Somehow I wish we were hearing more about Jesus calming the storm rather than being bread, given the weather lately.  Lordy.  We offer our prayers to all those who have been affected by Hurricane Debby and all the other crazy storms that have occurred. 

But, that is not the gospel today, and given the storm of another sort that will be our lives here in this country during election season, we need to continue our look at the Epistle to the people in Ephesus.

In the letter to the Ephesians read this morning, we continue to hear about how to live as followers of Christ.  The author writes: “Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another… Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear… Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us…”

“…be kind to one another…be imitators of God…live in love as Christ loved us”

Now, a smart preacher would leave it there – what else needs to be said, right? But, never let it be said that I am a smart preacher.

The truth the author of Ephesians would want us to speak today is that there is a great deal of unkindness around the world. Just look at what happens during elections.  People posting things on Facebook or tweeting or emailing the most horrific comments about those running for office – the same folks who on Sunday come to church and claim an identity as Christians.  Now, I know that sometimes, most times, politicians say things that for the life of me makes me question the idea that humans are the smartest of God’s creation.  But that isn’t what is sinful here. 

Where we go wrong is not when we disagree, but when that disagreement becomes personal.  When the anger over what someone says or does becomes vitriol launched at that person.  Then we have crossed a line.  Then we have sinned.  And just as a reminder, sin is turning away from God, coming out of relationship with God and one another.  Redemption is turning back – it is reconciliation.

Now, you might ask, what about speaking truth to power, as we learned we need to do from last week’s scripture?  Are we not to stand up boldly and stand against what is wrong – be like Nathan, to be like Jesus?  Yes, of course.  But speaking truth isn’t without its own slippery slope too.  We all know of folks who hide behind “speaking the truth,” when what they are really doing is being hurtful.  The truth about truth is that sometimes it is not meant to be said at all.

I have said it before, about the playground chant of “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” – that whoever first uttered those words was probably crying to himself in some dark closet at the time – “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can break my spirit,” is more like it.

The thing is, our words can be a potent instrument of love, and peace, and justice…and also of hate, and abuse, and oppression.  It is an unfortunate thing that in this age of techonology, what we say can often happen without filter in a moment of reaction, and often we feel empowered to say it even more from the anonymous bully pulpit of the internet.  And yet, far too often we end up wishing we could undo the moment we hit send on a tirade filled email or tweet… So many would like to remove the shoe that invariably fills our mouths from time to time. 

It is most especially now, when things happen so quickly, that we need to remember the old adage: “Before you speak, stop and think -Is it necessary? Is it true? Is it kind? Will it hurt anyone? Will it improve on the silence?”  And, if you still answer that it is okay to attack a person, rather than their words or actions, go back to step one and think again.  Or, perhaps do this – insert the name of a person you truly like and admire into your words – does it still sound right to you?  Remember too the letter to the Ephesians – the author tells us to “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear…” Ask yourself – does what I am about to say build this person up or try to tear them down?

Now, to be clear, we sure as hell need to speak truth, and be angry at injustice, but we also need to understand our role as healers in a broken world to ensure we speak and act in a way that allows us to live as we should.  We are called to a higher standard, but we so often find it hard to live into.  No one said being a follower of Jesus was a walk in the park.  But does that mean we are destined to fail always at this imitators of God stuff? Not at all.

You know, as I have been working on the sermons on Ephesians these past two weeks, I have also been joining in with folks from all around the world watching the Olympics in Paris.  Have you’all been watching them?  So exciting – seriously.  You can learn a lot by watching them too.

Watching the Judo matches, I am reminded of when I competed in Judo all over the East Coast as a kid (God bless my parents – nothing is more boring than a Judo match). The key to Judo is to yield, to use the other person’s aggressiveness against them. They will inevitably be off balance, and that is to your advantage.

In many ways, Judo has been a good life teacher. It is not about being the biggest or the strongest, but about knowing when to yield and when to move forward, when to be patient and when to be assertive, and most of all – how to take a hard fall, get up, and go back into the next round.

There are other lessons to be found in these Olympic games.  As we watch the gymnastics and diving, for instance… – I mean – WOW!  Aren’t they amazing to watch?  Those divers just flow through the air and cut into the surface of the water without making a spash.  How on earth do they do that?  And the gymnasts – I cannot imagine how much strength it takes to hold yourself in what is known as the Iron Cross position on the rings – both arms straight out on your sides.  Then there is the way they fly through the air off the vault or across the mat. 

These divers and gymnasts make it all look so easy.  Yet we know that for Stephen Nedoroscik and Simon Biles, and all the other gymnasts it isn’t easy at all.  It only looks that way because they practice, practice, practice, workout, and then practice some more.  And, they provide nourishment for their bodies, so that they can be as fit as possible.  The same is true for those divers too.

Each athlete is looking to achieve as close to perfection as possible for their sport.  The truth is, we need to do the same as followers of Jesus.

Unlike athletes in the Olympics though, practice for a follower of Jesus isn’t about achieving a high score, or beating out a competitor (though the church can sometimes seem act like it is).  No, it isn’t a competition.  It is instead about being authentic to what we believe by our practicing to be as Christ like as possible.

The theologian Martin Luther once said, “This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal, but it is the right road.”

Our lives as Christians are a continual quest to be imitators of  Jesus, or as the author of Ephesians put it “imitators of God.”  Imitators are never the real thing, but strive always to appear to others as the one they are imitating.  What if we were to try every day to have others see and experience Jesus when they encounter us?  What would our lives look like?

Jesus tells us in the gospel readings these past two weeks that he is the bread of life.  His very life is life giving to others.  We are the body of Christ alive today, and we must ask ourselves – are we life giving to others, or do we leave people feeling hungry in our wake?  

But whether we are being good imitators of Christ, or we are falling short, we all have to be like those Olympic athletes.  We know that they practiced over and over again, and took care of their bodies to get to their goal.  Do we think that those who win gold medals stop practicing because they have achieved their goal?  Do they stop caring for their bodies?  No, not unless they are retiring.

As followers of Jesus, we don’t retire until we are gone from this earthly plain – so how then do we practice like those Olympians? How then do we achieve our goal of being, as the author of the epistle says “imitators of God, as beloved children…?”  Well, you are doing part of it right now.   

For us to live as imitators of God, we must engage in a continual practice of prayer, worship, and service.  Prayer allows us to know God’s intention for us in our lives, worship nourishes us – it feeds our souls, and service is how we live out our lives in Christ – how we become imitators of God.  This isn’t a routine for us only on Sundays – this is something we need to do every single day of our lives.  This continual practice we do is how we will be the bread of life for others, as we ourselves are nourished in Christ here, and by serving him in the world. 

If we think of it that way – if we consider that our practice, our daily quest to imitate God, can feed others who hunger for love, mercy, and justice, but will also feed our own souls…then maybe practicing won’t seem such a big thing.  And maybe, just maybe, as each day goes by, as we become better imitators of God, we just might get as good at being a follower of Jesus as Simone Biles is at Gymnastics. 

We won’t receive a gold medal, and we don’t really want one – not if we are truly being Christ like humble servants, not if we are imitators of God. 

No, there won’t be a gold medal, but there will be something far more important – we will be the ones to help heal a broken world.  And that – that is worth more than gold!

Amen.

The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox

Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge

August 11, 2024

Pentecost 12 – Year B – Track 1 – Proper 14

1st Reading – 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Psalm 130

2nd Reading – Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Gospel – John 6:35, 41-51