RESTORED: Unity that requires division
Notes
Transcript
INTRO:
INTRO:
-Vision Sunday
—A time to involve some younger people who aren’t generally participating in the service week to week. It’s not that God isn’t working through them at other times, but it’s just a visible reminder of the fullness of His work here at Life In Christ. It’s like an old painting that needs to be restored. It’s value is present, just not always fully perceived.
—And that’s what I want to focus on this morning. The restorative nature of the Spirit to bring forth the fullness of God’s work in the church and our own lives.
-Hypothetical story.. (ish)
—this is my disclaimer
—Let’s say there is a married couple.. we can call them.. uhh.. Jim and.. Michele? Oo is that going to be confusing?
—Ok how about I just say “I” for clarities sake
—So I walked in the door a few hours before my wife came home from work and the first thing I saw was a NOTE on the fridge
—Wash the dishes, organize the laundry, move some boxes, leftovers are in the fridge for you, love you dear, and so forth
—No problem. Let me just take a moment for myself, it’s been a long day, long night, maybe this couple has like a baby or something (don’t be quick to judge like we learned last week).. but ya, I’ll just take a moment then I’ll get going, I’ll knock this stuff out.
—Proceed to head to the couch for just a moment, collect my thoughts and such as one does. Return some messages, check my email.
—It’s pretty comfortable, let me just throw on some TV, I’ve got time. Band of Brothers, can’t go wrong. Love a good historical docu-drama
—Suddenly my eyes feel a bit heavy.. I slowly drift off.. pure peaceful bliss..
—Until I was abruptly awoken by the slam of our back door. Check the time, whoops.. she’s home.
—And you know how sometimes the Word just so clearly speaks to your situation..
For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”
—It was like someone shouted “wake up fool!” and trust me, I was WIDE AWAKE. Rush over, “hey dear just about to get to all this stuff”
—Now thankfully I have a very gracious wife. She didn’t speak with judgement, although her presence alone provided a little conviction on my part. She did express surprise when she saw the leftovers in the fridge, “it was a healthy meal I prepared, you have to eat Tim (or Jim.. or whoever this is).. you gotta eat that’s probably why you’re so tired”
-In that moment, I recognized that I wasn’t living up to the standard I wished for our marriage. I was unwise with my time, I didn’t stop and think about why she had put this note out, I didn’t make great consumption choices.. and while none of those things affected our status as married, they certainly left me feeling less than satisfied with the state of affairs. I needed that wake up call.
For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”
-What’s actually going on here is Paul is potentially paraphrasing a notion echoed through the prophets, particularly Isaiah, or as some modern commentators have suggested, perhaps quoting a Easter or baptismal hymn from the time. As we head into April with the resurrection celebration ahead, I thought it an appropriate place to start. A hymn, a call to action, a reminder of the new life that Christ has provided us.
Paul is transitioning here in his letter to the Ephesians..
—He opened the letter with a clear goal; Unity in the church. He furthered encouraged them to Walk worthy of the calling they had recieved. To be careful of their words and deeds. Be imitators of God, children of the light, and have nothing to do with the former darkness.
—There’s a clear dividing line in this string of contrasts that Paul is using. In order to live out unity in the church and to Christ, we must live in a manner different than the world around us.
—Here is where we see the Spirit acting as an agent of this unity and this division. The Holy Spirit sets us apart through the process of sanctification which progressively empowers us to move toward unity and union with Christ. And we have a role of walking this out, usually denoted by scripture as the admonishment to “walk in the Spirit” allowing the Spirit to influence our day to day lives.
—Just as my wife has the ability to influence and encourage me, I still have the decision of how I live out the things she’s nudged me to do. Although regardless of those decisions, we remain married, the extent to which I allow her influence to permeate my life to some degree correlates with the fullness of marriage we have. Our relational unity grows as we walk in lock step together, as one. But this requires intention, sacrifice, and division.. separating myself out from that which is fruitless.
—So here in v. 14 Paul is reminding the church of Ephesus of their status as awake, children of the light. It’s a call to action, to think deeply about those things we need to divide ourselves from, and an encouragement to push forward towards the fullness of God. In a way, it’s that reminder note on the fridge for us today of how we ought to structure our time, seek His will, and walk out the fullness of faith in His Spirit.
Walking in Wisdom
Walking in Wisdom
So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
-After Paul’s call to action, a reminder of our new life in Christ, he continues by stating definitively our need to carefully walk out this new life. Just as one should not blindly and ignorantly move through marriage, we should think deeply about what our day to day lives should look like as a follower of Jesus.
-The concept of walk here speaks to how one acts or behaves. Drawing on themes earlier in this letter, we must not walk according to the ways of this world, in the flesh. Instead we must strive to live worthy of the call we have recieved, enacting our life in Christ through imitating His love and His light. Not as unwise, but as wise. Sophia is the Greek word here, which at its most fundamental is practically applied knowledge. We know about our status as children, but wisdom here is how that’s carried out.
-It provides us a clear warning that we ought to be careful to apply what is known, specifically with our use of time.
> Making the most of your time.. in some translations more literally.. REDEEMING THE TIME = lit. buying up or buying back time in season
2 Things:
-Redemption the deeply rooted Biblical idea of releasing or liberating. We ought to release our time effectively by adopting a fresh perspective on time. We serve an everlasting God, and the Scripture speaks to how momentary our time on earth truly is. We must adopt God’s vantage point on the urgency of the right here and right now. Some could argue that our use of time is not neutral; it can evil if its not invested for good.
-But of course, we are quick to rationalize or justify the wasted hours as “deserved” for our labor, or as simply harmless entertainment, hobbies or interests. Our selfish distortion of the situation speaks to the evilness of the day and the false value we assign to time itself.. which leads to my second point about redemption.
-Redemption typically has a cost. Buying back. It’s a transaction. Therefore we ought to re-think our idea of “free time”.. it doesn’t exist. In reality we have been bought for a price, through the blood of Christ, that we might walk out a new life. So let us do so with diligence, not unaware, but watchful!
-I think of a stock market analyst who spends his entire day carefully waiting for the perfect times to invest. We also must keep watch of our life, looking for those places in which we should invest.. our resources, our focus, our talents, our time.. even if that means sacrificing other things we desire to do.
-And that extends beyond the church for Colossians 4:5 tells us..
Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.
-We are to be set apart in how we SPEND time, recognizing the cost, restoring wisdom to carefully apply the knowledge we have recieved through Christ.
But how can we evaluate what is time well spent? It’s not just application that’s important, but the understanding as well. This is where the Hebrew concept of wisdom becomes helpful as it refers to what is well judged, well discerned. Which logically leads to Paul’s next statement.
Understand His Will
Understand His Will
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
-Understanding the will of the Lord is tremendously helpful when trying to weigh how we spend our time.
-Just as if I had truly understood the desire of my wife.. it wasn’t simply to accomplish tasks, it was for her to come back from work with things in order, a home operating well, how much that would mean to her.. that’s the kind of understanding that can impact how we assess what we ought to do.
-Only after one understands what pleases God can they carry it out in their own life. So we are to understand (the greek word here means to comprehend intellectually) what the Lord’s will is. It speaks specifically to a work of the mind.
-I believe this is confirmed in passages such as Romans 12, where it speaks to the relationship between discerning the will of God and the renewing (the metamorphous) of the mind.
And do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
-This is a division of pattern. The renewing of the mind is a constant and active process of choosing to stand on the principles of God over the things of this world. It’s rewiring our natural inclination to follow our desires over Christ.
-Modern science has established the physical reality to this spiritual truth with developments in understanding how the brain works. One such concept, neuroplasticity, speaks to how the brain can actually grow and reorganize based on experience or use. Neurological connections that are rarely used can grow weak, whereas those used consistently can demonstrate growth or even new formation
-The more we seek to conform to the pattern of trusting God, communing with Him, developing understanding in the Word, the Spirit will work to renew our mind so that we might further understand and discern God’s will.
-Therefore, do not be foolish, but let us build our lives in conformity to Biblical direction, not being naive to think that transformation takes no effort. While the brain is not a muscle, it some ways it acts like one. And just like I wouldn’t expect to become a body builder without hours spent training in the gym, how can I expect to naturally arrive at understanding the will of God without spending the time and effort to seek Him, search His truths, be in communion with His body..
-Recognize the need to restore your mind and time to things of God. This is a spiritual checkup. And just like when you go to the doctor, they always recommend the same two things “exercise”, putting into practice things we understand to be beneficial, and “diet”, consuming things that will fuel healthy activity.
..so what fuels your wisdom and understanding? Paul’s conclusion: Being filled with the Spirit.
Be Filled With The Spirit
Be Filled With The Spirit
And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
-Already in Ephesians Paul indicated to the church that they had been “sealed” with the Holy Spirit, a sign of their status as children of God, that they must not “grieve” the Holy Spirit, pointing to both the personhood of the Spirit and relational aspect of our walk, and finally here he bids them to be “filled” with the Spirit.
-Paul highlights the differences of the the Spirit-filled Christian with someone who is drunk, fueling only debauchery, not wisdom nor understanding. Certainly some comparison could be made between those “under the influence” of the Spirit versus those “under the influence” of alcohol or it could serve some literal interpretation that finds grounds in other Scriptures that prohibits drunkeness, but I do think Paul extends more focus specifically on contrasting the two.
-For example, though there were heathen cults during Paul’s time who looked to intoxication as the means to reach inspiration or enlightenment, I would find it a serious mistake to suppose that being filled with the Holy Spirit is a type of “spiritual inebriation” in which we lose control of ourselves. In fact, we know that this cannot be the case as Galatians elicits self-control as the fruit of the Spirit. Therefore the influence of the Spirit doesn’t mean we lose control, on the contrary, I believe it implies that we gain it.
-Additionally, pharmacologically speaking.. alcohol is a depressant. It depresses and inhibits first and foremost the highest centers of the brain, which dictate everything that gives a person self-control, wisdom, understanding, judgement, balance, and so forth. Whereas, if we were to classify the Holy Spirit in the same manner, it likely would be in the opposite category. A stimulant. One that serves to restore wisdom and understanding, elevating our spiritual faculty, mind, heart, and action.
-We already have the prescription in His Word, but just as go to the Pharmacy for refills, so too ought we constantly refill ourselves with and through His presence. The filling language here is used elsewhere in the letter to the Ephesians to demonstrate the need to continuously go on being filled with and by His Spirit.
Paul notes the need for being filled in other letters.. such as Colossians where he echoes the words found here in Ephesians 5
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
-Indeed this call to “be filled” goes beyond just a prescriptive remedy, it’s actually grammatically a command given by Paul here. It’s not an optional component of the Christian walk, but a necessary reality to restore our purpose.. to walk in the fullness of life in Christ. So let us go on being filled up by His Spirit with the word, truth, and light of Christ.
Conclusion/Application
Conclusion/Application
-We started today with a call to action.. and as we conclude I would actually like to end with a call to division.
-We cannot continue to be filled by temporal things, things that blur and distort not only how we are to relate to our God, but also how we are to relate to one another. A drunkeness.
-A state of being that propels us to use our time unwisely, that doesn’t allow us to understand the will or desire of the Lord, that keeps us trapped in escapism.. filled with lethargy instead of life.
-That’s where I found myself when my wife came through the door. And while she didn’t condemn, or hold anything over my head, I found that within myself instead of speaking there was silence.. instead of gratitude, there was grumbling, and instead of submission there was separation. I was not living out the fullness of marriage.
Proverbs 23:25–35 . Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has red eyes? Those who linger long over wine..
-As we linger over the things of this world, we consume that which only serves to empty us of control, wisdom, and understanding while fueling debauchery.. dissipation..
“asotia” in Greek. Roughly meaning with wastefulness.. without purpose, wholeness, or protection.
-Interestingly the word for debauchery (asotia) shares a root word with Soteria, or salvation.
-And it’s in Salvation through Christ that we are given a new status that enables us to be filled with the Spirit, dividing us from wastefulness and instead beckons us to live in clarity.. with a new purpose, united, and safe with Him..
-So let His Spirit divide, separate, and set you apart from lingering in the former things.
-Instead be filled and live worthy of your status as children of God.
*And how do we fill ourselves with the Spirit? Restore patterns of using your time and mind wisely to seek and understand His will, His word, His way, all while pursuing unity through the following marks of the Spirit-filled life;
So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father; and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
Fellowship (addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs)
Praise (singing and making melody with your heart)
Gratitude (giving thanks for ALL THINGS)
Submission (the humility to place others above yourself in the fear of Christ)
-There’s a heart renovation that needs to take place. It’s a sanctifying work that needs to continuously be carried out. The contract has already been sealed, but we need to keep opening the door to let the Spiritual contractor in, let Him bring all the power (pneumatic) tools necessary to carry out the work that needs to be done.
-Heart of stone & heart of flesh? Youth Share?
-The Spirit’s fullness is demonstrated in spiritual understanding, praise, and thanksgiving that are constant and comprehensive.. there should be evidence of His work through self-control, mutual encouragement, and mutual submission in the church.
-Such are the wholesome restorative results of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They concern all our relationships. If we are filled with the Spirit, we shall harmoniously relate to both God (worshipping Him with joy and thanksgiving) and to each other (speaking and submitting to one another). In short, Spirit-filled believers seek to love God and to love one another.
And Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
So let us love and live restored this morning in unity by His Spirit, careful to walk in wisdom with our time, allowing Him to renew our mind, and constantly being filled up with His power and presence.
-I would like to end by reading Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians found in chapter 3..
For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
