Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Ephesians 4:30-5:2
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  August 12, 2018

I recently came across a feature from Reader’s Digest called, “10 Inspiring Stories of Extreme Forgiveness.” The stories ranged from families of murder victims to culture clashes in war-torn Rwanda to fatal car accidents to abuse victims. In each instance, those who had been victimized somehow had found the strength to forgive. Why they would be viewed as extreme? I think we get it. Those are some pretty major sins, right? These people seemingly had every right to be bitter and angry and we would understand if rage overcame them and they wanted to exact some of the pain and suffering that they had endured.

We do get it, all too well.  So, when we hear what Paul has to say to us today, it makes us shudder. For the fourth week in a row now, we are dealing with a section of Ephesians that is heavy on Sanctification, on Christian living. I don’t know how many times I’ve read through this section before, but before this time, it’s never hit me how extreme God’s Words are in these verses. Look at it again: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit…Get rid of every kind of bitterness, rage, anger, quarreling, and slander, along with every kind of malice…be kind and compassionate to one another…be imitators of God…walk in love…”

Can we honestly even begin to look at this list without thinking, “This is impossible!” Every kind of bitterness? Every kind of anger? Not even a little bit of quarreling? And then on top of that we’re supposed to be be kind and compassionate? We’re supposed to imitate God? We’re supposed to walk in love? And we’re supposed to do it perfectly? Friends, I think we all understand how hopeless we would be on our own. But God has not left us alone. He has sent his Son, he has sent his Spirit. And as we are going to see in these verses, it’s the work of the Son and the Spirit that will enable us to fulfill these extreme words. It’s the unity we find in the Gospel that will allow us to be One Forgiving Family.

Last week, Pastor Schlicht reminded us that our Gospel Unity allows us to put on the New Self. That’s the new creation that we have become when the Spirit created faith in our hearts through his Word. In the following verses, Paul gives some very specific things that his readers are to do because they have this new self, because they are this new creation. Things like telling the truth, settling differences quickly, working hard instead of stealing, speaking well of others. It’s in the middle of this list that we pick up today. And it’s in the middle of this list that Paul throws out quite the statement: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” That word grieve means to irritate or make sad. What is it that would make the Holy Spirit sad? Paul’s list gives us some ideas: bitterness, rage, anger, quarreling, slander, malice.

Doesn’t that seem a little bit strange? Notice what’s not in Paul’s list: murder, sexual abuse, war…those extreme sins that inspired extreme forgiveness. None of the biggies are in here. How many of you have heard of someone who did jail time for “Bitterness in the second degree” or was fined for “ premeditated anger?” These aren’t all that serious, are they? Why would Paul say that these are the things that “grieve the Holy Spirit?” But just think about it for a second: How many marriages are now divorces because unresolved bitterness became anger and then down-right hatred for the one we used to love? Or how many of you have have been less-than-happy at your job because your boss can’t control his temper or your co-workers can’t keep a reign on their gossiping tongues? And you know what, in all my years of being a pastor, I’ve never had anyone say they were going to leave the church because there was too much murder or armed robbery going on. I have had members leave over the years because of lies told behind their backs, because of bruised feelings that weren’t healed with forgiveness and then festered into bitterness. How much mileage does the devil get in our midst over a few unkind words here, a thoughtless action there? Then combine it with our ugly urge to never forget the wrongs done against us! These are the things that grieve the Holy Spirit. These are the things that God says to get rid of. And by ourselves, we can’t.

But we are not on our own. Perhaps you remember the movie Toy Story from a while back. The movie chronicles a bunch of toys and their adventures with the boy who owned them. Do you remember his name? I’m guessing that most of you do. Even though he wasn’t a main character, his name is remember because of what he did with it. On the bottom of Cowboy Woody’s boot, the boy wrote his name in permanent marker, so that if anyone found his favorite toy, they would know it belonged to Andy. Friends, that’s what our God has done for us. We are reminded of that in verse 30. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” That picture of a seal is something that was used to mark as a means of identification, of ownership, for protection. God sealed us, marked us as his own, with the Holy Spirit. At our baptisms, God put his name on us and claimed us as his own for the day of redemption. God so loved us that he promised to dwell in us. He lives in our hearts through faith and works through his Word to strengthen that faith and helps us to do what he’s asked us to do. But how can he even ask these things? Look at what he says: “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.”

Paul can urge us to live as one forgiving family because Christ has already done it for us! There was not a single time when Christ slandered or quarrelled, even with the Pharisees who were constantly trying to undo him. There was no a single time in Jesus’ life when bitterness overtook him, even with his disciples who abandoned him. In every circumstance, Christ was kind and compassionate. So clearly on the cross we see him forgiving, even the soldiers who nailed him there. What God demands from us Christ has already done perfectly for us.

And then he offered up himself as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for sin. In the place of the stench of our sins, Christ’s sacrifice sends up a fragrant offering to God. So fragrant, in fact, that God no longer smells any odor of sin on us. When we are in his presence, he smells only the fragrant offering that Jesus made.  We are forgiven.

Do you understand what that word forgive really means? The Greek word is χαριζόμενοι. It literally means, to deal graciously. It’s the same word that gives us our word “grace.” And we all know that grace in the context of the Bible is “undeserved love.” When God calls us to  “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another,” it has nothing to do with whether or not the person deserves it. It has nothing to do with how badly they wronged us, how sorry they are or aren’t. Forgiveness is grace based. It’s undeserved. It’s the same thing that God has done for us, when in his grace he forgave us for every sin, even though we didn’t deserve it.

How can we become One Forgiving Family? How can we be “imitators of God” and “walk in love?” It’s through the potent love of Jesus. Notice how carefully our life of love is bound together with Jesus’ forgiving love. We forgive because Christ forgave us. We strive to imitate God because God loves us dearly as his children. We walk in love because of the love Christ has shown for us by giving his life for us. Every act of holy, sanctified living is empowered by the gospel. So how can we carry this out. It’s simple really: 1) remember who you are! 2) Do it!

Who are we? What has Paul told us just in these few verses? We are dearly loved children for whom Christ loves and has given himself for us. We are forgiven sinners whom God has made clean and fragrant and sealed us with his name for the day of redemption. We are imitators of God! That’s who we are! So, when it comes to being one forgiving family, just do it! I think sometimes we make our lives of sanctification, walking in love harder than it has to be. It’s not calculus. It’s not difficult. It is hard work, however. Christian love is an action. It’s something that we choose to do. Take a look around you and see what you can do, and then do it. Be kind to each other. Don’t wait for someone to be kind to you. The kindness of Christ covers you. Look for the opportunity to be kind and then do it! Be compassionate to each other. Share someone else’s burden. If you see the opportunity, do it! And especially, forgive each other. If we’re going to wait to forgive until we felt like it, we’d be waiting a lifetime. Instead, remember that the forgiveness of Christ has literally cleansed your soul. See the opportunity to forgive and do it!

It’s true, the things that Paul encourages us today, may not make a Reader’s Digest “Extreme forgiveness” article, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable or pleasing in God’s eyes. May the unity we share in the Gospel of Christ move us to be ever more One Forgiving Family. Amen