Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. Let us pray. O Lord send forth your Word into our ears that it may be a fruit in our lives, in Jesus’ name, Amen. So, what do you think of imitation? Is it something to be desired, or something to be avoided? Confucius said that imitation is one of the ways people learn wisdom. Salvador Dali said “Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.” Playwright George Bernard Shaw said “Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery – it’s the sincerest form of learning.” But on the other hand, author Herman Melville said, “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” Actress Polly Bergen said that imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery, “Imitation is the sincerest form of insecurity.” Frank Lloyd Wright said, “Imitation is always insult–not flattery.” and Oscar Wilde put his own twist on the well-known saying, changing it to “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” So, where do you fall on imitation? Is imitation something to be desired, or something to be avoided? Now it’s obviously unavoidable to a certain extent. Children learn to walk by imitating their parents, athletes learn a specific skill by imitating the body movements of their coach, but does there come a point where we outgrow imitation? Does there come a point where imitation can actually hold us back? It seems that for all the imitation we see in the world around us, it kind of has a bad reputation. When people are quick to dress like their favorite celebrities, talk like them, use whatever shampoo or skin care product they endorse, but then those same people, and those same celebrities will quickly turn around and say something like “Be unique. Be original. You’re the only one of you.” So, which is it? Should we imitate, or not? Thankfully scripture is actually pretty clear on this one. Let’s take today’s reading from Ephesians. Paul encourages imitation. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” But Ephesians isn’t the only time Paul uses this language. Twice he tells the Corinthians to be imitators of him. He tells the Philippians, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” He commends the Thessalonians for becoming imitators of the Lord, and of his church. And it’s not just Paul. The author of Hebrews encourages his readers to be imitators “so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” And in his first epistle, the evangelist John encourages the church “Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good.” Seems that imitation is actually a fairly important part of our Christian life. What exactly are we supposed to be imitating? Paul says be imitators of God. OK. That seems a little farfetched to think that I could ever imitate God. Isn’t that stepping right up to the line of idolatry, if not jumping over it completely? There’s a few things to keep in mind here. First, the word translated “imitate” in this text and in other texts. It’s the Greek word memétés. Same root as our word for mimic. It’s commonly used to describe the part of a relationship between teachers and their students. You see in Paul’s day, learning wasn’t just about accumulating facts, not just learning names and dates for your history test, countries and their capitals for geography, different formulas you might need in math or science. You know being a student, being a disciple, was understood as something that affected all the areas of your life. Students were to be molded into the pattern of their teacher. Thus to be an imitator of God doesn’t imply that I have the ability to actually behave like God does, to reproduce his works or his essence. That’s not what Paul’s saying at all. What Paul is saying becomes clear. We remember that and remember something else about this text. This exhortation to imitation comes at the end of the reading. It’s the conclusion of a larger section where Paul describes the Christian life. Paul is well known for his words to the Jews, telling them that their former way of life is not compatible with the new life that is theirs as a Christian. We all know that Paul reminds them that one is not saved by following the laws of Moses, not by observing Jewish holidays, or rituals, or sacrifices in the temple. That Jesus is the only way to salvation. That’s not just his message to the Jews. That’s his message in today’s text too, except today he’s talking to Gentile converts. Like he told the Jewish converts they weren’t Jews anymore, but they are fellow members of the household of God. So also, the Gentiles. They’re not actually Gentiles anymore. They’re Christians. “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”  No, Paul says you’re not Gentiles, you’re Christians. “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.  Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” And so, Paul’s words to the Ephesians are his words to us. We’re not Gentiles anymore, neither are we Jews. We’re Christians. We are the body of Christ. We in this place. “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.”  ^“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” Let us mimic God. Let us be shaped into his image. As he has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, let us breakdown any walls that would divide his church today. Let us take a sledgehammer to the walls of pettiness, or bitterness, or grudge holding. Let us demolished the walls of individualism isolation and loneliness. Instead, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” If we are to be imitators of God, we are imitators of God in forgiveness, but we love each other as Christ has loved us. “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” It’s a beautiful rhythm to the way that Paul writes Ephesians, because it’s the rhythm of the Christian life. We see it clearly in Ephesians 2 verses we all know, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Paul so wonderfully and clearly gives us the comfort of the gospel and the constant reminder that this comes to us. This new life is a gift, but we also know that verse 10 follows “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Today’s reading is no different. Our new life in Christ is given freely from the hands of our merciful Lord, without any merit or worthiness in us. But it’s a life and life is meant to be lived. And so in today’s reading Paul exhorts us, live, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” by walking in love. Don’t wander aimlessly through this life, tossed to and fro by the winds of change, be imitators of God. Walk as Jesus did. Mimic him. Be molded into his form and his image and his likeness. Such walking is not what makes us children of God, no the Holy Spirit already did that when he claimed us as his own to the waters of baptism. Such walking isn’t what makes us children of God, but it does give shape and purpose to our lives, as we live in faith toward him, and love toward others. Imitation Paul says, we’re certainly not to blindly mirror the priorities, the words, the behaviors of the world around us. Don’t be shaped into that image. But we are called to be imitators of God, to be imitators of Christ, to be molded into his image, not simply asking ourselves “What would Jesus do?” as if behavior alone can fully encapsulate or capture the extent of what Paul is saying. Rather ask ourselves “Who is this Jesus?  What did he value? What did he prioritize, and how does his character show up in my life, in my relationships, and my vocations?” And when we look at Jesus, we see trust in the Father’s word, and so through the gift of the spirit we imitate. We trust the Father’s word when he forgives our sins and makes us his children. And when we look at Jesus, we see him give himself for the life of the world. And so, we imitate. We rejoice to receive that life from him, and then we, in turn, support and protect the lives and the reputations of the people around us. And when we look at Jesus, we see our forgiveness. And so, we rejoice in that forgiveness, and we mimic it. We gladly forgive those around us, “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It’s actually quite simple. Through his great love for us, our Lord has made us his children, and now his love flows through us, making us imitators of him, shaping us into his image, that we might mimic him, empowering us to walk in his love. May such love be present in our lives every day, in Jesus’ name, Amen.