August 17, 2008
Morning Service

1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. 6 For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. 12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God. 13 Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

Vrs. 1.

Imitate - to follow or endeavor to follow as a model or example. If we imitate Paul, who is imitating Christ, then we are ultimately imitating Christ.

There is no better master of imitation than a child. A child’s first inclination is to imitate. They watch us, and they listen to us, they pick up on what we say and do and they mimic it. That’s how they learn to take their first step or say their first word. The Gospel of Mark says; Mark 10:13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. 

Lets face it humans are wired to learn by imitation. In most cases, especially assembly work, when we start a new job someone shows us what to do. We watch then we imitate the motions it takes to complete the job. Even if we buy a new gadget like a computer, it’s much easier and faster to catch on if you see someone else use it. Kind of “cut to the chase” theology, if you will. If we see it done we can skip all the instructions and make it work. But the best way of doing it is to read the instructions and then watch an expert, makes learning much easier and faster. And that is basically what the Bible instructs us to do. 

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 
Applying this scripture (reading/studying the instructions: the Bible) with the following scriptures (imitating: Christ) will equal success.

Things we are to imitate;

1 Cor. 4:16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

Heb. 6:11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Heb. 13:7 Remember those who rule over you*, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. *The NIV says Leaders (Church)

Unfortunately the act of imitating can take the wrong road. Here again children are a good example. How often the things they pick up on the fastest are the things we don’t want them to. The thing they weren’t supposed to see us do or hear us say is the next thing they imitate. 

And things not to imitate; 

3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.

 

Vrs. 2.

Traditions (things delivered or passed on)

If it weren’t for the keeping of traditions we might not have much of the Bible that we have today. The old Testament came from stories handed down by word of mouth over thousands of years in the Middle East. Later, these stories were written down by scholars and scribes. 

Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 

Vrs. 3.

There is an order by which everything flows smoothly. By that I mean that if everything works like it’s supposed to then everything falls in it’s place. We see it in the world around us. The rain falls and runs off into springs which run into creeks which in turn run into small rivers and then to large rivers and finally to the ocean. Spring rains bring Summer crops for a Fall harvest to insure Winter survival. If the Spring is not normal, doesn’t bring enough rains or too much then things get out of sync. Or the summer is too hot and dry or even in some cases too cool and wet, things get messed up. Listen to this; During the summer of 1816, unexpected climate changes left countries in the Northern Hemisphere suffering from devastating famine and epidemic outbreaks. These weather patterns were the result of the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Sumbawa, Indonesia, on 10th April 1815. Over the following year, heavy ash-fall filled the air across the globe, preventing sunrays from reaching the earth. The resulting frost and rains devastated crops and caused the “Year without Summer”. The death toll outside Indonesia ran into hundreds of thousands. With the 117,000 victims who died in the original cataclysm in Indonesia, this was one of the deadliest disasters in history.

Another example a little less catastrophic: Bees visit flowers to collect nectar in turn pollinating the flowers which produce seeds to produce more flowers for bees to visit for nectar. 

There is an order set forth in the scriptures that has man in authority over woman, Christ over man and God over Christ. As in anything that is set in order if the chain of command is broken then there is chaos.

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body] of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Christ accepts his place in God’s plan and by his example we should accept our place. 

1 Corinthians 15:28 Now when all things are made subject to Him (Christ), then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him (God) who put all things under Him (Christ), that God may be all in all.

 

Vrs. 4-16 

These 13 verses have been the topic of controversy in many churches no doubt. In the last two thousand years there have been many changes in custom and from culture to culture there have been and always will be differences in custom in areas such as dress. In all cultures it’s usually very apparent who is male and who is female. The dress is different, the hair style is different, etc. My understanding of these verses: 1. Men should not enter worship with their head covered with a hat. Of course many of us can remember a time when men removed their hats before entering any building. 2. It’s a shame for a man to have long hair as long hair is a distinction between men and women. For man to have long hair would be to imitate a woman and for a woman to have short hair (manly style haircut) would be to usurp the authority of the man. Here again culture and custom usually dictate the style. 3. Also a woman’s covering is her hair, therefore she doesn’t need a hat of any kind to worship. And it is my understanding that verse 15 & 16 backs this up, “we have no such custom”. A woman having a shaved head showed dishonor to her husband during the time of Paul. 

Take note of what was laid out at the first council meeting in

Acts 15:22-29 
22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
23 They wrote this, letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Would have certainly been a good place to instruct us to wear hats or not wear hats.

Follow Christ’s examples and you can’t go wrong.