Prayer:- Through the written word, and the spoken word, may we know your living word, Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen
In the Epistle to the Ephesians the apostle Paul has taught his readers that they have a new identity in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 5:8 he says “You are light in the Lord”. As light we expose the darkness making the person and work of Christ visible to the world.
In today’s epistle Paul brings us to his fifth use of the word, “walk.”
First-The Sunday before last when we read Ephesians 4:1 we were told to walk worthy of the calling.
Second-We were told to not walk like the Gentiles or unbelievers in the world (4:17).
Third- Paul commands us to walk in love as we imitate God as his children (5:2). Fourth- Paul told us to walk as children of light (5:8). This morning Ephesians 5:15 gives us the final description of how we are to walk so that we can be found walking worthy of the calling.
At the heart of living life as a Christian is the need to live a wise life.
We are to look carefully at how we are ‘walking’. How we live our lives matters to God. We must make decisions wisely for God cares what decisions we make. It is so easy not to pay attention or not to assess what has become our lifestyle. Many Christians walk without trying to discern what the will of the Lord is in their lives.
In our epistle this morning the word of God says, “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise”.
We are all called to live a life of wisdom.
But what does that mean? How are we to live a life of wisdom? Well, Paul gives four steps here to living a wise life.
1. Live life as a gift from God
Life is a gift – it’s as simple as that. We should always be grateful for the gift of life. This morning we also read Psalm 111..it is a hymn of thanksgiving, A Psalm in which the Psalmist gives thanks for God’s goodness. The Psalmist also teaches us to remember the wonderful deeds of the lord in our lives.
In verses 15 and 16 of the passage from Ephesians, Paul says: ‘Brothers and sisters, be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time’,
“make the most of the time…”
Isn’t that an excellent motto to live by?
We must plan to make the best use of our time because we live in a time when Satan is very active. Idle time is temptation time, we learned few days back from the story of David and Bathsheba; how David had fallen into sin when he was doing nothing but simply walking about on the roof of the king’s house. Having unplanned, unaccountable time is the easiest way to fall into temptation. This warning is given both to Christian men and women (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12; 1 Timothy 5:13-15). Idleness leads to sin. Note your time each day and make the best use of it for the glory of the Lord.
That is the life to which we are called – as Jesus says, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10).
“life in all its fullness” – and making the most of our time is the first step to living a wise life.
How to live a wise life? Firstly, we must make the most of the time…
Second: Discovering the will of God for our lives
In verse 17, Paul says: “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is”.
A foolish life is a life that is not spent understanding God’s will. A wise life is one that is carefully looking at our journey through life and looking to understand the Lord’s will.
If life is a gift, then God is the gift-giver and he has given us the gift of life for a purpose. What is that purpose? Well, that’s for you to find out…and the wise life is hallmarked by the search for meaning.
Wisdom is hard work – it isn’t given to us on a plate: we need to work at it. The Psalmist in today’s psalm says “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” In the twenty-first century we tend to associate “fear” with something scary, something we want to get away from, or something we think will harm us. Yet we read in the Old Testament that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Thus, we know that “the fear of the Lord” is a good thing; it is a positive aspect of our faith. The word “fear” (yara’) appears in the Hebrew Bible as a synonym for “love” (Deuteronomy 10:12); “cling to” (Deuteronomy 10:20); and “serve” (Deuteronomy 6:13; Joshua 24:14). At its root, the word denotes obedience to the divine will. In order to discern what God’s will for our lives might be we should have ”the fear of the Lord”
All of us have a destiny to be lived out. All of us have a place in the purposes of God.
And what happens when we find it? We shine like lights in the world, as we have been destined by God to do.
Perhaps you already know your purpose in life. Perhaps you are still seeking it. We are here as a community of love, a community of friends, to support one another as we search for our own personal meaning of life.
Each one of us has a destiny – a life of purpose to be lived. Be wise. Seek out your destiny in the Lord.
Third: Let our faith transform how we live
In verse 18, Paul says, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit”
As we know, when these New Testament letters were written, the writers were responding to particular problems that existed in the churches to which they wrote. So it seems that the church in Ephesus had a problem with people getting drunk too much.
So the principle that we draw out from this passage is that if we are developing wisdom by treating life as a gift from God and discerning his purpose for our lives, then this will inevitably impact on how we behave and how we live. For these Christians in Ephesus, they needed to drink a little less it seems but for you and me, it might be that (drink a little less) or it might be something different. In reality, we all have a conscience and we know the areas of our lives that we haven’t fully submitted to God, don’t we? ONLY We know those behaviours we have, (No one else know- not our spouse not our friends not our relatives not our parents not our children but only God and you know those areas of lives) those thought-patterns we have developed that really are a bit inappropriate and in contradiction to our calling as a Christian. Well, wisdom is worked out as we try to submit these aspects of our lives to God.
It’s not easy to do that, of course – and we will fail time and time again. And I know that I have certain habits and certain thought-patterns that I have been struggling for years to overcome and even now.
But the wise life is not one where we allow ourselves to feel defeated. Instead, we will keep trying to overcome and to honour God by the way we live. Yes, we will fail. Yes, we will struggle. But we keep trying – and we do not give up hope…
So, how do we live the Wise Life? Firstly, we see life as a gift. Secondly, we try to discern God’s will for our lives God’s purpose for your life and my life. Thirdly, we allow our faith to transform how we think and behave.
And finally…in the wise life, we commit ourselves fully to the body of Christ -The Church
Fourth: Commit to the Body of Christ- the Church
In verse 19, Paul says, “Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.”
Here is a call for us to participate regularly in corporate worship together. The pursuit of wisdom is not something that any one of us can do on our own: we need each other, we need each other’s support, encouragement and love if we are to develop in living a wise life
There are some people who say that you don’t need to come to church to be a Christian. Actually, I disagree. I think absolutely, fundamentally, that weekly worship (at least) is essential for a healthy Christian life because, unless we develop in fellowship with one another, our faith will weaken.
There’s a story told of two men who were sitting in front of an open fire one evening, talking about matters of faith. And one of the men said, “I don’t think you need to go to church to be a Christian”. The other man did not say a word. After a minute or two, he leant forward and took the tongs by the fireplace, reached into the fire and took one of the burning red coals out of the fire, and placed it, on its own, on the hearth. The two men said nothing. They just sat and watched as this red coal, sitting on its own outside of the fire, transformed from a burning hot coal into a cold, dark lump of coal. Sitting on its own, the fire and heat soon went out of the coal. Neither man needed to say anything. The metaphor was obvious.
If we don’t come to church regularly and warm ourselves with the passion of fellowship with others, the fire and heat of our faith will soon go out.
I have met many people in my life and even here in Prague who told me that once they were regular members of a Church but now they don’t go to any church. In today’s gospel Jesus says; ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day’.
It is that of participation — eating and drinking the body and blood.
The wise life is lived in Christian community – because, quite simply, we need each other…each other to grow in faith.
So in conclusion then, Paul says: “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise”.
And how do we live a wise life? In these 4 ways. First, by treating life as a gift from God. Second, by discovering our destiny: God’s will and purpose for our lives. Third, by allowing our faith to transform how we think and how we behave. Fourth, by committing ourselves to regular attendance and participation at church.
If we follow these 4 steps we talked about we will attain wisdom. As a writer once put it, “Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.”
Be wise. Choose life.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen