Walking in the Light

Ephesians 5:15-21 - Ephesian Part 2 - Making the Most of Your Doug Partin - The Christian Church - June 14, 2020 I know that the concept that Paul shared in this fifth chapter of his letter to the believers in ancient Ephesus was simple, but we need to understand that when you shine a light on something in the dark, it really does become visible. It is not that it was invisible before, but it couldn't be seen. Our ability to "see" something depends upon the presence of visible light. We call the absence of that light, darkness, because we are not able to see things without assistance in the dark. That assistance is usually called "night vision," but even that really depends upon the presence of light. It uses a combination of intensifying the presence of very small amounts of visible light, sensing the presence of non-visible light which has a wave length that our eyes cannot detect, and measuring the variances in temperature. But since most light is in the visible spectrum, when it is absent, we are in the dark. I've been spelunking before, when I lived in Artesia, near Carlsbad, and not just at the National Park. I had some friends that would go out on their own to known cave systems. And they took me along a few times. It was a fun adventure. We'd put on our knee and elbow pads, our helmets, fill a pack with water, snacks, ropes, and a few first aid items, and at least three light sources. I didn't mind the crawling around in the cramped spaces. And I didn't mind wiggling through tight spots. But somewhere along the adventure, we'd always sit down and turn off our lights. And I didn't like that experience very much at all. My eyes don't know what to do in the absence of visible light. They keep trying to find something on which to focus, but since there is no light, they can't focus. The guys I was with thought that this moment was the greatest experience ever, but not me. I like seeing the things around me. So, I was always eager to turn the lights back on. But what if you couldn't turn the lights back on, what if was always dark? We tend to call that sort of situation blindness. About 3% of the population is legally blind (that's about 3.4 million people). Most of them can sense some light, but not well; but of these people, there are about 15% of them who cannot detect any light at all. I don't know anyone who would choose to loose their sight, but if it were to happen because of some accident, or disease, and you were to be plunged into darkness; you'd learn how to deal with it. You'd learn how to get around, how to live a good life. It would be a handicap. It wouldn't be easy. But ask anyone who is blind, and they will let you know that you can live life well without being able to sense the presence of light. And they would also tell you, that they can see the sort of things that Paul was saying that living in Christ's light makes visible, which is mentioned in verse 14. For His light reveals how a person lives. And we are told by Paul, that as followers of Jesus, that His light is always shining on us; that we walk in it, day or night. And so, our lives, our choices, are clearly seen... by Him. It is not the kind of light that the media sheds on an event or a subject that they cover. Like everyone, they have an agenda. Their stories have an intentional slant to them. They tend to hide the part of a story that makes something they want to promote look bad, and they tend to highlight the parts of the story that makes it look good. Their "light" is the promotion of a narrative they want to advance. It is like the light that the Pharisees tried to shed on "Jesus." They felt that He was a blasphemer because of His claim to be God's son, and so they did their best to make everything He did "Look bad" to those the crowds that were following Jesus. When He healed a person, it was not a sign that He was God's Son, but a sign that He was evil because He did it on the Sabbath. They felt that if they could just shine enough of their light on Jesus, then the people would see Jesus for who they saw Him. It is not the kind of light that some people seek so they can be the center of everyone's attention. Those who seek the limelight will say and do whatever it is that they think will entertain an audience, that will gain their approval. And, just in case you are wondering, lighting for stages really was once lit with a mechanism that produced an intense white light by heating a piece of lime, the mineral not the fruit, in a flame using oxygen and hydrogen as the accelerants. That is the sort of light that Ananias and Saphira tried to shed on themselves when they made a rather large gift to the Apostles to be used to help those in need. They had seen how Joseph, who was nicknamed "the son of encouragement" had risen in popularity when he sold a field and gave all of the profits to the Apostles. But, they couldn't make themselves give away all of their profits. So they created a narrative. They promoted a story that indicated that they had given it all, while holding back some for themselves. But the Holy Spirit shed some of Christ's light onto the situation, and the apostles came to know the truth about how "they were walking." They were given the opportunity to change their stories, but they stuck to it, and they both dropped dead. We are told that there was a fear that spread among the believers. Not a fear of the apostles, but a fear of what might happen to them if too much of Christ's light shown on them. This is why, in verse 15, Paul reminded the believers in ancient Ephesus that since Christ's light was shining on them, they needed "to be careful" how they walked. How they lived their lives. The word translated "careful" (Blepete) meant to "behold" "to see." It was often used like the word "danger" was used by Will Robinson's robot, who saw something that no one else was aware of and began to warn, "Danger, danger, Will Robinson." If we are not aware of a danger. It we don't see it. We might not guard ourselves against it. There are a lot of people who don't see any of the dangers related to the choices they make. Yes, the Bible says not to do it, but nothing bad happened when I tried it, so it must be okay after all. And besides, I'm not the only one doing it, nearly everyone is doing it. And it is pleasing, feels natural. The influence of the world was just as strong back then as it is today, which is why Paul encouraged them to walk "not as the unwise, but the wise." The term for wisdom is "Sophia," their most common word for having "understanding." To have the proper perspective of things because you are seeing them with the proper light on them. Paul said that they needed wisdom so they could make the most of their time, because the days were evil. Then he told them "not to be foolish." The term translated "foolish" (aphrones) in verse 17 referred to a person who does not think things through to their logical conclusion. It literally means "the opposite of thinking." Jesus used this word when he called some Pharisees foolish because they were careful to obey all the rules about ceremonially washing before a meal, thinking that this was pleasing to God, but didn't consider it important to clean their inner greed and wickedness. If they had thought about it, they would have realized that cleaning the inside was more important; and, as Jesus pointed out to them, it would create a space in their life where charity could reside (Luke 11:37-44). You may have noticed that Paul reminded these believers that they didn't have a long time here upon the earth. While it was James who likened our lifespan to a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14). Paul was pointing out that our brief existence could be made even shorter during evil times. Not only did they need wisdom to recognize the lies of the evil one; but those under his influence were leading an intense and violent opposition. Since their "light" was not convincing them to see Jesus as they saw Hm, they had turned to violence and were doing their best to silence believers by the threat of persecution that often led to the death of believers. Brevity, Paul said, is why they were to make the most of their time. They simply didn't have much of it. If you only had a year, a month, a week, a day to live, how would you spend it? Would you live it as one who understood the Lord's will? Would you spend it looking for ways to express love and share the good news? Paul told the believers in Philippi, thinking that he did not have long to live, "For me to live is Christ, and die is gain." But those who don't think things through, those who are foolish, won't consider that a short life here means that they will soon stand before the Lord. A Lord in whose light they have been living, so everything about their life has been visible to Him. Do you remember the time when Jesus said that we will be held accountable for every careless word that we utter? It was after the Pharisees tried to convince the crowd that Jesus may have cast out a demon from a person, which is the sort of thing that only God could do, but instead of proving that He was God's son; Jesus was really doing these things by Satan's power, and it only proved that He was from the evil one." It was then that Jesus said of them, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account of it in the day of judgment. "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Like these Pharisees, the foolish might not thing about their actions. Instead of making wise choices, they might foolishly decide to spend their time getting drunk. The change that drunkenness brings about in a person was described by Paul as "dissipation." That's an English word that we don't use often and most of us don't know what it means. But it is the common translation of the Greek word, which happens to be a compound word. The first part meant "the opposite of" and the second part meant "salvation" (sozo), which meant to be made whole. So, Paul was saying that drunkenness creates brokenness. Instead, Paul wanted them, in the time they had left, to be filled by the Spirit; which brings about the opposite of what being filled with spirits brings about. Under the Spirit's influence they were to speak to and be subject to one another. Paul described the Spirit inspired speaking as that which made use of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. We still share psalms with one another. I shared Psalm 23 with Anita's family yesterday, reminding them that we need a good shepherd. There is something about expressing our relationship with God, and His provision, care, and promises in a more poetic way that moves our hearts and stirs our minds. We could say, God will be with you. Or we could say, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He... well, you get the idea. Paul said that they were to speak these truths about God using a melody that came from their heart. From the abundance in it, the mouth speaks. Our earnest trust, our hope, our love should come gushing forth to create an authentic melody. Not one created by tempo or rhythm, but one created by our authentic love of God. Which leads us to give Him thanks for all things. Even those difficult things, God is walking with us, providing for us, leading us. In every temptation, He provides a way of escape. He never lets more come upon us than He knows we are capable of enduring. And He will always bring about something good. Paul didn't desire to be in prison, but if he had not been in prison, he probably wouldn't have written these letters that make up the Bible. We have to trust that God knows what is happening, and remain faithful to Him in every situation. The "being subject" to one another was equally important. A compound word that meant to be "arranged under." It was usually used in a leadership structure. There was the leader, and then there were those arranged under their authority, so they could accomplish what ever it was that the leader wanted. But Paul said that we are to be subject to one another. I don't think that he was talking about the authority side of this dynamic, but being arranged in such a way, that we can do what the other person needs. That we can, in this way, express love for them. They we are ready to recognize what they need, and do what they need, because we can and are prepared to do so; not because they are demanding that we do so. They were to be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Remember, we are in His light. He is well aware of our thoughts and motives, as well as our word and behaviors. He knows whether we are expressing love, or if we are just trying to serve ourselves. It is in the book of proverbs that we are reminded that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we finally come to realize that, as Jesus said, that it is God would can cast our soul into hell, or pour out His grace on us so we will enter heaven. That we begin to realize that the only audience that matters is God. And He is not looking for a performance, He is looking for people who imitate Him, who love. When we set aside our foolish ways, we allow ourselves to "arrange our thoughts and behaviors" in way that prepare us to love another. Paul will apply this kind of being "subject" to some real-life relationships of the believers in ancient Ephesus; and we'll dive into those next week. Prayer: May we be careful how we walk. Amen.