WWJD

A Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14, Year B)
August 8, 2021

Text: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

I speak to you in the name of our loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

There are certain things I remember about going to school as a child. For example, I remember waking up in the morning, getting dressed, and having just enough time to watch one episode of “Saved by the Bell” before it was time to get on the bus to go to school.

I remember how excited I used to get when it was time to shop for school supplies before the start of a new school year. As a child, I loved going to school, in case you couldn’t tell.

I remember learning how to use a computer for the first time and how exciting it was to have a set of computers in the classroom, which was a big deal back then. Of course, my favorite game to play on the computer was “The Oregon Trail.” For those of you who are close to my age, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about.

I remember chalkboards and being asked to go outside and clean the erasers by beating them together. It was a messy job, but I enjoyed doing it. I remember the uncomfortable, wooden desks we used to sit in and the overhead projectors that teachers would use to project math problems on the wall. I remember the smell of worksheets copied with purple ink on a mimeograph and having to get up to go and use a hand-cranked pencil sharpener on the wall.

I remember the popular trends as well—things that everyone had to have in order to be considered cool—like slap bracelets, plastic lunch boxes with superheroes on the front, and, of course, Trapper Keepers, which was absolutely necessary in order to keep all of your papers and assignments well organized. At least, that’s what I told my parents.

Another trend I witnessed in the late 80s and early 90s is one that most of us probably remember, even if you weren’t in school at the time. They were popular. You might’ve even owned one of these at one time or another. I’m talking about those bright, multi-colored bracelets that had the letters “WWJD” printed on them. And, of course, we all know what “WWJD” stands for, don’t we? Say it with me. What would Jesus do?

Well, I never had a WWJD bracelet. I guess I was never cool enough. The kids who wore those were typically the ones who were active in their own churches and youth groups, and in small-town Alabama, that usually meant Baptist, Church of Christ, or Methodist. I didn’t grow up going to church, at least not on a regular basis, but, I can remember, as a young child, seeing those bracelets and wondering, “What does it mean?” What does “WWJD” mean?

Eventually, I found out what those letters stood for. My fellow classmates made sure of that. But, it would be years before I really understood the importance of the question, “What would Jesus do?”

In today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the author writes, “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

In this passage, which is actually part of a letter to one of the earliest Christian communities, the author provides instructions to these early Christians on how they should live their lives as followers of Jesus. My friends, the same is true for us today, in our own time and place. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians instructs us, as Christians—here and now—to “be imitators of God, as beloved children.”

Well, I don’t know about you, but the thought of imitating God is overwhelming, to say the least. How can we possibly begin to imitate God? How can we imitate the one who created all of us, the one who exhibits perfect love and perfect grace all the time? It seems impossible, doesn’t it?

To begin, I think we have to have a model, an example to live by. We have to have something personal that we can experience for ourselves, something to witness so that we can begin to exhibit the same kind of love and grace that we’ve already received from our generous God. In order to be “imitators of God,” we have to have something more than just abstract concepts or ideas about God.

Why? Because we learn through our experiences.

When you think about it, we’ve been doing this our whole lives, from infancy and childhood until adolescence and adulthood. We are who we are today because of the people who’ve been right there with us every step of the way through our life’s journey, those who’ve influenced us the most—members of our family, our parents, our teachers, our coaches, our Sunday school teachers, our pastors, and so many others. Our lives have been shaped, for better or worse, by all of these people and the countless experiences we’ve had since we drew our first breath.

We learn through our experiences, and this is why we desperately need something concrete to hold on to when we seek to live as “imitators of God.” This is why we need Jesus in our lives and why the question, “What would Jesus do?” is so important. It keeps us rooted in our faith.

In a commentary on today’s lesson from Ephesians, one author writes, “Christianity has yet to grasp the full implication of the incarnation: the Word has become flesh and dwells all around us. Paul is calling for these early Christians not merely to worship God in Christ, but through the Holy Spirit to imitate Christ in their own behavior, for the sake of the Christ’s church and the sake of the world. They are to forgive as they have been forgiven. They must turn from wrangling and slander and turn instead toward kindness and forgiveness for Christ’s sake. We imitate Christ in hopes that through the Holy Spirit we will grow into the likeness of Christ and that God will use us as instruments to bring in God’s realm of peace, justice, and mercy.”

My brothers and sisters, the question, “What would Jesus do?” is more than a simple catchphrase or something we wear on our wrists from time to time. It’s a question we need to ask ourselves, every moment of every day, in order to pattern our life on the one who lived and died as one of us, the one who teaches us how to be “imitators of God.”

“WWJD.” “What would Jesus do?” May this question precede every action we take and every word that comes from our mouths, and while we’re at it, let us ask ourselves another question—one that’s equally if not more important to consider, especially in this challenging time as the pandemic continues on and we’re being called upon to care for the most vulnerable among us. “WWJND.” “What would Jesus not do?”

Our Sequence hymn for this morning, which we sang a little while ago, is actually a paraphrase of a prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. Actually, you can find it printed in the back of your Prayer Book. To me, there’s something so inspiring about this particular prayer that seems to resonate with those who hear it. Perhaps, it resonates with us because it helps us put into words that which we find difficult to articulate on our own. It helps us confess that we’re all broken people living in a broken world and that we desperately need God’s grace and mercy in order to do the work we’ve been given to do as God’s people. Personally, it challenges me to live better each day and to strive, more and more, to live into my calling as a follower of Jesus and imitator of God.

Please join me in prayer.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. 
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

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A video of this sermon is available below, beginning at the 21:05 mark.