“What the World Needs Now”
Ephesians 4:17-5:2
Paul was writing to first century Ephesus when he penned a pastoral letter to a few churches
he planted on one of his missionary journeys but he could have been easily writing to us this morning.
For his words are strikingly similar to what we see on our nightly news, read in our local papers, or
call up on our favourite news feeds. So when Paul uses the term “Gentiles, for example, he is
referring to those not of Jewish decent or persons not following Jesus but he could also be speaking
to modern day peoples, establishments, structures and institutions who do not confess Jesus as
Saviour or Lord. So whether it’s Ephesus, a Greek city on the west coast of what is modern day
Turkey or Keswick, Ontario on the beautiful shores of Lake Simcoe the challenges remain the same
for the church today and become our 7th Core Belief. There is a God and He is closer than you
think. He wants us in relationship Him so that we can be listening to Him in His Word because
as children of God who gather together as the church so that we can go out from here to
change humanity. The trouble with the 7th Belief is that many do not think the world needs changing.
I mean they can’t deny there are “bad” things happening all the time but for them our world needs
more of a “makeover” than a full out “restoration.” But Paul, I believe, would disagree. I can’t deny
that there are “convincing proofs” in our sinful world because haven’t we all been trying to see God at
work in our world, places or transformation points, as it were, where God’s story intersects with our
story? But to say, “there is not a problem” is either blind or delusional. Humanity is loved by God (let’s
all agree on that) and even truer, God loves humanity far more than we do. But God’s love alone
does not make humanity any less lost nor does it make our calling to go into the world any less
difficult. For when we leave this place we need to understand that we go into hostile territory that
does not think like us, act like us, or believe like us.
For one thing Paul reminds us of humanity’s “futility of their minds” (4:17) and the “darkness of
(their) understanding.” (4:18) You and I may be living in the most advanced age ever but why are
there still so many fools? Maybe it’s because humanity has attempted to create a world without God.
The push of secularism and humanism in our schools and by our governments is an attempt to push
God out of our world. But with God “out of the picture” the world becomes more concerned with empty
things that do not matter.” (Source: Tyndale Commentary) Today there may be much knowledge but
there is no light of wisdom in (people’s) minds. Even some of our churches today (if you have seen
the new lately) are pastored by ministers who now call themselves, “Atheists.” And I even read in a
news feed that some of my own colleagues (18 from the east coast alone) are signing a petition
concerning this matter to tell the church leaders that the church is becoming too intolerant! A world
without God? And now a church without God is dead.
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But that is not the only place humanity is dead because along with being darkened Paul also
noticed a “hardness of heart.” (4:18) Now the English does no favors to the Greek in much of the
Bible. English never seems to give the best understanding possible when translating from the Greek.
For example there are 3 words for “love,” in New Testament Greek compared to only our 1 word for
“love” in English. So how are we to know exactly what kind of “love” John is speaking about in his
Gospel? Are there not differing understandings for love or is my love of potato chips and love of God
on par because I “love” them both? The same is true of a word Paul uses when he speak of the word
“hardness” in our passage which is the Greek porosis. What you might not know is that porosis
comes form the Greek word poros and where we get the English word porous as in, “The countertop
is not very porous so it doesn’t soak up spills.” But even more, porosis came to mean a stone that
was harder than marble and later, in Biblical times, porosis meant something that was “petrified”.
When you hear that word, chances are good like me, you think of things like dinosaur bones that
remained trapped in the ground for thousands or some believe millions of years. That’s what you and
I think of, right? Paul, on the other hand, imagined porosis hearts or petrified hearts. Have you ever
seen a petrified heart – not a heart trapped in a miry bog for thousands of years but a heart “without
grace” for that is what I imagine when I think of hearts of this the kind. Without grace means we do
not see people the way God sees people. Here is another story from our nightly news. What do you
see when you see a refugee in a raft on troubled seas? What is the first thing you see? Do you see
the colour of their skin? Do you see the country from which they left? Do you see the god of whom
they say they worship? Do you see them as a threat? Do you see them as someone who will take
your job? Do you see someone who will change your way of life? What do you see? What do you
believe God sees? How sad to live in a graceless world and not see as God sees. But this is the
world in which we live and even makes its way in to the church where soft hearts can become not
simply hard but petrified which I find rather ironic because of its dualistic meaning. Graceless hearts
are not simply hard (petrified) but fearful (petrified). Did you know that? When we are fearful we
cannot be graceful or generous or giving or even loving.
And that’s the third area Paul acknowledges that he sees in humanity. Paul says the people
had “lost all sensitivities” (4:19) In other words people had become “numb” and therefore “abandoned
themselves.” (4:19) How does one abandon himself or herself? Again, look at the nightly news. I was
recently shocked to see recent events at the University of Ottawa. It was called a “pub crawl” which is
not uncommon at most of our universities this time of the year where students (typically freshman
students) go from one pub to the next until they are literally crawling to the last pub because they are
so inebriated. But this “pub crawl” at U of O was different, or maybe the similar to others but was
simply brought to the forefront by one brave woman who was far braver than the school’s President.
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This was no dumb jock event (and I can say this because I was a dumb jock in highschool and
college) but the actions of bright, smart science students who went far beyond simply drinking
themselves into a stupor but did and pressured others into “licentiousness,” and “every kind of
impurity.” These young people had lost all sensitivities. I call this a world “without love.” Some would
say there were loving acts done but I would disagree. Without “love”, means there is not an
understanding of love that comes only from God, and therefore humanity “abandons itself” or
redefines what they believe love is. Sadder still such misunderstandings make their way into the
church with even people of faith saying, “Kids will be kids.”
Without God, without grace, without love: It seems all may be truly lost. But God and even Paul
will not leave humanity or even the church in a state of hopelessness. Ephesians (and I believe what
we see happening in our world today) “is the kind of life which will be reproduced in a community
(over and over again) (where) Christian influence is not active,” writes William Barclay. (Source: “The
Daily Study Bible). Without God, without grace, and without a true understanding of love humanity is
all but lost. I know I’ve told you the story about the minister doing the children story before but it begs
repeating. The minister asked the kids, “What’s brown and scampers through your back yard.” No
one responded, “And he collects nuts in the winter.” Still nothing. “And has a fluffy tail.” Finally a little
boy broke the silence and the uncomfortablness of the minister by saying, “I know the answer is
supposed to be Jesus but it sounds like a squirrel to me.” Yes, within the church we sometimes
simplify every answer to be Jesus, but in this case nothing could be truer.
In a world where the futility of thinking is prevalent only Jesus comes to renew the minds
(4:23) of those darkened in their thinking. I listened to an interesting broadcast on CBC™ about “brain
plasticity” and how scientists are not rewiring the brains of those who have suffered from brain injury
but again reconnecting those information highways, as it were, that were once used but are no longer
because of the injury. In a similar way God rewires the brains of those who love Jesus. When Jesus
enters our lives He changes our thinking patterns and his light alone illumines the darkness that was
once hidden. Our minds are therefore renewed but our lives are also transformed in relationship to
others. The world may be graceless but with the coming of Jesus comes righteousness (4:24) or
right living for those with petrified hearts. How do you and I know right living? We look at the gracefilled life of Christ. If anything marked the life of Christ it was grace – showing mercy to those who
were underserving, displaying love to those who were unlovable and forgiving those who did not
deserve forgiveness. A life that receives Jesus is a life full of grace and righteousness. But there is
more. Remember that world without love and the actions lived out on the U of O campus well when
Jesus comes and enters our lives it is not simply transformation in how we relate to others but a
radical change how we live in general. When Jesus comes into our lives we learn holiness (4:24)
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among all kinds of “impurities. Holiness means living lives that are set apart – different than how the
rest of humanity lives. Holiness means choosing the way of God over anything else. I heard recently
of someone singing Sinatra’s, “I Did it My Way” at a funeral. This is not how you and I are supposed
to live. Instead we are to live God’s Way and God’s Way alone.
If we read a little further in Ephesians (in fact over the next few verses) Paul writes “So then…
(4:25) It’s as if we now know what we are supposed to do. And now we do. So if you need one more
bit of advice let me give you one final illustration Paul would approve. Paul in his final words of our
passage tells the church that to change the world we must “put off” or “cast off” the old life and take
on the new life that Jesus alone gives us. I have a favorite jacket. At one time it was my go-to jacket.
It was comfortable and fit well. But as clothes would have it, it began to wear out – it looked tired and
ratty. It got dirty and could no longer get clean and now with a tear and blotch of paint it had to be
discarded. But you love that jacket and it is hard to throw away because of what you have done in
that jacket. But then a new jacket arrives on the scene. It too is comfortable and fits well but it’s
different and will take awhile getting used to because you love the old jacket. So you cast aside your
old jacket for aside but you hang it at the back of your closet. And you secretly pull it our every once
in awhile and put it on. You have even been known to put the new jacket over top of the old jacket,
even though you know it is silly. You think no one knows. No one will see because the old is hidden
under the new and anyways you are not quite willing to discard the old for the sake of the new just
yet. Now I need not tell you where I am going with this story, right? You understand, right? I thought
you would.
But now you know what you need to do and what our godless, graceless and loveless world
truly needs. So go and live as transformed people; renewed in your mind living righteous and holy, full
of God, full of grace, and full of love. Amen and Amen.
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