September 26 & 27, 2020 – 17

Ephesians 4:29-5:2

Dear friends in : “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” The old proverb means that if you fool me or wrong me once, you got me. Shame on you for that. But if I let you do that to me twice, then it’s my fault for letting it happen again. Shame on me for that. Usually our culture takes it to a third step after that. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time, and I never want to see you again. In our Gospel reading, Peter seemed to understand that some people are rather hard hearted. They might fool us or sin against us once, twice, or many more times. We might forgive them and they keep hurting us. Maybe Peter was wondering how long this forgiveness business should keep on going. Maybe Peter was tossing out a number he thought was high so as to look good. Then Peter came up and asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?” Perhaps he was expecting Jesus to say, “Oh no, that’s too many times. Only five or six.” Or on the other hand, maybe he was expecting Jesus to say, “Seven times? You would forgive seven times? Wow! You are so loving Peter.” Whatever he was expecting, Jesus certainly gave a response that Peter wasn’t ready for: Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but I tell you as many as seventy-seven times.” Wait! Say what? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me seven times . . . Fool me seventy-seven times and I’m supposed to keep on forgiving? Jesus wants me to forgive someone seventy- seven times, which basically means to forgive without end? How Can I Do This? What about the person that continues to bully me and belittle me and won’t listen to my begging to stop? What about the neighbor that keeps stealing my oranges and keeps walking his dog only to pause at my property to let him do his job? I’ve told him to cut it out dozens of times! What about my ex? What about the drunk driver that killed my family member? What about the terrorist that wants to cut off my head? Jesus wants me to forgive those people? Not just once or twice but over and over and over again? How Can I Do This? But it isn’t only that forgiveness that God wants from us. He wants a godly life in everything we do. That’s what Paul teaches us in our sermon text today. In :1 he says, “Be imitators of God.” As Christians, we should be mimicking and mirroring and modeling after God all the time. In the first part of our text, Paul describes how we are to do that: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come from your mouths. Say only what is beneficial when there is a need to build up others, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear.” Instead of speaking words that are worthless and all around unwholesome, we should be speaking words that are helpful, useful, and productive that build up and benefit others. Next in verse 30: “Do not grieve the of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The Holy Spirit has done so much for us—creating faith in our hearts, sealing us as God’s children, making our bodies his temples. We don’t want to sadden the Spirit who dwells within us. There are more ways to be imitators of God. Verse 31: “Get rid of every kind of bitterness, rage, anger, quarreling, and slander, along with every kind of malice.” These are all things that have to do with a sour attitude, with anger and vengeance and hatred in the heart. We should be getting rid of all these kinds of attitudes and actions. If we want to imitate God, they shouldn’t be found in our lives at all. And there are positive ways to imitate God as well. Verse 32: “Instead, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.” And in verse 2 it says, “And walk in love, just as Christ loved us.” If we are to imitate God, we need to be kind and compassionate and loving and forgiving like God. Which brings us back to the beginning. God wants us to imitate him and be just like him? He wants us to guard every word that comes out of our mouths, every thought that pops into our heads and make sure that they are godly and productive and positive? He wants us to love like he does? He wants us to forgive like he does— not once, not twice, but seventy-seven times and beyond? How Can I Do This? You see, I know the battle that rages within me. I know that I am God’s child and I know that when I hear these words, I want to do them. But I also know how much I struggle with this. I can’t seem to let go of what my sister said to me. I could never forgive what my ex-friend did to my reputation. And anger? I get pretty hot when people talk bad about me. Or if any would ever mess with my children or my wife—watch out! Kindness and compassion? How do you act kindly to maniac drivers that almost run you off the road? How do you love a whole world full of people that could care less about loving you back? How Can I Do This? There’s another reason I ask this question though. I ask How Can I Do This? because I know how great the struggle is. I know how difficult it is to be an imitator of God and how much I’ve failed to do so. But there’s another reason I ask that question. I’m asking How Can I Do This? because I know that buried deep down inside is a sinner that doesn’t even want to do this. My sinful nature doesn’t even want to try. It doesn’t want to imitate God. It doesn’t want to clean up my words or get rid of my anger. It doesn’t want to be kind or compassionate or loving, and it certainly doesn’t want to forgive anyone that ever crosses me—not seventy-seven times, not three times, not one time! God says, “Imitate me. Be pure. Be holy. Love. Forgive. Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” And I say back to God, “But I haven’t, Lord. I’ve failed, Lord. It’s hard, Lord. I can’t, Lord. How Can I Do This?” The apostle Paul understands our struggle. He knew it. He lived it. And he lost the fight with sin many times himself. But he also knew the answer for how he could overcome his sinful nature, and he shares that information with us today, too. It’s in the last three verses of our text: “Instead, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us. Therefore, 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.” “How can I forgive, Lord? How can I love, Lord? How Can I Do This, Lord? I’m a sinner!” we each say. Yes, you are a sinner. And so am I. But did you hear what God calls us in those verses? Dearly loved children. Me? A dearly loved child? After all the unwholesome talk that has come out of my mouth and all the anger that has come out of my heart? After I’ve been reluctant to love and hesitant to forgive? After all those failures, I’m a child of God? You are a child of God? Absolutely! Yes! We are God’s children because of what God has done for us. Look at the end of verse 32: “Just as God in Christ has forgiven us.” Look also at the end of verse 2: “Christ loved us and gave himself for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” My guilty heart is right. I shouldn’t be a child of God. But yet I am because of Christ. And so are you. Jesus loved us and gave himself up for us. God demands that the price for sin be death. So Jesus offered himself as our substitute, as a sacrifice to God, a fragrant and pleasing sacrifice that was perfect in every way. The aroma and fragrance of his righteousness and his love rose before God and satisfied his demands for our sin. That’s why Paul can say, “God in Christ has forgiven us.” By his sacrifice, our sins have been paid for. We’re forgiven. So I say, “How Can I Do This? How can I love? How can I forgive? How can I imitate you, Lord?” And the first thing God replies is, “You already have.” You see, we have been baptized into Christ. That means we have been clothed with his life and draped in his death. We sport the spotless clothes of the resurrection, meaning that when our heavenly Father looks at us, he doesn’t see our failure to love or forgive. He looks at us and sees his Son. The Father sees us clothed in Christ’s love, in Christ’s kindness and compassion. God sees us as being his imitators. That’s why he can look at you and be pleased to say, “You are my dearly loved child.” What a difference that makes in our lives. So can I forgive my boss who keeps cursing at me? Can I forgive my coworker who keeps belittling me? Can I forgive my friend who keeps betraying me? Can I even forgive the terrorist that wants to destroy me? How Can I Do This? I can do this and I will do this. So can you. We are dearly loved children of God. We can and will forgive just as in Christ God forgave us. We can and will imitate God and love God just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. In Jesus we have the ultimate motivation and model for love and forgiveness. If Christ could love and forgive me, I can and I will forgive others. And so can you. Today Jesus teaches us to do something very difficult—to forgive and love as God has done. It seems challenging, at times even impossible. But Christ has forgiven us. Christ has loved us. We are God’s children. With Christ’s love as our motivation and model, we can do this and we will do this. Amen.