Pastor Debbie Spangler
Sermon Text: Ephesians 4: 25-5:2
Our lives are made up of moments---and the choices we make in those moments. Some of those choices we make are big ones. One man told a story about his wife who was newly employed as a nurse at a clinic. On her first day, a young mother with her 18 month old son came in. The boy needed a final shot for a routine immunization and the mother needed a physical. The nurse (the man’s wife) gave the boy his shot and the mother took her son back to the waiting room to his grandmother to care for him while she went back in for her physical. The nurse, as she went to record the vaccination on the boy’s chart, noticed that the seal on the vial inside her lab coat was unbroken. She realized then that she had given the boy the wrong vaccine. She was horrified as she realized her mistake. Here is the sequence of the thoughts that followed:
• “No one will ever know. No harm done.”
• “I can’t tell the doctor. This is my first day on the job. The doctor will think I am incompetent.”
• “It can’t hurt the boy, can it?”
• “It doesn’t hurt to be immunized twice for the same thing.”
• “But he needs the right vaccine.”
• “What will the mother say?”
• “But I will always know, and so will God.”
Following Jesus is often cast as a series of big things—the big decision to be more committed, to forsake all and become a missionary, to become a pastor, to do big things for God. Yet the real battles are often fought internally, in quickly passing moments. When the doctor walked out of the room, the nurse told him her mistake. After a few moments, the doctor walked back in the room, told the mother what happened, and asked her to schedule another time for her child’s immunization. The nurse’s anxiety released; she was now free. [Dave Goetz]
Here, in Paul’s letter, we see some specific issues—truth, anger, theft, speech, and love. All of them have to do with the choices we make in the situations we are in. Let us take a look at them one by one:
• “So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.” In other words: Don’t lie---speak the truth. What’s the motivation? That we are all members of one body (the body of Christ). The main imperative—“let each speak truth with his neighbor” is a quotation from Zechariah 8: 16: “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts;” One young boy named Tanner, aged 7, was playing T-ball as a first baseman. Tanner fielded a ground ball and tried to tag a runner going from first to second base. The umpire, Laura Benson, called the runner out. Tanner ran to her and said, “Ma’am, I didn’t tag the runner.” Umpire Benson reversed her call and sent the runner to second base. Two weeks later, Umpire Benson was at another game in which Tanner was playing, shortstop. This time Benson ruled that Tanner had missed the tag on a runner going to third base, and she called the runner safe. Tanner, obviously disappointed, tossed the ball to the pitcher and returned to his position. Benson asked Tanner what was wrong, and Tanner said he had tagged the boy. Her response was to declare the runner out. When the opposing coach ran onto the field to protest, Benson explained what had happened two weeks before, saying, “If a kid is that honest, I have to give it to him.” [Bill White, Preaching Today]
• “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.” “In your anger do not sin” is a quote from Psalm 4:4: “Be angry and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” The emphasis is on preventing anger from causing sin. The danger of anger is evident in its being used as a beachhead for the devil. Verse 31 (which we will get to) excludes all bitterness, wrath, and anger. Clearly, anger does not fit well with the new being. That the sun is not to go down on our anger is a way of saying that anger must not endure. It must be dealt with quickly and then set aside. The word “foothold” is literally “place” or “room”. In other words, we must not give the devil room in our lives to operate. Anger is one place of inroad for him, a Trojan horse for his attack. Anger usually leads to other sins.
• “Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy." So---stop stealing and work! Our motivation: “that you may have something to share with those in need”. This verse may be the most striking description of conversion from the old life into the new life in the New Testament: “The thief is to become a philanthropist.” The person who did wrong in order to meet his own selfish desires must now work in order to contribute to someone else’s need. In 1 Thessalonians 4: 11 Paul urged believers to work with their own hands, and he also used this same language of his own efforts, to avoid burdening those to whom he preached. His goal was for believers to be self-supporting and supportive of those in need. A newlywed couple left a case on the roof of their car as they sped away from their reception. The case had all their wedding gift money in it: $12,000. By the time they reached their honeymoon destination, they realized what they had lost. David, an unemployed man who struggled to pay his bills, found the case. He tracked the couple down and returned their case with every dollar intact. When asked why he turned in all the money, David said, “I guess it doesn’t’ matter whether it is $50, $1,000 or $1 million. It doesn’t belong to me.” [Daily Herald, 1996]
• “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” “Unwholesome” is sometimes translated for “evil talk” and is used to denote spoiled fish or rotten fruit as well as stones that crumble. The motivation here is that “it may benefit or give grace”. We receive grace from God for salvation and ministry so that we may extend God’s grace to others. The little picture that I used in my devotional this week said this: “Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out.” Rabbi Joseph Telushkin wrote the book, “Words that Hurt, Words that Heal”. He lectures on the impact of words and asks his audiences if they can go 24 hours without saying any unkind words about another person or to another person. A few say yes, others laugh, and quite a large number say no. Telushkin says, “Those of you who can’t answer yes must recognize that you have a serious problem. If you cannot go without drinking liquor for 24 hours, you are addicted to alcohol. If you cannot go without smoking for 24 hours, you are addicted to nicotine. Similarly, if you cannot go 24 hours without saying unkind words about others or to others, then you have lost control over your tongue.” [Rick Ezell]
• “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.” The language of grieving the Holy Spirit is derived from Isaiah 63: 10: “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.” Why would one want to grieve the one who is our seal guaranteeing salvation? Why live contrary to him whose ownership seal we wear and in violation of our destiny? Here eschatology is brought to bear on ethics, and the focus is on both the present and the future. No room is to be permitted for the devil, but through the Spirit God is at work in us.
• “Put away form you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” The motivation here is “as God in Christ forgave you.” The focus in this passage is on the responsibility of believers to act. Bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling (sometimes associated with shouting), slander and malice express hostility and actions that destroy human relations. Malice may be the most important word for it encapsulates the hostility the other words describe. In contrast, verse 32 calls for goodness. Paul also calls for compassion and forgiveness. Goodwill toward other people is assumed for the new being in Christ. The idea of forgiveness of others being grounded in God’s forgiveness is reminiscent of Luke 6: 36: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” As a new Christian, Leroy was working through the book of Colossians and the Holy Spirit caught his attention with verse 3:8: “But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.” He said he tried to slide past the verse, but the Spirit kept bringing him back to the words: “get rid of anger.” He admits he had a violent temper. Whenever it flared, he’d haul up and bash his fist into the nearest door. He realized that this wasn’t just advice given to the people of Colossae centuries ago but it was God speaking to him now. So he made a covenant with God to work on his anger. He memorized Colossians 3: 8 and asked the Lord to bring this verse to his mind whenever he was tempted to lose his temper. Gradually the sin of anger lost its grip on him. [Leroy Eims]
• “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.” The motivation here is “that we are dearly loved children of God and that we are to live a life of love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” The Bible assumes that God’s covenant people take their character from him. Leviticus 19 is perhaps the most striking text, for the Israelites are commanded to be holy because God is holy. We are to imitate God because we are God’s children whom he loves. The words point to the idea of adoption and of family. A person takes the characteristics of the family to which he or she belongs. Since Paul’s readers belong to God’s family and, as his children, have received love, they should be like him and show love. The standard by which Christian love is shaped and energized is the self-giving love of Christ on the cross. Just as children imitate their parents, we should imitate Christ. His great love for us led him to sacrifice himself so that we might live. Our love for others should be the same kind—a love that goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service. And may that be our choice and our action! Amen!