Bible Passage: Ephesians 5:8-14
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: March 19, 2023

Bulletin March 19, 2023

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

The physics of light and dark can be kind of fascinating.  We may not spend much time thinking about it, but there are some interesting facts about light and dark.  Did you know light is actually a “thing”?  Light is electromagnetic radiation.  It is kinetic.  It moves.  And it moves fast!  The speed of light is 671 million miles-per-hour!  Darkness, on the other hand, is nothing.  It is defined as the absence of all light waves.  That is absolute darkness.  And there is nothing between light and dark.  Either there are light waves and there is “light”  – it may be dim light, but it is light, nonetheless – or there are no light waves and there is “darkness.”

We’re not here today to talk about the physics of light and darkness, but we are here to talk about the theology of light and dark.  What I mean is, the Lord uses these two figures of light and dark in Scripture to teach us something of ourselves.  And what is the lesson?  Just this, that you, Christian, were Once Darkness, but are Now Light.

You were once darkness (v. 8), Paul says to his Christian readers.  Isn’t that interesting?  The time he is referring to is the time before they had faith in Jesus.  Notice, he doesn’t say they were “in the dark.”  That would suggest their problem was a lack of right information, and with the acquisition of that information they would have “enlightenment.”  As if “darkness” was something all around them and apart from them.  No!  He says they themselves were the darkness!  Apart from Christ, we are darkness!  Apart from Christ, I am darkness.  Apart from Christ, I bring darkness with me and spread darkness.  Apart from Christ, I am a source of darkness.  But all that has changed!

Now you are light in the Lord. (v. 8)    You are completely “other” than what you once were.  Apart from Jesus we are darkness, in Jesus we are light.  And once again, notice, you are not merely “in the light,” you ARE light.  You have been completely changed.  You are not a child of darkness, whose very being is marked by unbelief and sin.  You are a child of light, whose very existence now is marked by the electromagnetic radiation of faith and new life!  The difference between us “once” and “now” is as great as the difference between the nursery and the morgue!

And so Paul encourages:  Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. (v. 9)  Paul likes the word “fruit.”  It’s easy to understand.  Fruit is produce.  It is what something “produces.”  You find fruit in the “produce” department of the grocery store.  Apple trees produce apples.  Raspberry bushes produce raspberries.  Light-children produce goodness and righteousness and truth.

Goodness.  “Goodness” doesn’t need to be the “big show.”  A “good man” is not necessarily the loudest or the one who makes the biggest splash.  Things are just better when the good man is there.  The Christian is a “good man.”  The Christian is a “good woman.”  Righteousness.  “Righteousness” as Paul uses the word here means conduct that aspires to God’s high standards.  “Righteousness” is not what culture or society says is right.  “Righteousness” is what God says is right.  Truth.  Someone has observed that the more godless a culture becomes, the more people become comfortable with lies and lying.  Examine our culture.  Notice anything?  Lies are everywhere!  We are lied to on a daily basis!  Jesus once said that when the devil, the Prince of Darkness, lies, he is speaking his native language.  It’s no wonder that those who are darkness personified would mimic their prince.  But the light-child is all about “truth.”  Truth in our words.  Integrity in our character and our conduct.

In Christ, we are light.  And in Christ, we SPREAD light.  Paul says, Do not participate in fruitless deeds of darkness.  Instead, expose them. (v. 11)   First of all, Paul calls the deeds of darkness fruitless.  Darkness produces no fruit – nothing good, nothing righteous, nothing true.  We are called upon to expose darkness.  Just as a light brought into a dark room will make everything in that room visible, so you who are light make things visible in this world.  We Christians cannot walk in this world in “quiet neutrality.”  We ARE light.  Goodness, righteousness, and truth radiate from us like electromagnetic waves!  This exposes darkness.

It is not always easy to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness.  Paul admits, [I]t is shameful even to mention the things that are done by people in secret. (v. 12)  Paul is modest.  And he knows his readers are, too.  When he says it would make a person blush to say out loud what people do in secret, we get the point.  We know what he is talking about.  But these are the very types of things we are called upon to expose.

But there is a goal.  And our goal is not simply to walk around this world, our country, our state, our county, our community and point at all the darkness around us and say, “That’s shameful!  Gross!  Yuck!  Puke!”  Light waves make darkness go away.  You turn on a light so that the darkness goes away.  We expose what is done in darkness so that it goes away.  We want those who are darkness to be light.  We want them to become light in the Lord.  That is really what the last verse of our text is all about.  It is a poetic call to repentance and faith!  Awake, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. (v. 14)

We want Christ to shine on people.  We want him to shine on them with his transforming grace and his transforming forgiveness.  You see, that cross of Jesus was not just for you and me.  That empty tomb of Jesus was not just for you and me.  The cross and tomb are for that broken man you see who proudly defends and advocates for the shameful things he does.  The cross and tomb are for that poor woman who has made shameful life choices and who now lives with the shame and guilt of her choices.  Jesus lived and died for them too.  And he wants to use us to bring him – to bring LIGHT – to them.  That it might become true of them what is true of us:  once darkness, now light in the Lord.

Amen.