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15\xa0Be very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise, 16\xa0making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17\xa0Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord\u2019s will is. 18\xa0Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19\xa0speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20\xa0always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:15-20)

We will often lift up the practical and ethical dos and don\u2019ts of this section of Ephesians as \u201cthe truth.\u201d \xa0But that\u2019s actually the wrong descriptor. \xa0What we\u2019re talking about here is not \u201cthe truth\u201d so much as \u201cthe way\u201d (recall Paul\u2019s words at the beginning of the chapter in verse 2: \u201c\u2026walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us\u2026\u201d). \xa0The \u201ctruth\u201d is what Paul has laid out in the first three and a half chapters of the letter\u2014it is the witness he offers to everything that God is doing in Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit. \xa0The \u201dway\u201d now, is how we human people get in on that \u201ctruth\u201d of God in our day to day living. \xa0Literally, how we \u201cwalk\u201d it out\u2014that\u2019s the word behind the word \u201clive\u201d in verse 15.\xa0

I mention this distinction between \u201cTruth\u201d and \u201cWay\u201d now, because in this set of verses Paul uses the language of \u201cwisdom\u201d and \u201cfoolishness.\u201d \xa0There is a particular set of scriptures known as \u201cwisdom literature\u201d which includes the Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. \xa0These books are not about the black and white \u201ctruths\u201d about God, but rather, they are about how to live in the gray areas of the field of play that the \u201ctruth\u201d defines. \xa0Wisdom is all about the \u201cway.\u201d

The mention of wisdom here is fitting, because this run of verses closes off a section. \xa0Everything that Paul has been talking about since 4:17 is about how to \u201cwalk\u201d in the \u201cway\u201d of Jesus. \xa0How, ultimately do we walk that way of Jesus carefully, not as unwise but as wise? \xa0In a word: The Holy Spirit.

To walk out the \u201cTruth\u201d of Jesus in the \u201cWay\u201d of Jesus requires us to be filled with the Spirit and the Life of Jesus that he gives. \xa0Paul makes a bit of a pun here. \xa0The phrase \u201cdo not get drunk on wine\u201d misses it. \xa0What Paul\u2019s really saying is: \u201cDon\u2019t get drunk on spirits, fill yourself up with the Holy Spirit instead!\u201d \xa0And don\u2019t go off singing and dancing in drunken debauchery at the local pub, but start singing and dancing with the people of God instead, with Spirit-filled words that slosh over into the crowd from Spirit-filled people. \xa0

This whole time Paul has been trying to draw a sharp contrast between the way of the world and the way of Jesus. \xa0It\u2019s no different here. \xa0Except that he\u2019s kind of saying that all the fun and merry-making that you look for in your drinking and entertainment can actually be found in the joy of the Spirit and the Life of Jesus if you\u2019re receiving everything from him, in thanks, as a gift. \xa0Nothing lightens the soul like knowing that Jesus lifts you up and gives every good gift of life that there is in this life. \xa0

Many of us don\u2019t know how to have a guest over, throw a party, or even have a good night in without alcohol greasing our wheels and perhaps the crude jokes and unwise behaviour Paul\u2019s talked about with it. \xa0What if the kind of life you (think you) find there\u2014in the bottle, or in the easy-route behaviours of saying and doing dumb things\u2014what if you could find all of that and more in the Spirit of God while sober and smart? \xa0Paul seems to think that kind of uninhibited joy is out there, waiting to be had for those ready to walk in the fullness of the Spirit. \xa0

Maybe it takes faith to believe such a thing\u2014but that\u2019s what our best forerunners in the faith have always claimed, including Jesus himself\u2014namely, that the life of Jesus in the Kingdom of God looks like the best party you\u2019ve ever been to. \xa0And, perhaps if it doesn\u2019t feel that way\u2014maybe the problem is that we haven\u2019t quite walked out the Jesus truth in the Jesus way wisely enough.

So, be wise and let the party begin! \xa0Walk in the way\u2014fill yourself up in the Spirit and make some thankful music to the Lord! \xa0And, drag some others with you into the dance as you spin round ever deeper into the depths of God\u2019s grace! \xa0

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