Reflections on Ephesians 5:4 –Real Fun Comes With God

“Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting; but instead let there be thanksgiving.” — Ephesians 5:4 (RSV)

I sometimes joke around too much. Just yesterday, in fact, some of my old high school buddies and I got into a little impromptu battle of wits via Facebook. One of us brought up an old — very silly! — inside joke, and that led to a myriad of funny variations on that theme.  The silliness ended up lasting most of the day. My little Facebook notification light popped on, I’d say, at least every couple of minutes. For hours. And I couldn’t resist checking on it (and responding) every last time.

It’s true I got a lot of chuckles out of the deal. And it made my workload feel a little lighter all day.

But my service to a couple of clients would have probably been better without all this stupidity.

And here’s what makes my diversion a really tough problem, the one that Paul is getting at (for me as much as for the Ephesians): not one of my clever comments during all that craziness yesterday made reference to our great and glorious and always faithful God. I made no thanksgiving!

I hope you noticed, dear reader, that I was careful to say “sometimes,” in my first sentence above. Thanks be to Him, not all of my joking is in vain (as yesterday’s clearly was).

Case in point, the blessed  joking I have been doing of late with my awesome friend/pastor on the local golf course on Saturday mornings.

Ed and I both are definitely blessed with hilarious golf games. So we always end up doing a lot of laughing before, during and after our rounds. And the howling becomes even more pronounced when someone else joins us.

So, in one sense, these mornings are exactly like the silly Facebook talk in which I partook yesterday.

But that’s the dangerous sense, the “having-fun-for-the-sake-of-having-fun” sense.

Paul reminds me in this verse that God wants us to have fun for His sake.

Thanks be to God, golfing with Pastor Ed is always a blatant celebration of His glory. From the start. He and I always greet each other in the parking lot with a hearty, “Isn’t God great?” (Or something to that effect.) We always then share a “God bless you” or two with the woman ringing us up in the pro shop. And then we start the round with a prayer — always of thanksgiving (for the weather, the fellowship, and just His Goodness that surrounds us in all things). And it only gets better from there.

Our (many) atrocious  shots (and lost balls) earn loud laughs, and our (occasional) nice shots earn plenty of praise for God. Every hole brings something new to celebrate (or just laugh at) in Him.

Yeah, it’s silly. And, when I have to trudge through mud to (not) find my ball, it can even get a little filthy.

But our levity is for — and of — Our Lord. And that’s exactly how He wants it.

Paul begins this letter with a discussion/celebration of God’s power that resides in all of us, and this 5th chapter  is just a blessed reminder of the ways we can assure that power move freely through us to work miracles in our own lives.

Ed and I are both somewhat athletic and competitive (well, he is much more athletic than me, but I am a fairly decent tennis player). So, in the natural, we should hate playing golf because, well, we are both pretty bad at it. (And, as we remind ourselves regularly, we’ve both been bad at it, despite a lot of practice, for many, many years.)

But those Saturday morning outings, as difficult as they sometimes are to fit into our schedules,  are starting to become a significant highlight of our week.  That’s the power of God’s levity!

I thank God that the people of my blessed church are always filled with jokes, hugs, smiles, and praise that are of Him. That’s just the way God would have it.

And that’s why, in these past few months while about half of our congregation has had to rebuild their homes flooded by Hurricane Harvey, the jokes, hugs, smiles and praise for Him has carried on without a single missed beat.

Lord, help me (and all of us) always keep my levity pure and full of praise for Your never ending glory!