Imitate God as children of light.

 

Sermon for Lent 3, Oculi, March 20, 2022

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.  Amen.

Ephesians 5:1-9   ¹Therefore, be imitators of God as his dearly loved children.  ²And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  ³ But do not let sexual immorality, any kind of impurity, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints.  ⁴Obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking are also out of place.  Instead, give thanks.  ⁵ Certainly you are aware of this: No immoral, impure, or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, who is God.  ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words.  It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.  ⁷So do not share in what they do.  ⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light, ⁹ for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. (EHV)

Imitate God as children of light.

Fellow redeemed and sanctified friends,

            In the Bible, nothing is more offensive to God than idolatry, which makes sense because the First Commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)  Numerous times in the Scriptures, those practicing idolatry are described as putting a stench in God’s nostrils.  Now, think about the worst smells you have ever experienced: the worst diaper you’ve ever had to change, rotten eggs, rotten soybeans, a dead animal in the hot sun, or cleaning up someone else’s vomit.  I apologize if I put some bad memories in your mind, but in our text, Paul describes many of the sins we find so easy to commit as idolatry, so imagine the face God might make when the idolatrous stench of our sins wafts up to His nostrils.

The last half of this letter is an explanation of living a sanctified life.  To be sanctified is to be set apart as holy to God.  That is what has been done for us when the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus.  Through God-given faith, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)  Through faith all the stench of your sin and your previous idolatry was totally removed so that we smell sweet in God’s presence. 

Here, Paul writes, “Christ loved us and gave himself for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  The purity of our Savior was put over us when Jesus took our place in punishment and death.  Through Christ, we were made holy and acceptable to God—all sin—all stench—removed.  So, why would we want to immerse ourselves again in anything that made us smell to God like a dead skunk?  The believer in Jesus doesn’t want that, therefore, Paul says, Imitate God as children of light.

By the power of the Spirit, Paul wrote, “Be imitators of God as his dearly loved children.  And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  What is God like that we should imitate?  Perfectly holy.  Perfectly loving.  God cares for every living thing, even for those who hate Him.  He is gracious, forgiving, self-sacrificing, kind, compassionate, and slow to anger, and already I can see that I just can never measure up. 

Then Paul goes on to add this, “Do not let sexual immorality, any kind of impurity, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints.  Obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking are also out of place.”  Our culture is so awash in exactly this type of thing that I doubt we even recognize the sin in it most of the time.  Dare we watch television, a movie, read any kind of advertising, go on the internet, or even listen to much of the comedy in our world?  Our world is slathered in all this impurity; it is like we are swimming in a waste-water pond.  So, what are we to do?  How can we possibly be saved?

Having pointed out that we have been made holy through Christ, Paul’s point here is to remind us to avoid the obvious sins.  We are to learn to recognize what is impure and what is good, and then we must police ourselves to stay away from that which would trap us in filth.  We are immersed in a world that considers sexual immorality a good thing, where hooking up is just entertainment, and casual sex and living together without marriage is considered normal.  Precious few even question it anymore.

All around us, there is a push to get more money, more stuff, and more power.  If we see someone else has something, most people think they deserve it too.  It starts even with little kids who are given participation trophies because nobody should have anything better or more than anyone else.  And yes, I realize that is too simple a comparison.  Yet the devil is masterful at teaching us to desire what belongs to others.  If we see it, he wants us to want it, and that my friends leads to idolatry.  Paul warns against this saying, “Let no one deceive you with empty words.  It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.”

Obviously, we have all failed at imitating God.  That’s why Jesus came into the world.  He came to cleanse us of all sin, to wash away our disgusting stains and putrid stenches, because even our little sins are offensive to God, even those that we don’t know or recognize.  However, the faith in Christ we have been given changes us.  It set us free from the devil’s control.  Through baptism, God stepped forward and cleansing us made us His own dear children, giving us rebirth from above and new life, new hope, new citizenship in His kingdom, and a new ability to love and to serve.

Paul tells us, “Do not share in what they do.  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.”  Jesus has transformed our existence.  No longer are we idol worshippers seeking only physical pleasure and worldly goods.  Instead, we have been washed clean of all sin and dressed in the righteousness of Christ.  The picture the Bible uses for the Church is that of a bride on her wedding day, perfectly prepared, dressed in a gown of most brilliant white and a crown covered with the finest pearls and gems the eye has ever seen.  The righteousness of Christ Jesus should reflect off of us in a dazzling array.  The world should see believers as people who with all humility Imitate God as children of light.

Now, I will not give you a free pass to sin.  At the same time, we all know we can’t measure up to the holiness the law demands, so what do we do?  The sanctified life of the Christian is to live always in repentance.  It is recognizing when and if we stumble.  It is knowing that even our best isn’t good enough and that we need the cleansing bath of our baptism continually.  No, I don’t mean you must be rebaptized every time you sin.  However, every time we repent of our sins trusting in the forgiveness Jesus attained for us, we are returning to that baptism that cleansed us and gave us life in the first place. 

In many ways, this is our returning to God’s presence in worship.  Here, God renews you with the power of His Word.  Here, Jesus gives you His body and blood in the Supper to testify to you again and again that your sins are forgiven because He paid for them with His holy sacrifice.  It is putting the holiness of our Savior in us as healing medicine.

With all the turmoil going on in the world, it would be easy for us to look around and point fingers at others assuming God must have seen something really bad in them.  Paul wrote, “It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.”  However, the wrath of God spoken about here comes at the end.  On Judgment Day, the people going to hell are those who don’t believe in Jesus.  Their whole life is idolatry.  Does any Christian want to be a part of that?  No way!  At the same time, do we want to reach out to those who don’t yet know Jesus?  I certainly hope so, because we know that “God our Savior,…wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)  It is why we Imitate God as children of light.

When you look at Jesus’ life shown to us in the gospels, you see that Jesus was continually returning to His heavenly Father for help, for guidance, and for peace.  Jesus never had sin to repent of, yet He continually turned to God in worship and praise and trust.  Jesus did that also in our place.  It is Jesus’ perfect obedience and trust that has become ours through faith.

The light of Christ is reflected off the believer onto others by how we live in the world.  If we look like the slime pit that surrounds us, what attraction is that to those who are drowning in the filth?  Of course, we all know that much of the world doesn’t want what we have to offer.  That’s because those walking in darkness don’t understand the joy of the light.  It is only after being given life through faith that the light becomes important.  Still, the only way anyone is brought to new life is by hearing the word of life.  We only get the opportunity to share it when we live in the light and life of Jesus.

Dear friends, it is self-evident that none of us can save ourselves or cleanse ourselves to remove the stench of our sins.  However, you have been cleansed through faith in Jesus.  You have been washed clean and given life by the power of baptism.  “Do not give the Devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:27)  Recognize the gift Jesus gives you, the forgiveness, the sanctification, eternal life, and a home in heaven.  Know that God leaves you in this world to share His light with those still suffering in darkness.  Live as His dear children; Imitate God as children of light.  Amen.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, both soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.  Amen.