Love, light and wisdom

January 23, 2008

Ephesians 5:1-20

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that 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 these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be associated with them. For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be careful then who you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When I was in college one of my closest friends was a young man named Jerry Hedden. Jerry was different from all of the rest of us. We were all Christians and loved God, worshipped God but frankly we were still pretty young and gained some excitement from doing stupid things that surely must have affected our Christian example.

Jerry was always intentional about being with all of us even during our most stupid moments. He never judged us but he also very clearly never participated in our shenanigans. Jerry lived his life as an imitator of God. He was not perfect nor did he purport to be. He simply tried to live his life by this passage. He tried to live according to the three-fold admonition of living in love, light and wisdom. He knew that if he could live in God’s will—seeking God’s direction for his life and for the ways that he chose to interact with others that would lead to a living out of wisdom. If he could live wisely, there would in turn arise a peace that would reflect joy and light in him and those things would all work together to enable him to look at others without the judgment to which so many of us are prone. Without that judgment, he was free to place himself in the shoes of the other and live out of more compassion and love.

Jerry is a testament to the meaning and the heart of this passage. The Ephesians were being easily tempted by the follies of those around them so that it was all too easy to fall into sinful actions that corrupted their witness and confused the definition of what it means to be Christian folk.
We, as Christians, understand that we aren’t perfect and thus the mantras of forgiveness and grace must ever be on our lips. Still, there must also be a striving among us as individuals to live lives that reflect love, light and wisdom.

In our churches we must also understand this in a corporate sense. This passage is a call for churches to examine their own identities. Are they fellowships of people who are focused on God’s will? If so, then love, light and wisdom should be evident both within the community and to all those who look upon it. A healthy church is not afraid to ask and answer honestly: what is it that others see when they look at us? A healthy church is not afraid to address the answers by its choice for living.

So, who is your church? What should she be? Is she living up to love, light and wisdom? The questions are ours to ask individually too. May we find ourselves like Jerry Hedden, as people of love and light and wisdom—people who seek God’s will! Amen.