Ephesians 5 15-20

Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 5,779 views
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

Pentecost 13

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sept.7,2003

“Living Life Out Loud”

 

Introduction: Living Life Out Loud – we hear it from our young babies and children as they sit her with us in church. Sometimes they are louder than we would like but it is the sound of life and living out loud.  Living Life Out Loud – we hear it from our kids at home as they cry out to us, “mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, listen to me, look at me, notice me, play with me. As they call out to us they pull on our pant legs, and get in our way, trying to get our attention.  They are Living Out Loud.  Teenagers do it when they where wild clothes and wild make-up, listening to loud music as they squeal the tires of their cars.  They are Living Out Loud.  I had long hair, listened to loud music and had large snakes for pets and I remember howling at the moon, sometimes I still do. Living Out Loud – That was the theme for this year’s SWD youth convention, held at Concordia Mequon, where they gathered together to, in their own words, grow together, worship, praise, get crazy and have lots of fun.  Living Life Out Loud doesn’t necessarily mean being noisy and raucous. Living out Loud can be expressed in quietness and peace in living a good and Godly life.  This is what the Apostles Paul calls us to do in our Epistle lesson for today, “Be very careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  This is the way of the wise and this is how Christians Live Life Out Loud as examples for all people to see.

            These words from God through the Apostle Paul fall in the middle of a large section on Christian living and relationships. We who were dead in our sins and unbelief have been made alive with Christ. By grace we have been saved! A good question is: “How does the God who saved me from my sins want me to live?” Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answers that question for us.  

            In our sermon text alone, in these six verses, we find five imperatives to guide us in our life of grateful response to the Lord’s love and salvation and to Live out Loud as Christians in the world. He calls Christians to be careful, be wise, use the time, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and give thanks.  God certainly doesn’t leave us in the dark as to how he wants us to live as his children.

            In Verse 15 Paul writes—be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise”, Paul urges us to live as children of light, to find out what pleases the Lord, to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness and to realize that by a miracle of God’s grace we are spiritually alive. Our Savior shines on us with his love and forgiveness. God has placed the precious gift of salvation in our hearts and hands. But this gift can be lost, foolishly tossed away and discarded as if it were worthless garbage. Who could do such a thing? We could! That’s why Paul emphasizes, “Be very careful.”

            Being wise means that we can discern between what is proper and Godly and what is not. It means, too, that we can recognize the constant danger we face as Christians living in a hostile environment. As the hymn goes, we “walk in danger all the way.” Therefore we step carefully, remembering that Satan is ever on the prowl.  We guard and protect the precious gift of salvation that we have been given. Through God’s Word, and empowered and guided by God’s Holy Spirit we embrace the wisdom of God as another priceless gift of God.

            Paul continues in verse16—make[ing] the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  It doesn’t take a top-notch detective to find evidence that the days we live in are indeed evil. Just read your newspaper or watch the nightly news. Dark violence, pale apathy, red lust, and green greed stand out as giants in the land. Even many churches and religious institutions have become rotten to the core, promoting homosexuality like the Episcopal Church USA, abortion like the United Church of Christ, and all manner of other evils, the number one of which is that Jesus Christ is not the only Savior and that people can be saved by whatever god they want. All of the while they avoid the clear teaching of Scriptures. It’s a fact: the days are evil, more evil perhaps, than they have ever been! Of course, men’s hearts have always been black with sin to the core. But the outward expression of evil in the name of good is profoundly different.         Since this is so, Paul encourages us, who bear the name of Jesus Christ, to make the most of the time that we have been given, and to make Godly use of the opportunities that it affords.

            What are these opportunities?  First of all, since the days are evil and we are in danger of being sucked in by that evil vacuum, Paul wants us to seize every opportunity to be strengthened and built up by the means of grace – to be strengthened by God’s Word and Sacraments. Then he encourages us to make the most of every opportunity to spread the gospel. He is leading us to “overcome evil with good” 

            Paul encourages us in v. 17—Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. For emphasis Paul repeats himself. “Do not be foolish” and “understand what the Lord’s will is.” This is where true wisdom is to be found.  This is where a person can learn to be wise.

            The Lord doesn’t want his people to be ostriches with their heads in the sand. He wants us to be people with our heads in the Book, the Bible. That is the only way we gain an understanding of what God wants for us and from us. From the Word we learn that the first item on “God’s Will List” is for sinners to be with him in heaven. For this reason Jesus came from heaven to earth and allowed himself to undergo hell’s torments as our sinless substitute. Eternal blessings are what the Lord wants for us. And what does he want from us? He wants our hearts, trusting in our Savior and responding to his grace, living out loud in grateful service.

            Martin Luther served the Lord and lived out loud as a Christian when he went against the ungodly institution pf Rome first rebelling against the sale of indulgences.  Finally, through diligent study, Luther reiterated that our salvation is dependent on the all availing sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone and through faith in Him alone. Luther went against the tide of the world.  His voice stood out from the crowd

            What about us? How is the wisdom of God and grateful service to Him lived out? As children, we live out loud as Christians when we listen to and learn from our parent and their patient instruction. As teenagers, we live out loud as Christians when we go against the sinful tied of the world. The world can hear you loud and clear when you say no to premarital sex, when your bold enough to not follow the crowd when it trials off in directions that lead to hell. You live out loud in the world when you say, “I am a Christian I will not do that.”  As adults we continue to live out loud as Christians in the world.  When God allows us toi have children we bring them to be baptized, lead them to church, guide and love them as we set godly examples for them.

            Today, we celebrate one such example.  Gerhardt and Marianne Christian have been blessed with 60 years of marriage together.  They have shared in both good and bad times, through sickness and health.  They have seen many days together.  Through it all they have remained faithful to each other and faithful to the vows that they made before the Lord on Sept. 3rd, 60 years ago.  In a world where we are deafened by infidelity and divorce, their lives together rise above it all as they have lived out loud in their Christian witness to us all.

            Even more important to them is the grace of God in their lives.  As Christians, all too often we do fail to live out loud in the world.  Our hearts are not always in the right place.  We are not obedient as children.  We do follow the crowd when it goes in the wrong direction. We don’t lead and guide our children as we ought; and we fail each other as husbands and wives. And it is not alright.  We need God’s grace and we find it in our Savior Jesus Christ who lived and died out loud for the world to see.  We hear his voice that speaks forgiveness and life.  Now our lives are not our own; they are his.  We live and He speaks through us to proclaim His gospel.

            The Lord continues to fill us with His Spirit.  As we are filled with the Holy Spirit, he gives joy in the midst of sorrow and suffering. He heals wounds and gives peace. He brings us comfort.  The tool the Holy Spirit uses to do all this wonderful work inside of us is the Word and promises of the Lord.        

            Our Lord has called us together to be His Church.  We gather together and live out loud, filled by His Spirit.  We join together, praising the Lord with singing and music, with “psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all our hearts.”  Through His Spirit we are able to, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            Paul calls us to a life of thanksgiving, not a mere Thanksgiving Day! He is calling for non-stop thanksgiving, not only at times of success and at happy events, but for everything!

We Christians have a lot of blessings to be thankful for and a lot to be loud about.   We have been showered with spiritual gifts poured on us daily through the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiveness, peace, joy, love, and hope are everyday realities in and through Jesus. Because Jesus was punished for our sins by his Father, we can claim God as our loving and caring Father. We know that our Father will work out everything, even life’s disasters and distresses. Thus we are blessed with a constantly grateful spirit, through whom we can live out loud and proclaim the name of Jesus. “In His holy Name. Amen.

Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more