Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, October 13th, 2013
Fr. Todd Bragg
St. Margaret Anglican Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
" . . . but be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:15ff)
Remember that we are once again visiting the young Church of Ephesus along with St. Paul in today's Epistle. Keep in mind that last week we spoke of the Ephesians and their young church, albeit in the previous chapter. And, again, we mentioned last week that the Ephesians were a young church filled with converts in a major city of the Roman Empire, which was filled with people going and coming from all regions traveling through Ephesus. The young members of this church were converts from paganism of the time. In other words, in their former life before they embraced Christianity, they were focused on pleasing themselves and taking care of their own needs and desires and to this, St. Paul writes: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." (v. 18)
Now, we know from reading Scripture, namely the Gospels, that drinking wine was not the issue. Keep in mind that Our Blessed Saviour made delicious wine. Remember the Wedding at Cana? So, I don't think Our Blessed Saviour is so much opposed to drinking wine but drinking in excess with the point of getting drunk. From the Old Testament, we hear the following: "Neither let drunkenness go with thee in thy journey: drink not wine to make thee drunken." (Tobit 4:15)
If we look at the various prophets and holy men and women of Scripture, we will see examples of people purposely not drinking wine or drinking alcohol. Why? Simply because they do not want to be accused of being drunk when they prophesy or speak of the holy things of God. In the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear the angel speaking to Zacharias concerning the coming birth of his son, St. John the Baptist: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." (St. Luke 1:15)
Think back to the very first Pentecost when the disciples and apostles were gathered together, praying for the coming of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost did come. And He made His Presence known in them in such a powerful way that they were even amazed themselves. Listen:
"But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit.' " (Acts 2:14-18)
Even in this passage, St. Peter is making a point to those who are listening that those gathered together were not drunk but wanted to emphasize that the amazing things that they were witnessing came of God's power and Spirit.
Again, St. Paul is pointing out to the young Ephesian converts at Ephesus to be filled with the Spirit and not spirits, so to speak. Listen, it is just common sense. Look at this cruet filled with water. Now as long as it is filled up with water, how can I fill it with anything else? I can not pour in any additional water if it is already filled to the brim to begin with. Think of any container or space that is filled with anything you can think of. If it is full of something already, we have to empty it out before we can put anything else in there. This is the point that St. Paul is making: if you are filled with the spirit of strong drink, and this is what you are focused on, remove that spirit and replace it with the spirit of holiness. But it is not just strong drink that we can think of. We can take it a step further and talk about, for example, anger or bitterness. If your heart is full of anger or hatred or bitterness, how can there be room in that same heart for love? If your heart is already filled with jealousy or envy, there is no room for love. Remove the anger from your heart and replace it with love. Take away the lust for power or material possessions from your heart and replace it with love for God. Take away the hatred and anger and hurt from your heart and replace it with things of God. Be filled with the Spirit, as St. Paul would say to us.
"And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)
Remember that we are once again visiting the young Church of Ephesus along with St. Paul in today's Epistle. Keep in mind that last week we spoke of the Ephesians and their young church, albeit in the previous chapter. And, again, we mentioned last week that the Ephesians were a young church filled with converts in a major city of the Roman Empire, which was filled with people going and coming from all regions traveling through Ephesus. The young members of this church were converts from paganism of the time. In other words, in their former life before they embraced Christianity, they were focused on pleasing themselves and taking care of their own needs and desires and to this, St. Paul writes: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." (v. 18)
Now, we know from reading Scripture, namely the Gospels, that drinking wine was not the issue. Keep in mind that Our Blessed Saviour made delicious wine. Remember the Wedding at Cana? So, I don't think Our Blessed Saviour is so much opposed to drinking wine but drinking in excess with the point of getting drunk. From the Old Testament, we hear the following: "Neither let drunkenness go with thee in thy journey: drink not wine to make thee drunken." (Tobit 4:15)
If we look at the various prophets and holy men and women of Scripture, we will see examples of people purposely not drinking wine or drinking alcohol. Why? Simply because they do not want to be accused of being drunk when they prophesy or speak of the holy things of God. In the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear the angel speaking to Zacharias concerning the coming birth of his son, St. John the Baptist: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." (St. Luke 1:15)
Think back to the very first Pentecost when the disciples and apostles were gathered together, praying for the coming of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost did come. And He made His Presence known in them in such a powerful way that they were even amazed themselves. Listen:
"But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit.' " (Acts 2:14-18)
Even in this passage, St. Peter is making a point to those who are listening that those gathered together were not drunk but wanted to emphasize that the amazing things that they were witnessing came of God's power and Spirit.
Again, St. Paul is pointing out to the young Ephesian converts at Ephesus to be filled with the Spirit and not spirits, so to speak. Listen, it is just common sense. Look at this cruet filled with water. Now as long as it is filled up with water, how can I fill it with anything else? I can not pour in any additional water if it is already filled to the brim to begin with. Think of any container or space that is filled with anything you can think of. If it is full of something already, we have to empty it out before we can put anything else in there. This is the point that St. Paul is making: if you are filled with the spirit of strong drink, and this is what you are focused on, remove that spirit and replace it with the spirit of holiness. But it is not just strong drink that we can think of. We can take it a step further and talk about, for example, anger or bitterness. If your heart is full of anger or hatred or bitterness, how can there be room in that same heart for love? If your heart is already filled with jealousy or envy, there is no room for love. Remove the anger from your heart and replace it with love. Take away the lust for power or material possessions from your heart and replace it with love for God. Take away the hatred and anger and hurt from your heart and replace it with things of God. Be filled with the Spirit, as St. Paul would say to us.
"And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)
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