4/3/22 Ephesians 5:8-14 “You Are the Light for the World!”

01 Apr 4/3/22 Ephesians 5:8-14 “You Are the Light for the World!”

4/3/22    Ephesians 5:8-14        “You Are the Light for the World!”

A while back, I was reading an article that told me that I would be enlightened if I did and believed in what they were saying.  If you look up the word ‘enlighten’ in the dictionary, you will find that it means to be free from ignorance, prejudice and superstition.  So, I don’t think that they wanted to enlighten me at all.  In this instance they were just trying to shame me into their way of thinking.  And this isn’t an isolated case.  This type of thing happens all the time.  At least it happens to me all the time.  I think that you all know that I might be what you call a conservative Christian, whatever that means.  People make the assumption that just because I think that certain behaviors are wrong that the Bible says are wrong, that I hate the people who do them.  This is wrong, totally wrong.  I don’t hate anyone.  If you have some behavior that is sinful and wrong in the Bible, then welcome to the club.  This is where we all are.  I am no better than anyone else.  But many modern people think that I need enlightenment so that I will set the Bible down and live my life by the ways of the world.  All I can say about this is that I just don’t see this happening.  I think that the Bible is right and it’s the people who are trying to enlighten me that need the real enlightenment.  I think if I told the church hierarchy today that they needed enlightenment, they would throw me out.  In today’s Scripture lesson, we are going to talk about the real light.  This is not the sun light or moon light or anything artificial like that.  We are going to talk about the source of all light, God.  Hopefully, we will be able to be enlightened by Jesus and I mean really enlightened.

Light is a good thing to have but we really like to fight to keep from getting it because we, as a society, don’t want it.  Way back when, Benjamin Franklin, who was a devoted Christian, wanted to convince the people of Philadelphia that they should have lights in their streets to protect people from crime and make it more convenient for evening travel.  His words failed to convince anyone so he took a nice attractive lantern and placed it in a long bracket holder in front of his house.  Then every evening he would light the lantern and his neighbors noticed the nice warm glow in front of his house.  Passersby appreciated the light and soon others began to put lanterns in front of their houses.  It wasn’t too long before the city recognized the need for well-lit streets.  It seems that even 200+ years ago the government didn’t get it.  I have noticed that it’s the government and progressives that really need enlightenment.  Anyway, we have always had this need for light.

In today’s reading, Paul is telling the Ephesians that they came from the dark.  They all did.  We all did.  They came from a variety of different false religions.  They came from a background of very little if any moral fiber.  They came from a place where personal gratification was the most important aspect of life.  It almost sounds to me that it is not only governments that are the same today as long ago, it is also the people.

We too live in the darkness.  It has to be dark because the prince of this world is Satan.  He wants us to do all these bad things so that he can have us.  We have talked many times of all the darkness of this world.  Just read your newspaper.  Read the ads.  I would say that most ads are designed to trick us into buying something.  They are not truthful.  What has happened to good old fashion honesty?  Now I fully realize that I need to be enlightened about these things.  Look how modern and enlightened we are as we cannot mention the name of Jesus in our schools or government but they don’t have a problem with Mohammad.  Look how enlightened we are as we lie and cheat each other and say that it is ok.  Look at all the false idols we have and how we must not say that they are wrong!  Look how we can say nothing against homosexuality and so-called transgender people.  There is evil and darkness everywhere you look.

It even creeps into our churches.  For the most part I think that you do a pretty good job keeping Satan out of your church but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t trying to tempt you.  The last thing that he wants you to do is give money for any kind of mission project.  He gets totally riled up when you invite other children to our Christian activities.  After all, he has gotten to most of the parents so the children should just naturally flow to him.  The very last thing he wants you to do is to come to church and enjoy it so that others will see.  Satan is huge and totally evil, even in our local communities.

Paul is telling us in the opening of this reading that we are now children of the light.  If we read John, we find that the light is very important.  God is the light.  We have been called by the light to be a part of the light.  It is almost hard for me to imagine the early Ephesians living in a world as dark as theirs.  We sometimes forget that before Jesus came along, there was no such thing as morality as we know it.  They lived in a world where anything goes.  They almost lived in total darkness.

Paul is telling them that they have been called to be the light.  And guess what?  The people of Ephesus join them.  They come in large numbers.  Even though they know nothing of any type of moral behavior, they want a part of this because it just seems so right.  I’ve said before that I think we innately know right from wrong.  Anyway, we should learn from this.  So, the church grows there.

And just as the Ephesians and others were called by God, we have been called in the same way.  Just as I can’t imagine living in a world as dark as Ephesus, they couldn’t imagine living in a world as evil as ours.  We have religions and denominations who claim to be Christian that are no more Christian than the tree outside.  And as disheartening this is, as dark as this is, we are called to be the light to these very people.  Jesus knows every hair on your head.  In Isaiah, we find that we have been called by name.  You are called!

It is up to us to try to find ways to show these people that they are wrong.  I think that this is very hard, maybe impossible by human standards.  What I mean is that how do we tell people that they are wrong without alienating them?  I don’t agree with some of the aggressive tactics of some Christians.  It may work for some people but not the majority.  In just about anything that you do, when you tell someone that their beliefs are wrong, you have to be gentle.  No one likes to be told that they are wrong about something especially their beliefs.  You need to be gentle and let the light of the Lord show right through you.

There is a story told that I got from Sermon Central that tells of a couple taking their young son to Europe where they visited many of the wondrous cathedrals.  When they returned the little boy’s Sunday school teacher asked him, “Did you learn what a saint is?”  The lad remembered all the stained-glass windows that he had seen in the cathedrals which depicted the Christian saints and he said, “A saint is a person who the light shines through.”  This is what we need to be doing.  We are to be letting the light of Jesus Christ shine through us as we minister to others in whatever form.  And I think that most importantly we are to be letting people know that we are doing all things in the name of Jesus.  If we don’t, then we are just another group handing out food for no reason.  The people need bread but they also have a need for the bread of life.  Think about this (as we take communion in a few minutes).(the next time you are in prayer.)

Now we are called to do this so what exactly are we to do.  Paul tells these early Christians to find out what pleases God and then do it.  I think that Paul is trying to keep these people together here.  He doesn’t want them to go out and do what they think is the right thing to do.  He doesn’t want them to go out and do what feels good to them.  What he is saying is that they should pray to God and ask Him what they should do.  He is telling them that the fruits of their prayer life will be a greater understanding of how to minister to those around them.

These are the same principles that apply to us 2000 years later.  I think it is amazing just how timeless the Bible is if you follow it instead of society.  In our world today, we want to offer everyone grace but not tell the truth.  This is what is happening to many denominations that are leaving Christianity.  Everyone wants grace, grace, and more grace.  No one wants to tell the truth because it might offend someone and we surely can’t offend anyone today!  We forget that Christianity is offensive to anyone who lives in sin but it also offers a wonderful way out of that lifestyle to a lifestyle full of grace and blessings.

I think that what happens is that we try to do many things in the name of Jesus but we end up doing them on our own.  We don’t pray about it.  We just go out and do it.  This works sometimes because we have been a part of the life of Jesus for so long that we just know what has to be done.  But there are many new Christians who don’t know this.  They need to learn to pray about it and ask questions like, “should we be giving someone food or a way to get food?  Should we be telling the new widow a verse from the Bible or should we just be listening to her?  Or should we be giving someone money or a job?”  It is not easy being a minister of Jesus because every case is different.  Every person’s story is different and they all need a different conclusion.  There are about 7 billion stories in the world.  I know of only one person who can help us minister to each and every story and that is Jesus Christ.  Go to Him in prayer as you minister to others.  Go to Him daily because you meet these people daily.

So, we live in darkness and the only way out is through Jesus and prayer.  The next thing Paul is telling these people is to have nothing to do with this vile darkness but expose it whenever you can.  It was a problem in those days that people would find evil and then they would hide from it.  Part of the reason was that there was a lot of persecution of Christians.  It didn’t happen all the time but they had to be careful.

This is also something that happens a lot today.  We come to church to worship but when we leave, we usually try our best to hide from evil.  We aren’t even persecuted in this country, yet.  But it will be coming unless we do what God tells us to do.  You need to confront evil whenever you come across it.

This could have a lot of implications if we do this on a national level.  For instance, is it ok for us to go in and bomb and kill people in Russia in order that Russia doesn’t bomb and kill the Ukraine people?  In other words, is there such a thing as a just war?  I want to be quite honest with you as I say I don’t have an answer to this.  I will leave this one to you.  Go to God in prayer and ask Him if this is right or not.

But more importantly you are to be confronting evil right here in your own community.  When you see people who aren’t churched, you are looking at evil.  When you see people attending cult denominations, you are seeing evil.  I don’t think that we can help to convert anyone to Christianity by getting in their face.  What you really need to do is to present yourselves as Christ on earth.  You need to be helping them or their neighbors.  You need to be showing these people all the blessings that you get from following God.  You need to show that you have a full and meaningful life.  And when you somehow spark just the slightest bit of interest, you need to invite them to be our friends.  After you do this, you can show them what a difference Jesus makes in everyone’s life.  Christians are grossly outnumbered in this country and hopefully we can change that just a bit by being brave and exposing people to their own evil.  The most effective way is to be subtle but it isn’t the only way.  Whatever means you use, you need to use it in the name of Jesus, always in the name of Jesus Christ.

I think we are all included in the last verse where we are to wake up from the dead and Christ will shine on you.  We were all dead at some point and maybe there are people here today that are still dead.  Paul is telling you that you need to accept Jesus in your heart and in turn He will shine on you.  The rewards for this are great even when you are exposing the evil around us.  I know that when I have exposed evil whether I am subtle or not, I feel good after because I have done the right thing according to Christ.  To me this is a great reward.

This week I would like you to go and be an intentional light to the world about you.  I don’t know if you have ever been in a cave someplace when they have turn off the lights but it is dark.  This would have to be the very definition of darkness.  This is kind of how our world is.  You can learn to be the light and your light can be seen for miles and miles.  Don’t be afraid to go to someone this week and ask, “How are you doing?”  Then listen.  God loves all of us and He wants to help others through you.  Go out and serve Him and feel the love He will give you in return.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.