I. Introduction

A. Illustration – William Wordsworth, 19th century English poet, wrote, Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar (Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1 as cited on PreachingToday.com). That’s the gist of what Paul is teaching us in Ephesians chapter five. We’re going to work on beginning to understand this truth by reading verses one through twenty-one from the NIV.

B. Ephesians 5:1-21 from the NIV – Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is the light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Be very careful, then, how you love – not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do no be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

C. And now verses 15-21 from the New Living: So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. 19 Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

D. I read verses one through fourteen to give us the context of the passage we’re looking at today. The context involves living as imitators of Christ in all we say and do. To help us better understand this, let’s focus on verses fifteen through twenty-one.

II. Mutual Submission Brings Unity

A. Verses fifteen and sixteen caution us to watch out how we live. There are some key terms here. The word translated carefully also means accurately – meaning lining up how we conduct our lives with the truth of God’s Word. In the Bible, anyone referred to as foolish was morally deficient – lacking in integrity and evil. I found something very interesting when I was translating “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” A literal translation would be “buying up at the marketplace the time, because the days are active evil.” Think about it – time is so valuable that it is to be considered as a precious commodity. That’s something I struggle with. Even though I know time is a valuable and rare commodity, I still waste it doing things that don’t really matter. We all do. But when we consider that the days are actively evil, that should motivate us to invest our time wisely as God would have us do it. Which brings up an even bigger issue – what is God’s specific plan for your life? What is His purpose for you to live for? How specifically does He want you to use your God-given talents and gifts? These questions are essential because if you don’t know the answers to them, you can’t invest your time wisely, making the most of every opportunity to fight the active evil in our world – Satan. We submit to one another by being careful and accurate in how we live our lives, making the most of every opportunity to use our God-given talents and gifts in the way He wants them used.

B. A literal translation of verse seventeen gives us another glimpse into how we’re called to submit to one another. “On account of this not become senseless, without understanding, but understand what the will of the Lord (is).” Why do we need to understand what the will of the Lord is for our lives? Because the day is actively evil. Because if we don’t we’ll find ourselves eventually falling into the evils described in verses one through fourteen. Paul tells us to be imitators of Christ, to submit to Him and to one another, by understanding what His will is for our lives and for our church, and by becoming actively involved in seeing His will come to fruition. How do we do that?

C. Verse eighteen - Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. The New Living probably more accurately captures the full intent of the Greek - Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. Why the bit about wine and getting drunk? It’s form of escapism. In our world, there are many forms of escapism – trying to forget about reality by using and abusing drugs, alcohol, adrenaline addiction, sex, and a number of other things. Anything we abuse is simply an attempt to medicate the pain we suffer just in everyday living. To be honest, there’ve been several times over the past months when I really would have liked to go out and get bombed. The problem is that in the morning, not only would I feel lousy but the pain would still be there. Paul gives us God’s answer for dealing with the pain, which also happens to be the answer for how we understand His will and submit to one another – being filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is filling and controlling us, the fruit we produce won’t be drunkenness and moral deficiency. Galatians 5:22-23 – But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. When He doesn’t control our lives, we won’t submit to Him and to one another and we won’t understand what His will is for our lives and our church.

D. So how do we get that kind of focus? How do we focus on imitating Him by submitting to one another, by understanding what His will is and acting on it? A literal translation of verses nineteen and twenty – “Speaking to yourselves in songs of praise and psalms and hymns and songs spiritual, singing and singing with your heart to the Lord, 20 being thankful, giving thanks, always for everything in name of your Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.” That pretty much says it all. A lifestyle of thankful worship is the key. Worship means expressing God’s value. Is there any part of our lives where we can’t express God’s value? No. The hard part is the thankfulness. I struggle with thankfulness, probably because I keep feeling like I have to be thankful for the difficult circumstances themselves. The truth is that thankfulness is gratitude, not for difficult circumstances, but for God’s presence sustaining us in the midst of those circumstances. So thankful worship is expressing God’s value in gratitude for who He is and for His sustaining presence with us. The Bible is filled with examples of men and women praising and worshiping God with thankful hearts, from David in the Psalms to Mary when she found out she would bear the Messiah to Paul for the testimony his being in prison gave for Christ. Their circumstances were secondary – recognizing who God is and how He was working in them and through them and expressing their gratitude was their focus. We can have that same focus if we choose to allow Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit and control us, if we actively work to understand and do His will for our lives and our church, if we submit to one another.

E. Now I know some of you may be thinking by now, “Pastor Brian, what does all this have to do with submitting to one another?” Let’s review verse twenty-one - Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. The term for submitting is one used specifically in two different contexts that have similar meanings. It was used in a military sense as in submitting to a higher-ranking officer, and it was used to refer to slaves submitting to their masters. The main issue in the word submitting involves giving up one’s own rights or will. That’s tough, but again, what does that have to do with the previous verses? The Greek word translated reverence is fobw, meaning a profound respect and awe for God. It’s used in Luke 8:37, after Jesus had cast the legion of demons out of the crazed man. And all the people in that region begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. Acts 9:31 – The believers were walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Interesting contrast – they had that healthy respect and awe for God and His holiness, but the Holy Spirit comforted them for their lack of worthiness before a holy God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 – Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God. 1 Peter 1:17 – And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth. How does this all connect?

F. When we have a healthy respect and awe of God for who He is, the holy God who created the universe, we realize who we really are – sinners saved by grace. That attitude of reverence toward God allows us the freedom to submit to one another. When we’ve surrendered our rights because we realize that all they would do is get us condemned for our sins, submission is easy. God will judge us. If we understand that we come to Him as His slaves, submitting to one another becomes much easier. I heard another pastor the other day commenting on how our rugged individualism as Americans has kept us from submitting to one another and connecting with one another. He’s dead right. But before we start beating ourselves up for it, let’s remember that mankind has struggled with grabbing onto his own rights since he was created. So the question is, what can we do about it? Worship God. Worshiping God according to who the Bible reveals Him to be enables us to keep our own hearts and lives in proper perspective, which enables us to submit to one another. By allowing the Holy Spirit to fill and control us, we will be enabled to be imitators of Christ in how we live our lives, submit to God and to one another, actively work to understand His will for our lives and our church, and worship Him according to His word.

G. Illustration - Pastor and author Tony Evans says: Onne day I was in an airport rushing to catch a plane. I was sweating and puffing when I looked to my right and saw a man walking half as fast as I was, but going faster. He was walking on a moving sidewalk. When we walk in the Spirit, he comes underneath us and bears us along. We're still walking, but we walk dependent on him (as cited on PreachingToday.com). Let’s focus on being imitators of Christ so we can walk lives dependent on His Spirit, submitting to Him and to one another.

III. Conclusion

A. Please bow your heads and close your eyes out of respect for each other’s privacy. Let’s just spend a few quiet moments listening to the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts about submitting to one another.

B. Let’s pray together.