Put It Off ¡V Eph. 4:25-5:2
Steve Simala Grant ¡V Oct. 20/21, 2001
Intro:
Some sermons are a whole lot easier to preach than others. Sermons about the character of God, about His love and faithfulness and awesome power are a whole lot easier to preach than those about sin, especially ones that get as specific as today¡¦s passage. And yet that is the great value of preaching through a whole book, like we are through Ephesians ¡V you can¡¦t skip the parts that are less comfortable and more confrontational ¡V you are forced to examine the whole truth of God¡¦s word.
One of the things that makes it difficult to preach sermons like this is the feeling that I am a hypocrite ¡V that I am talking about living a life of holiness and obedience when I have struggles and battles with sin in my life just like you do in yours. I worry about standing before you and coming across like I have it all together, like I don¡¦t struggle with any of these issues, when the truth is that I do. So please, accept these words as coming from one fellow struggler to another. Understand that I preach to myself as much as to you. The advantage I have is that I have spent this week preparing for this service, and come having prayed that God would purify me and make me holy and then that He would speak to each of us.
A second thing that makes it difficult is that it is easy to get bogged down in the sin issues. To get focused on those instead of on God ¡V to focus on the struggle instead of the victory, the dirt instead of the power to cleanse ¡V the discouragement in the moment instead of the hope in tomorrow. And so I want to begin by reminding all of us of two things as we jump into this passage: 1. that God has given us the incredible gift of complete forgiveness provided we confess and repent; and 2. that God has given us the power through His indwelling Spirit to live holy lives and to see sin defeated in us. God does not desire us to muddle through life, lurching from one catastrophe to another, one failure to another, one source of pain to another. No, God¡¦s desire for us is that we are free. I want us all to remember that as we jump into Ephesians 4:25-5:2. The point is freedom ¡V free from sin, free from the consequences of sin, free to live holy lives in relationship with the God of the universe!
Context:
Eph. 4:25-5:2 jumps into the middle of a section. It begins with the word ¡§therefore,¡¨ which is always a clue that we had better look back a bit in order to understand the context.
The unit of thought began at verse 17. There are two important sections leading up to today¡¦s passage, the first being vss. 17-19, where Paul commands us to ¡§no longer live as the Gentiles,¡¨ and expands on what that means. Vss. 20-24 provide for us a contrast to living as the Gentiles, and there Paul tells us that we need to do three things: first, ¡§put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires,¡¨ second, ¡§be made new in the attitude of your mind,¡¨ and third to ¡§put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.¡¨ The language is of ¡§changing clothes,¡¨ of replacing the sinful, dirty garments with garments of true righteousness and holiness.
That context is especially important in order to understand what is happening in these verses. Paul has just told us to ¡§put off our old self,¡¨ now he starts to get specific for us about what that means. He spoke generically in vs. 22, now he gets specific and lists a number of things ¡V sins ¡V that characterize our old self and that need to be ¡§put off.¡¨
And before jumping into that list, I want to remind you that this ¡§putting off¡¨ is a cooperative effort between us and God ¡V it is a partnership. God has a role to play, and so do we. Have you ever been praying about a particular sin in your life and asked simply that God would take away every desire and temptation so that you could live a holy life? All of us have; and yet I would hazard a guess that very few of us experience a positive answer to that request. We want God to do it all, without any effort on our part. That is especially common with things that we are addicted to, let me pick smoking as an example ¡V how many Christians have wanted to quit and have prayed for instantaneous deliverance? The converse is also true, that we cannot do it on our own ¡V again the smoking analogy works if we think of all the people that have simply resolved to quit in their own strength and have failed. We can¡¦t do it on our own, and we can¡¦t do it without God. What are those roles? I believe that it is only in God that we have to power to change and to ¡§put off¡¨ sin, and that we have a responsibility to surrender to God¡¦s power and cooperate with God¡¦s power in any way we can. And as we go through the list I¡¦ll get more specific with how we can cooperate, for now I just want us to remember that it is something God and we do together.
1. Put off falsehood (vs. 25).
The first sin Paul lists in the passage is the sin of lying. (read vs. 25). Paul tells us what to put off, ¡§lying,¡¨ and what to replace it with, ¡§speak truthfully to his neighbor.¡¨ And he gives the reason ¡V ¡§for we are all members of one body.¡¨
Do you think of lying as a sin? Do you really abhor it the way God abhors it? This is one of the sins that we tend to tolerate in ourselves. We diminish its importance, downplay its significance. We think it really is no big deal. We think it is ok to exaggerate the story to make ourselves look better. We think it is ok to lie if it keeps us from getting caught doing something wrong. We think it is ok to lie when lying is easier than telling the truth, because we might upset someone or hurt their feelings. But those are all wrong. Lying is sin. Lying is devastating. Lying breeds falsehood instead of truth, deceit instead of integrity, dishonesty instead of honesty. And falsehood and deceit and dishonesty keep us from knowing God better.
As I was reflecting on this particular sin this week, I came to understand the significance of lying on destroying community. And I think the most frequent lie that we tell is the lie about who we really are. Do you know what I mean? The false images of ourselves that we portray to others in the hopes that they will like us ¡V the masks we wear to try to make ourselves look more acceptable, more attractive, more together than we really are. And this destroys community ¡V how can we be in authentic relationships with each other if we continually portray a false sense of who we are? We make it look like we have it all together when really, we are all just fellow strugglers headed home. And so we live a lie ¡V we portray a lie ¡V and we wonder why we feel so alone and like no one really knows us and understands us.
Living an authentic life is something that is a high priority for me, and yet I find myself slipping into this trap of encouraging and creating a perception of myself that is not always accurate. If you ask me directly, I will probably give you an honest answer, but I probably won¡¦t correct you if you say something nice about me that isn¡¦t entirely true, I¡¦ll be tempted to let that go. And that destroys community, because it means that you and I don¡¦t really know one another.
Paul says we do this because ¡§we are all members of one body.¡¨ And yet do you know what I think we do? We get a finger cut off, and of course the hand feels it. And then the eye looks down and says ¡§oh! What happened?¡¨ And the hand says, ¡§nothing. I¡¦m fine.¡¨ And it¡¦s a great big lie! Instead of being honest, and getting help, we try to go on like we are fine and end up crippled instead of healed.
Do you struggle with lying? Along with Paul, I urge you to surrender that area of your life to God, to ¡§put that off.¡¨
2. Put off anger (vs. 26-27)
This is the second sin Paul mentions in this list. This one is interesting because it is an emotion ¡V anger is a feeling. Paul recognizes this, and note that he doesn¡¦t command us to not feel anger, but to make sure that we do not sin, and that we do not allow ourselves to remain angry by refusing to deal with the emotions we feel and the circumstances around those.
I am not generally an angry person, but put me behind a slow driver when I¡¦m in a hurry and I get really tempted to let out a string of sarcastic comments in a rather loud tone of voice. You might snicker at that, and wonder what the harm is. But what does that say to my son in the back seat, or to the driver in the car beside me that maybe heard me preach a sermon?
Vs. 27 is interesting ¡V ¡§and do not give the devil a foothold.¡¨ Paul is warning us that our sin, here specifically harboring anger, opens the door a crack for the devil to come in and wreak havoc in our lives. When we don¡¦t deal properly with our feelings of anger, several things can happen: some people lash out cruelly to others around them, usually a spouse or children or other close family members. Other people repress the anger, squish it down inside and pretend that it doesn¡¦t exist. And then again it leaks out around the edges, in depression, in a generally sour outlook on life, in a state of being easily annoyed and generally unhappy. And it robs us of the joy and excitement and freedom of life.
Anger also destroys community. It drives wedges of hurt feelings and dislike between us, feelings that are strong and can last a lifetime if we don¡¦t deal with them.
We could easily spend hours talking about this specific sin, and I could give you all sorts of ¡§anger management¡¨ ideas. And if you really struggle in this area, I encourage you to get yourself to a place where you can learn those things. Get yourself into some counseling where you can be helped to identify the underlying reasons for your anger, can be led to deal with those areas, and can know freedom. At the risk of oversimplifying the issue, though, I only want to say one thing about dealing with this sin in our lives: we need to surrender to God. We need to bring every area of our lives to Him and ask Him to be Lord of all, to cleanse us from the inside and recreate us as peaceful, patient, and self-controlled. I believe the Holy Spirit will guide us in what our specific actions can be to cooperate with His working in our lives. Take to heart Paul¡¦s command to ¡§not let the sun go down while you are still angry,¡¨ and deal with those things immediately.
Do you struggle with anger? Along with Paul, I urge you to surrender that area of your life to God, to ¡§put that off.¡¨
3. Put off Stealing (vs. 28):
The third sin Paul lists is the sin of stealing. Like the others, this one is fairly straightforward. Stealing is wrong, it is sin, and it needs to stop.
If this is something you struggle with, I urge you to deal with it. Do some digging to find out what it is about it that tempts you to steal ¡V is it the thrill, is it greed, is it a desire to hurt others the way you have been hurt? And then cooperate with God as He works on the root causes, and brings you to freedom.
There were 90 556 cases of theft in Alberta in 2000, and 844 265 in Canada, in a population of almost 31 million people. This is obviously a big problem. I love where Paul takes this ¡V he says stop stealing, get a job so that you are doing something useful with your hands, why? Not so that your own needs are met, but rather so that you ¡§may have something to share with those in need.¡¨ Paul takes us several steps down the road, from a point of stealing so that we might have more, to earning so that we might have dignity, to sharing that we might be godly.
Do you struggle with stealing? Along with Paul, I urge you to surrender that area of your life to God, to ¡§put that off.¡¨
4. Put off ¡§unwholesome talk¡¨ (vs. 29):
What is ¡§unwholesome talk,¡¨ which is the fourth thing Paul tells us to put off? It is anything which comes out of our mouths which is not ¡§helpful for building others up according to their needs.¡¨ It includes gossip ¡V talking about others behind their back. It includes obscenity, as is listed specifically in 5:4. It includes jokes that are questionable, whether because they are crude or because they are racial. Sarcasm is generally ¡§unwholesome.¡¨ It includes a preoccupation with self, talking about ¡§me¡¨ all the time. Those things are all sin.
One of the big struggles with this particular sin that Paul lists is how exhaustive his command it ¡V ¡§let NO unwholesome talk come out of your mouths.¡¨ That is the standard Paul sets ¡V none. James talks most about the struggle to ¡§tame the tongue,¡¨ saying ¡§the tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.¡¨ (3:6). Strong words! But true ¡V what we say to others reveals who we are; of course our actions also speak, but words remain the primary way we come to know each other.
How are you doing in this area? Are your words a source of life to others, do they build people up and benefit them? Or does the verse from James describe your mouth better? James tells us that no man can tame the tongue; and this takes us back to surrender and reliance on God to see victory in this area.
As I searched my own heart in this area, the Holy Spirit revealed to me some recent places where I let ¡§unwholesome talk¡¨ come out of my mouth. They were hard areas, because they were places where I felt hurt and felt like I needed to say some things. And there were times when I said things that I shouldn¡¦t have said, because they were not helpful or beneficial to others.
Do you struggle with the words that come out of your mouth? Along with Paul, I urge you to surrender that area of your life to God, to ¡§put that off.¡¨
5. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit (vs. 30):
Verse 30 is kind of a summary statement, reminding us of the effect of our sin. Our sin grieves God ¡V it grieves the Holy Spirit.
My brother related a camp experience to me. The camp director was trying to communicate the effect our sin has on God, and so he set a beautiful table ¡V fine linen, the best china and cutlery, candles, everything neat and perfect. And he said ¡§here is what God provides for us.¡¨ And then he pulled out the garbage bag from the dining hall ¡V full of disgusting, revolting, smelly, rotting garbage. He held it up. Then he said ¡§this is what we do to God when we sin,¡¨ and he dumped the garbage all over the beautifully prepared table. Our sin grieves God. It grieves our relationship with others. We are constantly tempted to think that a little lie is no big deal, that if we feel angry we have the right to lash out and say hurtful things to those around us, that stealing is ok if the person or store has so much more and they¡¦ll never miss it, that it is ok for us to say unkind things or dirty jokes or gossip. But every time we do, we throw garbage on the gifts God provides. And we destroy the relationships we need with one another.
6. The alternative¡K (vss. 32-5:2)
Paul lists a few more sins that need to be put off in vs. 31 (read) which are specific things in our relationships with one another which are sins against God and against community. He doesn¡¦t elaborate on them, and for the sake of time I¡¦m not going to elaborate on them either. But I will ask you to look at the list and see if any of those things apply to you, and ask you to deal with them.
The last things Paul says is the alternative way to live. He doesn¡¦t just tell us what to get rid of, he tells us what to replace it with. He gives us a list, and tells us what the standard is to which we must measure up:
Be kind
Be compassionate
Be forgiving „³ just as God forgave us in Christ
Be imitators of God „³ because we are dearly loved children
Live a life of love „³ just as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us.
Conclusion:
I love how Paul ends this section reminding us of our forgiveness in Christ, and of how incredibly loved we are by God. He reminds us we are ¡§dearly loved children,¡¨ and that Jesus loved us enough to die for us. He calls us to live in holiness and to put off all of these specific sins so that we can be free. So that we can live life to the full. All of these sins harm us, they harm our relationships with one another, and they harm our relationship with God.
Have you ever been hiking, or backpacking? Or even had a heavy suitcase that you had to drag around with you all over an airport or two? (Honeymoon story, carrying all the heavy luggage to the top of the big hill¡K) Do you remember how it felt when you had a chance to take that pack off, or to drop that suitcase in the corner of a hotel room? Do you remember the way it felt to take the weight off and be free, to stretch and run and jump and even to lay down comfortably? That is the same feeling that comes when we get rid of the weight of sin ¡V when we confess it and surrender to God and cooperate with Him in living holy lives. Sometimes it hurts to take it off ¡V we have to peel it off and sometimes it takes some skin with it ¡V but the result is the same. We are set free.
I prayed this week that as we looked at this passage of Scripture the Holy Spirit would be convicting each of us of sin, drawing us into repentance and surrender so that we could be free and empowered. We each need to take time to prayerfully examine our lives for the things which need to be ¡§put off,¡¨ and then we need to repent of them. I invite you to do that now, so that you can know the freedom and joy that God desires for us. So that we can become kind, compassionate, forgiving, imitators of God, and live a life of love.
