Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 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 and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

We are told in Acts that Paul spent the lengthiest part of his ministry in Ephesus. Why was that? It helps to know something about Ephesus. It was a huge, thriving port city. It’s believed that it had about 250,000 people which was a very large city for its time. It was a center of many things. It attracted those who were wealthy and well-educated from all over the world. The façade of a well-stocked library from ancient times still stands imposingly in its center.

During Paul’s time there he was preaching and teaching and trying to create a very real and sure foundation for those who were trying to follow The Way of Jesus Christ. And he had much to do. There was a Jewish population of followers of Jesus, gentile populations – some Greek and some from other origins - starting to follow Jesus. There was a deep cultural divide among those new believers of Jesus Christ who came from vastly different backgrounds and perspectives on faith and discipleship. And Paul’s task was to get them to figure out how to co-exist well together and believe well together and work well together.

So after Paul leaves Ephesus to establish other churches, a letter goes back to these fledgling followers of the church to help them remember all the things that Paul taught them. We know how this is, don’t we? Once the teacher leaves the room or the school year is over we might relax a little, maybe too much. We might forget to go over those new lessons in our own minds. We need something to remind us. So a letter came to the Ephesians.

It’s really in 2 parts. The first 3 chapters are about unity. They’re still learning what it means to be followers of Christ together. They have to understand that now they are one body in Christ. It doesn’t matter what path they were on before. What’s important is being one body of believers now. The key now is strength and resilience developed together.

The second half of the letter is devoted to understanding the virtues of being Christ-like. There’s a lot to understand about what this new faith calls them to do and be. In the lesson we have today, if we could point to one portion of the letter that gives us a good summary of the entire letter, what we heard today is it:

To be honest and not to tell lies or spread stories about others that are not true to promote a personal agenda. There’s only one shared agenda now.

Not to take what does not belong to you but to work hard, appreciate what comes from that and share it with those who don’t have as much.

To avoid slander or anything that damages the reputation of someone else.

To avoid bitterness, not to resent the good fortune of others but to celebrate it with them.

Not to go to sleep with anger in your head and heart but to set it aside and take on a mindset of happiness and joy.

All these things are to help us as people of God to live faithfully and live well with one another. It all gets summed up in one fantastic phrase: be imitators of God.

That sounds so daunting. We think about our holy loving God and then we think of our own limitations and frailties. We think I can’t possibly measure up. But that is the measuring stick for which we should always be striving: living well and peacefully with one another, building up the kingdom of God and not tearing it down. This is how we live Godly lives. Membership in the body of Christ gives us strength to do what is set before us. Paul says “Let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.” We are to learn from each other, and help each other.

One of the most extraordinary things that we as a community of Christian believers share together has happened right here this morning. Recognizing the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, we have baptized two precious children, Oliver and Oliana. We have prayed for them, for their families and for all of us asking that God be continually present and active in their lives and help us all be nurturing supporters of that Godly presence. Every part of their life as children of God – loved, strengthened and forgiven – has begun this morning within their community of faith.

Baptism is something more. It is the beginning of their vocation to the ministry that we all share. It takes time to unfold but it surely starts today. There’s nothing that more clearly builds up the kingdom of God than the sacrament of baptism.

And I don’t think there’s a better way to engage with what Paul is talking about than in our baptismal vows. All the things we need to do to be imitators of God are right there:

Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

Even the writers of our liturgy understand how daunting this is. Because our answer to each one is “I will, with God’s help.”

Brian and Nitza, today the Holy Spirit is here as we welcome your children whole-heartedly into the community of faith with all its blessings to give and receive, all the joys and frustrations, all it’s celebrations and all its hard work to do, all its love to receive and all its love to give.

The cross to seal their blessing and sending inscribed on their foreheads is going to be more and more important to them as they grow. Right now you are with them always – you all or their grandparents, aunties, uncles and big sister. You are with them to protect them and provide everything they need. But they won’t always be this little. They’ll grow up and start to spend more time away from those who have always looked out for their best interests. They’ll be on their own out in the world.

But they’ll always have that cross of sanctification, of belonging. It will always be there right up front and going out before them. They’ll always have the Holy Spirit to call on for guidance and care wherever they are, whatever they do as they, too, build up the Kingdom as imitators of God. They will with God’s help.

Whenever they, like all of us, are about to be tempted by the things that separate us from God, tempted to ignore the brother or sister that needs us, tempted not to respond in love, we remember that as imitators of God we show love first, we commit ourselves to walking this journey together and we allow the world to see that the likeness and image of God lives in each of us first and foremost and always. Amen.