Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost: August 11, 2024
Putting on the New Self
The Rev. Nat Johnson
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 | Psalm 130 | Ephesians 4:25-5:2 | John 6:35, 41-51
For the last five Sundays, our second reading has come from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Biblical scholars tend to divide the letter into two major sections: chapters 1-3, which lay a theological groundwork and cast a theological vision, and chapters 4-6, which contain exhortations the Christian life. This division is signaled by Paul’s use of “therefore” at the beginning of chapter 4. He says,
“Therefore, I beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…”
The “therefore” that begins this section of the letter signals the transition between the theological groundwork and vision and the moral exhortation that follows, but it is more than just a transition – it links all that follows with all that came before, grounding what seems to be a simple list of “dos” and “don’ts” in the theology and vision cast in the preceding material.
In the first three chapters, Paul reminds the Ephesians, and blesses God, for all of the spiritual blessings that God has given them: God has destined them for adaption, redeemed them in Jesus Christ, and made known to them the mystery of God’s plan for the fullness of time to gather up all things into Christ. This mystery is the creation of a new humanity, where the wall of hostility that divides them has been destroyed by the power that raised Jesus from the dead. Paul prays for the Ephesians, that God would grant them a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they would perceive the hope to which they’d been called, the riches of God’s glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power. He prays that they would be strengthened by that power through God’s Spirit, that Christ would dwell in their hearts as they’re being grounded and rooted in love. He prays they will have the power to comprehend the totality of Jesus’ love that surpasses knowledge so that they would be filled with all the fullness of God
Therefore, Paul begs them to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have been called. And that calling is to embody, to live out, to perform the new humanity that God has created in Jesus Christ. It is a call to live according to a radically transformed pattern of human relations in a new social reality that “defies taken-for-granted social norms” (Sally A. Brown, “Commentary on Ephesians 4:25-5:2,” workingpreacher.org). They are called to “put off the old self,” to rid themselves of the behaviors, attitudes, and dispositions that characterized their lives prior to Christ and “put on the new self,” forged and exemplified in God’s own self-giving, compassion, and forgiveness.
The language of “putting off” and “putting on” contextualizes Paul’s exhortations in a baptismal tradition. In baptism, we renounce the old self and embrace the new creation that God brings forth from the waters and seals with the Holy Spirit. In our tradition, this renunciation takes the form of turning away from Satan and from the spiritual forces that rebel against God, from all diabolical powers that seek to destroy God’s creatures, from all sinful desires that separate us from God. And we turn toward Jesus Christ, accepting him as savior, trusting in his love and grace, and promise to follow and obey him. In baptism, we are adopted as God’s children, united with one another in Christ, and sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever. In baptism, we put off the old self and put on the new self as we promise to continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. We put off the old self and put on the new self when we persevere in resisting evil and repent when we fall into sin. We put off the old self and put on the new self when we proclaim the good news in word and deed, when we seek to serve Christ in all persons, when we strive for justice and peace, and when we respect the dignity of every human being.
This is the theological ground from which we must hear Paul’s exhortations in our passage today. Far more than just a list of moral dos and don’ts, this passage gives us concrete ways of embodying the identity we receive in baptism. The vices and virtues listed in this passage are not, in fact, unique to the Christian life – similar lists abound in ancient literature. What makes them specific to our Christian life and baptismal identity is that they flow from our “learning Christ,” from our formation as disciples and from the power of God that transforms us into agents of God’s plan for the fullness of time. The truth that we learn from Jesus is that we are “members of one another,” united in a new social solidarity with all of humanity. And if we are members of one another then there is no room in our new social reality for deceitful or misleading communication, for anger that leads to sin, for dishonest work, for speech that tears each other down or denigrates each other. There is no room for grudges or resentment. These are things we must “put off.”
Instead, we are to “put on,” to embrace, truth-telling, reconciliation, and mutual care. We must offer words of grace that build one another up. We must cultivate kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. And we must do these things not because they make us virtuous but because of the example that God has given us in the grace, compassion, and forgiveness that God extends to us in Jesus Christ. As beloved children of God we are called to imitate God’s gracious disposition toward us and God’s self-giving in love and by doing so, we will walk in a manner worthy of the call to which we have been called, the call to live a common life that demonstrates the unity of the new humanity God created in Jesus.
Within his list of exhortations, Paul makes three significant theological claims: that we are members of one another, that God has forgiven us, and that Christ has loved us and gave himself up for us. These claims ground our new patterns of behavior and dispositions in God’s plan for the fullness of time – they give us aim and motive and guidance as we discern how best to live into our baptismal vocation as a parish and as individual members of the body of Christ. It is because we are members of one another, because God has acted graciously toward us and reconciled us to Godself and one another, because Christ has loved us and given himself up for us that we are to put off the old self, ridding ourselves of all behaviors, attitudes, and dispositions that re-create the wall of hostility that Jesus destroyed.
To be a truth-telling community means to rid ourselves of deceitful patterns of speech and behavior that seek to manipulate and control. In our present social and political climate, it is a significant call to be truth-tellers. When everything from media outlets to advertising agencies to religious and political leaders have different narratives of truth, it can leave us and our neighbors feeling disenchanted with truth. Truth has become conceptual, without mooring, tossed to and fro in the chaos of consumerism and entertainment. From the depths of our souls to the furthest reach of our communities, we can hear echoes of Pilate’s famous question, “Truth? What is truth?” But Jesus gives us a compass. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. And that truth is that we are all members of one another, that the hostility that fills the narratives that shape our society is antithetical to God’s good future established in Jesus Christ and being brought to fruition through the movement and activity of the Holy Spirit.
Our call to be truth-tellers in this present moment is to refuse to participate in the creation of alternative facts, to refuse to peddle in false narratives that hedge in a culture of fear, to refuse to allow anger to fester and turn into violent division and hostility. And it is also a call to remember that we are members of one another – a call to recognize that our truth-telling pushes us out beyond the walls of our echo chambers. Implicit in the call to be truth-tellers is the call to be truth-listeners. We must be willing to acknowledge that we are not the sole bearers of truth, that to be members of one another means that we are members of one another even with those who differ from us.
How we go about our truth-telling matters. If it is not grounded in love, if it is not oriented toward reconciliation and justice, if it is not characterized by building one another up, we grieve the Holy Spirit. It is through the power of God’s Spirit that we are made one, that the wall of division that is hostility is broken in Jesus’ death and resurrection. To engage in behaviors and dispositions that destroy community grieves God’s Spirit and betrays the truth that we are members of one another, destined to do good works that God had prepared beforehand, good works that multiply and extend the very love with which God loves us. Friends, let us not grieve the Holy Spirit. Instead, let us put off our old selves and, putting on the new self, let us become imitators of God who offers grace upon grace and whose love is abundantly sown in our hearts so that we might demonstrate God’s transformative power as embodiments of the one new humanity.
May God indeed grant us the spirit to think and do always those things that are right and enable us to live according to God’s plan for the fullness of time when all things and all people will be caught up into Christ. Amen.