Imitation Game

Ephesians 5:1,2; Hebrews 13:1-8

Trendsetting is simply a piece and parcel of life today. Some celebrity wears a gown to an awards show or a style in a TV series or makes all the papers for outrageous behavior and—BOOM—everybody goes and does likewise.

Throughout human history, we see this pattern repeated, and quite often in far more profound manner than tabloid fashion. All the major religions began with a central, charismatic teacher. Our own is no exception—we look to Jesus, the pioneer of our faith. Our scriptures pound home the essential necessity of imitating Jesus in our lives as the deepest expression of our faith. Matthew’s Gospel includes the heavy dictum to be perfect as God is perfect. Paul admonishes his congregations, as in our text this morning, to imitate Christ as we conduct ourselves in the world.

The problem comes as we fully consider the standard to which such admonition points. Who can be like Jesus? Who can have any hope of matching his example in real life? He was God! He may have been God with us and God for us, but his being God seemingly lifts any possibility of being like him far from our grasp. 

It is here that the preacher to the Hebrews comes to our aid and gives us a real chance at meeting our ideals. 

He does so in a subtle manner, one that we can easily overlook. It comes as he concludes his sermon. He closes by calling his congregation to remember a sweep of human beings they will encounter in their daily existence. That term—remember—is utterly powerful, for what he is telling us is that we are to remember with whom we are as we are with them. This morning, we are surrounded by other people—do we fully acknowledge them? do we fully see them as full persons? do we affirm their existence in the way we are with them? That is remembering them.

The preacher begins with the largest collection of people we encounter in any given day—the strangers. We are constantly surrounded by a company of strangers. As we drive from place to place, we share the road with people we probably do not know. As we stand in the inevitable lines of daily commerce, we are more often than not in the midst of strangers. A sweep anonymity is around us. The preacher asks how we are with them—how are we present? how do we interact? how do communicate with them? (and, yes, a driver can communicate a lot simply by driving) Do we acknowledge that they are children of God?

The preacher then moves to those who suffer—those imprisoned and those tortured. Yes, he means the literal prisoners and tortured, but he also reminds to remember that prisons and torture come in a variety of forms. People can be trapped by all sorts of things, including their own bodies. People can be tortured by regret, remorse, and retribution every day. In this room, on this morning, you could well be seated next to someone imprisoned by ailment or fear or doubt or job or responsibility; you could be near someone suffering through pain that is invisible, but no less real for being so. How are we with them? What are we sharing with them?

The preacher then moves to the person with whom we are most intimately entwined. Too often, his words are reduced to simple moralism, but what he really wants us to see is how easily we can take the people most closely related and connected to us for granted. Instead, he calls us to treasure love that binds us together. We are never to forsake or forget the gift of love that someone presents when they give themselves fully and completely to us. How are with them? What do we communicate to them daily?

The preacher then seems to interrupt himself with a totally irrelevant aside about money. What is this about? Why is it here?

The truth is that preacher knows us pretty well and may well be a man far, far ahead of his time. Whether we admit it or not, we exist in a culture that is defined and determined by economics. What a person is worth is what they can buy or produce. Success is defined by what we own. This message is continually hammered into us by media. The preacher knows it is the single-most powerful distraction and dissuasion from accomplishing our presence with other human beings. They simply become means to an end or obstacles in the way as we chase economic power and prestige. Moreover, he steps directly into what is at root of our fiercest and most painful conflicts—the checkbook. Reconsider. Remember. Recollect. What is true value? What is true worth? Is it not love that makes us full, rich, and complete?

He concludes this section by remembering all who lead. To lead is to take point position. To lead is to put oneself at risk. To lead in any real or actual sense is to empty oneself so all can be full. This is Jesus’ model of leadership. It is hard. It is difficult. It only can happen and succeed if those who lead are full of Christ. 

So do you see the pattern? Is it clear? To awaken to the world around us—to remember the world around us—we need to practice being present as Jesus was present. How did Jesus meet the stranger? How did Jesus meet the suffering? How did Jesus walk with those dearest to him? How did Jesus meet those who would be leaders? How did Jesus proclaim value, worth, and importance? How we answer shows how we imitate Christ in our own lives. 

Remember this.