THE PATTERN To put Christ above all and others before ourselves

Ephesians 5

 

    I never expected to meet Christ in a Social Security Office, but I did. It was a frustrating morning of bureaucracy at its worst. What began with phone system runarounds ended with a trip to a “service center” camouflaged in an unmarked building. Facing a 2 hour wait in a line where it was against the rules to have mo-re than 1 agent working at a time, I was in a foul mood standing beside my dad’s wheelchair. Locked in my funk I didn’t care about the old lady who came in with her handicapped daughter. The girl was unsteady. A room full of people young & old strong & weak guarded their seats; there were no chairs left.

    Then my mom stood up, bent over, cane in hand & said “Here, please sit down, you need it more than I.” The girl took the chair. Another man seeing it rose & gave my mom his place. It was so fast I felt stunned & shamed. I’d se-en Jesus, where I’d always known He lived- in my mom’s life. That woman “gets it” when it comes to Christianity. Like Paul in Eph.5, Jesus is her pattern, she brings her faith home; putting Christ above all & others above herself. We’re asked to:

     LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE v 1-7 “Be imitators of God…live a life of love.” Eph. 5:1-2  I like this paraphrase “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant.” Eph 5:1-2 (TMSG) We get our word mimic, from the one Paul uses for imitate. We’re to be serious God impersonators, giving our best impression of the Lord.

     This means copying the genuine v 2. We’re reminded how Jesus models real love better than any. It is sacrificial & volitional —a costly choice, proven on the cross. It’s worshipful love, honoring the Father… like a “fragrant offering.” The picture is from the OT of smoke ascending to heaven from the altar off a freewill thank offering; a pleasing perfume enjoyed by God. S. Olford wrote “Jesus came – not only to show us what God is like, but wants us to be like.”

    Authentic love requires disowning the

counterfeit kind v 3-7. Satan pirates & perverts truth. Love’s “real deal” is no exception. He peddles his “knock off” version of artificial love to a damaged world all too ready to buy. We live in a society that is very 1^st century in its confusion over love. The pagan populous of Ephesus would be at home in the ways of the west. The Temple of Artemis there featured a breast covered idol of the goddess of the hunt. Families came to “worship” her by religious prostitution. Sex for pay was the liturgy.

   Love’s imposter is consumed by the sensual. v3 Sexual immorality severs physical love from its relational emotional foundation. God sees sexual intimacy as a sacred thing to be protected by the commitment of marriage between a man & woman. When lust is confused for love & pleasure valued above people everyone suffers. Persons are objects to be used; family connections are abandoned— sexual satisfaction disappears because the holy & mysterious is devalued & trivialized. I’m concerned by believers being seduced away from their marriages & God by the temptations of internet porn & cyber space chat rooms. They put more time & energy into phony worlds of pretending than real life actual family. A counselor notes “We have two choices. We can tear up the fantasy that doesn’t exist & accept our mate, our family, friends, & church as gifts from God. Or we will tear up the special people in our lives trying to make them into a fantasy.”

    False love is also marked by an obsession with the material. Greed is lust for possessions instead of pleasure. As it displaces the worship of God with a reverence for things it’s idolatry under a false name. Selfish passions are “imp-roper for God’s holy people.” v 3 Genuine love sets limits. It keeps boundaries between real & counterfeit affection. V4 makes it clear that immorality is no joke. Literally, Jesus disciples  have no part in “obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking…” Off color humor, racy wit, the dirty mindedness that finds juvenile bathroom comedy in every situation is out of place. Not be-cause we’re prudes, but real love is too valuable to mock. Humor can be dangerous. When we find the wrong things funny we desensitize ourselves to evil. If we treat sin as a laughing matter, we see it as acceptable. Without knowing it immorality becomes tolerable in us.

   It’s not just a foul mouth & filthy mind we step away from. “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.” Eph 5:5-6  Men or women  characterized by lust & greed, who habitually  live for what God says is wrong do not belong to Him. They’ve no reason to be secure about their eternity. All the clever arguments & rationalization to the contrary don’t make it right. God’s not impressed by religious smooth talk from irreligious people. “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 

They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him…” Titus 1:15-16 To live in love means there are actions & attitudes we can’t love. Lifestyles we won’t partner with. v 7

   Our pattern is to LIVE A LIFE OF LIGHT v 8-14 Again Jesus is the example. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jn 8:12 Here’s another Ephesians “before & after.” “You once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light…”v 8 Let your family resemblance to your Heavenly Father be seen. We can have:

    Nothing to hide. There should be such integrity in us that our biography could be printed in the sky without embarrassment. The fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. v9 It’s what pleases the Lord. v 10 I came across this in an editorial. “Here’s a man who’s passed the test of public scrutiny. They picked through his “trash” and found nothing.” It ought to be said of Jesus’ disciples too. Having rooted in our garbage those who wish to discredit faith find no smoking gun, no evidence we’re not who we say we are. God’s saved person. A Christ like Christian. Airport security is aggravating, but not worrisome. I’ve no fear they’ll find a weapon & charge me as a terrorist. Why? I know there’s no ticking bomb hidden in my carry on. Living in the light brings the ease of a clean conscience, the freedom of full disclosure. No masks to wear, no secrets to hide, just the real you.

   That kind of light life will have something to show v 11-14 Light doesn’t draw attention to itself, it illuminates stuff. As believers we don’t have to say “look at us.” By resembling Jesus we light up our little corner. By being distinct as Christ was we stand out. “Having nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness” we’ll “expose them.” v 11 There’s no need to become experts in evil. Sin’s a quick study. No cause to take poison to learn that it sic-kens & kills. Simply master the art of living in God’s light. Just your presence will expose the existence of evil close by. Truth dispels lies, right highlights wrong…the same way turning on the light chases shadows from a room. We’re not only to enjoy Christ’s light within us. We provide light by which others find the exit from sin’s emptiness & enter into a personal relationship with God. There can be a warmth to our glow inviting others to come where Jesus can shine His grace on them & raise them from spiritual death to life. v 13

    We need to keep the lumens high & the wattage of witness bright. I read about a couple who have an obnoxiously noisy parrot. It shrieks all day. It has a one word vocabulary… “Hush!” That’s ironic. Let’s be sure your life matches your message. Be enough like Jesus to brighten your world by way of contrast. “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Mt 5:16 Be consistent enough in who you are that it amplifies what you say. “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life ...” Phil 2:14-16 Be sure un Christ like deeds don’t make a sham of Christian like comments.

   I’ve noticed that my van headlights aren’t as bright as they were. I checked… thinking a bulb was out. It wasn’t…the clear plastic shield that covers them isn’t! It’s yellowed, scratched, & fogged so that it obscures the beam. They need replacing. So does anything that clouds the brightness of Jesus yearning to reveal himself through you. Don’t fade into the dark, expose for what it is, be a spotlight on a better alternative. Point people to the Savior. His pattern means to:

     LIVE A LIFE OF WISDOM v 15-33 Wisdom isn’t only what Jesus had. It’s what He is. “Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” 1 Cor 1:30 We’re wise when we know God’s ways & apply them. Such a life requires Intentionality. “Be very careful then how you live…making the most of every opportunity…” v 15-16 Spiritual wisdom is no accident. Literally Paul wrote “be very careful how you walk.” As if to say life is a step by step journey. We must deliberately decide where to  go. Plant your feet well, take your stand care-fully. Aim to understand what God’s will is – from His word & the counsel of other believers v 19. And particularly by always being filled with the Holy Spirit. v 18 Let Him dominate all your emotions; when we say “I’m full of joy” we mean all we feel is shaped by happiness. Let Him motivate all your actions…like the wind drives a ship by filling its sails. Let Him captivate your whole being…as wine intoxicates an alcoholic. God’s Spirit is the only medication you need for life’s ills. Get high on Him. The point is let the Spirit take charge.    

    When you do Christ likeness flow’s from you seamlessly.  It’s no accident Paul moves from being filled with the Spirit to a discussion of families filled with Christ’s presence. This is the acid test of authentic faith. Does it work at home? Can you live it Monday through Saturday as well as Sunday? Are you a better spouse, parent, or child because Jesus is in you? You may not care about that but God does. You may not think it’s anybody’s business, but it’s what your pre-Christian friends are wondering. If they don’t see Jesus living in your house through you why should they think He exists?

   They should see He is Lord over all your relationships. Highlight that Paul’s entire lesson on family flows from this command. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” v 21 That’s a rule for the church. I submit…that is yield some of my rights, to be responsible to you…because it’s part of my submitting to Jesus. You do the same for me. In Christ we owe each other. We have a duty to bring out the best in all. Submission is a God thing…Jesus submitted to the Father. It’s not demeaning to submit, it’s sharing a divine quality.

    He is Lord over our families. “Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Eph 5:33 It makes sense that submission to Christ applies to marriage …the keystone of home life. So many unnecessarily anguish over the apostle’s inspired marital counsel. It doesn’t say “wives submit to your husbands…husbands boss your wives.” It teaches the wife to submit to her husbands leadership by respecting him as the church respects Christ. v 22-24,33. It tells the husband to submit to his wife’s partnership by loving her as Christ loves the church. v 25-28,33 That’s the most balanced beautiful picture of marriage there is. A man & woman both in love with Jesus & each other. A couple whose concern is being like Jesus together. How can I be Christ like to you? That’s the question in marriage as in life on the whole. There is an amazing simplicity & singularity…do what Jesus would.

    This year I’ve buried some dear friends. People ask if it’s hard doing those funerals. Emotionally it is. It’s difficult to comfort others when I’m hurting. But pastorally those eulogies are among the easiest I’ve done. Why? Christ-like people write their own tributes by how they live. All I do is tell their life story & it glorifies Jesus; He was so much a part of it. I don’t struggle to find some diplomatic way to put a last minute spiritual spin on their existence. Do some preacher a favor when you die. Start living by Jesus’ pattern now.