Redeemer Lutheran Church

Dear Friends in Christ,

In his letters to Christian congregations of the 1st Century, St. Paul exhorts, encourages, and equips his readers to live the new life to which they have been called in Jesus Christ. You have to understand that those believers of the first century didn’t have a history of being Christians. Their parents, grand-parents and great-grand parents were not Christians, but gentile pagans. So being a Christian community was new to them, and being an individual believer in a pagan world needed to be explained to them.

So he writes to them: “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”.

Here Paul is talking about the old self which has lost the image of God, in which mankind was first created, and calling these believers to put on the restored image of God which has been made possible through the divine work of Jesus Christ.

So, reminding them of the seal of their Baptism into Christ, Paul exhorts the believers in Ephesus (as well as us today) not to grieve the Holy Spirit, “with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”, but to be imitators of God by living a life of love, “just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us...” You are a “Child of God”, Paul told them. “He adopted you and sealed you as His own in your Baptism. He called you to faith and made you truly his own dear child.” That same faith in God now moves us to seek to banish sin in our lives and to become imitators of Christ, our Lord.

Paul writes about several negative qualities that “grieve the Holy Spirit” and reminds us that only Jesus Christ can banish those negative qualities from our lives. The first negative quality he mentions is “bitterness”. Bitterness is long-standing resentment, cynicism -- a poison in the spirit. There are many reasons why a person may be bitter toward another person. We may be bitter because we have been unjustly hurt or accused, or mistreated. It may come about because your good intentions to help others have been rejected, or maybe you feel that you have been taken advantage of. Such bitterness may result in a refusal to be reconciled or an unwillingness to forgive. Maybe we would be willing to forgive if only the other person would “see things our way”, or “recognize our good intentions”. But when it doesn’t happen we are filled with bitterness.

There is a story about two authors who were bitter rivals. One day they met each other on the street. The first one had just published a successful book. The other was offering congratulations. “I’ve just read your book; it was great. Who wrote it for you?” The first author replied: “I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Who read it to you?” Paul says “Get rid of all bitterness...” Let go of it. It is ruining your life. It’s not becoming on one who has been reborn of God.

Paul goes on to talk about two other unbecoming traits: Rage and Anger. One is spontaneous fury. The other is habitual, nurtured anger. Now Christians may act rightly when motivated by anger against evil and injustice. We call that “righteous” anger. Scripture says that God has both kinds of anger, though he waits until Judgment Day to dispense or administer his justice. But it is a sin for us to “play God” by acting as judge or executioner when it is not our place to do so. In fact, God has established the rule of law and authority to protect the innocent and to measure out justice in his stead so that when we have a legitimate grievance, we have recourse to those in authority.

Paul continues his list by including “clamor and slander”. Whether it be with the fist or with the tongue, such malice with evil intent grieves the Holy Spirit who intends us to react in better ways to the emotions that are always in danger of overcoming us. He wants us to stand up to the challenge when facing these inner conflicts and confront them with the strength we have in Christ.

But the problem is, our human nature does not want to banish these sins from our lives, but instead, to run from the battle with our old Adam. In today’s Old Testament lesson, Elijah was running away from the battle. He was ready to give in and give up. He had been God’s spokesman against evil King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. And he felt all alone in the work he had to do for the Lord. He was filled with resentment and bitterness. But the Lord came to him under the broom tree, in his deep depression, sending an angel to strengthen him for continuing the struggle.

The great inner struggle for us is to live the life that imitates Christ, our Savior -- even in the face of disappointments and opposition. “Be kind and tender-hearted”, Paul encourages us in our text. Think as much of your neighbor as you think of yourself. Be concerned about the struggles and sorrows of others. And treat others as Christ has treated you.

One day two friends were talking with each other. “My wife got angry last night,” one man was telling the other, “and we had a fight.” His friend asked, “How did it end up?” “Why, she came crawling to me on her hands and knees.” “What did she say?” the curious friend asked. “She said, ‘Come out from under the bed, you coward.’”

That’s an old vaudeville story. The updated version goes like this. A wife calls her husband on the phone. She is out of breath and full of excitement. “Harry, I won the lottery. Pack your clothes!” “Great,” Harry says. “Summer or winter?” “All of them,” his wife responds; “I want you out of the house by six!”

Is your marriage sometimes a battle ground? Is your relationship with your children filled with resentment and anger? “Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Instead of anger and resentment, learn the lesson of the young Armenian girl. During one of the persecutions by the Turks, the girl and her brother were being pursued by a bloodthirsty Turkish soldier. He finally trapped them at the end of an alley. He killed the boy, but the girl escaped over the wall. Later she became a nurse. One day a Turkish soldier was brought into the hospital where she worked. She immediately recognized him as that soldier who killed her brother. But she took constant care of the soldier so that he was well on the road to recovery. Then he finally recognized the girl. “Why have you done this for me?” he asked. She answered, “Because I have a religion that teaches me to forgive.”

“I have a religion that teaches me to forgive.” Does this world need such a religion? Whatever could bring an end to the violence and retribution that we see throughout the world? Whatever could bring an end to a life of resentment, rage and anger and malice? Could it be the call to be imitators of God – “to live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”? Jesus Christ gave his life for you -- for your redemption. He has reconciled you with your heavenly Father. You belong to him through Holy Baptism. He wants to feed you to give you strength for living a kind, compassionate, loving life -- a life without bitterness and rage.

Did you notice that when the angel came to Elijah and brought sustenance, he came back a second time? God doesn’t just come to us once, but he comes over and over again to feed us with his word and sacrament. It is an ongoing commitment on God’s part. He will continue to nurture you in faith. He will continue to forgive your sins. He will continue to strengthen you do live as his own child -- so that your life does not grieve the Holy Spirit, but causes him to rejoice as you imitate your Savior.

You may not always want to let go of the resentment and anger. You may not always feel kind and compassionate toward others. But you have a religion that “teaches you to forgive”, that teaches you to “love just as Christ loved you”. It is a religion that calls and challenges you to live a better, nobler life. But it doesn’t stop there. Your religion is not a dead relic of the past. It is a living faith because Jesus Christ is alive, giving you, like Elijah, new strength for your journey — the very power you need to overcome a life of bitterness and move on to a life of joy and love in His kingdom.

Is there someone with whom you need to be reconciled? Someone from whom you need to ask forgiveness for your past sins or to grant forgiveness for theirs? A life of bitterness and anger can be overcome by the help and power of Christ’s Spirit living in you. The Holy Spirit fortifies you to reach out in kindness and love to restore broken relationships, to heal old wounds and to imitate your Lord every day. You have been forgiven all your sins, now with the power of Christ, forgive one another. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.