September 3, 2003 Ephesians 5:15-20
One of many things that impresses me about the ministry of Jesus was His focus. He never lost sight of the reason why he had come. As a matter of fact, at times he was so focused on His mission, that his disciples started to become worried about his physical and even mental well being. John 4 gives one of these accounts -
His disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, . . . “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
At times Jesus was so focused on reaching out to lost souls and saving the world that he didn’t want to take the time to sit around and eat. When Peter tried to stop Him, Jesus rebuked him harshly. He refused to lose His focus - to save the world by dying for the world.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have that great of a focus in life? To know exactly what you were here for and to spend a majority of your time and energy on accomplishing that one goal. I would venture to bet that most of us aren’t living with any goals - all we’re trying to do is get by from one day to another - doing our chores and then going to bed at night exhausted. Paul’s encouragement to us today is to get some purpose in our lives - a focus. It’s all about -
The Focus Factor
I. What it is
What are we supposed to be focused on? What is our ultimate purpose in life? In today’s letter to the Ephesians - Paul tells us. Therefore, start looking more carefully at how you walk around, not as unwise but as wise, buying back the time. One main goal in our life is to walk wisely. How do we walk around in a wise manner? Paul said that Christ crucified (is) . . . the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:24) So if I’m going to walk around through this world in a wise manner, I need to look at everything through the cross - under the shadow of the cross.
When I look at life under the shadow of the cross, I have to conscientiously decide whether the paths I am taking will lead me closer to Christ or farther away from Him. For instance, if you were in school and trying to determine what major to pick - you have to ask yourself, “what would be the wise decision? If I take biology or science, chances are I will be inundated with evolution theology and man centered religions. Would this be a wise choice for me to take? Would it take me closer to the cross?” Or if you were faced with a promotion, you need to ask yourself, “will this promotion enable me to serve my Lord and my family in a better way? Will it lead me to pride, or will it hinder my view of the cross in any way?” If I’m thinking about dating someone I have to ask, “will he or she lead me closer to Christ or further away from him?” Paul says to look carefully at where you’re walking - don’t just make a decision based on how much money you can make or how much recognition you can get. The problem is all we tend to think about is the bottom dollar - how much money will it make me or what will make me happy.
We need to have better focus. Jesus once said in Luke 12,
“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
The problem with this rich man wasn’t that he was rich, but that he didn’t have the proper focus in this world. So what did God call him? A FOOL. Why? Because he didn’t have any focus in what life was all about. That’s why Paul literally said, do not be without restraint , but bring what the will of the Lord is together in your mind. He was saying, “don’t just have the Great Commission be a concept - make it your game plan.” Figure out in your mind HOW you are going to keep Christ in your life and bring Him to the people in your life. Plan your budget, your time, and your life NOT AROUND what kind of a house or a car you can buy, or how much money you can make, but around how you can fulfill the will of God in your life.
II. Why it’s needed
Why is this so necessary? Paul gives us two reasons why it’s so necessary to keep our focus on Christ. First of all, he tells us it’s necessary because, “the days are evil.” The specific evils that Paul mentioned earlier in chapter five which were prevalent in his day were sexual immorality, greed, obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking. These were what the people of Paul’s day were revolving their lives around. Hmm, doesn’t that sound familiar?
But it’s interesting to me that the word for evil in the Greek is ponerai, which according to Strong’s Lexicon initially means “full of labors, annoyances, and hardships”. To me this seems to be describing things that we feel we have to do, that we don’t really want to. Doesn’t that really describe our world to a “T”? We live in a “busy” world. We find ourselves in situations at work or at home that we don’t really want - but nonetheless we have. It might be overtime at work. It might be homework from school. It might be bad health. These are not things that you enjoy, but because of sin in the world they are there. So from sun up to after sun down, we find ourselves tirelessly running around at work, at clubs, at home, at sporting events, until the point of exhaustion. Before we know it, we have no focus in life. We’re just running everywhere at once. With these many “responsibilities” it’s easy to forget about our overall purpose in life - to keep focused on Christ.
In situations like this Paul told the Ephesians, “do not be foolish.” Use your senses. When the historian Josephus used this word, he did it in referring to a teenage boy or girl or a college aged student who lives with his hormones running full throttle. That’s what foolishness is about - living without restraint - doing things without thinking about it - just living life without a plan. Paul says, “don’t be foolish” - don’t be that way. Even though we complain about it, it’s easier just to live life without focus and float from one thing to the other. If you don’t have any goals or priorities, then you don’t have to worry about failure or stick to a schedule. That’s the way our sinful nature likes it. But in the end, where does that kind of an aimless life lead you? More often than not, you end up having wasted your time and achieving no goals at all. You work your whole life and then look back and say, “what good have I really accomplished?” Deep inside you feel guilty because you know you should be focusing on better things. But if don’t start focusing on it, before you know it it will be too late to take it back. It’s a shame to say that a majority of us have wasted our time, money, and efforts on the foolish and aimless things of this world.
Thank God that Jesus stayed focused on his mission in life, then. After he was baptized in the river Jordan, the picture we get of Jesus is a Man who spent countless hours preaching to people, healing, and proclaiming the kingdom of God. He also spent many hours in prayer to His Father as well. Even when he sat down to eat with people, He was always teaching - never wasting one moment. He was so exhausted that he was even able to sleep through a raging storm in which the disciples were sure they would drown. When the devil tempted Him to skip the cross and go straight to the glory, He stuck to the plan. When Peter told Him he should never go to the cross, Jesus told him “get behind me, Satan!” His focus was clear. He would not stop preaching, would not stop teaching, would not stop walking until He reached the cross and died for the sins of the world. That was what He was chosen for. That what He was born for. That’s what He lived for - to die. The most important point for us in this - is that Jesus was fulfilling the Father’s will in this - He was saving the world. Now God promises us that the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, purifies us from ALL sin - including our lack of focus. Whether we’re completely or slightly focused on the cross, we still have salvation - because it’s by grace.
In light of this gracious gift, Paul tells us to buy back our time.
III. How you get it
How do you get and keep the focus? Paul focuses on one way to do this in today’s text when he says, be filled with the Spirit by speaking with each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things to the God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul pointed to MUSIC as a key to keeping your focus. Today athletes listen to music to pump them up for games, lull babies to sleep, or keep themselves awake. It’s interesting to note the POWER that even the Bible associates with music in an of itself. While Elisha was speaking with the king of Israel he said, now bring me a harpist.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha. (2 Ki 3:15) 1 Samuel 16 also states that, Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. Music would chase Satan away, and music would open up Elisha’s heart for the hand of the LORD to come upon him.
Throughout all the Scriptures you can how key events are accompanied with song. In the Old Testament, God set aside a whole book of Psalms for the purpose of leading worship services. When the new temple was dedicated, a whole choir sang a series of music around the wall in dedication. When the Israelites were delivered from the Egyptian army at the parting of the Red Sea, Moses and the Israelites sang a song. (Exodus 15) In the New Testament, when the angels came to announce the birth of the baby Jesus to the shepherds, they sang praises to God. When Simeon held the Christ child in his arms, he sang a song. When Mary met up with Elizabeth, she also broke forth in a song. After Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, they sang a hymn. Scriptures are full of examples of Christians singingto one another. What does this show us? Music is integral to the Christian life!
But note what Paul tells us to do - “SPEAK to each other IN psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. . . . giving thanks to God the Father.” Paul said to use music as a backdrop to speak His Word. The basis of our encouragement has to come from the Word, for that’s what the Holy Spirit works through. Luther also said,
The fathers and prophets wanted nothing else to be associated as closely with the Word of God as music. Therefore, we have so many hymns and Psalms where message and music join to move the listener’s soul, while in other living beings music remains a language without words. After all, the gift of language combined with the gift of song was only given to man to let him know that he should praise God by proclaiming the Word of God through music and by providing sweet melodies with words. (Luther’s works, Vol. 53, Page 323-324)
That’s how Paul said you keep your focus in life. Listen to the music. One time in Paul’s life, while he was doing mission work, he chased the demon out of a girl who could predict the future. The owners were so mad at him that accused Paul of causing an uproar in the city. Luke says in Acts 16, the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. It would have been easy for them to give up at this point and get depressed. So what did Paul and Silas do to keep their focus in the midst of this trial? 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. When Jesus was about to head to the cross, what did he also do first? He sang a hymn. I would imagine it helped him FOCUS on God’s will and what He needed to do.
You tell me what is more moving at a funeral service - the preacher could preach the greatest sermon in the world and he could speak a very comforting Word of God, but in my mind it doesn’t compare to a wonderful round of “I Know that My Redeemer Lives.” When you not only hear the notes but also sing the proclamation that Jesus lives and your loved one will live again - it reaches down to your very soul and lifts it up like nothing else. That’s the reason why we have music in worship services. Both the lyrics and the music is intended to encourage us and lift our souls as we keep our focus on Christ.
But it doesn’t only have to occur in worship. If you’re feeling tempted, sing a hymn. If you’re frustrated with life, sing a Christian song. If you’re losing your purpose, recall a good old hymn, and think about the words you’re singing. Just recently my mother in law was diagnosed with cancer. She asked for my children and myself to sing some Bible songs on tape for her. At first I thought it was a bit strange, but after I read this text, I realize how good a thing it was. My wife said when she heard that tape she smiled and had tears running down her cheek. It kept her positive and focused on God’s love for her. That’s what worship is for. When you come into this service, if nothing else is going right, when you hear the Word of God put to music it will energize you and refocus you on what is important in life. It will keep you focused on the cross.
So it’s time for us to put our money where Paul’s mouth is. Let’s conclude this sermon by doing the very thing that Paul is encouraging us to do. Let focus on what our life is all about by singing our theme song - hymn 369 vs. 1. As you sing it, think about what you’re saying. You have a Beautiful Savior, one that you’re ready to love and to serve and live for - who is your joy and your crown.
Beautiful Savior, King of creation, Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I’d love thee, Truly I’d serve thee, Light of my soul, my Joy, My crown. Amen.
