Gifts of Grace: Be the Light

This is part 14 of a sermon series on Ephesians. English statesman Edmund Burke is credited with saying, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," which raises the question, "Is there such a thing as being morally neutral?"

Today’s verses say the answer is, "No, definitely not." A slang version of today’s lesson might be, "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem." White or black. Hot or cold. In or out. On or off.

We don’t like white or black. We want shades of gray. We think of gray as safe, a neutral color. Even if gray is not as good as white, at least it’s not black. We don’t like to think of everything as good or evil. We want to see some aspects of life as unaffiliated, safe, outside of considerations about good and evil.

However, that’s not how the world works.

Ephesians 5:8-20

Commentary

v8 You were once darkness: "Darkness," not "in darkness." We prefer to think of ourselves as basically OK, or at least morally neutral, but this verse says otherwise. Before the advent of Jesus in our lives, we were evil.

v10 The KJV is a better translation: "Proving what is acceptable to the Lord." Sometimes the best way to learn about something is to try it out, or prove it; "Taste & see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34-8)

v11 The KJV is a better translation: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness ..." A variation of the word koinonia appears here, so a slang translation might be, "Don’t get all buddy-buddy with things best done in the dark that get you nowhere ..."

A second problem here is the word translated as "expose" in the NIV and "reprove" in the KJV. The point of a Biblical rebuke is something more like corrective discipleship or educational redemption. The goal of a Biblical rebuke is to change the darkness to light. Paul puts it this way, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience & careful instruction" (2 Tim. 4:2). See Matt. 18:15; Luke 3:19; John 3:20; 8:46; 16:8;
1 Cor. 14:24; Eph. 5:13; 1 Tim. 5:20; Titus 1:9,13; 2:15; Heb. 12:5; James 2:9; Rev. 3:19 for more examples.

v16 The KJV is a better translation: "Redeeming the time ..." We think of people as needing redemption; however, this verse says we are to redeem the time because the days are evil.
Romans 8:19-21 suggests that we have a role to play in redeeming all of creation, not just ourselves!

v17 Foolish: literally, without thinking. Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Paul might reply that the unexamined life, clueless and apart from Jesus, is wandering in the darkness—worse, it is darkness itself, and therefore evil. See Luke 11:39-41; 12:15-21; Rom. 2:17-21; 1 Cor. 15:35-37; 2 Cor. 11:16; 1 Peter 2:13-17 for other examples of this kind of foolishness.

V18-20 These verses are an elaboration of v17. v18 parallels v17, while v19-20 are a picture of a wise, considered life.

Application

What is evil?

It has been argued, by way of analogy, that evil is like darkness and cold in the following sense:

What we call darkness is not a physical object. Darkness is simply the absence of light. Light is a real physical object made up of photons. Photons are massless subatomic particles emitted during certain subatomic and atomic reactions as a release of energy.

Cold is not a physical object. Cold is simply the absence of heat. Heat is a real physical object. It is the transfer of energy from one object to another of a different temperature.

Likewise evil is the absence of God. God is Spirit, and he created you to live in a spiritual dimension. When that spiritual dimension is non-existent, the result is not a morally neutral person, but rather an evil person. All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for our spiritual dimension to be zilch.

Jesus called the Pharisees fools for worrying about the law instead of the Spirit (Luke 11:39-41). He called some rich men fools for being preoccupied with their financial wealth instead of their spiritual health (Luke 12:13-21). [2] We are fools as well whenever we are too distracted by other cares to be built up spiritually.

When we are NOT foolish, when we take the time to learn God’s will, when we take the time to build up ourselves and others in the Spirit, an amazing thing happens: we become part of the light, part of the solution:

For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:15-16)

Points to Ponder

Where do you see evidence that the days are evil? (Don’t jump to any end times prophecy conclusions; human depravity means that, left to their own devices, humans mess everything up routinely.)

Where are you tempted to coast through life at home, at work, at school, in important relationships, or with God?

What might "redeeming the time" look like at home, at work, at school, in important relationships, or with God?

Important reminder: it is not up to you to manufacture, to muster up, the light! The light of God is within you; let others see the change that God is making in your life. That’s not boasting; rather, by a humble lifestyle living obediently to God, dare to live diffferently from those around you. That is what it means to be the light of the world. That is what it means to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness (v11).

End Notes

1 - Actually, there is no record of Burke having said this! What he did say was, "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." (Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents)

2 - What Jesus does not say is that it is foolish to be rich. Specifically, in the story Jesus is teaching, and a man asks Jesus to arbitrate an inheritance dispute. Jesus is giving the crowd spiritual wealth, and the man is missing the opportunity because of his excessive concern for wealth that cannot last.