Sermon Cloud

My children think I’m better than I am.  They always have, except perhaps for a little while when they were teenagers.

Somehow, despite my upbringing – despite the type of home where I grew up – despite terrible childhood experiences that left me with more scars than I can count – somehow I was able – with God’s help and with the wisdom in Scripture – to be a good dad.

Lot’s of times, I didn’t think so.  But apparently, I was a good dad.  A loving, caring dad.  As time goes by, my kids have even have come to the point where they think that I get smarter the older they get.  Think about that.

Somehow, despite my many faults, I was able to communicate to my children how much I love them.   In fact, I was totally unprepared by how much I love them.  I can’t control it. I couldn’t possibly have NOT loved them.  Grandchildren, too.

This accomplished something more than just the words I said or the things I did.  It created an atmosphere of love.  It was almost a state of being.  I said, “I love you” a lot, but not because I had to.  It was because it confirmed what the kids already knew.

When I was growing up, the only time I heard those words were when my parents were cussing me out.  They would blister me up one side and the other, tell me how mad they were, how bad I was, and then yell, “Don’t you know I love you!?!?!?”

When I had my own home, my own wife, my own children -- my home wasn’t that way.  My kids didn’t grow up that way.  And therefore, because our home was a loving place -- because their father was a loving parent -- they acted differently.  Love has an effect.

Diane and I can attest to that.  Our kids knew.  They just knew they were loved.  They acted accordingly.  That’s what our loving heavenly Father wants.  He wants us to know – to 43qlize – even to assume – how much He loves us.  Then He wants us to act accordingly.

Listen to the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:1-21.

Ephesians 5:1-21. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

So here we go.  God loves us.  We know that.  We might not be fully aware of how much God loves us.  I’ve tried to communicate that.  I just can’t come up with a big enough analogy that really communicates how much God loves us.  It’s an overwhelming love.  Love that Paul says surpasses knowledge.

But being loved to that degree, how then should we live?  According to Paul, here’s what we should do.  Here’s how to live a life worthy of our calling.  Worthy of the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf.  Worthy to be considered a child of God.  You can do this.  You really can.

Live in love.  Ephesians 5:2.  Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.

Live in light.  Ephesians 5:8.  For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light.

And three.  Live in wisdom.  Ephesians 5:15.  Be careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

So let’s break those down.  Live in love.  Live in light.  Live in wisdom.  Here we go.

Live in love.  Verses 1-2 tell us that Jesus must be our example.  What did He do?  Why did He do it?  How did He treat people?  Paul says that Jesus offered Himself to God as an offering and sacrifice.  That’s certainly a worthy goal for a life.  But He didn’t do it for Himself.  He did it on our behalf!  His offering Himself to God stemmed from His love for us!  

Have you ever thought about love like that?  That your love for others is actually an indication – more than that, a result – of your love from God?  And your love for His Son?  To say to others, with all your heart, “I am loved by Jesus Christ, therefore I love you!”

The world turns upon love like that.  Policemen, Firemen, Emergency Medical Technicians.  All of them put their lives on the line.  They sometimes risk everything – for people they don’t even know. People who may very well not deserve their help.

The love they express is not romantic love.  Not in any sense.  What it IS is Biblical love.  Love that always acts in the best interests of the other person.  

Love that puts the other person first.  Sacrificial love.  It may not be done as an offering to God.  But it is performed in that same spirit.  Our love must follow the same pattern.  Our love MUST be an offering, a sacrifice to God.

Biblical love is not romantic.  It is now a feeling.  It is an action.

To love someone Biblically, you must always act in their best interests.  Your spouse, your children, your relatives.  Actually, it’s even more than that.  The Bible says we’re to love one another.  Again, always acting in their best interests.  Not just our family.  OK, so let’s add other believers into the mix.  However, the Bible makes no distinction between believers and unbelievers when it comes to God’s love…or to ours.  We are to love everyone.  That is, we are to always act in the best interests of everyone.

Let’s expand on that. If your love for others is an offering, a sacrifice to God, then what kind of love should your love be?

In the Old Testament, a sacrifice had to be without blemish.  Is your love like that?  Verse 3 says our love should be free of any hint of immorality or greed.  Even suggestive words – jokes – about immorality or greed aren’t right.  They aren’t reflective of a life of a saint – someone set apart for God’s purpose.  This certainly relates to actions, but just as we have discussed, words are also important.

Look at verse 4.  

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” Even words or jokes suggestive of immorality or greed are unbecoming those who are "saints" Verse 4.

This is serious.  Listen to verses 5-7.  Immoral or greedy persons have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, but instead will experience the full wrath of God! 

If it’s wrong to BE like that, then of course it’s wrong to TALK like that!

So, watch your mouth.  By the way, isn’t that a crazy statement?  Watch your mouth?  Have you ever actually tried to do that…without a mirror?  You can listen to your mouth, but it’s awful hard to watch it.

Anyway, we should make sure that our actions and our words have nothing to do with anything that is immoral sexually unclean, covetous.  Don’t join in with or agree with those who pursue those things.  Shouldn’t be too hard.  Although it’s harder for some than it is for others.

There are two reasons to avoid these sinful actions.  First, verse 3, says they are improper for God’s Holy People. That’s us.  They reflect badly on our Father.  As His beloved children, we don’t want to make Him look bad.

But there’s something else.  The second reason.  And it’s far, far worse.  In verse 5, those same sins are repeated, but with a far more severe judgment.  Listen.

For all this you can be sure:  No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

These things are an act of idolatry – putting them above and before God Himself.  People show by their actions that they love these sins more.  By doing them, they disown themselves from their rightful place in the Father’s family.

I don’t think we lose our salvation.  But we certainly lose the joy of it.  We lose our fellowship with our other brothers and sisters in Christ.  We lose our testimony.  In short, we lose everything that makes this life worth living.  And if we lose our inheritance in the next life, so much greater the loss.

It’s a choice.  Live in love…or live outside of it.  It should be an easy choice.  Live with something wonderful…or live without it.  Live in a manner that is positive for everyone around you…or live in a way that hurts them instead.  Live in a way that pleases and honors God…or live in a way that angers and disgraces Him.  Like I say, it should be an easy choice.

The second instruction -- to act according to the love God has for us -- is to live in light.  As it says in verse 8, walk as children of light.

In describing this, Paul is blunt.  He was that way earlier Ephesians.  Now he is even more direct.  He doesn’t say we were in darkness.  He says, we were darkness.

And in contrast, he doesn’t say we are now in the light.  He says, we are the light.

I have always been fascinated by darkness and light.  I did whole Bible studies on it, studying every verse in the Bible that mentioned them.  Did you know that darkness has no substance in and of itself?  Darkness cannot be focused or substantively used.  That’s why you can’t use it as some sort of laser.  Darkness is nothing.  It is simply the absence of light.  It, in and of itself, is nothing.

Light, on the other hand, is full of substance. It can be focused.  It can be directed through a prism to reveal its primary colors.  Wherever it exists, it overcomes darkness.  And exposes all that is contained therein.

Most sins are committed in the dark.  Sexual sins -- consensual or nonconsensual.  Burglary, robbery, assaults.  What does Paul mean when he says that we as light will expose all of that?

Well, first of all, verse 9 says that the result of our being light will be "goodness, righteousness and truth." 

By bearing such fruit, (verse 10) we “find out what pleases the Lord.  We prove it.  We demonstrate it.

When we are light, we expose sin to be what it truly is.  Disgraceful.  Shameful.  When we are light, we show the world – and sinners themselves – what sin truly is.  The absence of the light.  The absence of God.

Sometimes we accomplish this just by going about our business.  I used to work at a big savings and loan in Milwaukee.  A very effective, profitable place.  

Superb management.  But for a long while, the language was terrible, especially when the meeting was all men.

I was amazed, really, at how executives could get so worked up over interest rate spreads or closing costs on mortgages or whatever.  It sounded like a naval port when the fleet just came in.

The Executive Vice President – the number two guy in the whole company – was a wonderful man named Bob Schaefer.  One day, the two of us were wrapping up a meeting.  He suddenly leaned back in my chair and asked, “John, you don’t swear.  Why not?”

He knew I was a Christian.  I said so, but I also said that I thought people who used obscenity were just reveal-ing how limited their vocabulary is.  He laughed.  He said,  “You know, my mother still goes to mass every morning.  If she ever heard me here, she’d be ashamed.   John, I’m not going to swear anymore.”

I smiled.  Told him I was proud of him.  And that’s what he did.

He was quite a guy.  An incredibly honest and capable man.  He just stopped swearing.  Never told anyone why. Never ordered anyone to do anything.  And within two weeks, all swearing stopped at the company.  At all 37 offices all across the state.  It just stopped.  And, to my knowledge, it never resumed.  

Light had overcome darkness.  The light you shed will do just exactly that.

This is not something we accomplish by ourselves.  Verse 14 tells us the source.  “For it is light that makes everything visible.  This is why it is said:  “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine in you.”

Some scholars think this little saying in verse 14  may have been an early "baptismal hymn" sung at a person's baptism.

So there’s the second directive.  Live in light.  Are we doing that?  Are we – as the light – exposing the deeds of darkness for what they truly are?  Or are we allowing the darkness to intimidate us?

How can we be the light?  How can we make sure that what we are is in line with what we say?

This is where the third directive comes in.  We are to live in Wisdom.  

Albert Einstein said something once.  That the only difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.  

I’ve said before that there are three basic intellectual levels described in Scripture.  Knowledge.  Understanding.  And Wisdom.

Knowledge is knowing about things.  Understanding is know how things act and interact.  But Wisdom is the highest form of mental power.  It is to know what to do.

To know what to do, we must walk with great care – Verse 15.

        The word translated "careful" means "exactly, accurately, diligently"

Then, we must use our time wisely.  Verse 16.

         To "make the most of every opportunity."   We all have been given exactly the same amount of time each day.  Invest it wisely.

Then we must understand the will of the Lord and always take it into consideration.  Ephesians 5:17

         Only by understanding the will of the Lord can we be a "wise people"

         Just as Israel was to demonstrate their wisdom by doing the will of the Lord, so we can "walk as wise" only if we  understand His will for us .

Finally, according to verses 18-21, we can only be wise if we are filled with the Holy Spirit

      While those who "walk as fools" delight in being filled with wine, those who "walk as wise" will endeavor to be filled with the Spirit!

      What evidence is there that one is "filled with the Spirit"? 

         Paul describes three indications.                      

Singing praises - Ephesians 5:19.  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

Giving thanks - Ephesians 5:20.  Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Being humble and Revering Christ - Ephesians 5:21.  Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Are you acting like a beloved child of God?

Is there a family resemblance between you and your brother (and Savior) Jesus Christ?

Is there anything you could do to make your Heavenly Father look even better to the watching world?

If there is, you should do it.

You are greatly loved.  Do you even begin to realize how greatly you are loved?  Act like it.