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.
- Ephesians 4:30-5:2, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
I grew up in the country along a rather busy county highway. Even though it was quite a few years ago, I can still remember my parents’ strong warnings not to cross the road to play in the church parking lot on the other side. Whenever my brother and sister and I went out to play, we were under strict orders to stay close to home. As long as we obeyed that order, as long as we stayed within the parameters of our yard, our parents knew that we would be safe.
I can also remember that I wasn’t too happy about that restriction at the time. But looking back, I know that my mom and dad didn’t make that rule to make my life miserable. They enforced it because they loved me and they were looking out for my physical welfare.
In our text for today, the apostle Paul is acting much like a concerned parent. As a loving father, he has our spiritual welfare in mind. Paul calls all Christians to "live a life of love." Literally, these words translate "walk around in Christian love." Paul is encouraging us to live within the sphere of Christian love, to conduct our lives within its boundaries. That way we will be safe and secure, shielded from all the evil things in the world that threaten us. Today, Paul’s own words of encouragement for the Christians at Ephesus will serve as our theme. Walk in Christian love. The five verses before us this morning tell us how to strive for this goal. We walk in Christian love…
I. By avoiding evil
II. By forgiving one another
III. By imitating Christ
Paul wrote this letter to the church at Ephesus while he was a prisoner in Rome. He had spent several years preaching and teaching in Ephesus and the Holy Spirit had richly blessed his work. But a number of years had passed since Paul had lived and worked among the Ephesians, and the church was experiencing some problems.
Perhaps their initial excitement had cooled a bit. Maybe they were discouraged because Paul was in prison. Whatever their problems were, Paul used this letter to give them some encouragement and instruction. The specific instructions in the text deal with personal relationships.
Before we get into the subject of person-to-person relationships, a few words need to be said about the individual’s relationship with God. Paul wrote: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (30).
The majority of the Ephesians were Gentiles, and this "sealing" had special meaning for them. To their way of thinking a seal denoted ownership or possession. If something was imprinted with your seal, with your personal mark, it belonged to you plain and simple. These Christians had been sealed with the Holy Spirit. They had come to faith through the Spirit’s work. Therefore, they belonged to God.
We have been sealed with the same Spirit. God placed his seal on our hearts on the day of our baptism. Through the water and the Word, the Holy Spirit entered our hearts and made us God’s children.
This seal is not a magical formula. Faith does not make everything perfect in this life. Even though we are sealed, Christians still face many temptations. Paul warns: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit." Christians belong to God, but sometimes Christians stumble. Because we have been blinded by sin, we stumble around in it every minute of every day.
Paul penetrates our consciences with a list of specific sins: "bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander" (31). All of these sins are examples of how people fail to get along with other people. It starts with bitterness: how we may feel inside when someone hurts us. This can lead to rage, literally "boiling up," getting hot over some unfair treatment or injustice. Over time, this heated rage can develop into a hardened, unmovable grudge. Sooner or later wrath will explode into brawling or shouting, blowing up at someone else. Once our emotions have reached this level, they are almost impossible to control. Arguments quickly deteriorate into slander: name-calling and saying things that we will soon regret.
It is no surprise that other people get hurt when we say and do things in anger, but we are also guilty of another sin, a sin that we might overlook. Harsh words and hate-filled actions grieve the Holy Spirit. These sins hurt God himself.
So what are we to do? How can we fight these sins that are so common in the world today? How can we combat these strong emotions that seem to be a part of our very being? Paul’s advice is pretty simple. Get rid of your sin. Pick it up and throw it away. If you have a smelly bag of garbage in the kitchen, you won’t leave it there for three days. You will tie it up and take it out so that you won’t have to deal with the odor anymore. In the exact same way, Paul tells us to get rid of our sin. Don't let sin hang around. Don’t try to ignore your sins and hope they will go away. Get rid of them for good!
We may say: "Amen. Yes, get rid of all sin." But we also know that this is easier said than done. Remember that Paul is addressing Christians. He is talking to us. No one can honestly claim to be perfect when it comes to personal relationships. When parents and children bicker and argue, that is a sin. When a husband or wife holds a grudge against a spouse long after a past sin has supposedly been forgiven and forgotten, that is wrong. Whenever believers engage in backstabbing and gossiping at work, we step far outside the boundaries of Christian love.
These sins hurt the Holy Spirit and hurt our neighbor. Instead of fighting, instead of complaining, instead of arguing, God himself shows us how to walk in Christian love: by forgiving one another.
It is no big secret that we are in need of forgiveness. For some examples, just go back to Paul’s short list in the previous verses. Paul didn’t have to stop there. He could have gone on and on. Every person on this earth is totally and completely corrupted by sin. Even if we tried our absolute hardest to get along with others, it would never be enough. For our best efforts, for everything that we try to accomplish on our own, we deserve nothing, nothing except a one-way ticket to hell.
But instead of a well-deserved ticket to hell, God gives us an undeserved gift. "In Christ God forgave you" (32). God looks at us and says, "I know you. I know what you have done, but it doesn’t matter. Your guilt has been removed. You are forgiven." God could have saved us any way he wanted. But he chose to save us through his Son. Through Jesus’ perfect life, through his innocent death, through his triumphant resurrection, forgiveness is ours. What a comfort it is for us to know that all of our sins have been forgiven "in Christ."
Because God loves us so dearly, we want to show our thanks in return. Paul tells us how: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other" (32). One way we show our love for God is by showing love for our neighbor. Compassion leads us to show genuine concern for others. Kindness means showing a willingness to serve. We help others, not to see what’s in it for ourselves, not to see what we can get in return. Our only motivation is love that flows from the heart. This love includes forgiving our neighbor.
It isn’t too hard to forgive a person who would do the same for you. But Christian love, the kind of love that led Jesus to forgive the soldiers who nailed the spikes into his hands and feet, that kind of love leads us to forgive others, even people who hurt us deeply, always remembering that our debt has been paid in full.
The apostle Peter once asked Jesus a question about Christian love and forgiveness. He wondered how many times he should forgive his brother. "Up to seven times" (Mt 18:21), he asked. In other words Peter wanted to know how many times he HAD to forgive his brother, as if it was a burden on him or a special favor he could do for someone else.
Jesus recognized the selfish attitude behind Peter’s question. He replied, "Not seven times, but seventy-seven times" (22). The message was loud and clear. There is no limit or quota on forgiveness. Christ’s answer goes far beyond Peter. Jesus teaches us to forgive others freely as we have been forgiven.
Maybe you have been in a situation where you found it difficult to forgive someone. Maybe you are in that situation right now. The sinner in us wants to think like Peter, to demand satisfaction, not forgive the transgression. It may even feel good to hold onto a grudge, to make the other person suffer for a while, before we finally decide to forgive.
Whenever these evil thoughts enter our heads, it is good for us to remember the example of forgiveness that has been set for us. God has given us free and unconditional forgiveness. And God has given us the perfect role model for us to follow. There can be no better way to walk in Christian love than by imitating Christ.
"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" (5:2). Love each other as Christ has loved you. Jesus loved us so much that he gave himself up FOR US. He became our substitute. He offered himself in our place as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
His sacrificial offering was "fragrant." What does that mean? Does that mean that Jesus’ sacrifice gave off a pleasing aroma? For the answer we look back to the book of Exodus, to the sacrifices that the priests offered on behalf of Old Testament Israel. Moses described those offerings as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. This does not mean that the burning flesh of goats and bulls produced a sweet-smelling fragrance. Rather, it meant that those offerings were acceptable to God. Therefore, when Jesus gave himself up as a "fragrant offering," God was pleased with his Son. He accepted his sacrifice, his death on the cross as a payment for the sins of all.
Because Christ’s death and resurrection have set us free from the chains of sin, we can look at Paul’s words in a different way. They are no longer words of warning. They are words of encouragement. "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children" (5:1). Through the work of Jesus, the loving father/child relationship has been restored with our Heavenly Father. As his adopted children, Paul urges us to imitate God in our lives.
Have you noticed how children like to imitate their parents? I can remember a commercial from a few years ago that showed a little boy standing on a bathroom stool next to his father. He began shaving his imaginary whiskers in the mirror just because he wanted to be more like his dad. Maybe some of you can remember playing dress-up and putting on make-up so you could look more like mom.
Even later in life, how many children follow in their parents’ footsteps by getting into the same line of work? Why do people do these things? I think it is because we look up to our parents. We love them and show our love by trying to be like them.
Paul urges us to be "imitators of God," to imitate the love that Christ has brought into our lives. He endured pain and ridicule, yet he did not open his mouth. He was flogged, beaten and put to death, but he never lashed out against his enemies. God’s love for us knows no boundaries. We show our love for him by following his example.
Imitating God…that sounds intimidating, maybe even impossible, but we don't have to suffer and die to imitate Christ. We don’t have to do miracles to show that kind of love. Christian love can take on the simplest of forms. You can listen to the problems of a friend, give them a shoulder to lean on. You can carry out your tasks faithfully, at work, at home, or at school. Even a simple prayer offered in faith. These are just a few examples of the countless ways that we can imitate Christ’s love in our lives.
There is a saying that goes: "You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?" In other words, people can make big promises, but making good on those promises is a totally different story. As people living in a dangerous world, God calls us to walk in Christian love. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we don’t have to be afraid. We can be confident. We can "walk the walk" because God himself gives us the strength to do the things he calls us to do. We walk in Christian love: by avoiding evil, by forgiving one another, and by imitating Christ. Jesus is our perfect role model. Walk in his love. Amen.