The Tokyo Olympics came to a close today after two weeks of competition, pageantry, and excitement. There were celebrations and tears, sportsmanship and encouragement, and lots of inspiring moments. One of the things I love about the Olympics are the ways that this display of athleticism, discipline, and talent encourages young children watching at home to pursue their own dreams.
In the weeks of TV coverage, kids of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds could see someone like them competing at the highest level. Especially heartwarming are the videos shared on social media of little ones jumping, tumbling, and twirling along at home with the athletes on TV. There is a sense of seriousness and focus in their determination to imitate the movements they see.
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| Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash |
In today’s reading from Ephesians, we hear a list of actions and practices that are understood to be characteristic of the Christian community. This community’s life together is, above all, rooted in the love of God. In the waters of baptism, each person is made new. They receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who strengthens and empowers them for life in community with one another and life with God.
The community in this text is the growing church in Ephesus, but these words are also for us, the community of faith here and now. We, too, have been made new in the waters of baptism. We, too, have been called into life together, rooted in and shaped by God’s promises and God’s example.
What does life together look like in the community of faith? Those who have been made new in the waters of baptism are to speak the truth, express their anger with care, work honestly, share with the needy, and use their words to build up one another. This list reminds us that none of us live in a vacuum. Our words and actions affect the people around us. Indeed, “we are parts of one another.”
Having been clothed with Christ in baptism, we are called to take off the garments of bitterness, wrath, and slander, and instead be kind and tenderhearted, generous and compassionate to one another.
Our example for all of these actions is to be found in God. As this passage concludes, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”
While it may look simple on the surface, more often this work feels impossible, even on our best days. How can we possibly imitate God when we are limited by the realities of being ordinary, sinful human beings? Our attempts to imitate God may seem as rudimentary and flawed as the kids mimicking the Olympians on TV. Our love has limits, our patience and kindness fall short, and there are many times that we hold on to grudges rather than forgive. Are these instructions from Ephesians just setting us up for failure?
In his commentary on this text, professor Brian Peterson writes, “However, this call to imitation is founded on the love of Christ for us. Jesus himself is the footsteps of God through this world, not simply giving us an example to follow by our own determination, but cutting the path for us and then pulling us along. We imitate by grace, not as those who are goaded and threatened into stepping in only the right places, but as those who are loved into walking this path.”
Looking to what God has already done, and empowered by the Holy Spirit’s presence with us, we are called to imitate these actions in our own lives. We are called to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgive one another as God in Christ has forgiven us. We live in love and look to the needs of others, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. Indeed, it is God’s forgiveness and God’s love for us that enable us to forgive and love others. This forgiveness and love from God transforms us for life in community with God and with one another.
We rejoice that our salvation comes through God’s love and grace, and is not dependent on our feeble imitation of it. We rejoice in a God who indeed cuts a path for us and pulls us along, strengthening and equipping us for life in community when we are powerless to do so ourselves. We rejoice in a God who loves abundantly, forgives lavishly, and gives us all we need for life together that is abundant and eternal.
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