Sermon Tone Analysis

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/Ephesians 4:25-5:2/  

Close the Loopholes

*It is through life's cracks and loopholes that evil dynamics gain entrance.

The church must close these loopholes.*

Today's epistle reading warns the Ephesian Christians against allowing "room for the devil."

A more accessible translation of this text warns against allowing a "loophole for the Devil" (NEB).

After all: To worm his way into our lives and minds, the Devil doesn't need much "room" at all -- a little slit of a loophole will work just fine.

\\ \\ Washington state's Puget Sound is a wet, rain-drenched area.

Usually, the spongy land is well-suited to absorbing this vital liquid, producing one of North America's great temperate rain forests.

But occasionally, torrential storms so soak the soil that it loses its cohesion.

An examination of the land after such a storm reveals long cracks running across the top of the soil -- evidence that down below, the process of virtually unstoppable erosion has begun.

Now, through these cracks, each rainstorm begins gradually to eat away at the topsoil, until finally, its integrity fully compromised, the ground cracks wide open and half a hillside can wash away in a moment.

\\ \\ Little cracks in our conscience and small fissures in our faith can give evil entranceway into the soul and destructive leverage to the Devil.

\\ \\ For this reason, Ephesians sternly cautions us to guard against five certain behaviors, never allowing them to gain a foothold in the practice of a Christian life.

\\ \\ \\ Loophole #1 -- Lying: \\ \\ Lying is one of those cultural faux pas that has never gone out of style.

Ephesians starts with Christians' need to close this loophole and "put away falsehood" because the pagan culture of the first century taught that lying could be a perfectly valid activity.

\\ \\ "When telling a lie will be profitable, let it be told."

(Darius to Herodotus) \\ \\ "There is nothing decorous in truth but when it is profitable; yea, sometimes truth is hurtful, and lying is profitable to men." (Maximus Tyrius) \\ \\ "He may lie who knows how to do it in a suitable time."

(Plato) \\ \\ Recently converted Gentiles, it would seem, needed to be told that truth-telling was a pledge and badge of discipleship.

\\ \\ After 21 centuries of Christian teaching, you'd think we'd have just about gotten the idea by now.

But the counsel to "put away falsehood" is as timely today as it was then.

In fact, in many walks of life, lying is part of the way things work.

An early 1997 study of teenagers revealed that 75 percent admitted to cheating at school.

Lying is such a widespread social disease that Time magazine did a tongue-in-cheek guide: "How to Tell When a Politician Is Lying."

When politicians cite statistics -- don't believe them.

The more precise the statistics, the more suspicious one should be.

When politicians deny something -- don't believe them.

The more precise the denials, the more likely that they are hiding something.

And when politicians begin a sentence with "Let me be perfectly frank ..." -- don't believe them.

They are telling you they aren't telling the truth ("Lies, Lies, Lies," Time, 9 October 1992).

\\ \\ No wonder M. Scott Peck almost makes lying synonymous with evil in his book People of the Lie.

Where you find evil, you find lying.

This is one reason why "evil people tend to gravitate toward piety," Peck writes, and "one of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church" (People of the Lie [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993], 74).

Our text sees "people of the lie" as one of the church's most dangerous loopholes because "we are members of one another."

As a unified body of Christ, to lie to one another is to lie to ourselves, and to lie to Christ himself.

\\ \\ \\ Loophole #2 -- Anger: \\ \\ Why does Ephesians not read, "Never be angry" but "Be angry but do not sin"?

We must never forget that there is such a thing as justifiable anger, righteous indignation, enragement over injustice, etc....

St. John Chrysostom taught that "He who is not angry when he has cause to be, sins.

Unreasonable patience is the hotbed of many vices; it fosters negligence and incites not only the wicked but also the good to do wrong."

\\ \\ Greek philosophy defined anger as "a short madness."

Ever try to speak, much less reason with, a person who is in the heat of a rage?

Did you ever make any headway?

Didn't you have to wait until the person "cooled off"?

Only after "sanity" was restored could the cause of the person's anger be safely addressed.

\\ \\ Ephesians warns that our "cooling off" period should not be lengthy -- "do not let the sun go down on your anger" (v.26).

It is a tempting loophole to revel in our rage, to relive and reignite the flame of our fury.

Anger makes us feel powerful.

Anger exhilarates us.

Close this loophole for evil.

The body of Christ cannot maintain its health if its pulse is always pounding, its adrenalin is always pumping, its fists are always clenched.

\\ \\ Jesus got angry.

He drove the money-changers from the temple, condemned the Pharisees as a "brood of vipers," declared those who put stumbling blocks before little ones to be better off drowned.

But Jesus did not rage at Judas; Jesus did not curse at Peter; Jesus did not blast Pilate to smithereens; Jesus did not scream back at the cursing crowds.

On Good Friday afternoon, the sun did not go down on an angry Jesus.

The time for righteous wrath had passed; the time for love crucified had begun.

Have you closed your loopholes of anger with stitches of love and forgiveness?

Are you keeping the body's fabric of faith intact?

\\ \\ \\ Loophole #3 -- Greed: \\ \\ Consumer culture programs us to believe that "more" is always "better."

Our inability to distinguish quality of life from the quantity of things filling our lives has earned us the label of a greedy, grasping people.

We guzzle the raw material this world provides and then throw away as "worthless" trash more goods than most small countries can even produce.

\\ \\ Ephesians couples the admonition against stealing with a command: everyone should do work so that everyone will have enough to share.

What is it about thievery that makes the thief incapable of sharing?

Ever notice how successful bank robbers pull off a string of heists -- hitting three, four, even five branches of a favorite target bank before they are finally caught?

What is it that motivates successful thieves to keep on robbing?

When they've just pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars, why must they steal again so soon?

Greed.

Enough is never enough.

\\ \\ Every year ,we piously lecture ourselves against turning Christmas into a consumption ritual.

We complain about the Christmas spirit of giving being replaced by the corporate spirit of profit-taking.

Yet our crocodile tears rarely slow down our spending.

But the true measure of our grasping nature is only revealed on December 26.

The day after Christmas, the day after we have just received dozens of gifts and goodies and gadgets -- this is the day that has become the second biggest shopping day of the year for retailers.

We aren't at the malls merely to exchange plaid socks or purple sweaters.

Lured by the promise of big sales, "50 PERCENT OFF," we whip out our credit cards all over again.

Greed.

Enough is never enough.

\\ \\ Comedian Paul Reiser (from ABC's Mad About You) admits he is a consumer sucker.

He tells the following story on himself: \\ \\ I was in this stereo store, looking at this VCR~/CD player~/laser disc~/pants presser combination thing.

I wasn't even thinking of getting it; I was just playing.

\\ \\ Salesman comes over.

"You know, that CD player'll hold up to 20 discs at a time."

\\ \\ "Yeah?" \\ \\ He says, "Yes-siree-bob.

That's at least 18 hours of music."

\\ \\ "Okey-dokey."

And he wraps it up.

\\ \\ You see, he opened my eyes.

I hadn't done the arithmetic.

Eighteen hours, sure.

Who wouldn't want that?

\\ \\ Then I got home and realized, Wait asecond!

I'm not up 18 hours.

When wouldI use this?

The last four hours will actuallybe keeping me awake.

This is not something I need.

\\ \\ ...

You know why I got this thing, truthfully?

Because I wanted one more remotecontrol unit in my life.

Can never have too many remote controls, I say.

I now have 12 of them lined up on the table.

I invite friends over and say, "See those?

They're all mine.