A Humble Community In Worship
Ephesians 5:18-21
This sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the morning service on Sunday, January 10, 2010
We have continued to see in Ephesians a contrast made between the sons of disobedience and the children of light. We were all once a part of the sons of disobedience until God in his mercy saved us from and out of our sins, adopting us into his family and making us children of light. In the transition a change takes place and we are to no longer follow the ways of the world. So Paul has been showing us some of the ways that our lives are different.
Among the changes come changes in community. Even our interactions with one another are not like the world’s ways. We are not disparate groups bound together for security or prosperity and at odds whenever conflict furthers our goals. We are the church, the body of Jesus Christ, united into one great group of God’s people, members of the kingdom and household of God. How we interact with one another – and with the world – is defined by God’s love. As he has loved us, so ought we to love one another.
In today’s passage Paul focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit in the community of believers and how the Spirit demonstrates himself through the body.
Ephesians 5:18-21
Paul seems to start in an unusual direction when he says, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. This is his first mention of drunkenness; why does he bring it up?
Paul’s warning against drunkenness is not unique. We find similar warnings throughout Scripture. There are two things Paul could be responding to. First, there were the pagan notions of the cult of Bacchus, or Dionysus, the god of wine. The notion was that being drunk opened a person to be controlled by the deity. Drunkenness was a state of release of self-control so that Bacchus or his minions could take control. It was a way for mortal man to connect to God. Second, more general secular notions see drunkenness as the means to carefree living. To be drunk is to have a good time.
The problem for Christians comes on several fronts. Drunkenness kills productive living. Paul has just told us in verses 15-16 to make the best use of time because the days are evil. How can we make the best use of time if we are too drunk to even know what we are doing with our time? And that points to the second problem with drunkenness. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told to be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Self-control, sober-minded, watchful – these cannot happen when one is drunk. Temptation is everywhere and we love sin. We need all our wits to spot and avoid the snares of the devil. Being drunk loosens inhibitions and makes it easier for us to plunge into the sin we want to do.
So Paul tells us to instead be filled with the Spirit. Alcohol does not lead to an actual experience with God, but Christians have God living in them by the Holy Spirit. We bear the very presence of God. And though the world considers drunkenness a state of joy, we know that we were created for God and can only find joy in him. Thus the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 16:11, in your presence there is fullness of joy. The Spirit of God brings the presence of God into the lives of God’s people. Only in him can we find true and lasting joy.
As Christians living in evil days, we must not waste time. Not all of our moments will be spent working, we must spend time resting, unwinding, and recharging, but even that time must be used in God-glorifying ways, for everything we do must be God-glorifying. And the Spirit guides us in all our moments, guiding our moments of work and our moments of leisure. Be filled with the Spirit to be guided in doing the will of God.
How then are we filled with the Spirit? Scripture tells us often to be filled, but how does it happen? There are three ways the New Testament speaks of Spirit-filling, and only one of them is in view here.
First, there is Spirit-filling that we have nothing to do with. An example is with John the Baptist. Luke 1:15 tells us that he was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb. In the womb he could not hear a command like Paul’s and decide to be filled with the Spirit; this filling was entirely God’s doing. There are other such instances even in our lives when God does a special work, imparting his Spirit to us in special ways. We can ask for such filling but we cannot cause it or nurture it.
Second, there is Spirit-filling at salvation. As we see from 1 Corinthians 3:16, we are temples of the Holy Spirit. When we are saved we receive the Spirit and he dwells in us. This filling takes place once at conversion and the Spirit’s presence remains throughout our time on earth.
The third kind of filling is what Paul has in mind. This is the Spirit-filling that we nurture day-by-day. To get an idea of how this filling takes place, look at Colossians 3:16-17: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians is basically a shorter form of Ephesians. Paul offers the same kind of instruction as he does here, so when he says something in a different way we can compare the differences to better understand his meaning. In Ephesians Paul says to be filled with the Spirit. In Colossians he says to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. So there is some connection between being filled with the Spirit and letting the word of Christ dwell richly.
We see this connection again in Galatians 3:2-3: Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Paul here is challenging the Galatians on their notion that though salvation is a matter of faith, sanctification is a matter of obedience to the law. In their minds, the Mosaic law does not save, but the Mosaic law sanctifies. Paul’s response is that in the same way that they were saved, so they continue in the faith. How were they saved? They received the Spirit or began in the Spirit by hearing with faith. What did they hear? Paul tells us that in Romans 10:17, faith comes from hearing the word of Christ.
The connection in Colossians and Galatians to Ephesians is that the daily Spirit-filling of the Christian takes place through the Word of God. We must be regular and faithful to study Scripture, for it is through the Scriptures that we are filled with the Spirit. The Spirit’s work in our lives is in large measure a work of guiding us in Scripture. The less we have of God’s word, the less the Spirit has to work with in us.
I want to insert one point as a kind of corrective or addition to last week’s sermon. As I focus on Scripture, and as I want you to focus on Scripture, I don’t want you to see Scripture as a kind of end in itself. We do not study the Bible just to know the Bible better. We do not love this book just because it is an amazing book. We study it to know the mind of God and to learn how to better serve him. In this book is the revelation of God’s truth about himself, about ourselves, and about the life he has called us to live. So study Scripture! And study it with God as your goal.
The result of Spirit-filling is given in verses 19-21. Here Paul describes three things the Spirit-filled believer will do. I think these actions are the Christian opposite to the sins of the sons of disobedience described back in 5:1-4 and the motivation of our action given at the end of verse 21 points back to where the chapter began, verses 1-2. The verses in between tell us a little more about the debauchery of the sons of disobedience and why Christians ought have nothing to do with such things.
Paul begins with worship. In verse 19 Paul tells us to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The speaking to one another or addressing one another is the action of Christians that goes against verse 4, the filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking of the sons of disobedience. Instead of speaking filthy things to one another, we are to speak words of worship to one another.
The three types of ‘speaking’ or ‘singing’ that he mentions are different kinds of singing but Paul’s point is not so much to point out the differences in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. His point is to highlight the difference between sons of disobedience and children of light. Psalms are songs of worship that draw directly from Scripture, particularly the Psalms themselves. Hymns are prepared compositions, where we get the notion of a hymnbook. Spiritual songs are perhaps akin to praise songs and probably were more spontaneous, songs of worship created and offered during times of worship.
The content of all this is Scripture, directly or indirectly. In worship we either repeat back to God his words in Scripture or we praise God with an understanding of him and his works given to us in Scripture. The Spirit stirs the Word within us and out comes praise.
The second thing Paul mentions is thankfulness. Paul’s word in verse 20 is challenging. How can we give thanks always and for everything? Terrible things happen in this world. How can we give thanks in the midst of Haiti or abortion or dead loved ones?
One key is that we do not have to be thankful for terrible things that happen. For everything does not mean I pray thank you Lord for abortion. Such things are an abomination to God and he would not have his people be grateful for such things. What we do pray is thank you Father that even things such as these are not beyond your sovereign control and you are guiding all human history to a predetermined end. No sin or raging of Satan can thwart you. Nothing can turn the world aside from your purpose. Thank you that you promise to undo Satan and use even this terrible suffering for ultimate good.
Our hope, like our worship, comes from Scripture and from life. From Scripture we read the promises of God, his promise to work out all things according to his plan, his promise never to leave us nor abandon us. In Scripture and in life we have repeated examples of the faithfulness of God, that he sustains his people in suffering. Most of all, the promise and hope and example of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has made us his children and has conquered sin and Satan and will return to bring his work to an end. When we are immersed in Scripture, the Spirit stirs these things in our minds day by day. The result is that we walk in thankfulness. No matter how Satan rages, we remember the goodness of God and we give thanks in all things. Thanks for his promises and faithfulness. Thanks that he has saved us and even if Satan should kill our bodies we have everlasting security with God.
The third demonstration of Spirit-filling is humble submission. In verse 21 we are told to submit to one another. This verse does double duty, it rounds out the examples of Spirit-filled living and it serves as a transition into the next part of Paul’s teaching when Paul will teach about the family life of believers. What we see is that one thing the Spirit stirs in us is humility. Through Scripture we learn how great God is and how small we are. We have no cause for proud posturing.
We are not a community of people striving for position over one another but we serve each other in humility just as God in Christ has served us. In Christ there is no rich or poor, slave or free, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, white or black, legal immigrant or illegal immigrant, democrat or republican. We gather as the people of God for the worship of God and we humble ourselves, serving one another.
At the end of verse 21 Paul gives one reason for submission that is, I believe, a reason for all of this: worship, thankfulness, and submission. Paul says we do these things out of reverence for Christ. People will talk in many exalted ways about Christ but to truly revere him and love him is to be like him. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, the old saying goes, so those who want to attest to the value of Christ will copy him, will try to live as he lived.
Paul has already told us to do this, back in verses 1-2: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Imitate God, walk in the love of Christ. Christ glorified his Father, and this is the very definition of worship: to glorify God. Christ was thankful in all things. Christ was a humble servant, submitting to those around him. Not bowing to their whims, but humbling himself and putting their needs before his own. We revere Christ, and we follow after him, striving to live as he lived and thus to shine his light in the world.