People of Light (Ephesians 5:8-14)

We all enjoy the benefits of light – both natural light from the sun and artificial light generated by electricity – each and every day. Light helps us to see where we’re going so we don’t bump into things or get lost. Sunlight helps us to stay warm and powers the solar panels on the roofs of our homes to generate electricity. Light helps plants to grow and is a vital source of Vitamin D which is crucial for good health.

When scientists investigate light, they find that it has some fascinating properties. For example, light travels at about 300,000 kilometres (that’s around seven and a half times around the world at the equator) in one second! What we know as ‘visible light’ is a small part of a much broader electromagnetic spectrum which includes ultraviolet and infrared light, as well as X-rays, microwaves, radio waves, and gamma waves. To make things really confusing, sometimes light behaves like a wave (something that moves up and down as it travels forward) and at other times it behaves like a particle (moving in a straight line).

While this might all sound a bit technical and confusing, they all point to one important characteristic about light: it always moves outwards from its source.

The Apostle Paul most likely didn’t have any of these scientific properties of light in mind when he wrote this week’s reading from Ephesians 5:8-14. Paul contrasts the darkness of sin and death with the light and life which God gives us through his grace in Jesus. He writes, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (v8 NIV). While some English translations try to make this verse easier to understand by interpreting it as “you were full of darkness” and “now you have light from the Lord” (NLT), the original Greek text talks more about darkness and light being part of who we were, more than what filled us or surrounded us. There was a time when darkness defined us, along with the sin and death that came with it. Now, however, through God’s grace for us in Jesus, what defines us and makes us who we are is the light of God which surrounds us, fills us and gives us new life as God’s dearly loved children.

Like the light that we experience around us, the light of God’s grace for us in Jesus moved outwards from its source to bring light wherever it went. It began when the Second Person of the Trinity left his heavenly home to join us in our humanity when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus, the light of God’s grace continued to shine outwards through him. We can see the outward-moving grace of God in the stories of Jesus. We saw his grace shine as he welcomed the Samaritan woman at the well in last week’s gospel reading (John 4:5-42). We heard it today as he gave sight to the man born blind (John 9:1-41). We’ll hear it again next week in the story of the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45). The light of God’s grace continued to move outwards as Jesus went to the cross and gave his life for us. The outward movement of God’s grace shone brightly when Jesus rose from the grave in victory over sin and death. The outward movement of the light of God’s grace continues today as we listen to God speak his grace to us in his word. Through the outward movement of God’s grace to us in Jesus, he gives his Holy Spirit to us, creates and grows saving faith in us, blesses us with his presence and gives all his good gifts to us.

This outward movement of God’s grace doesn’t just shine on us. It shines through us. When Paul writes that we are to live as “children” (NIV) or “people” (NLT) of light, he is saying that God wants his grace to radiate through us into the lives of the people around us. Instead of getting caught up in the “worthless deeds of evil and darkness” (v11 NLT), Paul wants us to produce only “what is good and right and true” (v9 NLT) in our lives and in our relationships with others. As people who were once in darkness but are now in the outward movement of God’s grace to us in Jesus, God wants to see that same grace continue its outward movement through us into the lives of the people around us.

This is important for us because we can easily drift from the light of God’s grace back into the darkness of sin. Part of our natural condition is to prioritise ourselves and our desires over love for God and Christ-like love for others. God’s grace moves outwards like a beam of light. When the movement of our lives reverses and we focus more on ourselves and what we want, we can step out of the light and into the darkness of sin. Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus that God had rescued them from the darkness through his outward movement of grace in Jesus. As people who had been given new life in the light of his grace, he then encouraged them to live as children or people of the light by radiating the same grace for others in their lives. By remaining in the light of God’s grace to them through Jesus, it could shine in them and through them into the lives of the people around them.

In the same way, God wants to shine the light of his outward-moving grace for others in Jesus through us. When we remain in the light of his grace and trust in his grace for us in Jesus, the Holy Spirit illuminates us and enlightens us so we can participate in his outward movement of grace by extending his grace to others. That happens when the Holy Spirit moves our focus as individuals and as communities of faith away from ourselves, our preferences and our desires, and catches us up in God’s outward movement of grace into the lives of the people around us. We live as children or people of light when we live in the outward movement of God’s grace for us in Jesus and then join him in the outward movement of his grace to others.

We all enjoy the benefits of natural and artificial light every day of our lives as it helps us to see, keeps us warm, supplies us with good things and gives us life. God blesses us with light which moves out from its source to illuminate us with its goodness. In a similar way, the light of God’s grace for us in Jesus moves out from him into our lives to give us life now and forever. As people who were once darkness but are now in God’s light, God gives us the light of his grace so we can live as children or people of light by participating with God in his outward movement of grace, through us into the lives of the people around us.

More to think about or discuss:

• What do you like most about the light – that you can see? It’s warmth? Something else? Why do you think it’s better being in the light than in the dark?
• What is your reaction to thinking about grace as moving outwards from God to us in Jesus like light moves outwards from its source to illuminate what’s around it? What do you like about the image? What might you struggle with about it?
• How can you live as a “child of the light” this week? What is one way the light of God’s grace for you in Jesus might shine outwards from you into the life of someone you know?