Light in the Lord

Our Epistle selection from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, to my mind, deals with an essential Christian truth taken from one of most blessed of St. Paul’s Epistles. Ephesians does have a blessed quality to it, yet without some of the more strident aspects of some of his other writings. It certainly lends truth to the statement that among all of the World’s sacred writings, the Christian Scriptures have the most power and the most evident truth to them, especially when contrasted with the highly moralistic Koran or the ethereal Hindu Upanishads. Most of that truth, of course, must be shown to us through the power of the Holy Ghost; for it is by Him only that we become truly “light in the Lord.” We will have more on that in a little while.

First, however, for a historical background, let us consider this statement: “Most conservative New Testament scholars hold to the tradition that Paul wrote Ephesians along with Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians, the other 'Prison Epistles' during his first Roman imprisonment, A.D. 60-62 (3:1; 4:1; 6:20; cf. Acts 28:16-31). During this time Paul was under house arrest. He lived in his own rented quarters under guard by Roman soldiers. He could have visitors and could minister without hindrance as far as his confinement permitted (Acts 28:16, 30-31). He was not chained in a prison cell at this time, as he was during his second Roman imprisonment when he wrote 2 Timothy (cf. 2 Tim. 1:16)” (reference).

Confined to his house, with only the influx of visitors and worshippers, St. Paul was in a highly concentrated environment, surrounded by prayer and the ever-present Holy Ghost which certainly pervaded the place. Here, drawing upon his experiences, his travels, and his tribulations for the Gospel, he penned letters to the churches at Colossae and Philippi, while also interceding for the runaway Christian slave Philemon. All of these letters bear the mark of unnumbered hours toiling for Christ. Yet, without rancor or bitterness, they also bear the indelible mark of the Holy Spirit, leading, teaching, and exhorting us throughout their contents.

In the Epistle selection for the day, as well as all of Ephesians, one clear theme comes through: the idea of the Christian walk. The Apostle uses the word peripateo seven times in the epistle. It means a variety of things, including: “behave, conduct ourselves, leading a life, walk about, walking," and "were thus occupied” (Bibleworks 7.0).

How can we, using the words of St. Paul, interpret the usage of this word as best fits us? In other words, what does Christ want from us as we move around on Planet Earth, hopefully bearing the Cross of Christ before us?

Very simply said and very hardly done, is the exhortation in Ephesians 5:1. As a part of this Sunday’s Epistle selection, it bears repeating because it sets out the parameters for our Christian walk. It says: from the New American Standard Edition: Ephesians 5:1: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” This statement, taken alone, is enough for a life’s work just to understand, let alone follow. How can we, as finite people, expect to imitate the limitless and unknowable God? In what way can we at all hope to achieve imitation of Him? This is an excellent question.

Thanks be to God that the text continues on the same theme, or else we would be left in a quandary, “scratching our heads,” so to speak. Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.” While some editions speak of a “fragrant aroma,” it may be that the Authorized Version better gets the point, because it reminds us that our lives should be something wonderful to God. No doubt but that St. Paul was thinking of the Temple sacrifices, as under the Old Testament system fragrant savory smells of the roasting lamb or beef would float upwards to God. Sometimes the priests and the sacrificers would sit down together and eat the sacrifice there in the temple as a form of ”peace meal” or thanksgiving meal to God. Other times, especially when the penitent wanted to atone for a major infraction of the Law, he would burn the entire sacrifice entirely. This entire burnt sacrifice, or “holocaust,” sent fragrant smoke up to God as a form of penance. Thus, it is no surprise that the Christian Church adopted the practice of incense, as something expensive and fragrant is burnt as an offering as the pungent but fragrant fumes float up to God.

This “sweet smelling savor” should be what God “smells” in us, as St. Paul tells of the way we are to walk. Key to this is how we can imitate God in one unmistakable and concrete way: we can “walk in love.” Love is one of God’s chief attributes and perhaps the only one we can truly imitate. We cannot hope to ever approach God’s omniscience, His omnipotence, or his omnipresence, but we can seek to emulate His love, both to each other and to the world at large, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).

The apostle then continues to list, as he often does in his epistles, several types of inappropriate and sinful behaviors. He mentions a sin especially common in the ancient world, fornication, linking it to uncleanness. Of course, it is a common sin today as well, but St. Paul may have been speaking of the common use of temple prostitutes, where the sexual act was often used in pagan rites. Next, in an interesting use, he links covetousness with these two sins. Some commentators have mused that St. Paul was seeking to raise the consciousness of his congregation; to see that lust after the flesh, as well as lust after possessions, come from a common source. Of course, that source is the goal of self-gratification to the exclusion of all else. It also incorporates the coveting of someone else’s body for one’s own personal use or lust. The apostle condemns it as something that should not be once named among the saints.

These sort of behaviors, whether it be the sale of human flesh for profit (AV _ “whoremonger”), or as an unclean person (personal perversion) or as an idolater (someone who has followed false gods), will have any inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven. St. Paul uses that wonderful word “inheritance” to stress our real, true nature as sons and daughters of God. It is indeed wonderful to contemplate that we will inherit, with all the force of that word, the Kingdom of Heaven through Christ.

To avoid losing our inheritance, we are exhorted to “…have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 3:11). Here is where St. Paul uses that wonderful imagery of light vs. darkness to illustrate our Christian walk.

It is so obvious: those who walk in darkness are not of God. They do not do the things which please Him; yet all things dark are “reproved” by the light. Just as light “rebukes” darkness by overcoming it, so our excellent behavior in Christ will rebuke and reprove the evil in the world around us. Just striving to be a good Christian and to live in God’s Will is an active weapon against the powers of darkness. Even if we are not called to actively oppose the powers of evil in some grand cause, just seeking God’s Will and walking in the light of Christ provides a potent offense against Satan. We support the right by walking in the light.

In this, we are not to be asleep or dulled to the powers of evil, for St. Paul says to us: “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light” (Ephesians 3:14). We are to be awake, alert and aware of the evil around us and to rely on Christ to light our way. In this, our enlightened and bright walk, we will please God.

Returning to an earlier verse, Ephesians 5:8, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light”; it is important to note two very important details. First, St. Paul reminds us Gentiles that we were “sometimes darkness,” but now we are “light” in the Lord. Our whole beings have been transformed by Christ from hideous, fallen, dark things to glorious children of light. We now are to walk in that light, as children of light.

Note also, a possible play on words, or at least a multiple meaning of “light.” The Greek word phos has a multitude of meanings, including normal light as well as the heavenly glow that comes from angelic beings. It is clear that what Christ gives us is not just earthly light, but heavenly as well. Yet, there is another possible meaning in the English word “light” as well.

This has to do with our redeemed state once we have accepted the saving grace of Christ in our souls. Once we have tasted Christ’s sweetness and most importantly, the concrete knowledge that our sins are forgiven, we feel a certain lightness of spirit. That is, our spiritual “mass” is no longer weighed down with the burden of our sins and the crushing awareness of our fallen state. We are not burdened with the weight of self-loathing of the fallen and unredeemed. Yes, we know that we are sinners; yes we know that besetting sin is a problem for all of us, yet we know that the burden is not ours alone to bear.

Christ has borne it. He has removed the damning weight of our sins from us. He has given us light, His Light, in which to walk. He has set our feet on the safe and bright path to eternal salvation. That is how we are to walk, with love, with joy and with peace, secure in the knowledge that wherever God Will leads us, we are always on the path to our eternal home.

For that, we owe God endless thanks and praise.

Glory be to God the Father, and to God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, now and forever. AMEN