I would wager that most of you can finish this sentence. You will have heard it a thousand times. Try it.
"If you are going to talk the talk, then you have to what?"
"Walk the walk". If you’re going to talk the talk, then you have to walk the walk.
It means, of course, that what you profess to believe gets its proof from how you live and from what you do. It means that you may tell me that you hold all sorts of doctrines, all kinds of beliefs, but if you expect me to believe that you will have to prove it to me by what you do.
If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.
Now we’ve heard this preached many times. We’ve even heard it mentioned from time to time in presidential politics.
Do you· remember that just a few years ago we had a president of the United States who proclaimed before some religious group that he believed in tithing. Tithing, said this president, is a great thing. If we’d all just tithe, giving ten percent of our incomes to churches or charities, then there wouldn’t be any need for welfare. The only trouble with that statement, as some reporter found out by studying the president’s tax returns, was that he who said that he believed in tithing had not given more than about $500 a year of his very healthy income to any church or charity.
So what did we conclude about that? Well, first, we concluded that this president, whom I have never named, was very good at his original profession! And then we had to conclude that if you are going to talk the talk, and you expect to be believed, you had better •• what? Walk the walk.
This principle is still around in presidential politics. We’ve heard it applied, and I think quite appropriately, to a candidate who can hold forth eloquently on such themes as faithfulness and family values and patriotism, but about whom there are some questions that just won’t go away. And many a pundit has said about this man that if you are going to talk this kind of talk, you had better be very, very sure you have walked and are walking this walk.
Now that I’ve been bi-partisan, maybe I should just finish this off by remarking that at least some presidents and some candidates can talk. I’m not too good at reading lips, are you?
If you’re going to talk the talk, then walk the walk. Folk wisdom puts it another way. "What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say.” I think we are all together and agreed on this.
But I want to take us a step further this morning. I want with the Apostle Paul to take us a step further then walking the walk because it proves the talk you talk. I want you now to hear that if you are going to walk the walk, then you will also be able to sing the song. Talk the talk and walk the walk; then walk the walk and sing the song. Walk the walk and you will want to sing a song of joy. Listen to how Paul puts it: Ephesians 5:15-20
I hear in this passage several insights about walking the walk and singing the song. What is it going to take to get us to the place where we can sing and make melody to the Lord in our hearts?
I
First, look at verses 1 5-1 6. Here Paul tells us that when we have made careful use of our time, when we have used the time God gives us wisely and well, then we will be ready to sing with happiness. When we have taken the measure of the time, when we do what we ought to be doing with our time and our energies, then we will feel fulfilled, we will be excited and pleased, we will sing for joy.
"Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil."
Paul’s phrase "making the most of the time" I like to read as "knowing what time it is.” What time is it? What is the time for worship and praise and song?
Discovering what time it is and knowing how to make the most of our time is not as obvious at it might seem. The night before last my wife fell asleep in front of the television set. When she woke up, with the TV spluttering in her face, she looked quickly at the clock because she knew we had to get up early Saturday morning. She thought it said five minutes after six and nearly panicked. Actually in her fog she had read the hands backwards, and it really said 30 minutes after one!
It’s not always easy to know what time it is or to make the best use of that time. But the apostle is telling us that if we are careful and disciplined in our walk, if we can determine what time it is in God’s timetable, even in tough times, then we are going to feel fulfillment and joy, and our hearts will sing.
Let me try to show you what he means. Day by day information flows in here about people in need. We hear that somebody is going to the hospital, we learn that someone else has lost a loved one, we discover that something devastating is overtaking another church member. And each day it becomes a matter of trying to decide which priorities to tackle, which response to make, because there are many.
Well, sometimes, I confess, I make the wrong choice. Sometimes I will say to myself, So-and-so probably doesn’t need to see me today. He’s just waking up from surgery and couldn’t talk anyway. She’s just gotten home from the funeral and must have a lot to do. And so I will put off making that visit for another day or two or three. And when I finally do get there, what do I hear? "Pastor, I wish you could have been here three days ago. I guess I’m past the crisis now." And do you know how I feel about myself at that point? I feel lower than a snake slithering through tall grass. Why? Because I missed God’s timing. I hadn’t made the most of the time when the days were evil. And there is therefore no song in my heart.
But, thank God, there are times when I am able to be prompt. There are occasions when I have been the first one there after a death or the last one there before the operating room doors swing open. And when that happens, when somebody says to me, "Thank God you’re here for me", when despite my ignorance and my insensitivity and my tardiness I’ve been able to make the most of the time when the days were evil – then I want to tell you, my heart sings. And I go out of that hospital, out of that home, even though I may feel the pain of those who are hurting, I go out with a song in my heart.
Why? Because when you can walk the walk by and make the most of the time in somebody’s day of distress, you will have joy. Walk that walk and then you will want to sing the song.
II
But now there is a second insight in this passage. There is another way in which walking an authentic walk will motivate us to sing a song of praise. Not only will we want to sing a song of joy because we have acted at the right time to do what needs to be done, but also this passage teaches us that the deeper we go in understanding God’s will, the happier we will be and the more we will sing for joy. If you have a grasp of the will of God, if you make God’s will the very core and center of life, it will inevitably lead to a song of praise and joy.
Look at verse 17. Paul says, "Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is … then [you will] sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and make melody to the Lord in your hearts."
"Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
You see, the idea here is that we are happiest, we feel more: like singing when we know what’s going on. When we have a grasp on reality, when we feel that that we know what ’s happening around us, then we’ll have a sense of security. And out of that sense of security and of certainty we’ll feel joy. We’ll sing.
Now people will tell you that being a Christian is no fun. People will say that Christians have their heads in the sand and are those pious, pouting purveyors of pusillanimous platitudes. Now if you can repeat that, you know it’s not true! We do have fun, we do know how to smile! But people think we have no fun because they think we’re out of it, they say we just don’t understand the real world. We aren’t where it’s happening. We’re not where it’s at. We’re not the scene. Supposedly, we’re naive, we just don’t know.
The truth is that I think that Christians have more fun than anybody! We have more joy than anybody! And the reason is that we know more than anybody else how things are. If you understand God’s will, if you know God’s way, then you understand the world better than the world understands itself. And you have the key to joy!
"Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is … and [you will] sing and make melody to the Lord in your hearts."
You see, it makes no sense to arrive here on Sunday morning, fresh from a week of never thinking about God, never praying, never focusing on God’s standards for life – it makes no sense to ignore all of that all week long and then come here fresh on Sunday morning and expect to feel some sort of spiritual glow.
You cannot walk with the world for six days and then come here and pick up a walk with God if you have not paid Him any attention all week long.
You cannot listen to the siren songs of materialism and status day after day and then expect to sing with any sense on Sunday, "All to Jesus I Surrender”
You cannot walk in the paths of self-indulgence and pride day after day and then expect even to want to sing, "Wherever He Leads I’ll Go".
But struggle with knowing the will of God, and it will not be long before your heart as well as your tongue will sing, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able.” Struggle with understanding how God wants you to live, and when Sunday comes, you will not find it strange to sing out, strong and confident, "Have Thine Own Way Lord, Have Thine Own Way.”
’’Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is … and [then you will] sing and make melody to the Lord in your hearts.” Walk that walk and you will sing that song.
III
But finally, there is another insight in this passage, and I suspect it is the finest and deepest insight of all.
I’ve tried to show you that Paul teaches us that as we walk the walk that is honest, and we sense God’s timing and make the most of it, we will sing in satisfaction. And I’ve tried also to show you that Paul’s insistence on understanding and doing the will of God is not a burden but a joy that leads to more joy in worship.
But now Paul is going to hint at something else, and it may be only a hint, but I think he’s on to something here. I think he is going to tell us to avoid escape mechanisms. He is going to warn us against substituting empty nothings for a relationship with the living God. It is only when you face reality, in relationship with the living God, that you can sing for joy.
Look at verse 18: “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.”
Now why would Paul throw in this little quip about alcohol? Why in the world would he interrupt this great word about worship and praise with a note about drinking?
I think it is because he is warning us about escapes. If we use escapes instead of falling back on a relationship to the Spirit, we are going to be disappointed. We are not going to have a song to sing.
Now if you had a big Saturday night, you can relax, sort of. I am not going to wax eloquent, as Baptist preachers can do, about the evils of drink. Frankly, I do wish that none of us used alcohol at all, and I full perfectly capable of making that case. But this morning I am zeroing in on the idea of escapes, of substitutes for authentic relationships.
Did you know that some people drink because they cannot have a good face-to-face friendship without lubricating it? Some people drink because they cannot get together the honesty and the courage just to be themselves. They think they need an escape, a substitute.
And so when I hear Paul telling us not to be drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit, I hear him insisting that there is no substitute for an authentic relationship with God. No drink, no drug, no food, and no TV show, or whatever else we may use as an escape – none of these things is an effective substitute for knowing and living with the living God.
There are a variety of escapes. I’ve mentioned a few. Did you know that some people even use worship as a way to escape? Some people even think that if you come to worship you will purge yourself of all the toils and troubles of this world, and then everything will be all right.
But I want you to know that worship is not just an escape from the world. Worship gives you a perspective on the world, so that you will know how to deal with it. Worship, when it is authentic, gives you the courage and the motivation to take hold of the world, not to escape it.
And that’s what really gives you a song to sing. Just singing about heaven by and by when you die is not enough. You get a real song to sing when you choose to make His Kingdom come on earth as well as in heaven.
Back in the slavery days, the slave population developed a unique kind of music, the spiritual. The spiritual was and is powerful because it communicates at two levels. The spirituals do sing about heaven and escape and the great beyond, and superficially you would think, "Well, these folks had it so tough here on earth, all they could do was to and sing about the pleasures of heaven, because they are never going to get anything here on earth.” You might think it was all a means of escape.
But let me remind you that the old plantation spirituals communicated at another level too. The spirituals were coded messages. They were messages about taking charge of their own lives and gaining their freedom. So when they sang "Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home," it sounded to the outsider as though they were just hoping for escape to heaven. But they were also letting each other know that the Underground Railroad was coming and would pick them up and take them to freedom. And when they sang, "Steal away to Jesus", it was not just about having prayer meeting that night. It was also about planning a means of running away.
I’m saying to you that authentic worship is never just about escaping reality. It is about taking hold of reality in relationship to God. It is about being responsible for your world in relationship to the Spirit. It is about the Kingdom on earth as well as in heaven. And when you find yourself, in partnership with the living God, doing something that is important, walking that walk that He calls you to, then nothing in all the world will stop you from singing with fulfillment and joy.
And just as after the drink there is a hangover and after the drugs there is a haze; just as after every substitute for real living there is a disappointing after-effect, just so after communion with the Father there is an aftereffect of pure joy. It is, as the hymn puts it, "A song of deliverance, of courage, of hope, in the heart He implanteth a song.”
“Do not be drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing … and make melody to the Lord in your hearts.”
I hope somebody is truly happy this morning. I hope somebody feels like singing. And most of all, I hope it comes out of a heart overflowing with praise because you’ve walked the walk and helped somebody at just the right time, making the most of the time in otherwise evil days. I hope your song canes out of a heart overflowing with excitement because you’ve walked the walk and had the fun of really understanding what the will of God is. And most of all, I hope your song will continue to overflow from a heart that faces everything and escapes nothing because you are in a relationship with the Spirit of the Living God.
Walk the walk today. Begin to walk it right now. Come into fellowship with Christ. Commit to a church which is not going to be afraid to walk with Christ.
And I tell you, you’re gonna shout when the Spirit says shout, you’re gonna sing when the Spirit says sing, and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
Walk the walk and then, full of joy, sing the song.
