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.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.  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.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.  Therefore do not be partners with them.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)  and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible,  for it is 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.”
Ephesians 5:3-14

One of my favorite Van Morrison songs is called The Bright Side of the Road:

From the dark and lonely street
To the bright side of the road
We’ll be lovers once again
On the bright side of the road

Van the man contrasts walking on the dark end of the street – a lonely and destructive place – to “The Bright Side of the Road” – a place where two lovers walk hand in hand in the clear light of day.
Today’s passage from Ephesians contrasts walking in darkness with walking in light.

Paul’s encouragement to walk in the light is the fourth in a series of five walking instructions in Ephesians:

  1. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to walk (live a life) worthy of the calling you have received.        Eph. 4.1
  2. So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk (live) as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.           Eph. 4.17
  3. Walk in love (live a life of love), just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.          Eph. 5.2
  4. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk (live) as children of light        Eph. 5.8
  5. Be very careful, then, how you walk (live) — not as unwise but as wise,        Eph. 5.15

Thus far in Ephesians, we have learned to:

  • walk in a way that is worthy of our calling
  • not walk against God’s purposes, as we did in our pre-Christian days
  • walk in self-giving love, as Jesus loves us by giving himself up for us

Now we come to a new walking instruction, in Ephesians 5:8, where the Word says:

  • that we are to walk in the light because we are light.
  • Light is who we are; in the light is where we belong.
  • We no longer are darkness, so therefore we must no longer walk in darkness

Walking in darkness as opposed to walking in light is a contrast that is sprinkled throughout the Bible.  A couple of examples:

  • The people walking in darkness have seen a great light… Isaiah 9:2
  • Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  John 8:2

God’s great Old Testament heartache was that Israel never lived up to her true identity.  God created Israel to be His people, gave them the gift of His presence, and commissioned them to be faithful to Him, to act justly and ethically.  By walking in the light they would fulfill their identity as God’s light to the nations  (Isaiah 51:4; 60:3).

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.  Ephesians 5:5

Israel’s first step into darkness, a step which led to all the others, was idolatry:
God’s people pursued other gods and neglected their own God.
The gift of God’s own presence wasn’t enough for Israel – they had to have more.  They were curious about the gods of the Egyptians, Canaanites and others.  Their own God, Yahweh, prohibited them from carving or painting images of what they thought God might look like, in order to preserve the purity of their union with Yahweh.  But the other nations made plenty of pictures and statues of their Gods – and so the Israelites often became envious of the artsy crowd down the road.

They went over and bought some little statues, worshiped the other gods, and gradually their lives became less and less filled with God’s light, and more and more filled with the dark and immoral lifestyles of the surrounding tribes and nations.

In the Ephesian believers, Paul saw the same sort of link between pursuing other gods, idolatry, and the behavior of some followers of Jesus.
Paul makes this link between bad behavior and idolatry in verse 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.  Ephesians 5:5
So now we have both a central theme, walk in the light, and apowerful force that could keep is in the dark, idolatry.
Tomorrow, Sunday, we’ll explore all this further.

run to Sunday!