August 20, 2006 Ephesians 4:17-24

So I tell you this, and solemnly declare it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the emptiness of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in the righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Just recently VH1 covered the 40 Most Embarrassing Moments in TV history. Several "highlights" were seeing a completely stoned gal show up on the red carpet at Hollywood and make an idiot out of herself. Another guy showed up on a late night talk show and put his foot through the host's coffee table. It wasn't in the least bit funny - as a matter of fact it was down right embarrassing even to watch.

Jay Leno asked one of the idiots who had done an incredibly embarrassing thing, "what were you thinking?" That's just the point - in many cases they weren't thinking at all. Mel Gibson wasn't thinking when he uttered his Jewish epithet. He was drunk. Sometimes it's just a matter of passion or alcohol. Many of us can probably look back at our own lives and ask ourselves the same questions - "what on earth was I thinking!?"

When God calls us to repentance - He literally calls for a change of mind - which starts with seriously thinking about what we are doing and feeling sorry for it. John the Baptist, Jesus and His apostles all made pleas to the minds of the people - calling on them to EXAMINE their actions and see the foolishness of their ways - to say they are sorry and believe in Christ. Paul does the same thing in this letter to the Ephesians. Paul focuses on and contrasts the thought process of the Gentile and the Christian. He says to the Ephesians and to us,

Be Made New in the Spirit of Your Minds

First of all, Paul describes the way an unbeliever thinks. He describes the Gentiles as having what the NIV calls a "futility of thinking". This means literally to be thinking in a way that is "devoid of the truth." This doesn't mean that unbelievers are dumb. I'm sure there are multitudes of unbelievers that are a whole lot smarter than me. They may know how to fix an engine, invest in the stock market, or how to plant a garden - all of which I am clueless in. But they have no idea where they came from. They don't know about the angels and demons that surround us. They don't know about the eternal judgment to come. They have no idea that God came from the heavens and lived and breathed among us. They have no clue that God created the world in six days. In this sense, their thinking is "empty" - void of the truth. They have no foundation or goal to base their decisions on.

The unfortunate thing is that emptiness tends to naturally progress and get worse. This is what seemed to be happening with the Gentiles among the Ephesians. Paul says, "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts." As these unbelieving Gentiles continued to ignore God and their consciences, their understanding became worse and worse and their hearts became harder and harder. It works like a callous on a hand or the foot. The more you step on it or the more you use it, the harder it becomes - and the less sensitive it becomes. The Gentiles were becoming less and less sensitive as to what was wrong and what was right. You can see the same thing happen in our society. Unbelievers try to explain their behaviors by feelings and theories that have no semblance of truth. Just this past Thursday a man by the name of John Mark Karr claimed to kill Jon Benet Ramsey. I don't know whether he did it or not. I do find it interesting however that he excused his alleged murder by saying "he was with her when she died" and that "he loved her" and "it was an accident". Anyone listening to him speaking would say, "if you loved her, why did you murder her then?" But as a result of his own reasoning - he has already excused his behavior in his mind. This is what happens with sin. It naturally progresses and gets worse in a society and we get used to it.

In some cases, this ignorance progresses to an absolutely terrible state. "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more." The Bible mentions several examples of this. Think of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The young man wants to have his inheritance immediately. So what does he do with it? He spends it on his sensualities - alcohol and women. Once he goes down this road, he goes from bad to worse, to where he ends up living on bare instinct, wanting to even eat pigs food - to match the kind of person he was being. When you get greedy, it overflows into all types of immoral living. Lot's daughters were another example of what happened to someone living among immoral people. They had no qualms about getting their own father drunk and having sexual relations with him in order to have two children. You read of how Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines - and you can't help but ask, "what on earth are these people thinking"? The same runs true of those who are caught in child pornography rings. The point is that they aren't - and that is their problem.

Immorality is not a matter of thinking or how smart you are. It's a matter of not having the truth. When your mind is empty of the truth - you have to find something to live for. So your sexual organs say, "hey, live for me." Your stomach says, "hey, feed me." Your eyes say, "fill me with whatever I want to look at." Your brain says, "hey, I can figure this world out - let me offer this theory." This is the natural progression of those who don't have the truth within, and it is a sad life. Instead of living like humans, some people end up living like animals and spouting forth arrogant theories that have nothing to do with the truth. Paul describes this lifestyle as being "separated from the life of God."

Here's the difference. "You, however, did not come to know Christ that way." We were "created to be like God in the righteousness and holiness of the truth." When we were baptized, God put a new Spirit in our minds and a new life in our bodies. The life of God is understanding what life is and where it comes from and what it's for. It means looking at your spouse - your job - your children - your body - as a blessing from God. It means being able to see that all in life happens for a purpose ordained by God. It means believing that you have eternal life waiting for you in Christ - understanding that God loves you and cares for you. When you have the life of God in you - it means that you believe that angels are protecting you. You know that even if you were to die today, you'd end up in heaven because Jesus covered your sins in His blood. It means that God's got everything under control. It means living in peace and joy - even when we don't exactly enjoy our wife - when our kids don't behave - and when our job stinks. This is what the life of God is all about. You don't have to seek to fulfill all of your sensual needs, because your spiritual needs are met. You don't have to look out for number one, because God - your Number One - is looking out for you.

This is what Paul wants you to think about. Apply it to the social atmosphere that you find yourself in - as a young girl, a middle aged man, or an elderly grandmother. Don't get caught up in the mind set of the world. Let me use the young girl example. You young girls might look at Jessica Simpson and say, "I wish I had her face - her body - her money." You young boys mmight look at her and think something else that can't be repeated. But think about how empty her life probably is. If my facts are straight, Jessica was a preacher's daughter. You have to wonder - if her father was or is any kind of preacher - how happy he is with his daughter dancing around in a bikini and making sexual poses. If she was raised as a Christian, she can't feel good about who she is. If she is the ultimate woman, why didn't her marriage work out? You have to wonder how painful it was for her to go through the divorce she went through. Inside her heart and her brain there is most likely a huge void.

Think about it. Would you want that kind of ridicule? Would you really want that kind of lifestyle? It's that what life should really be about? Yet we constantly find our children wanting to buy their clothes and sing their songs - irregardless of the lyrics or the suggestions. We find our young boys wanting to be like Spiderman or Spongebob - trying to emulate the people they see on TV. We see our young men trying to talk and act like their popular classmates - even if it means using filthy language and treating young women like prostitutes. If your associates are all watching the latest "Bachelor," then you feel the need to watch it too. If your best friend got a big screen TV, well then you better get one too. If Martha Stewart has the latest kitchen gadget, then do you have to have it too?

Paul says, "I tell you this, and solemnly declare it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the emptiness of their thinking." Paul doesn't beat around the bushes. He says straight out, "STOP LIVING THIS WAY. KNOCK IT OFF with the empty thoughts - filling your mind with all of this truth-less philosophy. What good is it doing you? Where is it going to stop?" Sometimes we need to ask ourselves these things. Is it really wise for me to spend fifteen dollars on three hundred movies that I won't even watch more than once, if even once? Why am I dressing with my body hanging out of these clothes? What kind of people am I trying to attract? What good is it going to do me to watch the latest episode of Desperate Housewives? Why did I go in hock up to my ears to get this car? When you start buying into the mind set of the Gentiles, you start living like them. It needs to stop. There comes a time that we all need to be made new in the spirit of our minds. We need to reexamine our thinking and actions and ask ourselves if we're letting the society we live in dictate to us what we are thinking about and what is really important. A new spirt calls on each of us to ask ourselves "is my thinking right in line with God's will?" It calls on us to examine why were are thinking the way we are - to rid ourselves of the Gentile line of thinking and lifestyle.

Yet this isn't the end of it. Jesus once said,

Matthew 12:43-45 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

To me, this seems to be referring to a man who seems to rid his body of different vices and addictions. He thinks to himself, "I've got my life back in order." So he gets rid of the drugs. He gets out of debt. He stops sleeping around. Yet his house remains vacant. He doesn't fill his mind with any real occupation. It remains empty. This makes it just as easy for even more demons to come in and take residence in the man with a different vice - perhaps the worst vice of all - arrogance. It shows that it's not just enough to say, "ok, I'll get rid of my drugs. I'll quit watching pornography. I'll stop wasting my money on these expensive toys." Something has to fill the void - otherwise some other sensation will take it's place.

There is only one thing that can fill void and stop the cycle of cravings. Paul writes, "Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus." Two times Paul goes back to the key that keeps us from the Gentile lifestyle. It's what he calls "the truth that is in Jesus." What is that truth? That truth is that everything that I have, everything that I will be, and everything that I am is found in Jesus. God declares that my righteousness and my holiness are IN HIM. When I am baptized into Jesus, I find that God loves me and accepts me and covers me in His blood. In Jesus I am have a personal promise from God that I am going to heaven. This promise fills my heart and my soul. It influences the way I spend my time, my money, and my life. When I see Jesus die on the cross for me, and take all of my sins on me, it fills me with a confidence and a love in God that can't help but change me. The Word of God makes all of the feel good stuff on this earth seem like chicken feed. It makes the acceptance of friends and family - the prestige of the world - seem worthless. This is what I need to fill myself with.

In connection with this truth Paul says, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in the righteousness and holiness of the truth." The only way to keep from going back to the old lifestyle, is by continuing to relive your baptism time and time again. On a daily basis, examine your thoughts and repent of your deceitful desires. Ask God to forgive you for living like the Gentiles. Remember that you were baptized - that God put a new spirit in your mind. In his eyes you are righteous and holy. Fill your mind with these things. Get into the Word. Take the Lord's Supper on a regular basis. When you put your mind through this continual flushing, and you continually fill it with the love of Christ - the filthy thoughts and lifestyle simplyy cannot build up.

In today's text Paul almost gets in our face and says, "I SOLEMNLY DECLARE THAT YOU MUST NO LONGER LIVE LIKE THE GENTILES." If you stop to think about it, the very basis of this text is absolutely offensive to the people of our society. How would Joe American, Jane High School respond to Paul? "Who are YOU to tell me how to live? It's my life, I'll live how I want to live." They are so devoid of the truth that they think they don't need any truth to live by.

Thank God that He has crucified this attitude in us. He has shown us that we need a deeper and long lasting truth to inhabit our heart and soul. The truth of Christ puts us in our place - and shows us who we are. We are sinners who need the grace of God every day. We have a sinful flesh that needs direction and welcomes it at every turn from the Word. Think about what you are thinking and how you are acting. Repent of it if it needs to be repented. Cling to the truth of Christ. Think about the truth. Be made in the spirit of your mind today. Amen.