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A Congregation Of The "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." - Gracie Allen |
From March 4, 2007 An Invitation to Imitation Phil 3: 17 & 4:1 They say the sincerest form of flattery is imitation. Imitation. Whoever coined this phrase had to have been the imitator, not the imitated. Don't believe me? Think about the first few episodes of any season of American Idol when any number of folks step forward to sing. If stars with hit singles feel flattered by these imitations, I'd be very very surprised. Imitation is far more than flattery, of course. Imitation is also survival. It's how we get from infancy to adulthood. God has given us the instinct for observation and replication of behavior. A gift that manifests almost as soon as we're born. Hold a baby like Conner or Dylan in your arms and establish eye contact. Then stick out your tongue. Before you know it, baby will too. To imitate is innate, it's built into who we are. We're hard-wired this way. And when we're young, our drive to imitate is so high and our life experience so limited, we will imitate things we ought not. How many parents here can tell a story about a child who, in the middle of a party or family gathering, innocently repeated a choice word or phrase he heard somewhere else? Embarrassment is one thing. But what about those times when kids imitate and place themselves at risk? We've all heard stories about preschoolers who got behind the wheel of a car left running and children who got hold of one of their daddy's guns. When video footage of Saddam Hussein's execution went global, a handful of children imitated what they saw and sadly perished. Part of growing up is learning - through trial and error, through affirmation and punishment, through observation and painful experience - what is worthy of emulation and what is not. I'm horribly sorry, for example, that I followed in my mother's footsteps when it came to smoking. But not when it came to higher education. Just as we learn what in life merits imitation and what does not, so too with faith. In fact, it cannot be otherwise. It is impossible to ignore the shaping influence we have on one another - to the good and the not-so good. The apostle Paul knew this. "Brothers and sisters," he wrote from prison to his Christian family in Philippi, "join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us." Join in imitating me. Let's not misunderstand Paul. He's not putting himself on a pedestal. He's not saying "I'm the man. Imitate me." Not at all. He's simply addressing a critical need. You see it was unlikely that anyone hearing Paul's message would have had an opportunity to be directly influenced by Jesus himself. If those early Christians in Philippi were going to be like Christ, Paul knew they would need to help in fleshing out a faithful life. They would need a mentor, a model, a man with Christ alive inside him so that Christ could find full expression in and through them. What was true for the folks of Philippi is also true for us. Jesus of Nazareth is not someone we can observe and imitate. But through those who are striving to be Christ-like we can experience and emulate Christ. Imitate me, Paul says. An important habit to cultivate when you remember that we are surrounded by thousands of examples of ways to be and behave. Examples which are, Paul would quickly add, of what not to do, and are models of what not to be. In Paul's day, as in our own, there are a multitude of attitudes and practices to choose from that do not promote God's priorities - ones we observe and then, if we are not careful, mimic ourselves. This is part of life on earth. And yet, Paul reminds us, as Christians you and I are more than dwellers of this place. We are also citizens of heaven. Some already get this. Some are already living lives that reflect their heavenly citizenship. In fact, you know them. They're your neighbors, your coworkers, your church family. Who has been an example for you, I wonder. Who has shown you what it means to a disciple of Christ, a citizen of heaven? Who has been a model and example for you? Surely many faces come to mind. The Sunday School teacher whose joy was sharing with you the love of God. The young mother struck by adversity who stuck by her faith. The busy businessman who never fails to make time to help at the local homeless shelter. Who has been a model and example for you? Surely many faces come to mind. I think of Russ Fey, who in the midst of heated congregational meetings would rise up out of his pew, speak words of clarity and conviction, and with gentle authority would point us right back to the Gospel choice we were being called to make. I remember Judy Beall whose heart is never to empty of love. Just to hear Judy's voice, so rich with caring and generosity of spirit, is to hear Christ's own voice. Just as I know you have been, I've also been influenced by Christian people I've never met - Jimmy Carter, for instance. Martin Luther King, Jr. Inspiring my Christian walk have even been those of other religious traditions. The Dalai Lama being the first and foremost example. Many of the Dalai Lama's qualities lead me to Jesus - his delightful sense of humor, his commitment to nonviolence, his unwillingness to hate the Chinese who have brought much suffering to the lives of his countrymen the Tibetans. While no one is as comprehensively loving, no one is as consistently bold as Jesus was in living a life true to God, you and I know and have been inspired by those who are able to model some significant aspect of a faithful life. The daughter of the famous doctor Albert Schweitzer, Rhena Schweitzer Miller, found in her father's ways something greatly deserving of emulation - reverence for life, in all its forms. She writes, "I was taught to pick up the drying-out worm on the path and put it back in the grass, not to kill any bugs if not absolutely necessary, not to pick flowers. Later I saw my father's practical realization of Reverence for Life in his hospital-village in the African forest. It was a place where people of all colors, creeds, and nationalities could live together and live in harmony with the domestic and wild animals, where trees and plants were respected, where a life was taken only when it was unavoidable." (From What Does It Mean to Be Human, p.8.) As a grown woman, Rhena Schweitzer Miller worked alongside her doctor husband in a number of third world countries - Haiti, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Yemen and Pakistan - where she gave unique expression to the example that came from her father, whose own life was greatly influenced by Jesus'. I know there have been souls in your life in whom you have seen a faith-filled attitude or ability worthy of emulation, imitation, replication. Who? I invite you to remember them. And I invite you to imitate them, not in any rote or stiff way, for that would make you a parrot or a robot. Instead, this Lenten season I invite you to fold into your life some of what you have seen in another's life. And more specifically, I invite you to look very closely at your brothers and sisters here at United Church. Who here expresses in one way or another a Christ-like quality that you want to imitate? If it is Jesus' gentleness that most impresses you, most compels you, then who do you know here who gives expression to that same kind of gentleness? Or perhaps it is Jesus' prayerfulness that calls to you. Who here lives out a prayerful life that can be a model for yours? Who here has that same capacity to be committed to speaking the truth in love as Jesus did so often with the Pharisees? Who here has that same sweeping compassion that Jesus expressed as he considered the hungry multitudes on the hillside who had spent an afternoon listening to him teach? Especially this Lenten season, as we make our way toward Jerusalem as Jesus' companions, I invite you to consider imitating someone here, someone whose life expresses an aspect of Christ's own life. Look around you. Be observant. Consider others' examples thoughtfully, carefully, attentively. There are many beautiful expressions of faithfulness among us. And many lie as quiet, hidden treasures for us to discover... and be changed by. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery. More than that, it is how Christ, the King of Heaven, helps us grow as citizens of heaven. And what a glorious citizenship it is! Amen. © 2007 Rev. Karen Winkel |
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