Get Dressed! Ephesians 4:17-32. 07/28/24.
Get Dressed!
Ephesians 4:17-32
Rev. Rhonda Blevins
July 28, 2024
Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer walk as the gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, 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. Those who steal must give up stealing; rather, let them labor, doing good work 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 good 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. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
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Were you able to watch the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris? I love how each host city for the Olympics, without fail, showcases their city and their culture. I didn’t see the entire ceremony, but from what I saw, Paris did not disappoint. I joined the broadcast during the boat parade of countries down the iconic Seine River, right before Team USA entered. I witnessed the carrying of the Olympic torch from the Eiffel Tower, down the Seine, to the Louvre, taking its place in the hot air balloon Olympic cauldron in the Tuileries Garden. The display of lights and lasers from the Eiffel Tower. Celine Dion taking the world’s breath away with the performance of a lifetime from the Eiffel Tower. Stunning images from the opening ceremony!
Perhaps more than anything else, what struck me, was the message of world unity and the brotherhood of humankind. Young athletes with their huge smiles and stars in their eyes. This coming together around athletics shows us what we can be at our best. The opening ceremonies of the Olympics, at least for a couple of hours every four years, draws our attention away from wars, away from division, away from petty partisan politics, and I am here for it!
Team USA boasts 592 athletes from as young as 16-years-old to 59-years-old. Florida is second only to California in the number of athletes, with two Olympic athletes right here from Clearwater! (Bobby Finke, swimming, and Noah Lyons, sailing). Our Team USA athletes hail from nearly every state in the nation—there are athletes from red states, there are athletes from blue states—but on Friday night, none of that mattered. They were all Team USA.
And for this one moment in time, the athletes set aside their University of Florida swim caps or their Florida State speedos because they’ve been given a new uniform! A uniform befitting their new, common purpose—a uniform for Team USA.
As we continue our walk through the book of Ephesians, Paul is giving his friends in Ephesus some instruction on how to live as the people of Christ. Earlier in the letter, Paul tackled the division in the church between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians. In our reading today, he’s telling them to put that division behind them and adopt a new uniform—a common uniform—new clothes befitting of their common, new purpose! Listen again to his instruction to them (verse 24):
Clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to
the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
An Olympic athlete must put on the proper uniform for their sport, right? How uncomfortable would it be for an equestrian to wear nothing more than a swimmer’s speedo! How unsafe would it be for a fencer to wear the skivvies designed for the beach volleyball team!
In the same way, Paul suggests that there is a “uniform” for those who genuinely follow Christ. Let’s spend the rest of our time considering each aspect of this “uniform” in the same way an Olympic athlete is careful to wear the perfect attire for the chosen sport.
What is the first part of the uniform for “TEAM JC (Jesus Christ)”? Here’s what Paul names first (v. 25):
So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth
with your neighbor, for we are members of one another.
So the first of seven parts of the uniform for TEAM JC is this:
SPEAK TRUTH
Speak truth. Now, on the surface, this seems easy enough, right? Not so fast. Truth is slippery these days. And the fact of the matter is that with Artificial Intelligence (AI), we must become far more savvy at discerning fact from fiction. We no longer live in a time when we can believe what we see on our ubiquitous screens. Artificial photos and videos are popping up everywhere. Each of us must become private detectives—doing the work of scoping out truth from the growing tsunami of lies being thrown at us. It requires diligence. We can no longer be lazy consumers of media but “truth hunters.”
To be fair, there is no way Paul had Artificial Intelligence in mind when he named speaking truth as first on his list of what’s required for the “uniform” of Christlikeness. For us to be able to “speak truth” (as Paul suggests in step 1 in adorning ourselves with Christlikeness), we must first be able to discern truth. As we clothe ourselves “with the new self”—we must grow first in our ability to discern truth before we can live into the first piece of our new uniform for TEAM JC: SPEAK TRUTH.
MANAGE ANGER
Next, Paul urges his friends in Ephesus to manage their anger (v. 26-27):
Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and do not make room for the devil.
I’ve heard preachers say that it’s a sin to be angry. I don’t believe that. This verse seems pretty clear to me that anger is natural, and often even justified.
Let’s first name that anger is an emotional response. Culturally, anger is one of two emotions that men are “allowed” to show. Men in our culture can be happy and they can be angry. Sadness? Nope. Fear? Nope. So men, know that your anger is often a secondary emotion. To know yourself a little better, probe your anger to see if underneath your anger there’s fear or sadness.
Because anger is an emotional response, it’s part of how we’re made as humans. It’s not a sin. But far too often, sin comes from how we respond to our anger. Righteous anger may provoke us to righteous actions. Awesome! Unrighteous anger may provoke us to unrighteous actions. When we feel angry, we must ask ourselves an important question: “Is this anger God-inspired, or is this anger of the flesh?” And in so doing, we’ll be donning the second piece of our TEAM JC uniform: MANAGE ANGER.
WORK HARD
What’s the third piece of our TEAM JC uniform? It’s simply, “Work hard.” Listen in to what Paul teaches in verse 28.
Those who steal must give up stealing; rather, let them labor, doing good
work with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.
Good work, hard work, shows up in the list of virtues from religion and philosophy around the world. It’s called “diligence” in Christianity’s “seven virtues” (countering the seven “deadly sins.”) In Benjamin Franklin’s list of thirteen virtues, he calls it “industry.” In the eightfold path in Buddhism, it’s called “right livelihood.”
Whatever we call it, the idea is that we should earn a living in a way that is ethical, honest, and does no harm to self or others. As TEAM JC, our financial gains must always be aligned with the values of compassion, non-violence, and integrity. Christians seeking to align themselves with this virtue may want to examine their stock portfolios and purge their investments of businesses not aligned with these Christ-like ideals. For those of you with large stock portfolios, that may be “HARD WORK.”
EDIFY OTHERS
The fourth component of our TEAM JC uniform is “Edify others.” Listen in (verse 29):
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for building up,
as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
Edify others.
One of my favorite movies of all time was the 1989 blockbuster Steel Magnolias. Full of iconic lines, one of the most memorable of those lines was by the character Clairee: “If you can’t say anything nice about anybody, come sit by me.” While it’s a great line for a laugh, it’s not a great line for a life. Of course, it’s a play off the old timeless wisdom, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” This was your mama’s way of saying what Paul said to the Ephesians: Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for building up.
It seems we’re never too old for this Kindergarten lesson for playing on TEAM JC: “EDIFY OTHERS.”
PLEASE GOD
The fifth piece of our TEAM JC uniform is a bit more ethereal, based on verse 30:
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you
were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.
In other words, PLEASE GOD.
Because of the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are never without guidance from the Divine. The more we walk with God, the easier it becomes to discern the still, small voice of God leading us and guiding us in truth and righteousness. And yet, far too often, we live and behave in ways that aren’t pleasing to God. This grieves the Holy Spirit. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit!
This is a great line for us grown-ups, but I’m also going to start using it with my kids.
· My 10-year-old gets sassy with me: “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit!”
· My 17-year-old is leaving on a date: “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit!”
You get the idea. All we have to do on TEAM JC is simply PLEASE GOD.
CANCEL SPITE
The sixth element of our TEAM JC uniform is based on verse 31:
Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger
and wrangling and slander, together with all malice.
Have you heard the phrase “cancel culture” over the past few years? “Cancel culture” is when people call out and criticize someone, usually online, usually a celebrity, for doing or saying something offensive. The offender is then “canceled” or boycotted. Paul isn’t suggesting that Christ-followers cancel a person, but an attitude. Paul is suggesting to TEAM JC that we CANCEL SPITE and everything that goes with it. Get rid of bitterness. Abolish wrath. Eradicate anger. Eliminate wrangling. Purge slander. Expel malice.
If we do that, there will be a void when we follow Paul’s advice to CANCEL SPITE. We fill that void with the seventh and last piece of our TEAM JC uniform . . .
BE KIND. Verse 32:
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
as God in Christ has forgiven you.
It’s not difficult to show kindness. Yet this wisdom from the Apostle Paul is as prescient as ever. Kindness is the antithesis of spite. Sometimes, however, we mistake kindness with niceness. Let me briefly describe the differences between being “nice” and being “kind.”
· “Nice” means never wanting to rock the boat while “kind” means willing to make waves.
· “Nice” is most concerned with not upsetting someone while “kind” is most concerned with doing what is right.
· “Nice” is afraid to speak up when witnessing unkind behavior while “kind” is willing to speak up and take a stand.
· “Nice” is worried about being liked while “Kind” is worried about being kind.
Paul doesn’t care if we’re “nice.” Paul demands that we be “kind,” that we forgive . . . why? Because God in Christ has forgiven us.
BE KIND completes the seven parts of our TEAM JC uniform.
Let’s review:
SPEAK TRUTH
MANAGE ANGER
WORK HARD
EDIFY OTHERS
PLEASE GOD
CANCEL SPITE
BE KIND
If you were to score yourself on these seven ways to exhibit Christlikeness, how would you do? For fun (and faith) let’s rate ourselves on a scale from 1-5 on these seven attributes:
SPEAK TRUTH
“I am diligent in both seeking truth and speaking truth.”
MANAGE ANGER
“I respond appropriately to my anger, which is almost always righteous anger.”
WORK HARD
“My financial revenue is from sources aligned with compassion, non-violence, and integrity.”
EDIFY OTHERS
“If I don’t have anything nice to say, I don’t say anything at all.”
PLEASE GOD
“I know the voice of God and I follow the voice of God in decisions large and small.”
CANCEL SPITE
“I do not allow bitterness or spite to get a foothold in my life.”
BE KIND
“I may not always be nice, but I am always kind.”
Rating myself on these seven metrics, I certainly have some room for improvement. How about you?
There’s nothing wrong with having “room for improvement.” Olympic swimmers continually strive for one less millisecond on their times. Long jumpers? One more millimeter. Weight lifters? One more kilogram.
Olympic success is often a matter of time or distance or weight. When it comes to faith, there’s really one measurement: love.
· Love is the metric by which we measure TRUTH-SPEAKING.
· Love is the metric by which we measure ANGER-MANAGING.
· Love is the metric by which we measure HARD-WORKING.
· Love is the metric by which we measure OTHERS-EDIFYING.
· Love is the metric by which we measure GOD-PLEASING.
· Love is the metric by which we measure SPITE-CANCELING.
· Love is the metric by which we measure KIND-BEING.
Love. Is. The. Metric.
So, TEAM JC, suit up! Seven elements for your one uniform . . . a uniform of love. Get dressed! It’s game time! Let’s gooooooooooo!