We Pray to the Lord of the Harvest that:
We All Live in the Light
Ephesians 5:6-20

­† IHS †

May the grace and glory poured into you by the power of the Holy Spirit cause you to reflect Christ’s peace, as He reveals and eradicates the sin in you, and the sin around you!

Pray to the Lord of the Harvest… for us

We’ve been talking about the praying for what we need as we prepare for people to come to know Jesus, a spiritual harvest of souls that occurs as people come to know and trust in Jesus.

We looked back in July at the idea of praying that we see God break down every wall between His people, that nothing would separate us from others in Christ Jesus. We then prayed that the Lord of the harvest would make sure we all grow deep in His love, and that we would be unified. And then last week, that we would understand that God had identified us as His, and empowers a transformation that allows us to live as His children.

IN each, we are praying to the Lord of the harvest, to make sure His harvesters are ready to do the work of the harvest. For we need to be focused on the Lord and His work, with nothing dividing us, united in Christ. We need to know we are loved and supported because we are His and are sharing in His work.

And then we come to this week, when we pray that we, as those harvesters sent to work by the Lord of the harvest, learn to live and walk in the light.

The Darkness

The passage starts on a serious, challenging note:

“⁶ Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. ⁷ Don’t participate in the things these people do.” To many people today try to say what is wrong is right, as if we get to determine what is wrong or right based on our feelings, or our logic. But we see it all the time—people trying to trash someone else’s sinful thought, words and deeds, while ignoring their own sinful behavior.

This isn’t even talking about tolerating sin, it is talking about approving of it, and defending someone’s right to live a life that is in bondage to sin. The challenge here is playing favorites, to holding people to different standards. Examples abound in our lives, as we are tempted to ignore these sins while condemned those.

But those sins bind people, dragging them deeper into the darkness—where they cannot eve see what they are thinking, saying and doing is wrong. That is what living in these evil days is like, as far too often the darkness overwhelms our ability to see and discern what is wrong and what is right.

¹⁰ Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. ¹³ But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them.

This idea of recognizing the sin for what it is, is not a harsh mean idea – for dealing with sin within the church, or in society is done for only one reason – to create a crack in the power of darkness so that the glorious grace of God can shatter it.

But now you dwell in the light

Paul told the church that it doesn’t need to live that way, in the darkness, or in the shadows.

⁸ For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! ⁹ For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

Here is the our difference! We don’t live subject to sin, we realize the power of God’s glory shining in our lives. That light is not the spot light by which we are interrogated—instead, it is the spotlight by which God does surgery, circumcising our hearts, cutting away all the sin, shame, guilt, resentment—allowing us to heal in Christ, while helping others.

That is who Concordia is, the place were we find healing in Christ, while helping others heal. Finding hope in Christ—while helping other find hope.

Paul points this out again, quoting an early hymn,

“Awake, O sleeper,

rise up from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.”

This is just another way to understand the light of Christ being turned on,

This is part of the core of our teaching as the church. This change from being in handcuffed and blinded by darkness to being free in Christ’s healing light and glory. Being dead in our trespasses and being awoken by the gospel.

Back when you were all confirmed, your heard this concept.

“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith;”

That word enlightened is the key here…for it is the concept of Paul (and John’s gospel. But the small catechism doesn’t leave it just up to our being freed by the light. It goes on…

even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives me and all believers all our sins, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will grant me and all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.^[1]

Giving thanks

This brings us to the end of our passage today and the response to being brought alive, being freed form the darkness…

be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁹ singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. ²⁰ And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The result of being enlightened by the Holy Spirit is simple – we want to praise God. We want to celebrate out freedom, the knowledge we are loved. We want to sing about this change in our lives and the Lord of Life who made it happen.

For now, we know His peace, having exposed all that was sinful, and seeing God pour His healing light on us, as He would for all!

^[1] Pontoppidan, Erick, H. U. Sverdrup, and Martin Luther. 1900. Explanation of Luther’s Small Catechism. Translated by E. G. Lund. Abridged Edition. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House.