IMITATION IS MORE THAN FLATTERY
A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk
Harundale Presbyterian Church
Text: “You became imitators of us and of the Lord.” (1Thess. 1:6)
First
Second
This past
week
When I finally stopped to take a breath Joe said to me, “In one sentence would you please tell the committee why you should get the job.” Well, you can imagine that at that moment I knew that I’d talked way too long and probably had no chance of getting the position. Later I came to find out that he’d said the same thing to all the candidates and it was just his way of getting people to focus their thoughts and to say something meaningful in a short amount of time.
Since then
we’ve become close friends and he’s been a mentor to me in every situation I’ve
been in, whether it was the office in
That’s what Paul wants to set up this morning. He wants the Thessalonian Christians to have a mentor and to become mentors. “You became imitators of us and of the Lord.” Everyone needs a mentor, someone whose opinion they trust, someone they can look up to and turn to for advice. Someone who’ll listen to what they have to say, not put them down or judge them in some way, but to offer advice when it’s needed and sometimes to tell them when they’re not making good sense or showing bad judgment. Paul reminds them that they are not alone, but have fellow believers in Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.
We’ve often heard that “imitation is the highest form of flattery.” But it’s more than that. It’s how people learn. Paul, Silvanus and Timothy had been working the Thessalonian community. Thessalonica was much like any major cosmopolitan city today. It had many tempting delights to turn one’s eye. People could choose from a vast array of gods. There were countless demands on one’s time and most assuredly it wasn’t easy to carve out a niche for the gospel Paul and his companions were seeking to proclaim. But Paul, Silvanus and Timothy had gotten a hearing. There was a faithful group of adherents and it was to these believers that Paul was writing.
Paul and his cohorts had set for them an example of what it meant to follow the Christ. They had become the Thessalonian mentors. There was discipline involved. They had shown them just what disciplines were needed. There had to be a turning away from other gods and sensual delights. They patiently worked with them to alter their life style and support one another in reaching for a more committed response to daily events. It would become for them a lifetime of learning, involving at times sacrifice and renewed commitment. But as we’ll hear in a moment they were ready to sign on with these three in the name of Christ.
Rabbi
Philip Pohl of
“What a marvelous model for lifelong faith expansion! Just think of the opportunities for spiritual growth. With the help of mature role models or mentors, our members could be reconfirmed as they start their careers at age 26…as they hit their midlife crises at 39…as they experience the empty nest at 52…and as they move into retirement at 65. Each stage brings new challenges and opportunities for faithful living, as well as for sharing in the ministry of the congregation. This would eliminate the current fiction that we are somehow equipped at age 13 to take on the religious resources needed to deal with the many difficult issues of life. It would also bring us closer to the example of the early church, in which the Thessalonians became imitators of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.” (“Homiletics,” Volume 14, Number 5, September, October 2002, page 63f.)
Now I don’t
think for a moment that we’d ever adopt such a model here at Harundale, but it
highlights just how ill equipped we are to handle the complex issues we face
today from the perspective of our faith.
As Presbyterians in
Then there
are the global realities that confront us each time we read the newspaper.
Where are those conversations occurring in the church today? What would it take to re-confirm our faith at 26? How many 26 year olds do we see in worship this morning and what does that say about the conversation we should be having? What would it take to re-confirm our faith at 39 and how many 39 year olds do we see in worship this morning, and what does that say about the conversation we should be having? What would it take to re-confirm our faith at 52 and how many of us know what questions 52 year-olds are asking? I’m 65 this year and would have no problem re-confirming my faith, but it would be a far different conversation than it was when I was confirmed at 13. Yet, for many people their faith just hasn’t changed that much, and therein, as they say, “lies the rub.”
As you might imagine, Elizabeth and I took advantage of Joe’s visit to have such a conversation during dinner on Wednesday evening. The three of us long ago decided that finding the answers wasn’t nearly so necessary as knowing what questions to ask. The questions we kept coming back to throughout his entire visit were, where is the church going and where should it be going in the days ahead?
Paul told the Thessalonians to wait for God’s son from heaven who would rescue them from the wrath that is coming. Well, a lot of wrath has come and gone since then and who knows what wrath lies in store for us. In the meantime, we all need mentors like Joe in our lives to help us at least to know what questions to ask.
We also need to take the time necessary to become mentors for those who’ll follow us in Harundale. What message are we sending to one another and the community about what it means to be faithful to Christ? How well are we modeling how we should behave as Christians? What do people see and hear when they enter the doors of this sanctuary? What should be our response to civic, national and international events, not necessarily as a congregation, but as individuals in conversation with one another? If Paul were to write to the Christians assembled at Harundale would he be as enthused as he was with the Thessalonians? If so, thanks be to God! If not, then it’s time we took seriously the questions we should be asking.
Thanks be to God,
Amen