Staying Awake

“Staying Awake” was preached in my class “Preaching Paul” at Princeton Theological Seminary on Wednesday, September 30, 2015. Each student was directed to write a short sermonette from a selected text found in an assigned chapter of Ephesians; I was assigned Ephesians 5. From there, we were then allowed to choose a shorter passage within our assigned chapter to be the text for our sermon. There was a strict eight-minute time limit enforced. In addition to the sermon, we also had to write a report on our Hermeneutical Journey of how our sermon came to be. You can find that report here.

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Ephesians 5:8-14

8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

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There once were ten bridesmaids. Similar to the bridesmaids found in a parable told long ago, they were told they must go out into the night and wait for the arrival of the bridegroom. Each of the bridesmaids went out and got themselves a lamp. Some were lanterns, some were flashlights; some let out a bright light; some were only a dim glow. Long through the night they waited… the luminous glow of their lights keeping them company. As they waited, the ten bridesmaids became drowsy, but unlike the parable told long ago, the ten bridesmaids stayed awake in preparation of the bridegroom. Five of them in this preparation went out and saw that the bridegroom had given them extra batteries for their lamps as they waited. The other five missed this gift, although it was given to them, and instead, they wandered the streets crying out to the bridegroom. Around midnight, they heard a shout, “Look! The bridegroom is here! Come to meet him.” Each of the bridesmaids grabbed their lights – their lanterns and their flashlights  - and went out to meet the bridegroom. Because they waited long through the night, their lights began to slowly dim and die. But five of the bridesmaids knew they were prepared. They replaced their old batteries with the ones they were given. The bridegroom immediately saw the first five in their glowing lights, and this pleased the bridegroom. Because of this, the first five bridesmaids were brought to the wedding banquet. They were brought into the light. The other five had no extra batteries, and they were soon swallowed by darkness.  Unlike the foolish bridesmaids in the parable told long ago, these five bridesmaids did not leave. They did not leave to gather more batteries. Rather they continued to cry out to the bridegroom. “Here! Here! We are here! We are here in the darkness! Bring us into the light!” The bridegroom heard their cries. He recognized their commitment and he smiled at their devotion for they had exposed themselves in their darkness. And so, the bridegroom found the other five bridesmaids in their darkness, and they too were brought to the wedding banquet. They too were brought into the light. The bridegroom looked upon the ten bridesmaids – now joined together in the community of light – with a look of love on his face, “Sleepers, you stayed awake. I have raised you from the darkness, and I have let my grace shine upon you.” All was well as all was in the light.

We may remember that this story I just told is similar to a parable concerning the kingdom of heaven found in the gospel of Matthew. But this story, unlike the parable, is not about the kingdom of heaven. Instead, the outcome has been altered to show a different perspective to the different ways Christ brings us into the light. See, in the parable told long ago, there were the five wise bridesmaids and the five foolish bridesmaids, a split between what was good and what was not, a separation between light and darkness. But in the letter to Ephesus, the author declares that living in the darkness was a former identity. Verse 8 says, “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light.” Through the resurrection of Christ, we have gone through a transformation. And it’s not some transformation that will eventually happen; we are talking about a here and present, a current day transformation. We are now children of the light. Therefore, although it was Christ that brought us into the light, it is now our responsibility to live into this light. It is our responsibility to live in praise and thanksgiving – in Christian discipleship – to the grace that has been given to us in Christ Jesus. We must actively – and metaphorically – stay awake in our Christian faith.

Staying awake in our faith, according to this passage, is done through living out two commands. One, “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord,” and two, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Now these are easier said than done, especially finding the balance between the two. But as Christians, finding this balance is part of what we are called to do.

Let us start with the first one, “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.” Like the first five bridesmaids, they were actively searching for the bridegroom in the glow of their light that was given to them, and soon after, they were found and brought to the wedding banquet. We know that living in the light involves conduct that promotes goodness, righteousness, and truth.

And so, we must strive for goodness. Goodness for God and goodness for our neighbors. We know that our good works do not save us, but the act of our good works can show others how Christ lives within us. The act of our good works show that we believe that God has prepared us – has saved us – so that we may do good works.

We must push for righteousness. Our God is not only loving and good; our God is also just. Part of living in the light means we must live in a world where we seek good and honest justice. We fight for what’s right, and we reach out to what society has deemed “the least of us.” For we our all children of God, and we are all children of light. Our entire community is our family. We should support one another.

We must tell the truth. Telling the truth means more than just the words we speak. We must stay true in how we live in the light. In the words that we speak and the actions we do, we must show that we strive for goodness and we push for righteousness, and we must stay true to that. We must tell the truth to God; we must tell the truth to our neighbors; and we must tell the truth to ourselves.

Which brings us to the second command, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” We can interpret this as exposing the darkness of others, but I want to focus on exposing the darkness within ourselves. The last five bridesmaids knew they were in the darkness, and they admitted it in their cries to the bridegroom. And it was through their vulnerable cries that the bridegroom found them and brought them into the light. Exposing our own darkness can be done through being honest, allowing vulnerability, and asking questions.

We need to be honest. Living in the light is not always an easy thing to do. But this light is a gift freely given to us by God. And if we’re honest about the areas in where fall short of the light or if we’re honest about the areas in which we live in darkness, God’s grace still extends to us. This grace will make our shortcomings visible, and once again, we will be brought back into the light.

We need to allow vulnerability. We are bound to experience failure. And we can run from this failure or we can embrace it. We can learn from it, and we can grow from it. Cry out to God in these moments; allow God to bring you back to the light in which you were created to walk.

We need to ask questions. Ask questions to ourselves, ask questions to others, and ask questions to God. Yes, we need to support one another, but we also need to challenge each other. Ask questions that would help yourself grow; ask questions would make others better; ask questions that would make everyone’s light brighter. Expose the darkness by making the light more visible!

Stay awake, my friends. Live as children of the light. Live into this transformation. Please the Lord. Strive for goodness. Push for righteousness. Tell the truth. And expose the darkness. Be honest. Allow vulnerability. Ask questions. Stay awake. For the grace of Christ shines on you.

Amen.

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