When I was a little girl, I was diagnosed with a weird form
of apnea. I do not actually stop breathing in my sleep, but when I am tired or
distract, my breathing will slow down or become so shallow that, as a reflex, I
will hiccup in an attempt to bring in more oxygen. This is usually enough to
remind me to take deeper breaths and focus on my breathing so rarely will you
hear me hiccup more than once during the span of several minutes or even hours.
If I am focused in on my breathing, I am able to prevent them. But
occasionally, a hiccup will surface that sounds more like a pterodactyl trying
to break through the time continuum than a woman gasping for more oxygen—and
when those surface, I will usually face some good-natured teasing and
occasionally someone will try to mimic me as a joke. One day, in particular, makes me laugh every time I remember it. I was rocking Emrys to sleep and I
started getting tired myself. You guessed it, she was about to fall asleep and
suddenly *SQUAWK*… out came one of my pterodactyl hiccups. Emrys was startled
awake, but then quickly smiled and tried to copy my hiccup.
I love thinking of that day because it shows me very plainly
that my daughter loves me. That was the first time that it was very clear that
she wanted to copy everything I do. She has become my shadow. When I study, she
takes a book and “studies.” When I drink coffee, she is not satisfied unless
she has coffee too. Whatever I eat, she has to eat too. She wants to imitate me
because she loves me, and although she is still a very different person than
me, if someone who did not know me personally spent any time with Emrys, it
would not take them long to figure out what her mother is like.
Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, be
imitators of God, as dearly loved Children, and walk in love as Christ also
loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”
Just as Emrys imitates me—the mother she loves and who loves
her—we must be imitators of God. That seems like a pretty straight forward
thing. How do we imitate God? By doing the “right” things—correct? We go to
church. We read our Bibles. We pray. We don’t go out a party. We dress the
right way. We don’t do drugs. We listen to the right music. We watch the right
shows. That is how we imitate God—right?
Actually, the most important thing is missing in that list
of “must dos” – and rules that whole list as ineffective without it.
In John 3, a Pharisee name Nicodemus (one of the high-up
pharisee’s at that) came to Jesus. Now. A key thing to note is that this man,
Nicodemus, was a “holy man”. He followed all the laws—practically had the ten commandments
tattooed on his brain. His whole identity was about doing the
right things. He followed the Sabbath (no working, grocery shopping, or
restaurant visits on days of worship for him). He only dressed according to
what the laws expected—only pure fabrics for him—no unholy synthetic materials
were on his body. He was groomed according to the laws and customs of the time.
He was the epitome of what was thought to be “holiness” and yet, he knew
something was missing—so he sought out Jesus—in the middle of the night—to
figure out why this nomad (who did not honor the sabbath, did not wash his
feet, did not hang out with the right crowd) was clearly being used by God. Why
was God using this guy and not him?
Jesus drops a bombshell on Nicodemus by stating that, “unless someone is born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus is clearly confused—as many Christians are
today—about what Jesus meant by that. But Jesus clarifies and states that
“Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh and whatever is born of the Spirit
is spirit…”
Jesus’s words were stating that there is something seriously
wrong with the way we were born the first time. The world was corrupted in the
fall—sin entered and selfishness took over. Flesh gave birth the flesh—and the
selfish “me” nature took over humanity. Jesus’s statement was that the Spirit
must give birth to spirit—and allow holiness to take effect. What is holiness?
Well, holiness is Godlikeness. It is reflecting the image of God—being an
imitator of God. But clearly, it was not about the rules—or Nicodemus wouldn’t
have been missing that.
So what does it mean to be an imitator of God. For that, we
will focus on verses 16 and 17
For God love the world in this way: He
gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish
but have eternal life – John 3:16
Being an imitator of God means that we must love the
world—unconditionally and sacrificially. It is that simple—and yet, we
complicate it.
We take 1 John 2:15 as the way we must live—that we must not
love the world—but there is a difference in these two passages. In John chapter
three “the world” is referring to people—it is referring to the masterpiece in
the creation of God—the part of creation literally containing the breath of
God. In 1 John 2, “the world” is in reference to financial comforts, sinful
habits, and traditions.
We must love the World (the people) and not love the
world (our financial comforts, sinful habits, and traditions)
That is holiness. Loving God and loving people.
That is being an imitator of God.
But what if they are drug users? What if they dress
immodestly? What if the break the sabbath? What if they cuss? What if they are
pro-choice? What if they are a bit of a floosy?
Folks—I have searched in my Bible and I have found no
asterisk notation stating that “The World” that we are supposed to love
excludes these people—and you won’t find it either.
For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world but to save the world through him.
– John 3:17
I don’t know where we get off thinking that it is okay to
pick and choose who we love. See, the fact is that God has commanded (not
suggested) COMMANDED that we love the people of this world. Guess what! That
means that God has commanded that we love the drug addict cutting in front of
us in line at the ER in an attempt to get a fix off of pain medication. God has
commanded that we love the pro-abortion advocates. God has commanded that we
love the transgender athlete. God has commanded that we love the corrupt
politician.
“Yea, well, they’re sinful”
I have news for you. God did not send his son into the world
to condemn the world—and he didn’t send you to condemn the world either. The
world does not need your condemnation, and your condemning attitude will save
NO ONE!
John 3:18 says that the one who does not believe is already
condemned. They do not need your help to be condemned. They need you to love
them—relentlessly and sacrificially—the way Jesus does. They need to experience
the love of God. And if we are to be imitators of God, we are NOT going
to wait until they have their lives together before we show the that love.
Instead, we will flood them with it RIGHT NOW!.
Romans 5:8 says, “But God proves his own love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So, I ask you, what makes us think that it is okay—even
Christlike—to alienate someone who has a lifestyle different than our own—even
a sinful one. The fact is that God loves them right where they are, and if we
are to be accurate representations of Christ in this world, we need to love
them right now too.
So, I ask you this. Are you loving the world the way Christ
did?
God came down from heaven into our mucky sin-riddled world
to love us right where we are and to give his life for us. Are you loving the
way Christ did? Are you going into the muck and loving the people there sacrificially?
Jesus defended the woman of ill-repute against the scorn of
the Pharisee, Simon. So, are you love the way Christ did? Are you defending and
protecting those who the rest of the world looks down upon?
Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery—instead he turned his eyes
away from her (you do realize she was probably naked as she was caught in the
ACT of adultery) and shielded her from further shame—and then reminded those
set on condemning her that they were not free of sin either. So, are you loving
the way Christ did? Do you guard others against public humiliation and shame
and protect them against injustice?
Jesus came and died for us—showing us the path to total
reconciliation with God. So, are you loving like Jesus?
Do you invite people to
church?
Do you share the gospel with them?
Do you reach out to the lost, the
lonely, the broken, and try to introduce them to the ultimate Shephard, friend,
and healer?
Do YOU make you church a welcome environment for
anyone who would walk through those doors? Do YOU make an effort to
invite people into the fellowship of believers to learn about God and fall in
love with him? Do YOU do your part to love them they way that Christ
loved you? Because, honestly, if you’re not doing that—it doesn’t matter how
much you invite people, they won’t come. If you’re not loving like Jesus, it
doesn’t matter how welcome we make people once they are here, they won’t come
because they know that once they leave this building, they won’t be loved.
Our first goal must be to LOVE LIKE JESUS—everything else
must come secondary.
1 Corinithians 13 states that without love, all the gifts of
the spirit, all the “religious acts,” all the knowledge in the world—they mean
absolutely nothing. They are worthless. But why?
Because
without love,
there is no Holiness
Let’s look again at Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. This man knew the scriptures. He
followed the rules—to the letter. This man would not get caught dead walking to
far on the Sabbath, eating the wrong foods, wearing the wrong clothing, or
associating with the wrong people (why do you think he came to visit Jesus at
night?). This man was the epitome of legalism.
But he was not holy.
Yes, he followed all the rules—and he was a “good” guy
because he knew God’s words and followed the law.
But he was not holy. He was not an imitator of God.
He was not holy because he was not born of the Spirit.
How do we know if someone is born of the Spirit? They bear
the fruit of the Spirit—Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,
Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control.
Nicodemus followed the rules, but he lacked what really
mattered.
So, what can we learn from Nicodemus? That it is not by
following strict traditional guidelines that we are made holy. It is not our
attire. It is not our music. It is not even through attending Church or reading
the Bible (although those are extremely important in keeping up with your
spiritual health).
Holiness cannot be bought through being a good tither or
from going to Africa on a short-term missions trip.
Holiness cannot be obtained
by wearing floor-length dresses or head coverings.
Holiness is not received through
the singing of the old-time hymns.
No.
Holiness is only obtained through the surrender to the Holy
Spirit—And Holiness is witnessed not through adhering to 613 laws of the Old
Testament, it is witnessed through the fruit of the Spirit—the Love, the Joy,
the peace, the patience, the kindness, the goodness, the gentleness, the
faithfulness, and the self-control.
A very interesting thing though, if you look again at 1
Corinthians 13, you’ll notice that the entirety of the fruit of the Spirit is
found in the description of Love.
So really, what is the fruit of the spirit? It is love!
So, Holiness is not witnessed through obedience to the law…
holiness is witnessed through unconditional and sacrificial love.
It is through Love, not legalism, that we become imitators
of God. It is through love, not condemnation, that those in the world are
saved. It is through love, not shame, that repentance happens. It is through
love that the Gospel is preached.
Holiness is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—the Holy Spirit coming
into our hearts and transforming it, along with our minds, into a reflection of
Him. I want to ask each and every one of us—have we been producing the Fruit of
the Spirit? Have we really been loving those around us—even those the religious
elite would say are “unclean”? If it is by our fruit that we are recognized,
what kind of fruit have we been bearing? Have we been producing judgment? Or
have we been producing love? Have we been producing condemnation? Or have we
been producing grace?
If we have not been producing love, grace, and mercy—then we
have been severely lacking in the Spirit in our lives.
So, I pray for a fresh anointing upon The Church today! I
pray that those of us who profess to love God will surrender our own wills to
that of our Father’s and will seek to love those he loves. I pray that, as we
are enveloped in the Holy Spirit, we reflect the loving image of God to those
around us—and that they know we are Christians by our love.
