Live, For God's Sake!

Ephesians 5:1-14
September 6, 2009

Henry David Thoreau was a 19th century poet
who spent two years living in the woods at Walden Pond
as an experiment
He wanted to test his belief in the ability of human beings
to transcend their senses and attain a higher understanding of life.
By the shores of Walden Pond where Thoreau lived from the land,
he meditated, wrote poetry,
and developed a philosophy of pacifism
and a reverence for all living things that profoundly influenced 19th and 20th century thought.
About his experiment he wrote:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die,
to discover that I had not lived.
I did not wish to live what was not life,
living is so dear;
nor did I wish to practice resignation,
unless it was quite necessary.
I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,
to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life...”
At another time, he wrote
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation
and go to the grave with the song still in them..”

I don’t suppose we have to look far to find someone
who seems to be living a life of quiet or maybe not so quiet
desperation
How many people do you know that are truly at peace?
someone who loves life despite all its hardships
someone who remains kind and good
and loving
in the midst of a very mean world?
Why do you suppose these reality shows are so popular?
Why do you suppose magazines sell
that are pitting Jon against Kate
and we have to listen to their childish
bickering in the public arena?
Why do we love a good fight?
Why can’t anyone have a rational conversation
about their opinion on health care
without reducing the other to the enemy
and accusing them of all kinds of atrocities?
Why is so-called professional wrestling such a hit?
We love a good fight
we seem to want to let our meanest
nastiest feelings out
Why is that?
I think it’s because many men and women
lead lives of quiet desperation
and never truly seem to know the joy of life

Paul is in prison, for God’s sake
and I mean that literally
he has no right to be a happy camper
he is in prison for simply preaching the Gospel
and making the wrong people mad
But somehow he manages to write these letters from prison
to the people of his churches
letters of encouragement
letters teaching them what it means to be
followers of Christ
And in this 5th chapter of Ephesians
he makes no bones about it
He starts off saying, “be imitators of God,
as beloved children..”
Live as if you know you are loved by the God of all creation
Live in LOVE
as Christ loves us and gave himself up for us
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God
He’s not just talking about the obvious
like don’t commit adultery
don’t steal
don’t shoot your neighbor
don’t like and cheat
don’t treat sex like a sporting event
Paul is always talking about the community
he’s always telling us that we’re all in this together
that faith is not just for your own personal well-being
Paul reminds us again and again
that we as Christians are to look out for other
not just other Christians
I don’t care what your opinion is on the health care issue
but it deeply disturbs me when people’s arguments
reveal their own greed, and their disregard
for others
I don’t know what all the answers are on health care
but I do know that we are not called by God
to hoard our gifts and keep them away from others
We are not given the privilege of deciding
who is worthy of basic care and who is not
I am in no way telling you what your opinion should be
let me just say that for the record
but I hope that our opinions and our positions
as Americans
are not born out of wrath, greed, anger, or revenge
and not born out of fear that we won’t have enough
or that someone else will get something we want
Paul reminds us if we want to wear the badge of Christian
we do not live for our own gains
but we are called to seek the good of others
to feed the hungry
assist the poor
clothe the naked
find ways that the poorest of the poor
or the most vulnerable of our society
can get basic care
and be treated as human beings
Paul talks about vulgar and obscene talk
and I don’t think he’s necessarily talking about pornography here
Although I’m sure he wouldn’t condone that either
But vulgar and obscene talk
is anything that is ugly
anything that makes people act in ugly ways
anything the breeds contention, hatred and meanness
None of it has any place in the behavior of someone
who dares to wear the name of Christ
This world can make the best of us very, very sick
It can sicken our spirits, suck out all of our hope
and make us mean
The 12 step program talks about taking a self-exam
There is the basic guidance of HALT,
H A L T
If you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired
you just better STOP
take care of yourself, take care of your condition
before you try to interact with human beings,
before you try to respond to a situation
because whenever we are too hungry, too angry,
too Lonely or too Tired
chances are we will do something we will regret
“For once you were in darkness,” Paul writes
and really, the darkness is always trying to suck us in
trying to stir us up and lure us into a nasty fight
because for some reason, the world loves a good fight
Lately, it seems, the nastier and meaner, the better
TV makes a lot of money on people’s most basic ugliness
But Paul continues,
“but now in the Lord you are light ....”
Did you get that? YOU ARE LIGHT....
“Live,” he says, “ as children of light
for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right
and true
Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness
but instead expose them...”
I hate it when he says that
no one wants to expose ugliness
no one wants to be the whistleblower
because then YOU get targeted
you have people turn against YOU
But Paul is writing this in prison
he knows what it is to be a truthteller
and he knows what the consequences of truthtelling
is in this tough world
He was put there by religious people
who didn’t want him to tell the truth of Christ
because it messed up things for them
Paul is writing from prison
about Jesus, the ultimate truth-teller
who got killed for speaking the truth
and for making the wrong people mad
So Paul is not speaking without understanding
the difficulty of following Christ with passion
and commitment
Finally, he says, “Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Sleeper, awake!
So many people go through this life asleep
not expecting much out of life
and therefore not getting much out of it
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation
and go to the grave with the song still in them...”
How tragic is THAT?
YOU ARE LIGHT, Paul says,
You were born to shine that light
that beauty
so the world may see the face of Christ
Don’t take the song with you to the grave
sing it, live it,
Live a life of love, be imitators of God
Live as if you know that you are a beloved child
of the God of all creation
Live in truth,
stand up against the crowd
go against the grain
and shine that brilliant, powerful, life-giving light
into the vast, deep darkness
so that all may know
that there is yet hope

Live deliberately, for God’s sake, and for your own