Recently I was remembering the very first sermon that I preached. It was in the mid 70s at a Baptist Church. I was a young sailor recently married. My new bride had been raised in a Baptist church and I was a freshly catechized Lutheran. We tried the local Lutheran Church – but it was not an easy place to find fellowship. But when we visited Princess Ann Baptist Church, immediately Pastor George Baker put me to work teaching the Sunday School youth and leading the youth group. When the pastor asked me to preach, I was flattered – but to be honest with you, I didn’t have a clue about preparing a sermon.
The very first illustration I used was one that I made up. It was about these little red wooden sticks. They lived in a bucket of red paint. All day long, they swam and they swam in the red paint. Then, one day, a friend invited them to go swimming in the paint can next door. The little red sticks were excited to try something different, so they all jumped in with both feet. But, lo and behold, the paint can they jumped into was blue, so now they were little blue sticks. They lost their identity. Corny, huh?
In the scripture lesson for today from Ephesians, Paul drives home the point that believers look different from people that don’t know God. Our text for today describes three different ways to engage the world: First, how the person separated from God engages life. Secondly, how the Christian is to aspire to engage life. And finally, how Jesus engaged life.
Let’s look at how life apart from God looks: [Read text 4.17-19; Fill in the blank: Life Apart from God.] When people are separated from God, it is very difficult to relate to the things that God values. Paul describes this as a “futility of thinking or a darkened understanding” that keeps people separated from God. Maybe the easiest way to see this is to consider a person who is inebriated – dead drunk. As a Navy Chief Petty Officer, I had to stand a watch named Officer of the Deck. I was stationed at a training command with lots of young sailors. On the base, there was a night club. It closed at 2 AM and the Officer of the Deck had the job of being present – as a deterrent – at the parking lot of that club as the boisterous crowd poured out at closing time. Normally, everything went OK. But every now and again, some young buck would come out of the nightclub thinking he could take on the world. When this happened, there was almost never anything you could do to get the young sailor to see reason. His mind was simply too clouded because of the night’s partying. Three out of four times the Shore Patrol would have to be called and the young buck would have to spend a night in the brig. That sort of complete inability to see things God’s way is how God describes people caught in up in the world.
When our minds are in that place, there is no way to see God’s light. There is a complete break from God. We become ignorant of what God is like. In fact, we rebel against the Kingdom of God. Our hearts become hard to the things of God – they simply don’t make sense. And once sensitivity to the things of God is gone, you may as well chunk it. The soul is in danger as we seek more and more the things of the world and less and less the things of God. [Point people to the outline about what happens after sensitivity to the things of God is lost: 1) give themselves to sensuality; 2) indulge impurity, 3) lust for more.]
Paul also describes the way that believers should aspire to relate to the world. [Read text 4.20-32; Fill in the blank: “Life in Christ”; point out the outline.] The essence of the message is that Christians are to live in fundamentally different ways from people who do not know God. The life of the believer is based on the truth of Jesus Christ. We come into relationship with God through Christ and in this, God does away with the old self and then we are made new. There are several ways that the Bible describes this: buried with Christ and raised to new life. Transformed – or “morphed” (metamorfósis) – like a caterpillar (oruga) turns into a butterfly. In Christ, all things become new!
But what does this look like? To help us see this, God speaks in practical terms. He tells us: “avoid this – this is of the world; and then He tells us, to instead do that – which is of the Kingdom of God.” He actually describes what life in Christ looks like.
First, Paul says that we need to 1) avoid lies. Instead, we are to speak truthfully recognizing that when we lie to or about the neighbor, we actually hurt ourselves. [Story of Frank and Mildred]. We are one body. When we tell falsehoods about a person in the Body of Christ, we hurt the Body and in so doing hurt ourselves as we cripple the vessel that is moving us all toward heaven.
Anger that leads to sin is another thing believers are warned about. Anger can be deadly. Paul tells us why. He says that anger becomes the way that the devil can enter you’re your life. So Paul says, “Don’t let the sun set on your anger.” Don’t let anger fester and corrupt your life and your relationships. Deal with it quickly. Don’t give the devil a place from which to launch his vicious attacks. [Story of church where thirty year old grudges still affect ministry.]
Paul tells us that the believer is not to steal. Instead, believers are to find a way to make use of their gifts so that they can share with others. Serving others is to be a way of life for the believer.
And the Apostle also describes the how a believer talks. Isn’t it easy to use that coarse street lingo? I mean, everybody seems to do it. You can be sitting at a restaurant eating with your wife and children and hear people cussing up a blue streak at the table next to you. Instead of doing this, Paul says, “Use words to help build up other people.” Encourage people; show your love and care for people.
When we engage in behaviors that are more like the world, we grieve the Holy Spirit that is now part of our lives. So God tells us to get rid of all bitterness, rage and instead to be kind and compassionate to each other. These things, beloved, are the markers of the children of God.
Now, here’s the question for us: How well do we do these things. How different are we from the world around us? YOu see, doing all these things that Paul is describing is really quite impossible for us. We will undoubtedly fail at one or more of these points because we are still beset by sin.
And so, God addressed that directly through the Cross of Jesus. [Read final part of text 5.1-2 and fill in the blank: “Example of Christ”] The text we read says that Christ loved us and gave Himself for us. What a wonderful gift from God!
Have you ever seen a child imitate a parent? That is part of the picture that Paul is lifting up to the believer. See what your heavenly Father has done for you. See how He sent Jesus to give Himself as a fragrant offering – a loving sacrifice on your behalf. Just as Jesus did – so do the same!
And that, dear friends, makes all the difference in the world! Jesus’ actions not only set a pattern worthy of imitation, but they give us new hearts. It is God who creates the new man in Christians through Christ’s forgiveness. All of this sets a new standard. We no longer live like the world. We live a life characterized by “instead” – instead of living like the world, we imitate Christ.
If we turn our eyes up to the sun, the brightness will overwhelm our sense of sight. Once the eyes have been looked into the blazing brightness, how do other objects appear? All are changed. They seem to have grown dim, if not dark and invisible. The treasures and pleasures of this world also look different after a person has caught a glimpse of heaven. Once we turn our hearts toward the Son – “S” “O” “N” – we too know that “just one thing” is necessary for our lives. Do you understand beloved? “Just one thing” – Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
