Live in the Light
as Children of Light
A sermon by
Ephesians 5:8-14
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SERMON: Live in the Light as Children of Light
"Out of the darkness comes the light." So began an article in yesterday's newspaper. It was the Faith and Values section of the Lexington Herald Leader, and it described the experiences of three Pentecostal preachers in Leslie County who work weekday jobs as coal miners and preach on the side.
The article continued, "Every workday, at dawn's early light, Kevin Napier crawls into a long, black hole. Coal mining is safer than it used to be, though it's still dusty and dirty, and there's always concern that something terrible could happen deep inside a cramped shaft. But sometimes something wondrous can happen, too. Napier remembers the time he had stopped in a mine to eat his lunch, and he reached up and turned off the light on his safety hat. "Everything was completely dark, and I looked up a way, where the men were near the top, and I could see a light," Napier said. "It made me realize how Jesus Christ came to me in the darkness while I was a sinner and brought me out to the light. 'It's in 1 Peter 2:9. The Bible says Jesus brings them out of the darkness and into everlasting light'" (Lexington Herald Leader, March 9, 2002, story by Art Jester).
When I read that article I immediately knew it was the introduction that I needed for this sermon on children of light. What better image for us in eastern Kentucky than that of a coal mine?
Our passage from Ephesians says it this way, "For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light."
Jesus loved to use this contrast between darkness and light as a tool to describe the difference that Christ makes. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." At the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus forecast his own epitaph by saying, "And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil."
We are called "children of light" in several passages in the New Testament. Early in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in a very direct way, "You are the light of the world."
When Jesus told the parable of the dishonest manager, he concluded that "the children of this age are more shrewd… than are the children of light." And again in John 12, Jesus says, "Believe in the light, so that you may become children of light." 1 Thessalonians says, "for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness."
The first verse of our text says, "once you were… but now…" This is one of several in Scripture that paint a stark contrast between what we were before we became Christians and what we are now that we have. Each one has a peculiar way of describing the contrast.
Here in Ephesians, Paul starts the contrast with the words, "once you were" and ends it with "but now." The book of Titus draws the same contrast by saying, "For we ourselves were once…" And on the other side, Titus says, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared…" Colossians describes the first side as "earthly… These are the ways you also once followed." This stands in contrast to how we live "as God's chosen ones…" 1 Peter says, "You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do" which he contrasts with the advice to "be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers." And I love the nice summary from Ephesians 2:13 which says, "you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
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Paul sums up that very idea in verse 8 when he says, "For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light." Notice that this reference does not say, "You were IN darkness" but rather "You WERE darkness." Jesus put the idea this way in John 11:34, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness."
The key phrase of our text today is interesting because it is uneven. On the one side is, "For once you were darkness." A balanced ending of that statement would be, "but now you are light." "For once you were darkness, but now you are light." But, in fact, our text ends the statement with these words, "but now IN THE LORD you are light." The phrase is unbalanced by adding on the side of light the words, "in the Lord."
Perhaps that is the point. What makes the darkness hopeless and helpless is the fact that the Lord is not there. Life within the darkness is utterly alone! It is the presence of the Lord that makes our current life one that is filled with light instead of darkness.
Verse 10 says, "Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord." This whole light and darkness business is important because it makes a difference in how we live. Living in the light becomes the basis for ethical admonition. It means that the children of light will associate themselves with the good. They will actively seek to determine that which pleases God. Along with the transition of status comes the appropriate behavior. We are to "live as children of light" (v. 8)
Romans 13:12-14 says it this way:
"The night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light…" What are the works of darkness? The passage in Romans goes on to describe them, "not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
In all of the passages we have looked at, the writers make lists of the kinds of behavior typical of us before we were changed. Listen to some of the phrases that described us "before Christ:"
Titus: "We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another." (Titus 3:3)
Colossians: "Fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)… anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another…" (Colossians 3:5)
1 Peter: "Living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry." (1 Peter 4:3)
It's not a pretty picture, is it? After Paul makes the list in Titus, he concludes of the Christians in Crete, "And this is what some of you used to be." We can make the same conclusion by saying, "And this is what some of US used to be!"
But such an honest recognition of what we were and what possibilities still lie within us should give us cause for compassion and understanding. As Whitefield said when he saw the criminal on the way to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God go I."
What are the works of light? The Biblical writers don't spend nearly as much time describing these actions. The passage in Romans simply says, "Let us live honorably as in the day" (Romans 13:13)
South Carolina Coach Lou Holtz has a similar rule for his football players. He always says, "I only have one rule. Do right." He insists that everyone really knows what the right thing to do is, we just need to do what we know to do.
It seems the Biblical writers have much the same attitude. Live honorably. In 1 John, the writer boils it down to love and hate. He says, "the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness" (1 John 2:8-11).
In verse 12 of our text, Paul turns again to the works of darkness when he says, "For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light." He speaks of things done in secret too shameful to be mentioned. The "works of darkness" are too terrible even to discuss.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul said, "We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God" (2 Corinthians 4:2).
The Light can expose the things done in the darkness.
I remember dining at a restaurant that had "atmosphere," and by that they seemed to mean that they turned the lights down low. It was one of those restaurants with the ceiling painted black and some creative lighting techniques. For some reason, I was back at the same restaurant during the off hours when they had the lights turned up fully. I was surprised at how different the place looked. And even more, I was surprised to see that there was dirt in the corners. The darkness had covered up the dirt!
Jesus has the same effect on us. When His Light comes into our lives, He exposes our hidden ways of shamefulness. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says, "…the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart" (2 Corinthians 4:5)
Jesus put it this way: "Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops" (Luke 12:2-3).
What is called or is a form of life that is out in the open, transparent before God.
But the good news is that the Light has power.
Yesterday with bright sun and the first warm weather of the spring, I was eager to get outdoors and work on my sailboat getting it ready for the season. I cleaned it up good and tried to patch the pesky leak that bothered me last summer. As I sat in the cabin, I could hear the small whirr of the solar-powered vent I installed at the front of the boat. It's an amazing little device that runs only on solar power. When the sun shines, the photovoltaic cells transform the sun's rays into electricity and that turns a little fan that constantly exhausts air from the boat. This little fan removes the moist, musty air that too often causes mildew in boats.
When Jesus comes into our lives, he give us the power to remove the darkness from our lives. He not only exposes the darkness, he give us power. The light strengthens and enables us. We are no longer helpless and alone.
As I thought about all this talk of darkness and light, I remembered the words to a song we sometimes sing on Wednesday night. It was written by Graham Kendrick in 1987 and is entitled "Shine, Jesus Shine." Listen to the words:
"Lord, the light of your love is shining,
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us,
Shone on me. Shine on me.
Shine, Jesus shine, fill this land with the Father's glory;
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy;
Send forth Your Word, Lord, and let there be light. Let there be light."
Copyright 2002, Mickey Anders. Used by permission.