Impersonating the Savior

Is it any wonder that so few of us would ever say, I will be willing then to impersonate the Savior. I will be willing to impersonate the suffering sacrifice.

But is that not what Paul has called us to? I urge you brethren, I beg you by the mercies of our living God that you present your bodies a living and holy what? Sacrifice. To say I will share His grief. I will respond to my sorrows like He did. I will bear the misunderstanding of others like He did.

I will embrace my cross as He did. In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul tells you to be an imitator of God. What does that mean? Well, there are several practical implications of that principle. The one Stephen will focus on today is that a commitment to imitate Christ helps you navigate the gray issues of life. Those areas where God didn't provide black and white definitive answers.

Here on Wisdom for the Heart, we're in a series called Gray Matters. So far, you've learned several principles to guide you toward making wise decisions. Today, Stephen adds one more, the principle of imitation. The strategy behind a brand, which we hear a lot about, is to find some way to make a product or a service memorable. So a cow standing on its hind legs holding a placard has won the imagination of millions as it begs the public to eat more what?

Eat more chicken. And Chick-fil-A sales have gone since they started what they call the cow campaign from 500 million to $1.7 billion thanks to a cow. Five years ago, hardly any of us would have known what Aflac was.

But you know the brand. In fact, it's interesting, their marketing agency for the corporation had the courage to tell corporate headquarters that their company name sounded like a duck. Aflac's CEO told the agency, and I quote this Wall Street Journal article who said, I don't care what you do as long as you get people to know the name of this company.

Since that campaign, it's now a household name and just about every one of you laughed as soon as I said the name and they are laughing all the way to the bank. In the advertising world, this is called the power of the brand. Something or someone representing a product or a service identifies the public with that service in a creative way. So whenever you see that person or that symbol or that animal or you hear that song or that jingle or you see that logo, you immediately think of the product. I mean, imagine, who would have ever thought that a cow would get you to associate your thinking with chicken or a duck with insurance? The trouble comes when our actions don't reflect the product that we're supposed to represent. I thought this is interesting. A Boston Globe ran a brief piece of ironic humor where the two things just didn't quite match up. The annual meeting of the American Heart Association, which is now joined by 300,000 doctors and nurses and researchers in the medical community, many of them met at their annual meeting in Atlanta recently and one of the key issues was fat filled fast food like bacon cheeseburgers and double quarter pounders. And when one cardiologist was interviewed about where he had been eating lunch because it didn't seem to be matching up because he was down the street, you know, where fast food asked whether or not he thought he was setting a bad example, he responded, not really.

I made sure I took off my name tag before I went in. Well, the apostle Paul has told the believer we are to be in a very real sense advertisements for the kingdom of heaven. We are to be from head to toe kingdom people. Paul said, wear the clothing of the chosen people of God in Colossians three with compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience. He wrote to Titus that we are to adorn our lives that is we're aware, the brand of God's family, as it were the doctrine of God our Savior, in every respect, which instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly and righteously and godly. He told the Ephesians we are to put on as it were clothing, the new self, which will be marked, you can take that which will wear the brand of holiness and truth.

These are the brands of the beloved. How valuable are we as the advertising agency of heaven. One of the best ways to reveal the gospel and advertise for heaven is to reveal the character of the king of heaven. Earlier in Romans chapter 13, Paul challenged the believer to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, wear him as it were, wear the identifiable brand of his character.

And that's saying a lot where the logo of the kingdom one of the best ways to advertise that for Christ would be to follow John's instruction in his third letter, when he wrote, Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, that is don't represent don't advertise for evil, but for that which is good. Third, john 11, don't copy or impersonate evil people. Paul wrote to the Corinthians with that same thought only turned it around in a positive way. And he said, be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. First Corinthians 11, one, he went so far as to write to the Ephesians in chapter five, verse one, therefore, be imitators of God.

It's like ascending here in its magnitude. In other words, if you want to impersonate someone impersonate Paul, go further, imitate Christ, go further, you are in effect imitating the very God that we say is real and living and alive. So in other words, if you want to represent the kingdom, imitate the king.

If you want to advertise for the glory of God, wear the brand of godly behavior. If you want to promote the excellencies of Christ, develop the character of Christ. Now we would all say impersonating our Lord is something we will never perfect.

Notwithstanding, it is our pursuit. And if there is ever a difficult time to model Christ, if there's ever difficulty in impersonating our Lord, it is in regard to treating another person right, even when we've arrived at the conclusion that they are wrong. Within this context, how are we to imitate Christ?

What are the brands of the beloved? Before we dive into Romans chapter 15, I want you to know that even though we've begun a new chapter, the context is still regarding gray matters. And it will continue on until the benediction in verse 13.

So we're going to keep the theme going until we arrive there. Thus far in regards to the treatment of another person, as well as the determination of what is right and wrong in your own life and the Bible isn't really clear or it is inconclusive, we discovered the principle of protection, the principle of reputation, the principle of edification, the principle of consideration, and now the principle of imitation. And from these first few verses that we'll cover today, there are at least four qualities of Christ's character that sort of surface, they bubble up to the surface in this text for us to imitate. First is the quality of supportiveness.

Look at verse one, chapter 15. Now we who are strong, ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength. Let's stop there. You ought to circle or I'd recommend that you do the word ought. Ought.

This is not a suggestion. This is more of an indication of what truly strong believers do. And if you would consider yourself part of the strong company, then this ought is something that you are putting into practice. You who are mature in the faith, you ought to bear along with the weaknesses of others. Don't force them to live your way. Don't force your opinions upon them, even though you may know that as they grow in the Lord, they may very well change.

It's patiently enduring the weaknesses of your brothers and sisters. Did the Lord indeed fulfill that law himself? He certainly did. Watch him as he patiently instructed Peter after Peter blundered and fell. Watch him carefully instruct James and John after the ambition of their hearts was revealed that they wanted the chief seats in the kingdom. Watch him condescend to Thomas who doubted. Watch him even in the upper room with Judas.

If you note the timing of those events, Judas is sitting beside our Lord and he's already received and has jingling in his pouch the 30 pieces of silver. And Jesus calls him friend. Here are the words of Christ from the cross. Forgive them, Father. They don't know what they're doing.

Luke twenty three thirty four. The tense of the verb indicates that Jesus uttered those words not once, but over and over and over and over again from the cross. Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. Listen, as the resurrected Lord enters the room where the disciples are huddled there in fear, having all miserably failed, and he enters through that door that's locked and his first words to them are not the rebuke we would have all expected. His first words to them are peace be with you. You want to impersonate the savior, then imitate this quality of supportiveness. But that's just the beginning. Secondly, imitate the quality of selflessness. Notice the last part of verse one. Let's start at the beginning again. Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. You might make note of that word. Please. Verse two.

It shows up again. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to his edification. The first part of verse three, for even Christ did not please himself. Even Christ, verse three, even Christ did not please himself.

So Paul wrote to the Philippians that stunning description of our Lord's coming to this planet. Although he was in the form of God that is the very nature God, he did not consider equality with God the Father a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself. You could understand that to mean he emptied his hands of divine prerogative, divine right, divine privilege. It doesn't mean he ceased to be deity.

It means he ceased being treated as deity and demanding to be treated as deity. Do you think he pleased himself when he came into this world born of a peasant couple barely eking out in existence? It's as if the triune God held a meeting and made sure they did everything possible to prove that Christ's coming was in no way pleasant, much less pleasing to himself. So he's born in this dugout cavern, the stench of a barnyard around him, without the help of a physician or a midwife, born to an unwed girl who would never live down the accusation of immorality, born to an adopted father, early church leaders said, was a maker of wooden plows. And the only peak you get is the angelic chorus that announces to shepherds who are ceremonially unclean, who can't even testify in a Jewish court that the savior has been born. While we might say we would like to be like Christ, none of us would say we would like to be born like Christ.

We would not say we would like to be born into that. And even the town where he grew up was so nondescript, so unwanted that when one of his disciples-to-be found out that Jesus was from Nazareth, he said, can anything good come out of there? He didn't please himself from the very beginning on through his life. If you'd like to impersonate him, if you'd like to represent him, if you'd like to wear the brand of his kingdom, then imitate the quality of supportiveness, imitate the quality of selflessness. Third, imitate the quality of sacrifice. Notice verse three again, for even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, note this, the reproaches of those who reproached thee fell upon me.

It's fascinating. Here at this point, Paul drops in a quote from Psalm 69. One of those Psalms we call a Messianic Psalm because it's filled with prophecies that Jesus Christ as Messiah will fulfill. The Psalm will tell us, verse four, that the king will be hated without just cause. In verse eight, that he will be rejected by the literal biological sons of his mother, that he will experience the deepest agony any soul can endure with much weeping, verse 10, that he will be made fun of by the people, verse 11, that he will be criticized by the leaders, verse 12, that he will be the subject of perverse songs and mockery by his world, verse 12. So is it true? You know they're true.

Can I rehearse them? Was he hated without a just cause by his enemies? The very first time Jesus Christ opened his mouth to preach, the very first sermon he delivered, the very first exposition of Old Testament scripture, as soon as he finished, the synagogue arose with one furious voice and they led him to a cliff to throw him off.

He miraculously slipped back through them and away. You study the hatred of Christ and it defies logic. When Christ cast out demons, the leaders said, you are empowered by the evil one instead of throwing a party for the deliverance of these men and women.

They hated him so. Was Christ rejected by the biological sons of his mother? According to Mark's gospel, we know that Mary and Joseph had at least six children. The names of four sons and two daughters are recorded for us in Mark chapter six, verse three. Those who would wish to believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary have obvious trouble with this. They will say that these were cousins, but the Greek text is clear.

These are brothers and sisters. We also know that his brothers thought Jesus had lost his mind. John chapter seven, verse five records, not even his brothers, that is his biological half brothers believed in him. They just believed.

I can imagine what it would be like to grow up with someone who's perfect. That would be difficult enough. Every time anything went wrong, Mary would never say, Jesus, did you do that? It was always one of the other brothers. That would be difficult.

He is rejected by his biological siblings. Did David's prophecy come true that the king would experience the deepest agony that any soul could endure and with much weeping? Well, who could doubt that agony in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus underwent such agony of soul that the capillaries underneath his skin burst and his sweat was mixed with blood. The tenses of the verbs there in that scene in the garden indicate that Jesus didn't just kneel and pray, you know, quietly, calmly there by that rock that we all see the picture of. It indicates for us that he literally walked around the garden stumbling and falling and praying and getting up and stumbling and falling and praying and getting up and weeping and stumbling and praying and getting up and weeping with agony, stumbling to his knees and praying.

That's the picture you have. Did his name, as David said, it would become a byword? That's a biblical way of saying a cuss word. Is there any other person you know whose name is used more as a cuss word than our lovely Lord's?

Have you ever heard anybody say, well, Confucius or oh, Buddha. Well, Christ, as David said, be criticized by the leaders of his nation without question. Will the Lord become the subject of perverse songs and mockery? He was then they mocked him even as he was dying, no matter how much you would hate someone. Can you imagine the depth of hatred that would mock and curse someone who is in the midst of dying a painful death?

And yet they did. They stood around him at the cross and they sneered at him and jeered at him and mocked him and said, If you are the Christ, well, then save yourself. Come down off the cross. Hatred defies anything we could imagine. Why the mockery of our lovely Lord? Why to this day are there movies, books and artists who love nothing more than mocking him by him? Now, do we want to get angry and lash back at blasphemy? Do we riot in the streets? Do we take the lives of hostages for such blasphemy against our true and living Lord? No, we understand that the world is blinded by the God of this world. They are blind and wandering around in their arrogant pride. Would you get upset at a blind man who stepped on your foot?

Would you lash back at him? The truth is the hatred of Jesus Christ fulfills the prophecy, among others, of a little psalm tucked away that we've labeled number 69, fulfilled centuries later. Before he ever touched the planet through human birth and form, he was already given sort of a nickname by the prophet Isaiah, the man of what? Sorrows. Is it any wonder that so few of us would ever say I will be willing then to impersonate the Savior? I will be willing to impersonate the suffering sacrifice.

But is that not what Paul has called us to? I urge you, brethren, I beg you by the mercies of our living God that you present your bodies a living and holy what? Sacrifice. To say I will share his grief. I will respond to my sorrows like he did. I will bear the misunderstanding of others like he did. I will embrace my cross as he did. For those who will be the strong ones, then, bearing the burdens of weaker ones, striving for the unity of the body and the edification of the believer, especially in this questionable area of life where the word isn't necessarily clear, we who say we are strong will act like him. We will imitate the quality of supportiveness and selflessness and sacrifice.

Finally, number four, we will imitate the quality of servanthood. Let me just scoot you ahead a verse or two. Look at verse eight.

I might deal with this a little later on, but I wanted to bring this within the theme of this study. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God. Now what you would expect Paul to write is I say that Christ has become the sovereign to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God. Or I say Christ has become the Lord or the master or the king who reigns over the circumcision, the truth of the gospel of God. But no, he has become a servant. This would be shocking to first century ears as Paul connects a title that is reserved for the sovereign successful victorious Lord, Christos. This is the word of the sovereign. This is the title of the one who will come to reign. This is the one who will come and overthrow oppressors and mount the throne of David.

This is the victorious one. He connects. These aren't terms of connection, Christ and servant.

These are contradictions. And yet Christ came and he took on the form of a bondservant, right, and humbled himself even to the point of death. So you want to impersonate the Savior?

Sign up. Play the servant. And you will know that you have a servant's spirit when someone treats you like one.

Then you will know. Paul writes so clearly, none of us can miss this principle of imitation just as Christ did this so we should as well. But those who will, it's so rare to see a demonstration of Christ's character that if anyone practices it around you, you will more than likely never ever forget it. Paul says, this is how you help one another through the fog. Those of you who are believers, stronger, helping the weaker. So the question would be, how do we treat the weak?

I recently read a story that I have tracked down and verified. It was first put into print a few years ago by a rabbi, Brooklyn, New York, about a school, and I'm not sure how to pronounce it, Chush or Chush, I guess if it were in Hebrew. It's a school that caters to learning disabled children. It is formally known as the Jewish Center for Special Education. Some children remain in this center their entire school career.

They are so mentally disabled while others are assimilated back out into the mainstream educational systems. At a fundraising dinner for this school, one of the fathers of one of the mentally disabled children who would never be dismissed from that school until he was just old enough to be released, he delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by those who attended. Listen to his story. One afternoon, Shia and I walked past a park where some boys, Shia and New, were playing baseball. Shia asked, do you think they will let me play? The article says Shia's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But he understood how important it would be to be chosen and so he agreed. Shia's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shia could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates who offered none.

Then he simply took matters into his own hands and agreed. He said, we are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team or lose him so badly. Anyway, we'll try to put him up to bat. Maybe in the ninth inning he'll have a chance.

Shia and his father were thrilled. He was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shia's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. Now it's the bottom of the ninth and Shia's team and their last ditch efforts have scored again and now there are two outs and the bases were loaded with the potential of the winning run on base. Shia was scheduled to be the batter.

Would the team actually let him bat at this juncture? Surprisingly, Shia was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shia didn't even know how to swing and much less hold the bat properly, let alone hit the ball. However, as Shia stepped up to the plate, the opposing pitcher moved a few steps closer and lobbed the ball in softly so that Shia could at least be able to make some contact. The first pitch came in and Shia swung clumsily and missed. So one of Shia's teammates came up to him and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward them. As the pitch came in, Shia and his teammates swung at the ball and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman but had a change of mind. Instead, he threw the ball on a high arc out to the right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman. His teammates started yelling, Shia run to first! Run to first! Never in his life had Shia run to first.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball and he could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shia who was still running but the right fielder caught on. He threw the ball high and far all the way over the third baseman's head. Now everyone was yelling, run to second! Run to second! Shia ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. As Shia reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran up to him and turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, run to third! As Shia rounded third, now the boys from both teams ran behind him all the way yelling, Shia run home!

Run home! And Shia ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders as if he had intentionally won the game for his team. That day, Shia's father said softly with tears rolling down his face, those boys revealed the character of my God. No matter who the audience is, when a person impersonates the spirit of our Lord, in fact whether they know him or not, no one ever forgets. And as far as the apostle Paul is concerned, there isn't any better way to make it through the fog of life any better than surrendering to this principle of imitation, not pleasing ourselves but acting like Christ, being adorned as it were with the logo of his kingdom, wearing the brand that should mark the beloved, which is another way of saying embrace this suffering savior and his example, which would be another way of saying embrace his cross and say with the apostle Paul that I may know him, the power of his resurrection, we'll all sign up for that, but also the fellowship of his suffering. You've been listening to Wisdom for the Heart and as your teacher Steven Davey just reminded you, imitating Christ is one of the principles that helps you navigate life's decisions. It could be that you've missed some of the other principles from the previous messages. I want to remind you that all of the messages in this series are available free and on demand at wisdomonline.org. Once again, our website is wisdomonline.org and this series is called Gray Matters. We have one more lesson to go and that's next time here on Wisdom for the Heart.