Be Imitators of God

Sermon for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, year B
Bible reading: Ephesians 4:17-5:2

A month ago I’d never heard of Kenilworth or Mapleton, or Montville or Maleny. Now I’ve been to them all, taken in their great beauty, and some of their great coffee and pies and yoghurt and cheese. I’ve been in their new and second hand bookshops, and left behind more than a little of my money.

On top of all that, each night and morning in Maleny, we were serenaded by kookaburras. But were they really kookaburras?

Be imitators of God. How can that be possible?

This week we’ve heard of the lyrebird at Adelaide Zoo, that imitates the sounds of the other birds so well that some people can’t tell the difference. In fact some people think the lyrebird does a better job of the kookaburra than the kookaburras do!

The world is full of imitation. When we buy shoes or bags we can be fooled by imitation leather. It looks better than it is. On Friday in the supermarket I noticed imitation vanilla. Children imitate their parents, consciously or unconsciously. Teenagers imitate their peers. Adults try to keep up with the Joneses, whoever they are!

And the Bible calls Christians to be imitators of God.

Be imitators of God. How can that be possible? If it’s hard to keep up with the Joneses, how can we keep up with God? Isn’t this just a recipe for disaster?

No wonder this is the only text in the Bible which calls us to imitate God. No wonder Luther and the Confessions don’t speak of imitating God. Their emphasis was on what God has done for us in Christ, not on what we must do for God. Their emphasis was on how God became like us in Christ, not on how we become like God by imitating Christ. Their aim was to give us the assurance of salvation by grace, and to remove the uncertainty of calling us to become like God – an impossible ideal, an ideal that drives us to despair.

You have been called out of the wilderness of despair that Elijah found himself in today. God has come to you in your despair at failing so often in your life, in your despair at not reaching the goals you have set for your own life, not to mention falling far short of the call to be like God. God has come to you in all your troubles, and all your needs, and all your hunger for something better, and he has fed you with the bread of life … and you have eaten this bread and will live forever. This living bread is Jesus Christ himself, who has come to you in your baptism and given you eternal life, and continues to come to you through Holy Communion to feed you with the bread of life.

You are no longer trapped in some wilderness of despair, a million miles from God, seeking to impress God, in order to win his acceptance. You are dearly loved children of God, and Christ loved you, and gave himself up for you, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Every morning when you get up; every night when you go to bed… no matter how you feel… remember you are a dearly loved child of God, welcomed into his family at the font, forgiven and washed clean by God through the precious blood of Jesus, and seated and well fed at his table.

You’re not somebody seated nervously at the table of a remote and angry God, trying to make a good impression, hoping to get accepted into heaven. No! You’re a beloved child, seated at the table of a loving Father, knowing you’re already home, and nothing can separate from your Father’s love.

What a difference it makes when you know you’re a dearly loved child of God. Then imitating God is not trying to become something you’re not, and never can be.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children . What a difference it makes when you know you’re a dearly loved child of God. Then imitating God is not trying to become something you’re not, and never can be. Imitating God is becoming what you already are – a child of God. You might ask: how can I imitate a God I haven’t seen?

The text suggests three ways:

  1. By living the new life God has given you in your baptism.

    Our text is speaking about the life of baptized children of God. Put off your old self… put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

    God has given you his own new life to live. God has given you his own Holy Spirit to live in you and recharge you daily for living like God. God has given you Holy Communion to feed you regularly with the bread of the life of God. God has given you his word to nourish your spiritual life to guide you to live like God. God has placed you into the community of his people, where we all help one another live the life of God.

    Through these means of grace God will grow you to be more like him… to be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.

  2. By imitating Christ who is the God we have seen.

    God’s word is filled with calls to live like Jesus. The text says: be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.

    Thomas A Kempis, in his great book: The Imitation of Christ, begins by saying that in order to imitate Christ: let it be our chief occupation to think about the life of Christ. And when we think of the life of Christ surely compassion and forgiveness are the two words that first come to mind.

    When Jesus met the blind, and the lepers, he healed them, when he met the widow he raised her son, when he met the hungry crowd, harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd, he fed them, and sent out his followers to be shepherds to them. When Jesus met those cast out by the righteous as sinners, Jesus forgave them and welcomed them.

    No wonder St Paul says to his congregations: imitate me as I imitate Christ. No wonder God’s word is filled with calls like: walk as Jesus walked … do as Jesus did … forgive as the Lord forgave you … have the same attitude as Christ … love as I have loved you. Even Gandhi called Christians to live more like Jesus Christ. Imitating God, whom we have not seen, means living like Christ whom we have seen.

  3. By living the life of God described in God’s word.

    All of us live a life that imitates or follows somebody. Will it be the way of Christ, or the way that we renounced in our baptism? Ephesians 4 calls us to renounce the old way of ignorance, alienation from God, deceit, and utter selfishness. It then calls us to live the new life of Christ: the way of speaking the truth to build others up, working hard so we have enough to share with others, dedicating ourselves to all that builds others up in faith and love. Imitating God whom we have not seen means living the life of love God’s word describes.

We are not a lyrebird imitating the Kookaburra it can never be. We are the loved children of God, imitating our loving Father, becoming more and more like Christ.

This is what our loving Father wants. This is what the desperate world needs. Amen.

Pastor David Christian