Saint Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Lent 3 March 3, 2002 Ephesians 5:8-14

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.”

Dear people of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

Mount Carmel is a hospital and an asylum in New York. It is a place where people who are horribly sick are cared for. There are wards—dark halls and darker rooms where patients were kept. Dark halls and darker rooms where doctors seldom came. And if they did come—they didn’t come often and they didn’t stay long. You see—those rooms are filled with people who suffer from the sleeping sickness epidemic that struck soon after the First World War! People who had this sleeping sickness were like they were asleep—even when they were awake! What could you compare them to? It was said they were like extinct volcanoes. Everything was there for them to well up with life—to erupt—but they didn’t—they couldn’t! They said it was like they were dead—even though they were alive! They would sit—or they would curl up in their beds—and not move. They would stare off into space. Their body would be all tied up in this knot—their mind—their emotions—their thoughts tied up inside as if invisible ropes and chains held them tight! This went on for years and years and years. They were the recipients of tender care. They were the recipients of painful and horrible abuse. They were the victims of the most painful neglect. Then—by the grace of God—there came a doctor who gave them medication—the right medication in the right amount—and the impossible happened. They called it awakenings! It was like Lazarus—waking up from the grave! These people went from death to life! It was nothing short of a miracle! Today God’s Word talks about a greater miracle still! It talks about the miracle of saving faith! It talks about the transformation from spiritual death to eternal life. Today God’s Word talks to you and to me when it says:

Wake Up, Spiritual Sleepy head!

1. Once we were darkness
2. Now we are light in the Lord!

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on is part of the apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus is a city located in what is today the nation of Turkey. It was located in just about the perfect place back then for trade. Kind of like New York City—with her harbor and air ports and Wall Street—Ephesus was the place where people went to buy and sell and trade and make money. It was a city where people who had made lots of money could spend that money—on huge homes—on clothes made from the most beautiful and expensive fabrics. To spend their money on jewelry—on gold and silver and precious gemstones. To spend their money on fancy food and expensive wine. Why back then you could spend your money on people. You could buy slaves to do the most tedious and the most disgusting jobs for you. You could buy and sell people—beautiful people to amuse you. You could surround yourself with the most learned and articulate and creative people—to discuss deep thoughts with you. You could go to the theater—to see the latest in comedies and tragedies. In short—you could spend your money to indulge yourself—pretty much like people today hope to make lots and lots of money—so they can buy all the things and stuff that are supposed to make you happy. And if you wanted to have a spiritual—even a religious element to your life you could do that in Ephesus, too. Ephesus was the home of the temple to Diana. Her temple was such an architectural wonder—one of the seven wonders of the ancient world—like the pyramids or the hanging gardens of Babylon—or the Parthenon. In Ephesus you could find all the things and stuff of this world. What the people needed was the one thing needful—the Gospel of sins forgiven for Jesus’ sake!

Paul begins with the crushing law when he says, “For you were once darkness…” Darkness! The Greek word here is not a skin color. We need to be careful—not to say that wickedness and gross evil have to do with a color. No—the Greek word here has to do with darkness—the absence of light. It’s a darkness that is far worse than physical blindness. It’s spiritual blindness—spiritual ignorance that can lead to the most horrible and hurtful evil. Paul wrote, “For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.” There was a little girl—just 7 years old—a little second grader named Danielle. She is missing. Jesus knows where she is—but her parents don’t. There is a neighbor—a man who lives just two doors down from her. The police think he is responsible. Apparently the neighbor owns one of those camper mobile homes. He had that mobile home somewhere—somewhere out in the desert—out in the wilderness. Now it is possible that this neighbor is just someone who is a little obsessive/compulsive when it comes to cleaning. It’s possible that he really likes to scrub and wash and clean and disinfect. That’s possible. It’s also possible that he is guilty of doing what is shameful even to mention. It’s entirely possible that this neighbor is guilty of doing unspeakable things to a little seven year old girl—a little second grader. Then it would seem—he tried to wash away all the evidence—using so much bleach—that the smell is so powerful—it’s practically impossible to step into his mobile home. If this neighbor is responsible—he can scrub and scrub and scrub with bleach—until his hands are raw and his eyes water and his lungs burn from the fumes. He can drown his mobile home in a lake of cleanser and cleaner. That will not wash away the guilt and shame and blame. Only Jesus’ blood can wash away that sin. Jesus died on the cross—for the sin of whoever did any harm to little Danielle. Jesus died for me and for you—not even a little bit better than the most vile offender. We have worked overtime—earning the wages of sin. We too 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.

Live as children of light—let your light so shine before people that they might see your good works—and glorify your Father in Heaven! Put your faith into action. Put your faith into practice in your own home first! That means Husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church! It means the husband and father is the spiritual head—the spiritual leader of the family. That means the husband and father is the example of love for Jesus in action! That means husbands and fathers sitting in the daddy chair—not with beers and the remote and the sports page—but sitting in the daddy chair reading God’s Word. It means husbands and fathers coming home from work—not angry, grumbling, complaining, frustrated—whining! It means husbands and fathers coming home from work thankful for the blessings of their job. Thankful for the opportunities Jesus has given them to live their faith by the way they milk the cows or drive their truck or treat their customers or teach their students. It means husbands not just taking time—but making time to listen to their spouse! Quality time is a fine concept. It’s surely much better to have quality time—meat and potatoes and vegetable and a brownie time—as opposed to the cheese doodles and beef jerky and fizzy water time. And yet—quantity of time is important too. It’s not enough to eat one bite of prime rib or one bite of lobster or one bite of home made apple pie and say that was really nourishing and enough—because it was prime rib and apple pie—really quality—really top notch. There is need for more than a few minutes together—to do the things that need to be done! Live as children of light—has to do with literal children, too. Jesus expects and equips and enables little children to live as children of light, too! That means children who are respectful of their teachers in school—not just obedient—but respectful! R*E*S*P*E*C*T is not just a song by somebody who sings the blues. Respect is a fruit of faith. God’s Word says, “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.” 1 Peter 2:18 Notice it doesn’t say anything about showing respect to those who are worthy of respect or deserving of respect or who have earned your respect. It says submit with all respect, not just to the good ones—the kind and considerate ones that you like—but also to those who are harsh! If your boss is harsh—your teachers are harsh—your parents are harsh—still show them genuine respect—for Jesus’ sake! Show them respect the way Jesus always showed respect when he was here on earth. Live as children of light—has everything to do with being a teenager or a college student away from home. When you are a teenager there might be powerful—powerful peer pressure to smoke cigarettes. A child of light will understand that it is against the law if you are under 18 years old. To break the law is a sin—whether your parents know or don’t know—whether your parents seem to care or seem not to. A child of light will understand that the nicotine in a cigarette is highly addictive—chemically and physically and psychologically addictive. A child of light will understand that over 100 years ago—when people went to plays instead of watching TV—when a character 100 years ago wanted a cigarette he didn’t ask for a cigarette—he asked for a coffin nail! Over 100 years ago—people addicted to cigarettes knew they were coffin nails! To live as children of light means don’t eat too much. Don’t starve yourself. Don’t be fooled by the devil into thinking that reducing yourself to skin and bones—so that your whole system suffers is the one thing you can control in this world that sometimes seems out of control. Don’t be fooled by the devil into thinking that food is the enemy and a curse—instead of the blessing it is from God. Don’t be fooled by the devil into doing harm to the digestive system and the baby in your tummy system that Jesus gave you because you think self esteem and self worth are to be found in less and less and less physical weight! Live as children of light means we know our worth is measured in the price Jesus paid for us when he lived and died and lives again to wash away all our sins!

Live as children of light! I heard the other day about this little guy in the circus—the little guy they shoot from the cannon—the human cannon ball. He straps on this helmet—and slides down the barrel. There is this fuse they light—this explosion sound all for effect—when this giant spring pushes this huge plunger thing—and he is catapulted through the air—to land in this net. Somebody somehow miscalculated something the other day and they missed—he missed the net! I wonder when he realized the mistake. When he wooshed out of the barrel—or when he was really whipping through the air—and he saw the net pass harmlessly beneath him? There are—I think—people going through life like that little man—maybe saying to themselves—so far so good! But there is ahead of them a horrible crash landing. There is safety—rescue—a safety soul saving net in Jesus’ hands and Jesus’ hands alone. We need to wake up! Spiritual sleepyheads—we need to wake up and smell of the coffee of law and gospel. We need to watch and pray until Jesus catches us—safe in Heaven where we will see the wondrous light of his glory and love. Amen!