that we didn’t even know we needed until it is introduced to us. As consumers, we decide if we want that product as we weigh the benefits and the cost. As Christians, Paul urges us to keep our focus on God so that we can discern whether the products we consume are compatible with God’s will for our lives.
In Ephesians, Paul tells us that Christians are created to live in community with one another. This kind of living requires a certain level of spiritual maturity that we can only reach when we act toward one another in the spirit of Christian love. Last week Paul instructed us to “lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called…bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” This week Paul encourages us to be “imitators of God…and to live in love, as Christ loved us.”
For Christians, imitating God begins with our baptism, when we “put away” our old selves upon entering the water and then quite literally “put on” a new self as we emerge from the water and are clothed in the “garment of Christ.” Infants who are baptized wear this garment their entire lives, as they are nurtured in the faith and learn to live like Jesus through Christian education and worship.
According to Paul, the old self that we put away is marked by bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, slander, and malice. If you think about it literally, these emotions are the barriers that we place between ourselves and the people who have harmed us. We deny that the issues can be resolved and we hold onto our anger or malice in order to protect our “self” from harm.
Conversely, the new self that we are to “put on” is marked by kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness. As we seek to overcome our anger or confront the people who have harmed us, we free ourselves from a very heavy burden and we can begin to build up our community and live, fully and completely, in love.
When Paul instructs us to “be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,” he is reminding us that as our new selves we are now capable of carrying out the Great Commandment. Our love is not simply to be directed to God, but as imitators of God, toward others, too. The verse immediately preceding the call to imitate calls us to forgive one another as God has forgiven us.
As Christians living in the 21st Century, however, we might take this one step further and restate this call as “be gracious as God was gracious.” Forgiveness is a discrete act, something we do in response to a particular offence. Graciousness is a way of being. In Wesleyan terms, we are called to a life marked by works of grace and mercy. We don’t have to wait until someone offends us before we respond with the love of God.
And, of course, if forgiveness, or graciousness, is the imitation of God, then kindness is the virtue, not holiness or righteousness. Imitating God doesn’t mean being God. God is righteous and holy. We are not. The way to imitate God is through love.
Think for a minute about the differences between the Old Testament writings and the gospels. The Old Testament is dedicated to the Law and what constitutes holiness. The Gospels are primarily dedicated to explaining what constitutes love. Jesus tells us multiple times that he has not come to change the law, but to fulfill it. Paul claims that our call to walk in imitation of God cannot be separated from the way in which God has acted toward us in Jesus Christ. Our focus needs to be on the loving actions of God, rather than on God’s natural state of being, a holiness that neither we, nor anyone else, can ever attain.
If the church is to be the dwelling place for God (Ephesians 2:22), and both Christ and the Spirit are said to be in us (Ephesians 3:16-17), and we are “created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10) and “created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24), then Paul’s instructions to imitate God and to live in love as Christ did should follow naturally, as we digest Jesus daily and allow our lives to intersect with the gospel.
Imitating God and loving as Christ did are high standards! As you consider this challenge, where are you feeling God’s call to “put away” certain habits or attitudes? What do you think it looks like to be an “imitator of God”? What might it look like for you to be an “imitator of God” within your closest relationships, such as with your spouse, your children, your friends, or your co-workers?
These commands may be ambitious challenges for us, but they also remind us of the amazing possibilities for those who have been re-created in Christ and brought into the church, the very dwelling place of God. Amen.
