Sermon for August 16, 2009 Proper 15 Text: Ephesians 5:15-20 Title: Hummingbirds or Vultures? A. There is a tremendous amount of life in the dry, arid Arizona desert, but two very different species deserve special mention. One is the hummingbird and the other is the vulture. The vultures find the rotting meat of the desert, because that is what they eat. The good Lord has created a wonderful means through these birds to clean up dead carcasses and help prevent the spread of disease. Vultures thrive on this diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. They eat the nectar that is found there, and again, demonstrating the wisdom of our Creator God, in this way help pollinate and thereby perpetuate the precious plants of the arid desert. But now let's compare these two birds a bit further. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. And so do we. That is the essence of Paul's teaching in this passage from Ephesians we just read: In life, there are two very different kinds of people, just like in the desert there are two very different kinds of birds. The one, according to Paul, looks for foolishness, the other looks for wisdom. The one follows the ways of the world. The other follows a lifestyle that imitates Christ. Or to put the matter another way, the Christian life is both a challenge and a rebuke of modern society. Paul makes it clear that it is possible to live a fully Christian life in a secular world, but it's not easy. God's will for us is to live fully in the Light of Christ, and to enjoy fellowship with our Creator, not being distracted by but rather witnessing to the evil in the world. B. All that is quite a mouthful, and now I want to unpack it all to make it a little clearer. The best way to do this is to notice that Paul uses a very cut and dried comparison to make his point. Simply put, the believer can choose to live either by the way of wisdom, or the way of foolishness. It's our choice. Wisdom figures prominently in the later books of the Old Testament, such as Job and Proverbs. Living wisely means living a way of life that knows God and lives according to His Will for our lives. We don't wonder through life aimlessly. We have purpose and direction in living. Wisdom enables the believer to face life head-on, to make sense of its enigmas, and to surmount its problems. To not live that way, according to the OT Wisdom literature, is to live foolishly. For example, in the Book of Proverbs, we find this saying: "Wisdom is a fountain of life to the one who has it, but folly is the punishment of fools." (Proverbs 16:22) The contrast is obvious, and it is this contrast that Paul is trying to capture, because to him, the Christian must live wisely, up against the secular culture, where life is lived foolishly. The portion of Paul's letter we are considering this morning begins with a word of caution: "Be careful then how you live." In the preceding verses, the Apostle offers a gloomy description of how the pagans live, and now he seeks to give positive instruction for the Christian life. If the Christian community is to differentiate themselves from the secular, they are to practice living as wise people — those who live understanding "what the will of the Lord is". The command to live as wise people is made more urgent by verse 16. Paul encourages the Ephesian Christians to make "the most of the time." The Greek verb he uses here means to "purchase" or "buy back," or "redeem" something. Paul borrows it from the language of commerce, and it literally means to snatch up a bargain. Kairos, the Greek word we translate as "time" is better translated as a moment in time (in contrast to the word "chronos", which means a season of time); we are to do this "because the days are evil." Perhaps we would say "challenging" but I think we get Paul's drift here. The community is called to make the most of the time available, to snatch up the opportunities that are present, because time is a precious commodity. We are surrounded by sin and darkness, and the Devil is prowling around, always ready to take advantage of us in a weak moment. It's so easy to let the ways of the world crowd into the ways of Christ practiced in our lives. But we are also reminded that the Light of Christ has invaded and overcome these evil days. Therefore, we are summoned to live life wisely in the light of the Lord. The contrast between wise and foolish living is painted in its most strident colors in verse 17, where Paul says, "So do not be foolish." To be "foolish" in the Jewish tradition means to throw away the chance for salvation. The writer is calling the community to avoid the foolishness of pagan unbelief and living and to resolve instead to "understand what the will of the Lord is". Christian wisdom, therefore, is a way of behaving oriented toward the will of God in the midst of a world that has separated itself from God by its own foolishness. Verse 18 contains two more commands for the community of believers, one negative and one positive. Paul warns them against one form of intoxication and encourages them to pursue another; they are not to be drunk with wine, but are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul is not telling us to be teetotalers, only not to drink to excess. Christians, he says, are not to live like pagans who get drunk to induce a religious experience; rather they are to enjoy the ecstasy provided by the Spirit of God. The Christian is to "be filled with the Spirit." This affects congregational worship. They are to be Spirit-filled, joyous events, full of song. The Christian should live in a constant state of thanksgiving, giving praise to God for what God has done in the life of the believer, and this is reflected in grateful, heartfelt, and joyful worship. C. Now let me propose this morning that there are three "open" conditions that will enable us to more effectively live the Christian life: 1. Be open-minded (but not too open!). What I mean by that is that we should open our mind up to the presence and power of the Spirit of God. Today's text counsels "Be careful then how you live ... because the days are evil". Many people around those early Christians believed that if they could "get drunk with wine", and drink themselves into a wild stupor then they were opening up their minds and their spirits to messages from the gods outside themselves. Obviously, we don't believe this today. But oftentimes we do open up our minds to the wrong things, and it can pollute our entire being. I don't need to make a list; we are more than familiar with what these things can be. But the right kind of open mind invites God's Spirit in. We open up our minds by studying Scripture, by prayer, by attending Church services, by participating in Bible studies, and the like. These are all channels of God's grace. When we do these things, we open up our minds to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Dwight L. Moody, the great evangelist of the 19th century, was to have a revival in England. An elderly pastor protested, "Why do we need this 'Mr. Moody'? He's uneducated and inexperienced. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" His colleague responded, "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody." Wouldn't it be wonderful if people said the same thing about you and me?
3. Be open-handed. The thankfulness we feel and proclaim for God's never-ending gifts must find an active outlet in our lives. Knowing that "God's in charge" means we don't have to worry about the bottom line, we don't have to hedge our bets, we don't have to ration our compassion. Once we quiet down our fears and frustrations, once we successfully squelch the illusion that we must be in control, God's Spirit will show us just how simple it is to open our hands to others in need. When we learn to "shut up" -- to "let [our] words be few" -- we can rediscover the old truism "deeds speak louder than words." An open hand speaks louder than an open mouth. During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their commander was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked by the rider why he wasn't joining in to help the tired soldiers, he retorted with great dignity, "Sir, I am a corporal!" The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." That man was none other than George Washington. Paul concludes by telling both those 1st century disciples and us to "give thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything." Not easy to do. But it is a winning strategy for successful Christian living. Amen. Keith Almond P.O. Box 4388 Leesburg, VA 20177 703-344-3569 |
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Hummingbirds or Vultures?
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