Imitators of God
A sermon by Currie Burris
Ephesians 4: 24-5:1
August 13, 2006
We are particularly blessed here in the
One of the most amazing and awe inspiring things about the Cathedral are the stained glass windows. On each side of the central nave are double rows of large stained glass windows, each depicting some story or character from Bible or the history of the church. Each end of the cross transept is graced by a large round rose window, with a rose window depicting the creation dominating the West end of the central nave. At any time during a sunny day, beams of light will come through the windows at different hours casting multiple colors of light shining throughout the space. In the afternoon, light comes through the western creation window, making the Cathedral seem to come alive.
The other windows in the cathedral tell a story or commemorate a special event. My favorite is the “space window,” which symbolically depicts the Apollo space flights to the moon and back again. A small piece of a real rock from the moon is embedded in the center of the window.
Stained glass windows are often made up of several layers of glass, lead dividers holding the glass in place. There are often inked or painted illustrations applied directly on the glass. Each of the layers of glass and detail combine to create a rich experience of color, light, texture and story. Stained glass windows have the magical ability to transmit light from within as well as to reflect light from its surface. Pure light from within and without.
Paul’s lesson from the letter to the Ephesians today is a “mosaic rubric for Christian living, put together in a stained-glass window of spiritual advice.” Each admonition from Paul works together with the next to create the possibility of forming our lives into a window through which may shine the divine light of God. Windows to the divine.
Paul’s advice is simple, practical, calling for the shaping of everyday life, everyday ways of living and being with our fellow human beings. But each word shapes a life that shows the light of God to the world.
He builds his “window” with such pieces as:
• “Let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors” (v. 25)
• “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (v. 26)
• “Thieves must give up stealing” (v. 28)
• “[Work honestly] so as to have something to share with the needy” (v. 28)
• “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths” (v. 29)
• “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (v. 30).
Christians are to tell the truth at all times, not just because it is a rule, or because it is the right or moral thing to do, and not just because lies will be found out and will have negative consequences. We must not lie because, says Paul, we are all members of one another. We are all connected together. I belong to you and you to me. As members of the church we are part of the body of Christ. The hand cannot lie to the foot; the eye cannot lie to mouth; the heart cannot lie to the head. If we lie to each other, the body is torn apart. We belong to each other. Truth is the foundation of our lives together.
Be angry. It is all right to be angry sometimes. There are things to be angry about. I am angry at hurt and harm. I am angry about lies and deception. I am angry about war and violence. I am angry about oppression and discrimination. I am angry at injustice. There are times when God is angry: at sin and rebellion, at idolatry and pride, at murder and war. But we are cautioned, do not let your anger spill over into sin. Do let your anger wound and hurt. Do not let your anger lead to do the very things you are angry about.
Here is a special counsel to the wisdom on anger: do not let the sun go down on your anger. If you are angry with a sister or a brother, resolve it as soon as possible. Letting anger hang over into another day, will not lessen it. It will not go away. It will only fester. Like an infected wound, it will become worse. It will make room for the growth of evil things between you. Settle it now. Do not sleep on it.
Do not steal from each other. An obvious counsel, but it means more than just not taking someone else’s things. It has been said that all sins are ultimately the sin of theft: the stealing of someone’s life, the stealing of someone’s family, the stealing of someone’s health or personhood, the stealing of truth, the stealing of honor or respect, the stealing of hope, the stealing of a future. We are to work to provide for ourselves, rather than stealing. But Paul makes it clear we work for more than ourselves. A portion of what we earn is to be shared with the needy. It’s not an option. It’s what God does; it is what we must do as well. When we share, we are like God.
Let no evil come out of your mouth. What comes out of your mouth is a reflection of who you are. Do not curse; do not use foul or obscene language; do not use the Lord’s name in vain. But it is more than just particular words used. It is also what we say and how we say it. Are we tearing someone down or building them up? Encourage one another. Give each other strength. Let your words be grace to those who hear them.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. All you who are baptized are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. You are not your own. Everything you do or say is in the presence of the Spirit. Put away bitterness, revenge, hurtful anger, wrangling and slander, malice. It is an offense to God.
Then Paul counsels us to be imitators of God. Notice he does not say we are to “be” God. We must not attempt to be gods to ourselves. Rather we are to act with each other the way God acts with us. We are beloved children of God. Christ loved us and gave himself for us. So likewise we are to love each other, and give sacrificially to each other. We are to live lives of love, just as God is love to us.
The author Kathleen Norris tells the story of when she joined a Presbyterian church. She wondered if she was making a serious mistake, since she still felt like an outsider to the church and wondered if she always would. And yet, she knew that somehow, in ways she did not yet understand, that making this commitment was something that she needed to do.
Before the service, she and the other new members gathered with some of the elders. One elder was a man that she had never liked much, since he was a gossip and always seemed ill tempered. The minister had asked this elder to greet the new members, and standing awkwardly before the small group he cleared his throat and mumbled, “I’d like to welcome you to the body of Christ.”
Kathleen Norris reports that the minister’s mouth dropped open, as did hers. Neither of them had ever heard words remotely like this come from the elder’s mouth. “Like distant thunder, the words made me more alert,” writes Norris. “My own small mind had just been jolted, and the world seemed larger, opened in a new way.” The elder’s words — those few, simple words of welcome — had power. They were the truth of God, shining through an ill-tempered elder.
“Be imitators of God,” says Paul. This means to copy God’s grace and love and hospitality, even if we haven’t come close to divine perfection ourselves. When the elder said, “I’d like to welcome you to the body of Christ,” he was being an imitator of God, even though he was still an unpleasant person himself. He reflected God’s love, and it changed Kathleen Norris’ life. (Homiletics, “Tiffany Living,” August 10, 2003)
Let us be imitators of God, letting the light of God shine through us like light through stained glass. Let us be stained glass Christians.
Amen.