Sermon outline

Peter J. Leithart, September 06, 2005

INTRODUCTION
Ephesians is about the formation of Christian culture, or, in Paul’s terminology, a corporate Christian "walk." Once, we walked, zombie-like, in death and sin (2:1), but God raised us in Christ to walk in good works (2:10). We are called to walk in a manner worthy of our calling to unity (4:1), avoiding the divisive ways of the Gentiles (4:17). In the first part of chapter 5, Paul exhorts us to walk so as to form a culture of love (5:2), light (5:8), and in wisdom (5:15).

THE TEXT
"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. . . ." (Ephesians 1:1-21).

WALK IN LOVE
Paul begins a chapter by pointing to the foundation of our "walk" – namely, imitation of our Father. We are the true Israel, true "sons" of God (cf. Exodus 4:23), and as Israel was called to be holy like Yahweh (Leviticus 19:2) so we are called to mimic our Father. Specifically, this means we are called to walk in imitation of Christ's love, giving ourselves for one another as He gave Himself as an offering for us (Ephesians 5:2). We are called to live together in imitation of God's own life, as beloved children united to God’s eternally Beloved Son (cf. 1:6).

To walk in love means to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Our desires must be directed to Him, and our disordered desires are offenses against love. Paul focuses on two kinds of disordered desire: sexual immorality and greed (v. 3). Both are also forms of self-indulgence; when we seek our own pleasure and wealth without attending to the needs of others we are not imitating Christ’s self-giving love. Greed and covetousness are idolatrous (v. 5), since the greedy worship Mammon. Sexual immorality is one of the most popular idolatries of our time. It is widely accepted in our world, and sexual temptation is pervasive. Pursuing Christian culture requires that we practice biblical standards of sexual morality. If we merely condemn sexual sin, however, we remain vulnerable. Mere "law" outside a biblical understanding of body, sex, and marriage does more harm than good. Parents are responsible for training their children to live in sexual purity.

Sexual immorality and greed are not naughty toys that we can play with in safety. The lustful and covetous have no "inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God" (5:5; cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Paul warns against being a "partaker" with such sinners (v. 7). We must renounce the culture of lust and greed, or face the wrath of God (v. 6). Walking in love also has implications for our speech. We should use our tongues for giving thanks and praising God (vv. 4, 19), rather than for silliness or vulgarity.

WALK IN LIGHT
God is light, and we are His children; we are therefore "children of light" (v. 8) and are called to walk in light (v. 8). Walking in light is the only way we can produce fruit (v. 9), because the deeds of darkness are barren (v. 11). The fruit of walking in the light is goodness, righteousness, and truth (v. 9).

For Paul, it is not enough to avoid the darkness, though we must do that. We are called to expose darkness (v. 11), by shining the light of God's righteousness, goodness, and truth into the darkness (v. 13). We are not developing a culture of light if we are sitting safely in our clean, well-lighted places, while the world remains contentedly in its darkness. Light must war against the darkness (cf. 6:10-20). But there is no need to fear: Light invariably overwhelms darkness.

WALK IN WISDOM
Being wise means walking "accurately" or "carefully" (v. 15). We need to look down to see where we are putting our feet, and look ahead to see where our paths are leading us. Wisdom also has to do with how we make use of the time that the Lord gives us (v. 16). Every moment is a gift from God, and is an opportunity for knowing and enjoying Him and advancing His kingdom. Every moment is given us to be "redeemed." If we are squandering time in useless or sinful pursuits, we are not walking in wisdom. Even some useful or indifferent activities may be unwise because they are not timely. Of course, God requires us to periodically cease from our work. We should not develop a culture of workaholics. Keeping Sabbath is not an “exception” to redeeming time; it is one way of redeeming time. We cannot walk in wisdom unless we learn to walk in time.

Walking in wisdom also means avoiding drunkenness (v. 18). Wine is a gift of God (Psalm 104:14-15), but to be controlled by wine is "dissipation" (v. 18). Instead of being drunk with wine, we should be, Ambrose said, "inebriated with the Spirit." Our mouths should not be full of drinking songs but of Psalms and hymns that fill us with joy and communicate our joy to one another (v. 19).