Lent 4A, 2026 (am)

4th Sunday in Lent, Year A

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today I want to focus on our epistle reading for today: Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. I think this lesson is very appropriate for any Lenten journey that seeks to grow in faith, and it is my hope that this description fits many of us here this morning.

As with several of Paul’s letters, he is addressing some false teachers who have infiltrated the church he planted, and since their teachings conflict with his, he is forced to address that. And so in this part of the letter, he is drawing a distinction between a true teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a false teacher; between a true disciple of Christ and a false one. Just before today’s reading, Paul says this:

Ephesians 5:6–8 ESV

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light...

Ephesus, which is in modern Turkey, was not a city with a Hebrew culture, language, or religion. It had a strong Hellenistic/Greek culture. In fact, it was well known for it’s Temple of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon, wild animals, and hunting. She was the patron goddess of Ephesus, and they also regarded her especially as a fertility goddess. [Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Artemis,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 208.]

In the book of Acts, chapter 19, we read about how Paul converted so many Ephesians that they stopped buying idols and images from the local silversmiths, who lost so much business that they rose up and had Paul’s coworkers dragged into the theater, chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” [Ac 19:28] So no, this was not a group of people who knew the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Paul’s teachings about the Messiah who was prophesied by many Israelite prophets would have meant very little to these people.

But Paul’s advice to them did not require a thorough understanding of Torah/God’s Law. Look at verses 8-11:

Ephesians 5:8–11 ESV

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

They have indeed come from darkness - worshiping a pagan goddess, participating in worship and lifestyles and all manner of things that were just fine for Greeks, but were never part of the life our God intended for His children. Paul lays these out very clearly earlier in this chapter:

Ephesians 5:3–5 ESV

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

If these new Christians are going to “walk as children of light” (which is what living the Christian life is supposed to be), then they can’t continue to live the same way the did as pagans… as worshipers of Artemis. They have to put all of that behind them. They have to live differently, since Christ has claimed them as His Own, that means they *are* different. To be sincere in your faith means living it sincerely.

And that’s not just for that church so many years ago. That’s for us, too. This is where we might say, “if we’re gonna talk the talk, we better walk the walk.”

This passage really hit me when I read it this week. There are some real spiritual battles happening in our world and in our culture right now. And I know they are spiritual because we are now in an age where we can’t even agree one what is good and right and true. We’ve been told for decades now that we as Christians must keep our beliefs and our teachings confined within the walls of our churches because the people out in the world don’t want to hear it anymore. And so what the world calls “good” isn’t measured according to the original measuring stick for “good” - God Himself. They don’t know God because they don’t want to know God (or so they keep trying to convince themselves). And their definition of good is often different from God’s definition… and sometimes it’s deliberately different from God’s. It’s an act of rebellion against Him.

We’re not doing any better on what is “right”, are we? The world grows increasingly hostile to the Christian faith: Christians in recent years have been arrested for praying silently outside abortion clinics. Christian pastors have been arrested for conducting worship during the pandemic. And yet, Muslim calls to prayer can be played across entire communities and non-Muslims, even Christians, are told they must support and encourage this, tolerate it, and keep quiet with any criticism or opposition. Which is right? Do we treat all religions the same, or is Christianity alone to be squashed and silenced?

And then there’s what’s true. How many times have you read something online, and then find out minutes, hours, or days later that it wasn’t true? People make claims and accusations and the damage is done, and then later they make a half-hearted retraction, but it doesn’t get the visibility of the false statement. It’s become so common that you can’t really believe what you read anymore unless you do some research it to verify that it’s true. And now, in this age of Artificial Intelligence, they are making entire videos with picture, sound, and surroundings that are so real, you can’t tell it’s all been faked. It’s possible to make a video of you saying and doing things you’ve never said and never done. And it’s growing harder by the day to tell real from fake.

So what is a Christian to do? Exactly what Paul says: “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” How do you do that? A good start would be to discern what is *not* pleasing to the Lord. Disobeying God’s Law is a good starting place. We don’t need to be doing things that are disobedient to God. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

But it’s not just about what we’re *NOT* supposed to do as Christians. It’s also about what we *ARE* supposed to do. We ARE supposed to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We *ARE* supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we’re going to “discern” that, we need to figure out the “how” of those statements. HOW do we love God that deeply? HOW do we love our neighbor?

Recently, there’s a politician who has been in the news because he’s bringing a “fresh” kind of Christianity to the political stage. If you don’t know your Bible, and if you’re not listening to him carefully, it would be easy to be taken in by his statements. He wraps what he says in things we would agree with: God loves everyone. We should be taking care of the poor. Yes, of course. I totally agree with that. But it’s the other things he says where he exposes himself.

Some are easy to spot, like when he says “God is non-binary” (referring to the current woke claim that there are more than just 2 genders - male & female - and God is neither of them). But some are more sneaky, like his claim that “Jesus gave us two commandments: Love God and love neighbor. And there was no exception to that second commandment. Love thy neighbor regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation or immigration status or religious affiliation…” [quoted at Blaze.com]

How do you feel about that statement? “Guess what was completely and totally missing from [his] message? Sin, repentance, and redemption. So guess what you just heard none of from [this politician]? The gospel… That is not the gospel. It is not. It's a husk. Jesus called it a whitewashed tomb… If sin and repentance and redemption are nowhere in their message, it doesn't matter what else they say.” [Steve Deace on The Steve Deace Show]

It becomes quickly apparent that if we are going to “walk as children of the light”, then we need to shine the light of Christ on false teachings. Make it visible. Bring it into Christ’s light, so that all may see the falsehoods. It is on us to stand for Christ’s truth when faced with things like this. Expose it to the light.

I have spent a lot of time in recent months driving home the point that we can’t earn our salvation, that the good things we do don’t buy God’s love for us. I’ve come to the realization that I’m probably more worried about someone misunderstanding that than I need to be. I just don’t ever want anyone to hear that when I suggest there are things we should do for our faith, that I mean that we need to earn something from God by doing that. I hope I’ve been CRYSTAL clear on that.

But if we are going to call ourselves Christians… if we are going to be disciples of Jesus Christ… if we are going to “walk as children of light” and live out our faith, then there are things we *must* do. Not to earn anything, but because if we don’t, we simply are not living out our faith.

We cannot, as Christians, live only for ourselves. Ourselves as individuals, ourselves as families, ourselves as a congregation. To be a Christian is to know that we are sent out into the world to shine this light. It starts at our Baptism “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” Or, if you prefer, “This little light of mine...”

Christians have been keeping to ourselves for far too long. And look where it’s gotten us. We’ve got communities in various states in our country where Muslims have begun to enforce their own Sharia law independent of local, state, and federal US Laws. We’ve got institutions across multiple industries telling us that men can become women, and they should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. People claim that they can be whoever they think they are… even animals… and they live and behave like animals, and we’re expected to cooperate with them, or we’re using “hate speech” and committing “acts of violence” against them. Some more leftist states have proposed legal action against anyone who doesn’t play along - fines and even jail time has been suggested. I could go on, and on… but much of this is happening because we - the church - have kept silent for too long.

We should not respond with violence. We should respond with truth. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” That is our calling. And we can do that. This is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s “Live Not by Lies” at its core. Don’t go along with the falsehoods. Don’t participate, don’t encourage. Point out the lie. Explain why it’s false. But speak for truth. SPEAK. Shine Christ’s light on it. Speak as Christ would have you speak. Don’t hide your light, or his.

Throughout this season of Lent, our goal is to grow in our faith. This is one way we don’t talk about often enough is how to grow boldness in our faith. This is the kingdom work that God calls us to. It will take practice, since it’s not something most of us do regularly. But practice gets easier after you start. “The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step” right? Let’s all look for times when the darkness needs some light shined upon it. Let’s speak for God’s truth. Let’s stop being shy and withdrawn and be beacons of Christ’s light. And then we’ll see what Paul says in the last verse: “and Christ will shine on you.” I’m sure he will. And His light will absolutely force the darkness back. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see a lot more of that.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.