Ephesians 5:1 (Phil 4:8, 2 Tim 2:16,17): Imitators Not Innovators

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 06 Nov. 2011 and TSA AVM, 22 June 2025 By Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay (Chaplain, RCMP F Division)

This is the 2025 BC version, to view the 2011 Saskatchewan version, click here: 

https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/11/ephesians-51-phil-48-2-tim-21617.html

 

Galatians 5:19-25: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

            But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

 

 2 Timothy 2:14-16:  Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

 

Philippians 4:8-9: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

Ephesians 5:1: Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children…

 

The previous 2 weeks we have spoken about lists that Paul mentions in his epistles, his letters. Last week we spoke about an athlete in training. The athlete is able to eat, drink, so whatever they like but they may not win the race if they do. {1}

The week prior we talked about As You Were: The Tragedy at Valcartier where cadets were given pretend brightly coloured grenades to assemble and dissemble but accidently one live green grenade was with the others. This grenade then went off causing death and destruction. We compared this to the items on the ‘bad lists’ in the NT. As our bad actions can cause all kinds of problems for ourselves and others. {2}

 

The Message today is entitled ‘Imitators not Innovators’ and its theme runs through the entire New Testament. In 2011, I was part of a group of people who were being trained on Violence Threat Risk Assessment by J. Kevin Cameron; Kevin Cameron is the fellow who led the crisis response team following the 1999 school shooting in Taber, Alberta. I was in this class along with many high school teachers, other school personnel, the Fire Chief, City RCMP sergeant and others. That same week, I was taking ICS 300. The Fire and the RCMP personnel and others who were at the other course with me, were also in this class. Incident Command System 300 is a course that teaches different groups how to interact in an emergency disaster. The Salvation Army had assigned me some new responsibilities in that area in the southern province so, even though I was and am certified to teach this course, I thought it best build relationships with other agencies and practice what I teach. It is important to practice and think about what skills we will need to survive and thrive in an emergency. 

 

Philippians 4:8 records, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” This is important because we tend to imitate what we surround ourselves with.  2 Timothy 2:16-17a, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene…” Kevin Cameron of the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment said that the vast majority of people are imitators not innovators.[1] Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’ (cf. Mt 5:44–45, 48; Lk 6:36; 1 Pe 2:21).[2]

 

Let me share with you information about some of the things that the children in our schools – even today almost 15 years later - are still imitating. There is a 1999 movie starring Brad Pitt called Fight Club. The premise is that people get together and organize secret fighting matches between combatants. Did you know that, among other things, from this movie that adults and youth across this country and the USA started setting up their own real fight clubs? We watched YouTube clips of kids, some young and some obviously not fighters, being egged on into brutally beating each other in front of cell phones. We saw one clip of girls surrounding another girl and even kicking her in the mouth when she was down. The whole time people, instead of helping, people have their phone cameras on, and they post these scenes on the Internet. As this goes on-line it becomes even scarier because it can perpetuate the violence cycle even further and faster because indeed most people don’t create; most are imitators not innovators.

 

There is even worse still. We saw one clip of two boys punching, kicking, and fighting each other in the classroom, being videoed and the images put on-line. At the end of this scene, you can see the students watching and involved: they are quickly running away. What do you think happened? Why were the kids in the classroom running away? The teacher came? No. The Vice Principal came – the teacher… the teacher was already in the classroom… filming this event. The teacher set up a fight between two of his students and put it on-line. This is reminiscent of the two teachers who in this country thought that it would be appropriate to partake in a lap-dance in front of the student body in a Winnipeg school. These students and teachers were imitating what they have seen on media, social media, entertainment, etc. and then they put this on the Internet for others to imitate – the cycle of inappropriate behaviour and the cycle of violence spreads quickly.[3] 2 Timothy 2:16-17a, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene…” (cf. Ro 1:20–32; 1 Cor 6:9–10; Gal 5:19–21); Philippians 4:8 records, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”

 

Cameron says, “Most people are imitators not innovators.” We are all susceptible to our environment (cf. Ro 1:20–32; 1 Cor 6:9–10; Gal 5:19–21 & Mt 5:44–45, 48; Luke 6:36; 1 Pet 2:21). Especially, one deemed an empty vessel: “A person who is not connected to a healthy mature adult will search for people or things to identify with. A person who feels empty will try to fill themselves up with something [sic]. In VTRA [Violence Threat Risk Assessment] the question is, ‘What are they filling themselves up with?’”[4] I think most of us have gone through times in our lives when we would fit the definition of an ‘empty vessel’ – someone searching for something to fill ourselves up with (We used to call this a ‘God-shaped void’) - what happens when we find something other than God to fill the void in ourselves with? When searching for something for which to fill ourselves, most people are imitators not innovators – so who and what then are we imitating?[5]

 

Did you know that most school shooters spend a great deal of time researching other school shooters and how they do it before they commit their crimes? This is how they try to fill the void. This is who they seek to imitate. The school shooting in Taber, Alberta happened only weeks after the Columbine shootings in the United States of America. The then largest spree of mass shootings in the US happened after CNN reported on the 1992 Dawson College shooting in Montreal, BQ. People who were near the edge, looking for something with which to fill their painful emptiness, saw on the news what happened in Montreal, picked up their own guns and imitated what they saw on CNN. Most of these empty vessel shootings, by the way, were committed by men not boys; adults not children. Most people – adults and children alike - are imitators not innovators; Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” Concentrating on, Philippians 4:8, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.”

 

We saw a clip in our Threat Assessment course from the video game Grand Theft Auto – I’m not sure which version. In this video game, the character you play not only steals cars as the name suggests. The characters look realistic and one can make his/her character have relations with a prostitute and then beat her to death. Did you know that some parents have let their children as young as six years old play this game? Parents have let their children’s friends play this game when they come over to their house. One lady, who heard this information at a course, volunteered that her husband plays this game with her child. This is scary because most of us are imitators not innovators. We can only imitate what we see and this is the kind of stuff our post-Christian North American society is saying we should be able to fill our minds with. Is it any wonder that North America has more mass murderers than the rest of the world combined? 2 Timothy 2:16-17a, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene…” Most people are imitators not innovators; therefore, Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.”[6]

 

I think sometimes we think that some of the things that we see on shows and in movies and some of the things that we do on the Internet and in video games, they can’t harm us. I think we can be tricked into thinking that they are harmless. You have all heard, I’m sure that many people have watched the movies we mentioned, many people have played the video games we mentioned who did not turn into the murderers that I was studying that week. This is important: these games, these TV shows, the Internet and even news programs – they don’t force people to kill themselves and other people. What they do is push people who are struggling to fill the empty vessel within themselves, over the edge. People are imitators not innovators and the only things they can imitate are what they see. Like we said off the top, most school shooters spend a lot of time researching how their predecessors committed similar violent crimes. People are imitators. What are we as a culture giving them to imitate and, we as Christians, what are we imitating and what imitating are we modelling for our other brothers and sisters? Before I quit drinking to be a soldier in The Salvation Army, I can’t tell you the number of times that I was involved in barroom ministry that by the end of the evening turned into more barroom than ministry. Most people are imitators not innovators; therefore, Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”

 

Sometimes too do we think that no one will see us if we are at home supposedly by ourselves partaking in a little self-indulgence in some of these things that we are talking about today? In the other course I took that same week, the ICS 300 course, we were reminded that nothing we say or do is ever private. Media can zoom in on us from a great distance away these days and share what we say and do with the whole world. The fire chief told us a story about how one firefighter told another walking out of a fire that he thought they should have used a different sized hose than the one they did. A TV camera picked this up from a distance, read their lips, and then someone successfully sued the fire department for using the wrong hose – which they didn’t, by the way. How much more are our own actions viewed by God our father too? If CBC can pick you up from a mile away how much better range does our Lord have? He can pick up even what is in our thoughts and think of the pain you cause Him if you choose to fill yourself with all of this stuff that is harmful to yourself and others. Most people are imitators not innovators. Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”

 

I have two or three more quick stories to share with you today. We were told this one story of an imitator in these school shootings. He walked into his favourite teacher’s classroom, climbed up on a desk, and pointed the loaded gun at the class with his finger on the trigger. At this point, instead of panicking, instead of diving under desks or heading for the door, the teacher who was standing beside the armed student, said, “Listen up class, I think John has something he wants to tell us.” Listen up class; I think John has something he wants to tell us. At this point the boy broke down and cried. Philippians 4:8: “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’

 

God saved them. God is the only one who could save them and God is the only one who can save us (cf. Ac 4:12, Phil 3:7-11). In the ICS 300 course we heard an audio clip from a six-alarm fire in Toronto. At one point a firefighter is trapped on a floor when his oxygen tank runs out. He has no air. He had no expectation of survival. He calls for help. He collapses on the floor. For no apparent reason the elevator, which has another firefighter in it, opens directly on that floor. The firefighter in the elevator notices his colleague collapsed at his feet and drags him into the elevator and away to safety. The official line is that we don’t know how it happened that he was saved. The truth is, we all know how he was saved. God saved him. God is the only one who could save them and God is the only one who can save us. Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’

 

I have one more story about imitating our saviour. We, when I was an Officer at The Salvation Army in Swift Current were developing a program to help people who are sent to prison from our community to transition back into our community. I had one friend who I sat in court with through his trial, visited in the cells, kept in touch with when he was away in prison and made contact with immediately after he was released. I kept in touch for a while afterwards. The Lord was and I trust is still doing great things in his life. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. He has taken regular anger management courses – and he is actually learning to hold his temper. He has a job. He has a place to stay. He is starting to eat healthy. He is keeping active. He is going to a church. He knows Jesus now. He was keeping in touch with me and he is keeping in touch others. Last I heard from him, he is now and still part of a community of believers. He is praying and he is being blessed. As He is spending time with God, God is changing him from the inside out. Of the many people we worked with in the years I was involved with this program his story was more the rule than the exception and He was indeed, Philippians 4:8, concentrating on “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” For we are all primarily imitators not innovators and my friend is being an imitator of Christ and as he is, God is indeed transforming his life. Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’. And as we are, God will indeed transform even our lives from the inside out as well.

 

Let us pray.

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{1} 1 Corinthians 9:24-26a, 10:1-33; Galatians 5:16, 22-25; Ephesians 4:31-5:2a; Philippians 2:3-4, 3:14: Stuck on Hamster Holiness. (https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2025/06/1-corinthians-924-26a-101-33-galatians.html)

{2} Galatians 5:15-21, Ephesians 4:26-32, Philippians 2:14-16: Green Grenade. (https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2025/06/galatians-515-21-ephesians-426-32.html)  Gerry Fostaty, As You Were: The Tragedy at Valcartier (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions, 2011).

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[1] Kevin Cameron, Violence Threat Assessment (VTRA) Level One Training Guide (Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response: 2011), 38.

[2] Cf. Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1989 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 10), S. 144

[3] Donald Guthrie, Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1990 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 14), S. 164: "Whenever men waste time on trivialities they merit the same condemnation. But the more serious aspect is the effect upon others, for this method of futile argument only ruins those who listen."

[4] Kevin Cameron, Violence Threat Assessment (VTRA) Level One Training Guide (Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response: 2011), 38.

[5] Cf. Ralph P. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1987 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 11), S. 179

[6] A. Skevington Wood, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Ephesians/Exposition of Ephesians/III. Practice: The Application to Christian Life (4:1-6:20)/C. Christian Behavior Patterns (4:25-5:2), Book Version: 4.0.2: "Paul invites his readers to imitate God. What follows elucidates his meaning. A child will show himself to be a true child by wanting to grow up like his father. In the same way, God's precious `children (tekna, those born from him) will be eager to copy him, as he enables them. This was the teaching of Jesus himself."

Devotion 2.14/66: 2 Timothy 1:8: Unashamed

Presented to River Street Cafe, 13 May 2016

by Captain Michael Ramsay

Read 2 Timothy 1:6-8

When Christ returns it will be like a thief in the night. The time and hour we don`t know but we do know the end is coming and then some will go off to eternal happiness and some to weeping and gnashing of teeth. To know this is good news, believe it or not.

It is like disaster relief work: I have done a lot of this. A few years ago I helped in the aftermath of a hurricane. The good news is, like natural disasters in general and like when the hurricane struck Galveston Island in particular, was that even though people chose to stay behind and perish, even though we met, spoke to and prayed with people whose family members chose to reject salvation from the hurricane, people knew it was coming; they had a choice and as a result thousands of people were saved.

Can you imagine if the news announcers were so ashamed of the fact the hurricane was coming that they didn’t share the information? Can you imagine if the meteorologists were so ashamed of the fact that they did not know the exact hour the hurricane was going to strike that they didn’t tell anybody? Can you imagine if your neighbour knew the hurricane was coming and she evacuated but she never told you because she was ashamed that she couldn’t explain exactly what, why, where, how, and when the hurricane was coming? Can you imagine the horror as you look up to see your life being swept away – and no one ever told you how to be saved because they were ashamed?

Well, an eschatological hurricane, ‘the end’, is coming and it is a lot more dangerous than a temporal hurricane. There are people in this city here right now who have no idea that the end is coming. There are people out there right now who are lost and no one is pointing them to salvation.

So let us do that. Today let us be like the rescue workers who go around pointing people to safety. None of us know when our –or anyone else`s- lives are going to end. We may be taken tomorrow. None of us know when the Lord is returning and bringing with him the end to our world. But, like the weatherman watching the storm, we do know that the things of this earth are going to pass away and it is our job to share with everyone we meet the good news of the way to salvation so that they do not need to perish but instead can experience the full power of God for Salvation.

It is our responsibility to share the Gospel for the Gospel is the power of God for all to be saved both now and forever. To this end then, I encourage us all to look for opportunities to share the good news of salvation in the upcoming weeks here so that all of us here may turn to God and experience the full power of His Salvation.

2 Timothy 4:1-5: Share the Good News

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 20 Nov. 2011.

By Captain Michael Ramsay

Paul gives us some sage advice in this pericope so I thought that I would say some wisdom that was imparted to me this week….

q       War doesn’t determine whose right…only whose left

q       To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism, to steal ideas from many people is research

q       If I agreed with you…we’d both be wrong.

q       Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be

q       The last thing I want to do is hurt you…but it is on my list.

q       You don’t need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice

q       A bus station is where the bus stops; a train station is where the train stops; on my desk I have a work station

q       When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

q       Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

    

Let’s see what wisdom Paul has for us today. There are two thoughts in this pericope that we will concentrate on today: Verse 2a, “Preach the Word; be prepared in and out of season” and Verse 3, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine…

To be blunt: this time is now. In this country we are no longer putting up with sound doctrine. We have spoken many times from the pulpit about how people’s religious freedoms in this country are being quickly eroded. People in Ontario have been arrested for praying in public meetings. In BC, teachers at one time were not only told not to mention Christ in the classroom but they were even told not to even mention Christmas. We have also seen Gideon Bibles removed from many locations around our country and even in our own province. Canada is discriminating more and more against Christianity. That’s not the worst of it. Last week we listed a number of Christian churches that no longer put up with sound doctrine or uphold the traditional value of the Scriptures. And I have heard many Christians here do the same thing in their lives. Here’s one more line, like the ones I read earlier, at the beginning of our time today, that exemplifies this idea: ‘I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way…so I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.’ It is too bad but I think a lot of us Christians can be tempted to act this way from time to time. We know what is right, but then we do whatever we want anyway…and then we stop reading our Bible and praying all together, so that we don’t even have to hear the helpful, sound doctrine. Verse 3, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” And look at how we spend our time. Who and what are we gathering around ourselves? Who or what do we spend more time with, God and the Bible or TV? What our we filling our minds with? Who or what do we spend more time with, God and the Bible or internet? What our we filling our minds with? Who or what do we spend more time with, God and the Bible or coffee house gossip? What are we filling our minds with – sound doctrine or whatever tickles our ears?

I have spoken quite a bit about this kind of thing over my time here – including the last couple of weeks - so I won’t dwell on it too much now. Let’s move onto the other important piece of wisdom for us here today and that is to preach both in and out of season. This means to always be prepared to preach the gospel. We have been spending a couple of weeks studying this letter of 2 Timothy, so I want to review a little bit. Here is a mini-test. (Answers below):[1]

1. Who wrote this letter (2 Timothy)?
2. To whom did he write it?
3. Where were the people who received the letter?
4. Where was the person when he wrote the letter?
5. When would the author leave his present location?

Paul when he writes this letter, telling people to always be prepared to preach ‘in and out of season’, is in prison because he has been preaching. Rome at this time was having their own War on Terror where, not unlike the War on Terror today, they were scooping up their adversaries –both real and imagined- and putting them in jail. Serious fires in Rome provided all the excuse they needed to round up all the Christians who were preaching ‘in and out of season’, blame them for fires, conspiracies, terrorism, and put them in jail. Paul was caught in the middle of this first century War on Terror.

This is important: Paul, when he is writing this letter that we are looking at today, Paul is in prison and Paul is about to be executed by his own government for preaching ‘in and out of season.’ and Paul, when this is happening, is writing to his friends in Ephesus and what is he telling them? Is he telling them, “Shhh… keep quiet; don’t let anyone know you are a Christians or this could happen to you? (No) Is Paul telling them ‘Disband the church, flee for your lives, go into hiding so you don’t wind up in jail awaiting the death sentence to be carried out like me?’ (No) Is he telling them to live a good life but to just keep their religion private because it is only your personal relationship with Christ that matters? (No) Is Paul telling them to just keep quiet, live a good life, don’t tell anyone about Jesus –or you’ll be killed and them what good will you do them? (No)  Today we hear people say tall these kinds of things, don’t we? We hear as reason for not telling people about Jesus: ‘We wouldn’t want to offend anyone’ or ‘I’m too scarred’ or ‘I don’t want to impose my beliefs on anyone else’ but these aren’t Christian statements. Paul, even when he is about to be executed via capital punishment for preaching the Word, he is not only continuing to do so but he is encouraging his closest friends to the same. Paul is telling them, regardless of the circumstances and even though there will be suffering attached to it, we should preach in and out of season. We should always be prepared to preach, even if it costs us everything.

This is important. This is one of the key parts of Christianity. Do we believe in Christ or not? The gospel in a nutshell: the world as we know it is fading away. Until Christ returns, we are all going to die. But we don’t all need to perish. We don’t all need to suffer separation from God forever. The word ‘gospel’ actually means ‘good news’. Christianity is supposed to be good news. It is not supposed to be some selfish or private religion; it is instead good news and good news is meant to be shared. This good news is best summed up, I think in John 3:16 -17: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (NKJV).’ This is good news. Remember that Paul is condemned to death by capital punishment here as he is writing this letter to Timothy but the good news is, John 3:17, ‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (NKJV).’ This is good news: that we can live forever with Christ and it is so important to Paul that he is even willing to die so that even more people can live. We have just come off of Remembrance Day here where we remember the number of people who risked their life and limb so that we could have the choice and the chance to live. This is what Christ did, he lived and died and rose again so that we can do the same. This is what Paul is encouraging us towards. The gospel of Mathew, 13:44-46 records about the value of this good news, this eternal salvation, pertaining to the Kingdom of Heaven:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

   “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The Apostle Paul here has given away his freedom and even his life to gain this eternal life and share it with everyone he can. He knows what Jesus tells us, Mark 8:35: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35, cf. Matthew 16:25, Luke 9:12, 17:23) And, Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

We can have eternal life. We don’t need to perish. All we need to do is Romans 10:9: “… confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This is what Paul couldn’t keep quiet about. This is what Paul was willing to give up his life for. I look at the good news and sharing the good news like this:

It is like when I went to help out after Hurricane Ike struck Galveston Island a couple of years ago. Even though 100 people chose to stay behind and perish, even though we met with, spoke with and prayed with people whose family members chose to reject salvation from the hurricane. The people all knew it was coming; they had a choice and as a result thousands of others were saved.

Can you imagine if the news announcers were so ashamed of the fact  that the hurricane was coming that they didn’t share information that it was coming? Can you imagine if the meteorologists were so embarrassed of the fact that they did not know the exact time and hour the hurricane was going to strike that they didn’t tell anybody? Can you imagine if your neighbour knew that the hurricane was coming and she evacuated but she never told you because she was afraid she couldn’t explain exactly what, why, where, how, and when the hurricane was coming? Can you imagine the horror as you look up to see your life being swept away – and no one ever told you how to be saved?

Well, there is no need to be ashamed of the Gospel: an eschatological hurricane is coming and it is a lot more dangerous than Hurricane Ike. There are people in this city here today who are sleeping in their beds or watching their TVs right now who have no idea that the end is coming. There are people who are lost and just waiting for us to point them to salvation.

So today, let us do that. Today let us be like the rescue workers who go around pointing people to safety. None of us know when our lives are going to end. We may be taken tomorrow. None of us know when the Lord is returning and bringing with him the end to our world. But, like the weatherman watching the storm, we do know that the things of this earth are going to pass away (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33, Revelation 21:1) and it is our job to share with everyone we meet the good news of the way to salvation so that they do not need to perish but instead can experience the full power of God for Salvation.

It is our responsibility to share the Gospel for, indeed, the Gospel is the power of God for all to be saved both now and forever. To this end then, I encourage us all to look for opportunities to share the good news of salvation in the upcoming weeks here so that all of us here may turn to God and experience the full power of His Salvation.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

   

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[1] Answers to quiz: 1) Paul, 2) Timothy (and his mother and grandmother in Ephesus), 3) Ephesus, 4) a dungeon in Rome 5) Only upon his execution for a capital crime

2 Timothy 3:12-17: Lest We Forget

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 13 Nov. 2011

By Captain Michael Ramsay (Padre, Royal Canadian Legion #56)

                 Recessional

God of our fathers, known of old—
Lord of our far-flung battle line—
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
 
The tumult and the shouting dies—
The Captains and the Kings depart—
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or [other] breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.

                 - Rudyard Kipling (1897)

Lest we forget, lest we forget. Today’s passage, 2 Timothy 3:12-17 is near and dear to my heart. Paul reminds us that we should not forget: We should not forget the Scriptures. We have just come off the Remembrance Day ceremonies in this community where we intentionally recall the horrors of war that our soldiers suffered through on our behalf. Our soldiers: many were young people who headed oversees in aid of our friends and allies and many of these young people wound up laying down their lives for these friends (cf. John 15:13). Lest we forget, lest we forget...

When we forget the horrors of war, we are more likely to repeat the events that lead to such tragic large-scale losses of life. In the world today we seem to be forgetting. Even our new veterans aren’t joining the Royal Canadian Legions; they are isolating themselves, thus being removed from that common community. George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”[1] Canada, from the Suez Crisis until almost the end of the 20^th Century, was a peacekeeping nation. Now as the veterans of WWI are gone and the veterans of WWII are being regularly promoted to glory indeed I fear we are forgetting the peace that they fought to secure. Without remembrance we forget. Lest we forget, lest we forget...

199 years ago on November 11^th, arguably the most important battle in all of Canadian history occurred. Can anyone tell me what that was? The Battle of Crysler’s Farm: says military historian Donald Graves, “That battle spelled the end of the most serious American attempt to conquer Canada during the War of 1812.” Despite being the site of a true turning point in Canadian history, the Crysler’s Farm battlefield -- along with the graves of hundreds of soldiers from both sides of the fight -- was flooded during the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The destruction of the battlefield, Mr. Graves lamented makes it “difficult, if not impossible, to stand on that mound and get any sense of the ground as it was in 1813.”[2] George Santayana said, “[O]nly the dead have seen the end of war.” [3]  Lest we forget, lest we forget…

Just after Remembrance Day here, it is sad that we often seem to have forgotten those soldiers who died hoping we would live in peace with our neighbours: since the 1990s Canada has been involved in a number of aggressive – sometimes even illegal – military adventures. As bad as this may be [or may not be; depending upon your political perspective, I suppose], it is even worse when we forget what the Lord has done. Lest we forget, lest we forget…

The Scriptures are a record of what God has done for creation. The Scriptures are a record of what God has done for us. The Scriptures are a record of what God has done through creation. The Scriptures are a record of what God has done through us. The Scriptures show God’s grace and God’s power. The Scriptures show God’s love and God’s sovereignty. We should not forget this. 2 Timothy 3:12 records Paul’s repeated reminder to Timothy and the church in Ephesus that “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” It has always been this way. Christians are the followers of the one, true God. These true followers of the one, true God have experienced suffering since the beginning. Paul earlier in this very letter of 2 Timothy encourages us to join him in suffering for the Gospel (2Timothy 1:8). Let us not forget this. Lest we forget, lest we forget…

Remember Abraham left his home for a land that his descendants would inherit hundreds of years after his death (Genesis 11-15). Moses brought Israel, following God, through plagues and famine to the precipice of the Promised Land (Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 1, 34). King David saw his own sons turn against him and even killed, as he was told that a descendant of his would sit on God’s throne forever (2 Samuel 7). David’s own grandson saw that kingdom torn from him, never to be fully returned until the return of Christ (1 Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 10). Christ has now ascended the throne and when he comes back, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Isaiah 45:43, Romans 14:11). Let us not forget this. If humanity forgets this, what a blessing and what peace we will forfeit. Lest we forget, lest we forget…

Jesus wishes that none of us would perish (2 Peter 3:9; cf. John 3:16, 10:28). He wishes us to instead be perfect as he is perfect and holy as he is holy (Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7; Matthew 5:48; 1 Peter 1:13-15; cf. Romans 8:9-17; Hebrews 10:19-40, 11-12; 2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28, Hebrews 11-12 cf. also TSA doc. 7, doc.10 and TSA SB 281). The Scriptures contain the record of that longing of God to be in a fully reconciled love relationship with all of us (cf. TSA doc. 6). Scriptures contain a record of that Gospel of Salvation both now and forever that God offers to each of us, and for which many generations of people all over the world have suffered. Scriptures record that ultimate victory that the faithful will celebrate with Christ both now and forevermore at the resurrection (cf. Romans 13:11-14; cf. also TSA SB 990).[4] This hope is vital to remember for it changes everything. Let us not forget. Oh, lest we forget, lest we forget…

These Scriptures and this Gospel is more than just a remembrance. 2 Timothy 3:15b-17: The Holy Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Lest we forget…

The Salvation Army’s spiritual grandfather, John Wesley rightly put a strong emphasis on the Scriptures,[5] he said: “I want to know one thing - the way to heaven, how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach me the way, for this very end He came from heaven; He hath written it down in a book. O give me that Book! At any price, give me the Book of God. I have it; here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri!”[6] Noting that all scripture is given by God (2 Tim 3:16-17), Wesley reasoned that the Scriptures are infallible and thus profitable for each of us to engage[7] and indeed as “a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Day-star arise in your hearts.’ (2 Peter 1:19)”, if we want to share in this experience Wesley argues that we should search the Scriptures as a means of grace.[8]

The Scriptures were of the utmost importance to all the Church Reformers. Ulrich Zwingli, the spiritual grandfather of Reformed Theology – at the forefront of the Protestant Reformation - in his work, On True and False Religion, states that the true source of all religion is the Word of God. “The Reformation as a whole was based on this principle, at least in the Reformer’s intentions and any study of Zwingli’s theology ought therefore to begin with his understanding of the Word.”[9] He said, “there is no law or word that will give greater light to the inward man than the Word of God.”[10] He insisted that the word of man must always be subject to the Word of God rather than the other way around[11] as he perceived was happening in his day and which can certainly be argued is happening in ours. We must remember, only humankind can come to know God and oneself through the Word of God; it is the Word of God, which sets us apart from the plants and the animals.[12] Let we forget. Lest we forget…

Like Wesley and like Zwingli, The Salvation Army holds a very important role for the Scriptures in our theological tradition. Our very first doctrine –my personal favourite- reads, “We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.” We hold that they are the primary authority, the ‘final court of appeal’ for the Christian that supersedes all other claims and that “as we search the Scriptures, we enter into dialogue with them and experience the transforming power of the message.”[13] Lest we forget; lest we forget…

This is – or should be – I believe, true of all Christians but sadly I think many have forgotten. We have heard of denominations recently in this country and the US arguably tossing aside the role of the Scriptures. Some who have been accused of this recently are the American Baptist Conference, the Episcopalians; and in Canada, the Lutherans, some Anglicans, and most infamously the United Church of Canada. It seems the role of the Scriptures in all our churches has been diminishing; is it any wonder that the role of Scriptures in our society is diminishing? Canada was founded upon Psalm 72. Now Canada does not read the Scriptures in the public schools and indeed the Gideons, who have handed out New Testaments for generations of students, are now banned from distributing the Scriptures to schools in many provinces in our country. Church and State are united in this, it seems: both appear to be neglecting the Word of God. We seem to be forgetting. Lest we forget, lest we forget…

What about us? How many of us spend time reading the Bible on our own? How long does it take to read some of the letters in the New Testament? An hour or less?  Not very long. How many of us bother to set that time aside? We can easily just read a New Testament book or an Old Testament story while we are having our morning coffee or our afternoon tea.  It doesn’t take long. How many of us read our Bibles with our children, grand children, or great-grand children as the case might be? It needn’t take very long and the blessings are eternal and amazing. And if we don’t share this history of salvation with our family, then just think of all the blessings that they will have forfeited without even knowing it (cf. TSA SB 273, 675).[14] Oh what a tragedy; many seem to be forgetting. Oh, lest we forget, lest we forget…

2 Timothy 3:14-17: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:15 - the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation. Romans 1:16 records that the Gospel itself “…is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ” 2 Timothy 3:15: The Scriptures are able to make us wise for Salvation.

Susan has shared her testimony here before. I won’t retell her whole story for you now - that is her story to tell – other than to remind you that as a university student she came to know the Lord through reading the Scriptures to prove those Christians wrong.  Lest we forget the power of God for Salvation through His Holy Scriptures; lest we forget…

Romans 1:16, the Gospel “…is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. ” 2 Timothy 3:15: The Scriptures are able to make us wise for Salvation. This is what they have done for Larry and this is what they will do for us. Those who forget the miracles of the past are vulnerable to miss the blessings of the future: Lest we forget the power of God for Salvation for all who believe through His Holy Scripture. Lest we forget…

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] George Santayana, Reason in Common Sense, (The Life of Reason, Vol. 1: 1905). Cited from ‘George Santayana’ in Wikipedea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana

[2] Donald Graves, Cited by Randy Boswell, in ‘Nov. 11: the day Canadians repelled an American invasion, Historians regret so few are aware that Canada was saved by 800 men 190 years ago’, (The Ottawa Citizen: Wednesday, November 12, 2003) Accessed via Havelock Enterprises: http://www.islandnet.com/~havelock/FPNov11AmericanInvasion.html

[3] George Santayana “Soliloquy 25 in Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies, (1922). Cited from ‘George Santayana’ in Wikipedea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana

[4] James D.G. Dunn, The 1st and 2nd Letter to Timothy and the Letter to Titus, (NIB XI: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2000), 850: “The point is not to be missed here is that the reference to the traditions of Paul’s mission work is sandwiched between references to the Biblical precedent from Exodus 7 (3:8-9) and the fulsome affirmation of the role of Scripture (3:14-17). The implication is that the traditions of Paul (now preserved in Acts), like the traditions of Jesus’ teaching (1 Timothy 5:18, now preserved in the gospels), already carry a paraenetical authority similar to that of the Hebrew (or Greek) Scriptures.”

[5]Captain Michael Ramsay, John Wesley’s Means of Grace compared with Ulrich Zwingli as seen through a Salvationist Lens. Presented to William and Catherine Booth College, October 2008. Available online: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsay_History_TSA.htm#Wesley1

[6] John Wesley, in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. (London: John Mason, 1829), Thomas Jackson, editor, V:ii,iii. Cited in Arnett, William M. “John Wesley and the Bible,” Wesleyan Theological Journal 3, no. 1, (Spring 1968): http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/01-05/03-1.htm

[7] John Wesley, The Means of Grace, III.8-9

[8] John Wesley, The Means of Grace, III.10

[9] Courvoisier, Zwingli: A Reformed Theologian, (Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, 1963), 27.

[10] Ulrich Zwingli, Clarity and Certainty of the Word of God (Zurich: 1524), cited in Bromiley, 67.

[11] W.P. Stephens, The Theology of Huldrych Zwingli. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), 52-53.

[12] Courvoisier, Zwingli: A Reformed Theologian, (Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, 1963), 28.

[13] The General of The Salvation Army. Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine: (London: Salvation Books, 1998), 8-9.

[14] Ralph Earle, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Timothy/Exposition of 2 Timothy/VIII. Persecution and Steadfastness (3:10-17)/B. The Adequacy of Scripture (3:14-17), Book Version: 4.0.2: "This was Timothy's heritage. 'The holy Scriptures' is ta hiera grammata  (lit., 'the sacred writings'), an expression found in both Philo (Life of Moses, iii.39) and Josephus (Antiq. x.10.4) for the OT, which is what Timothy was taught as a child." Cf. re. the inclusion of Jesus' and Paul's teaching in this category, James D.G. Dunn, The 1st and 2nd Letter to Timothy and the Letter to Titus, (NIB XI: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2000), 850.

[15] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 21:23-32: Help Wanted! Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army on 01 August 2010 and to The Salvation Army’s College For Officer Training on 15 November 2006.

Ephesians 5:1 (Phil 4:8, 2 Tim 2:16,17): Imitators Not Innovators

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 06 Nov. 2011

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 22 June 2025

By Captain Michael Ramsay (Chaplain, RCMP F Division)

This is the 2011 version. To view the 2025 version click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2025/06/ephesians-51-phil-48-2-tim-21617.html

 

Galatians 5:19-25: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

            But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

 2 Timothy 2:14-16:  Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Philippians 4:8-9: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Ephesians 5:1: Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children…

The Message today is entitled ‘Imitators not Innovators’ and its theme runs through the entire New Testament. This week I was on a couple of courses. Monday and Tuesday of this week, I was part of a class being trained on Violence Threat Risk Assessment by J. Kevin Cameron; he is the fellow who led the crisis response team following the 1999 school shooting in Taber, Alberta. I was there with many high school teachers and school personnel, the Fire Chief, City RCMP sergeant and others. Thursday and Friday of this week, I was taking ICS 300 and there were the Fire and the RCMP personnel again. (This course was taught by Fire Chief Denis Pilon.) Incident Command System 300 is a course that teaches different groups how to interact in an emergency disaster. Recently The Salvation Army has assigned me some new responsibilities in that area in the southern province so I thought it best to keep on top of these things. It is important to practice and think about what skills we will need to survive and thrive in an emergency.  Philippians 4:8 records, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” This is important because we tend to imitate what we surround ourselves with.  2 Timothy 2:16-17a, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene…” Kevin Cameron of the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment said that the vast majority of people are imitators not innovators.[1] Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’ (cf. Matthew 5:44–45, 48; Luke 6:36; 1 Peter 2:21).[2]

Let me share with you information from our course about some of the things that the children in our schools are imitating. There is a 1999 movie starring Brad Pitt called Fight Club. The premise is that people get together and organize secret fighting matches between combatants. Did you know that, among other things, from this movie that adults and youth across this country and the USA have started setting up fight clubs? We watched Youtube clips of kids, some young and some obviously not fighters, being egged on into brutally beating each other in front of the camera cell phones. We saw one clip of girls surrounding another and even kicking her in the mouth when she was down. The whole time people, instead of helping, people have their phone cameras on, and they post these scenes on the Internet. As this goes on-line it becomes even scarier because it can perpetuate the violence cycle even further and faster because indeed most people don’t create; most are imitators not innovators.

There is even worse than this still. We saw one clip of two boys punching, kicking, and fighting each other in the classroom, being videoed and the images put on-line. At the end of this scene you can see the students watching and involved: they are quickly running away. What do you think happened? Why were the kids in the classroom running away? The teacher came? No. The Vice Principal came – the teacher was in the classroom filming this event. The teacher set up a fight between two of his students and put it on-line. This is reminiscent of the two teachers who not that long ago thought that it would be appropriate to partake in a lap-dance in front of the student body in a Winnipeg school. These students and teachers were imitating what they have seen on TV and the Internet and then they put this on the Internet for others to imitate – the cycle of inappropriate behaviour and the cycle of violence spreads quickly.[3] 2 Timothy 2:16-17a, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene…” (See also. Romans 1:20–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; Galatians 5:19–21); Philippians 4:8 records, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”

Cameron says, “Most people are imitators not innovators.” We are all susceptible to our environment (cf. Romans 1:20–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; Galatians 5:19–21; cf. also Matthew 5:44–45, 48; Luke 6:36; 1 Peter 2:21). Especially, one deemed an empty vessel: “A person who is not connected to a healthy mature adult will search for people or things to identify with. A person who feels empty will try to fill themselves up with something [sic]. In VTRA [Violence Threat Risk Assessment] the question is, ‘What are they filling themselves up with?’”[4] I think most of us have gone through times in our lives when we would fit the definition of an ‘empty vessel’ – someone searching for something to fill ourselves up with (We used to call this a ‘God-shaped void’) - what happens when we find something other than God to fill the void in ourselves with? When searching for something for which to fill ourselves, most people are imitators not innovators – so who and what then are we imitating?[5]

Did you know that most school shooters spend a great deal of time researching other school shooters and how they do it before they commit their crimes? This is how they try to fill the void. This is what they seek to imitate. The school shooting in Taber, Alberta happened only weeks after the Columbine shootings in the United States of America. The largest spree of mass shootings in the US happened after CNN reported on the 1992 Dawson College shooting in Montreal, BQ. People who were near the edge, looking for something with which to fill their painful emptiness with saw on the news what happened in Montreal, picked up their own guns and imitated what they saw on CNN. Most of these empty vessel shootings, by the way, were committed by men not boys; adults not children. Most people – adults and children alike - are imitators not innovators; Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” Concentrating on, Philippians 4:8, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.”

I saw a clip in our Threat Assessment course from the video game Grand Theft Auto – I’m not sure which version. In this video game, the character you play not only steals cars as the name suggests. The characters look realistic and one can make his/her character have relations with a prostitute and then beat her to death. Did you know that some parents have let their children as young as six years old play this game? Parents have let their children’s friends play this game when they come over to their house. One lady, who heard this information at a course, volunteered that her husband plays this game with her child. This is scary because most of us are imitators not innovators. We can only imitate what we see and this is the kind of stuff our post-Christian North American society is saying we should be able to fill our minds with. Is it any wonder that North America has more mass murderers than the rest of the world combined? Timothy 2:16-17a, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene…” Most people are imitators not innovators; therefore, Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.”[6]

I think sometimes we think that some of the things that we see on TV and some of the things that we do on the Internet and in video games, they can’t harm us. I think we can be tricked into thinking that they are harmless. You have all heard, I’m sure that many people have watched the movies we mentioned, many people have played the video games we mentioned who did not turn into the murderers that I was studying this week. This is important: these games, these TV shows, the Internet and even news casts – they don’t force people to kill themselves and other people. What they do is they push people, who are struggling to fill the empty vessel within themselves, over the edge. People are imitators not innovators and the only things they can imitate are what they see. Like we said off the top, most school shooters spend a lot of time researching how their predecessors committed similar violent crimes. People are imitators. What are we as a culture giving them to imitate and, we as Christians, what are we imitating and what imitating are we modelling for our other brothers and sisters? Before I quit drinking to be a soldier in The Salvation Army, I can’t tell you the number of times that I was involved in barroom ministry that by the end of the evening turned into considerably more barroom than ministry, if you know what I mean. Most people are imitators not innovators; therefore, Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”

Sometimes too do we think that no one will see us if we are at home supposedly by ourselves partaking in a little self-indulgence in some of these things that we are talking about today? In the other course I took this week, the ICS 300 course, we were reminded that nothing we say or do is private. Media can zoom in on us from a great distance away these days and share what we say and do with the whole world. The fire chief told us a story about how one fire fighter told another walking out of a fire that he thought they should have used a different sized hose than the one they did. A TV camera picked this up from a distance, read their lips, and then someone successfully sued the department for using the wrong hose – which they didn’t, by the way. How much more can are our own actions viewed by God our father too? If the CBC can pick you up from a mile away how much better range does our Lord have? He can pick up even what is in our thoughts and think of the pain you cause him if you choose to fill yourself with all of this stuff that is harmful to yourself and others. Most people are imitators not innovators. Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”

I have two or three more quick stories to share with you today. We were told this one story of an imitator in these school shootings. He walked into his favourite teacher’s classroom, climbed up on a desk, and pointed the loaded gun at the class with his finger on the trigger. At this point, instead of panicking, instead of diving under desks or heading for the door, the teacher who was standing beside the armed student, said, “Listen up class, I think John has something he wants to tell us.” Listen up class; I think John has something he wants to tell us. At this point the boy broke down and cried. Philippians 4:8: “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’

God saved them. God is the only one who could save them and God is the only one who can save us (cf. Acts 4:12, Philippians 3:7-11). In the ICS 300 course we heard an audio clip from a six-alarm fire in Toronto. At one point a fire fighter is trapped on a floor when his oxygen tank runs out. He has no air. He had no expectation of survival. He calls for help. He collapses on the floor. For no apparent reason the elevator, which has another fire fighter in it, opens directly on that floor. The fire fighter in the elevator notices his colleague collapsed as his feet and drags him into the elevator and away to safety. The official line is that we don’t know how it happened that he was saved. The truth is, we all know how he was saved. God saved him. God is the only one who could save them and God is the only one who can save us. Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’

I have one more story about someone who is more and more every day imitating our saviour. We at The Salvation Army in Swift Current here are developing a programme to help people who are sent to prison from our community to transition back into this community. I have one friend who I sat in court with through his trial, visited in the cells, kept in touch with when he was away in prison and made contact with immediately after he was released. I spoke to him just the other night. Do you know what the Lord is doing in his life? He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. He has taken not one but two anger management courses; he was telling me an anecdote of how he held his tempter in a serious situation the other day. He has a job. He has a place to stay. He is starting to eat healthy. He is keeping active. He is going to a church. He is keeping in touch with me and he is keeping in touch another pastor in town. He is getting tapped into a community of believers. He is praying and he is being blessed. As He is spending time with God, God is changing him from the inside out. He is indeed, Philippians 4:8, concentrating “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” For we are all primarily imitators not innovators and my friend is being an imitator of Christ and as he is, God is indeed transforming his life. Ephesians 5:1 says, ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children’. And as we are, God will indeed transform our lives from the inside out as well.

Let us pray.

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[1] Kevin Cameron, Violence Threat Assessment (VTRA) Level One Training Guide (Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response: 2011), 38.

[2] Cf. Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1989 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 10), S. 144

[3] Donald Guthrie, Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1990 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 14), S. 164: "Whenever men waste time on trivialities they merit the same condemnation. But the more serious aspect is the effect upon others, for this method of futile argument only ruins those who listen."

[4] Kevin Cameron, Violence Threat Assessment (VTRA) Level One Training Guide (Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response: 2011), 38.

[5] Cf. Ralph P. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1987 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 11), S. 179

[6] A. Skevington Wood, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Ephesians/Exposition of Ephesians/III. Practice: The Application to Christian Life (4:1-6:20)/C. Christian Behavior Patterns (4:25-5:2), Book Version: 4.0.2: "Paul invites his readers to imitate God. What follows elucidates his meaning. A child will show himself to be a true child by wanting to grow up like his father. In the same way, God's precious `children (tekna, those born from him) will be eager to copy him, as he enables them. This was the teaching of Jesus himself."