Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon March 29, 2009
In this month, we’ve been exploring the biblical paradigm of putting off the old self and putting on the new self in the language of Paul in Ephesians 4:22-23. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
“Put off your old self… Put on the new self, created to be like God…” Lest, we reduce and confine Paul’s call to put off and put on as some kind of path to self discovery, self enhancement that only makes difference for me, for you, individually, he spends the rest of the chapter 4 spelling out how you and I must practice putting on and putting off in the context of doing life together. And, today we are going to focus specifically on what it means to be created to impart grace with our words.
James 3:9-12 speaks to irony of inconsistency when we use our words not for imparting grace, but in mean spirit. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?”
We praise God and we curse others with the same tongue if we don’t practice putting off meanness in speech and putting on speech that gives grace. Putting on speech that gives grace is living consistently in whom God has created us to be.
- Give grace by speaking truthfully for you are created to belong to each other.
Paul says in Ephesians 4:25 we are to give grace to each other by speaking truthfully. He reasons it is because we are members of one body. The image of each of us belonging to members of one body means we are created for relationship in Christ. Christian living embraces the truth, “I cannot do life without you because we belong together in the body of Christ.”
Paul understood the gospel is intensely relational because God is relational. Paul understood that to be griped, touched and claimed by the gospel is to live reconciled relationship with God; and out of this reconciled relationship with God, we are given a ministry of reconciliation, to be “Christ’s ambassadors” according to 2 Corinthians 5:20. How intensely does God feel about relationship? Intense enough to send his Son Jesus Christ to die and to be raised from the dead for sinners, enemies like you and me so that we can be in relationship with him! And, out of enemies like you and me, he has created new people with new identity in Christ as God’s children now belonging to each other as members of Christ’s body.
Klyne Snodgrass says concerning Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God,” “Copying God only means taking seriously who God says we are.” [1] Paul says in Christ we are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. In Christ we are already given the new identity in the body of Christ that is designed to image God. Taking seriously who God says we are, coping God, or imaging God means to be people who take relationships seriously by giving grace to each other by speaking truth.
Speaking truthfully is being honest about ourselves to each other and being honest about others. Being honest is built on the fact that we all share the same challenge to put off our old self and to put on the new self. I like what Snodgrass has to say about this:
The text calls for a transparency, an openness guided by wisdom as to what is appropriate. Death is not a subject from which we can run, so why should we not discuss death more straightforwardly? Our sexuality often possesses us, so why should we not in the right context discuss it and deal with it? Why can’t we be more forthright about our own egos? We do make ourselves real by telling the truth.[2]
We don’t normally think about speaking truthfully without exaggerations or lies as a way of imparting grace to each other’s life. But, the scripture informs us that indeed speaking truthfully is way of giving grace to each other for it allows us to be real and relationships we build to be genuine.
- Give grace by rejecting rotten words for you are created to yield good fruit.
Paul says in Ephesians 4:29 there are words, talk that is considered unwholesome talk. Unwholesome describes foul spoiled fish/rotten fruit or stones that crumble. Jesus used this word to describe bad fruit in the gospels. Luke 6:43, Jesus said, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.”
I love wholesale places like Costco where you can get bulk of food for cheaper price. But, the downside in getting fruits in bulk is that inevitably you find some rotten oranges, apples or strawberries. If it is rotten badly, I would end up throwing the whole fruit away, losing any saving I may have buying in bulk.
There are kinds of talk that is unfitting to the new identity God has given us as Christians, Paul calls them rotten. The words that come out of malice and anger either loudly or under our breath, “Shut up!”, “Jerk!” calling names, swears, sarcastic comments. How about uttering God’s name like “Oh, My God!” when you are not praying, but when you are surprised or angry? John Piper likens this to stomping in anger on one’s wedding ring which symbolizes marriage covenant. God’s name stands for who God is, but when we use his name mindless in vain, we treat God’s name without dignity and honor. Criticisms without love are rotten as well.
Paul says when we smell or see the rottenness in our thoughts we are to bury it, kill it, put it aside, and to reject it instead of allowing rotten words to come out of our mouth. This requires us to be thoughtful, to be slow to speak, to give enough time to evaluate and smell our own thoughts for rottenness and deal with it accordingly.
- Give grace by speaking words that build others up for you are created to impart grace.
Paul says that there is better way far more consistent with being created into a new tree to bear new fruit, unspoiled and good fruit. He tells us to get rid of rotten words and to speak good words. How do you know if your words are good words? You know it when you observe the effect of your words on other people who hear you.
Do your words tear down?
What words tear down instead of building up? Words that tear down are words that often come from assumptions without verification. When someone says something to you that makes you feel uneasy, misgiving, or hurt, unless you take the intentional steps to verify what you heard was what the other person meant, you risk speaking to tear the other person down or if you decide not to talk about it, you risk brewing grudge.
Do your words build others up because you speak to their needs?
Speaking words that build others up requires you to first listen to the other person. You listen by asking questions about the other person. By asking question about how the other person is doing and by taking time to hear the person, you learn the person’s needs. Only then, would you able to speak words that can build the other person up. If you are usually the one talking about yourself but you never care to ask how others are doing, you will never learn to speak words that build up others. You will be known as self-centered, narcissistic person, not an encourager.
Do you words impart grace?
Paul says we ought to speak in order to benefit others. To benefit is literally means to “give grace” or to “impart grace”. When people speak to you do they walk away from you feeling like they were touched by God?
Imagine what it would be like if we all practice giving grace to each other. Imagine how it would change the dynamics of our relationship. Imagine how unbelievers would react when they see believers interacting with each other graciously. Imagine how it would change families, friendships. Imagine how it would change our church. Giving grace to each other with words, it is our calling, our privilege, our inheritance. Let’s embrace it wholeheartedly.
[1] Snodgrass, Klyne. “Bridging Contexts” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Ephesians. By Klyne Snodgrass, 255. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.
[2] Snodgrass, Klyne. “Contemporary Significance” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Ephesians. By Klyne Snodgrass, 262. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.
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