Here is the transcript from my first sermon I had to give in preaching class.
Ephesians 5:15-21
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Big Idea: The Spirit-filled life is in the Mundane
Compliment: The “why” of the “what.”
Me: I grew up as a PK. My dad was a YP until he became a Sr. P. Now I am studying to be some sort of P, and one day I will marry someone, who will be my PW. I have always been in the church. I grew up next door to the church. I played hide and seek in the building, I played dodge-ball in the gym. I learned music from my mom, so I was always involved in leading worship through music. I had a very close circle of church friends. But although I did not ever say it, I was not very open to new people. Maybe your church does this too, the “meet and greet,” aka, “everyone shake hands and be nice to someone behind and in front of you… who you will intentionally ignore the rest of the service.” Then, worship time. Because of my musical background, I love to pick apart when the band messes up. I love critiquing the fills the drummer does and pointing out when the singers are flat… which is a lot. I have even given ratings on a scale of 1-10 for the musicians during the music. I also love noticing typos on the screen. Everyone notices and tries to keep going, but I take advantage of it for the sake of comedy. But then, I realized something. I was doing all the “what” without the “why.” Sure, I sang, I said hello nicely, I gave thanks about stuff. But I never questioned why I was doing any of it.
We: We have a problem. If we are stuck in “doing church” with only the “what” and not the “why,” then all of our actions are pointless. Man looks at outward appearance, God looks at the heart. If we only are concerned with how our churches look, instead of what our churches are, then we have missed the point. In the same way, if we are only concerned with raising our hands in worship, giving thanks, and being friendly simply just to do it, then it is worthless. Let us then move into the standard to which God has called us into as believers.
God: Context: Paul divides the book into two parts; chapters 1-3: theology, chapters 4-6: ethics. A proper view of God breeds a proper view of life. Our passage today is in Paul’s second major section: ethics. This is how we ought to “walk.” Paul says to walk in unity, walk in love as Christ did, walk as children of light. Paul is concerned with how we regulate one’s life, conduct one’s self, and make due of opportunities.
We see in Ephesians 5:15-21 that Paul’s first concern is for them to “look carefully how you walk.” Examine yourself. Make sure not to walk unwise but wise. Walking in wisdom, as Paul states here, means to make the best use of the time. Why? Because the days are evil. Procrastination is the thief of time. Therefore is procrastination a sin? Perhaps, but it is at the very least stupid. (v 17) Therefore, believer, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Every Christian in America is obsessed with wanting to know the will of God for their life. Usually this means that we want to know the future instead of trusting in God and living our daily lives. (v 18) “And do not get drunk (intoxicated) with wine, for that is debauchery (worthlessness), but be filled with the Spirit.” What is Paul saying here? The way to the Spirit filled life is not to drink beer? Or is he saying do not be filled with wine, but be filled with the Spirit? Perhaps we read into this too much. Imagine an intoxicated person, they stumble around, unable to make good decisions. This is what I believe Paul is describing; a stupid Christian. It is possible to be a Christian and make terrible decisions; to walk in a way that is not pleasing to Christ. Walking intoxicated means to be unwise, to not know the will of God, to live selfishly, to not do things that are not worthwhile. Walking intoxicated could simply be, to use Paul’s previous words, wasting time. How much time have you spent on Facebook this week? Playing videogames? Being with fellow Christians, but talking about worthless things? Paul calls us to something higher, namely, to be “filled with the Spirit.”
I could spend hours explaining the theology behind the “filling of the Spirit.” We could go to Acts and watch men and women be filled with the Spirit. We could go to the Old Testament and read of kings and prophets becoming filled with the Spirit. But instead, let us look together at what Paul says it is here. Being filled with the Spirit is firstly (v 19) “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Secondly it is, “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” Thirdly it is (v 20) “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And lastly, the Spirit filled life is (v 21) “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
You: Where are you at? When you sing, where is your heart? Do you make melody because the Spirit inside you is singing? Or are you as I was, critiquing the band, your mind elsewhere, or singing just to sing? When you greet fellow believers, do you say hi and then ignore them? Or do you address one another with Psalms and hymns? When you give thanks, is it out of habit? Or out of the Spirit inside you? And when you submit to authority, do you do it out of obligation? Or out of reverence for Christ? Look carefully, then, how you walk o believer. Do not waste time, for there is none to spare. Do not be unwise, but listen to the Spirit. Do not take part in worthless things, but do all for God. And be filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit in the mundane. We do not simply long for the “what;” the things that Christians ought to do. We long for the “why.” For the “why” brings meaning in the mundane. For truly, the Spirit filled life is in the mundane, the overlooked, simple areas of life that are taken for granted.
We: Now if I were writing the Book of Ephesians, I would say the Spirit filled life is packing your bags and becoming a missionary. I would say the Spirit filled life is selling all you own to give to the poor. I would say the Spirit filled life is wearing a deep V and Toms shoes! Just kidding. But still, when I look at this text it seems so… easy. Seriously? That’s all that it takes to be Spirit filled? I can do that! Let me challenge that thinking, the Spirit filled life does not come from performing the actions, the actions are poured out from being Spirit filled. Why do we give thanks? We are filled with the Spirit. Why do we address others with psalms and hymns? We are Spirit filled. Why do we sing? We are Spirit filled. Why do we submit to others? We are Spirit filled and have reverence for Christ.
Imagine what our worship services would look like if we sang because the Holy Spirit was singing in us. Imagine talking to fellow believers, praising God together because the Spirit inside of us is Praising God. Imagine giving thanks to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ because the Spirit was doing the same. And imagine submitting, putting others first, respecting, honoring others, because Christ did for us. This is the Spirit filled life. The Spirit filled life is in the mundane. What if we, as a Church, consciously did the mundane with joy. What if our church services were not filled with people trying to be spiritual, but were living as Spirit filled people? The entirety of the Spirit filled life is mundane. It is every day. It is the little things that we do out of habit. Look at this list Paul is giving us! Do not waste time, do not do useless things, but give thanks, address each other with hymns, sing, and submit out of reverence for Christ. This is mundane; this is the Spirit filled life. Where we are at now, the actions that we are doing now ought to be done as Spirit filled people.
Pray
