Mission Faithwalk

           Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible - and everything that illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said : “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."  (Ephesians 5:11-14)           “Don’t judge!” people scream.           “…but rather expose them,” Scripture commands. We’ll get to the critical issue of the definition of “expose” in a moment. First, we must deal with the first requirement involved: judgment, discernment, discrimination. Before we can expose anything, we have to be able to determine whether or not it is something deserving exposure. Scripture tells us that we are most definitely and assuredly to stand in judgment. We are to discern or discriminate what are fruitless deeds of darkness.           But notice, scripture says “fruitless deeds of darknes

          For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light   (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)   and find out what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8-10)           This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (I John 1:5-7)           Darkness. That was then. Then the Son rose, and now you’re children of light. When I went for my walk this morning, the sun hadn’t come up yet. It was dark. Things were grayed and harder to see. You’ve experienced this. As the sun rose, things became more distinct and colorful. Now, as the sun gets higher, the color fades out – but it is not

           But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.   Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.   For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.   Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.   Therefore do not be partners with them. (Ephesians 5:3-7)            Suppose you know someone wealthy who married someone after a brief, intense romance. As soon as the ink on the marriage certificate dried, you discovered that not only was the spouse was involved in a relationship with someone else, but that he was verbally, emotionally, physically abusive of both your friend and your friend’s family, and that he used drugs and alcoh

       Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children   and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)           This morning I saw a meme that dealt with the idea that it’s OK to take care of yourself even if it inconveniences or displeases someone else. In other words, it’s OK to not be codependent. It’s hard to disagree with that. If you’ve ever flown on a plane, one of the instructions you’re given is that if the oxygen masks deploy, you’re to put one on yourself before trying to help your children. Those training as first responders are taught that they don’t endanger themselves.   If you don’t take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of anyone else? It all makes perfect sense.            But I think we need to be careful with this sort of advice, because if we’re not careful, doing this may lead us to the wrong destination, because it’s not the directio

          Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)                Here’s the second rule to not grieving the Spirit. It’s not enough to not do all the bad stuff, you have to do the good stuff. A question in one of my writer’s groups has me thinking about kindness and compassion. Both of these call for wisdom. I’ve mentioned before the damage done when people kindly and compassionately destroy local economies by giving things that the economy can provide for itself. There are also times when so-called kindness and compassion do harm because they they don’t motivate the person to help himself. It’s not kind to wheel a child around in a stroller so that they don’t learn to walk. Kindness and compassion are only kindness and compassion if they meet a need without doing harm (or doing as little harm as possible.) Both can be codependent or toxic.            This is one I struggle with. I don’t tend to be good

          And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one antoher, forginving each other, just as in  Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:30-32)            Grieve? The Holy Spirit can be grieved? I admit, I regularly think of how I must grieve the Father… and the Son. When I think of God in anthropomorphic terms, I tend to think of Him as shaking His head, or His head lowered… it’s even easy to think of Him as frowning. It’s easy for me to think of Him as grieved. But when it comes to the question of what I’ve done to cause that grief, I don’t often have specifics. It’s just a general thing: I’m a failure. I’m not good enough.           And those things are true. I am a failure. We all are. I am not good enough. None of us is. But one of the things I was taught years ago was that the Spirit’s convictio

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)           I’m sure I’ve said before that when I’ve objected to the foul language that people use, some have claimed that the word has no meaning except what I give it, so if there is a negativity involved, it’s my fault, not theirs. Fortunately, I don’t run into such people very often, but the question I want to ask them is why they put such energy, so often, into saying something that has no meaning. Most of the time, verbal fillers like “um” and “uh” are not give lots of energy in a sentence. I remember in junior high school overhearing a fellow student sharing her enthusiasm as she was teaching her baby sibling to say the same word.           A lifetime ago, “good” folks didn’t use bad language in public. Society today sniggers at the “wholesomeness” of that time, especially as represented in t

            Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work,  doing something useful with their own hands,  that they may have something to share with those in need. (Ephesians 4:28)           This is an odd thing to say. Paul had lived among the Ephesians for a time, but I’m not sure that makes it any less odd. Discussions of anger make sense, because everyone struggles with anger. Advice about relationships, ditto. But raising the issue of stealing seems sort of like asking, “Are you still beating your wife?” Timothy was the pastor at Ephesus at one point. Did he, or whoever was the pastor, report the theft? Did someone else?           Or was Paul dealing with an Ephesian cultural issue. When Paul was in Ephesus, one of the complaints of the Ephesian metal-workers was that Paul was threatening their business, effectively stealing food from their children’s mouths. Was he warning against something that would give substance to baseless accusations?        

“ In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (Ephesians 4:26-27) On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, (Mark 11:15)            Part of me wants to cheer. Christians are allowed to be angry. Contrary to the opinions of some, Jesus got angry. I’ve been told that anger serves a vital function in our lives. It tells us that something is wrong. Today’s passage doesn’t address questions of how to determine what is actually wrong. Instead, the focus is on dealing with the situation. Whatever the problem is, deal with it. Do so immediately and effectively, before “sunset,” or whatever your preferred end-of-day is. The point is to deal with it before you are left unable to do anything but stew on it for hours. Stewing time seems to be when the

           Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  (Ephesians 4:25)             For the word of God  is alive  and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword,  it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)            Pastors aren’t the only ones who are expected to tell the truth. So, let’s try to get to the heart of the matter. What is truth? According to most of the philosophers I’ve read, truth is what corresponds to reality. So, what is reality? It is that which actually is, as opposed to an idealistic or notional (exiting only in the mind) idea of them. If it’s not a circular definition, it’s close.            There are some people who will claim that, based on those definitions, truth and reality are only those things that are observed or observable, the experienced or the experimental (meaning that

          That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;   to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20-24)           Now I get to give a full-throated version of a rant I started earlier. When the Ephesian church formed, it didn’t get a constant diet of feel-good sermons. Prior to their conversion, the Gentile Ephesians would have worshipped Artemis. There were statues of her everywhere, including city hall. She was a major tourist and economic attraction. Her temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In addition, there were the other members of the Roman Pantheon, the lareses (household gods) and Caesar. But over all in Ephe

          That, however, is not the way of life you learned   when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.   You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;   to be made new in the attitude of your minds;     and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20-24)           Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, like one not having the law (though I am nto free from God's law but am under Christ's law). so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.  (Ephesians 4:17-19)                 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images  made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged th  truth about God for a lie,

           Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  (Ephesians 4:14-16)           Many years ago, my parents decided to let me try handling their canoe solo. I took “Dad’s seat” and started rowing, and to all our dismay, discovered physics. I couldn’t get the canoe to go in the direction I wanted, and it didn’t matter which side of the canoe I paddled on. The difficulty didn’t last for long. I found that I could control direction astern and got back to shore. The problem, of course, is that I sat in the back, and there was no weight in front. That raised

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.   This is why it says: “When he ascended on high,      he took many captives      and gave gifts to his people.”             (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?   He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)   So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,     to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up   until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7-13)           If, as yesterday’s passage taught, we are to be humble, gentle, patient, etc., it seems natural to question those who, like Paul, proclaim themselves to be an apostle. Indeed, it’s natural to question those who clai