MARCH 2, 2008
“DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH”
A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go out on the back porch and bring her the broom. The little boy turned to his mother and said, “I don’t want to go out there, it’s dark”. The mother smiled reassuringly at her son, “you don’t have to be afraid of the dark,” she explained, ”Jesus is out there. He’ll look after you and protect you. The little boy looked at his mother hard and asked, “are you sure he’s out there?” “Yes, I’m sure, he is everywhere and he is always ready to help you when you need him”, she said. The little boy thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little, peered out into the dark. He called, “Jesus, if you are out there would you please hand me the broom”?
Next time you step into the street glance about for a small stone, a piece of gravel, something no more than a centimeter across. Would you consider having it set in a ring and wearing it or giving it to your spouse as a gift? Probably no, after all it’s only a piece of stone, it’s not worth anything.
That said, a lot of people today are paying good money to buy and wear a rough diamond, a stone that looks like a piece of gravel, and not only to wear it but to flaunt this rock as though it was something special. Rough diamonds are not faceted diamonds, no flashes of color, no sparkle, no clarity, no quality in the cut but right now a lot of people are buying. Rough diamonds are in. It is becoming quite fashionable to wear rough diamonds instead of the polished variety. They are increasingly popular among wealthy trendsetters, people who crave whatever is new and different.
Now these rough diamonds do have a certain natural, earthy and organic appeal, and they are a lot cheaper than regular cut diamonds. But the problem is that there is no real way to figure value, it is all guesswork. Regular diamonds are based on the four C’s, cut, color, carat and clarity, but there are no industry standards for rough diamonds. Many people believe that once this fad ends they will be worthless. In fact many people cannot tell the difference between a rough diamond and a piece of gravel.
The apostle Paul wonders the same thing as he examines the Christian community in Ephesus, a large seaport in Asia Minor. These Christians have a Gentile background and because of this they’ve a lot to learn about being in relathionship with God. At one point they were without Christ recalls Paul, they were aliens from the fellowship of the faith, having no hope and without God in the world.
There were no non- Jewish Christians when Paul arrives in Ephesus on his first missionary journey, only Jews were allowed to be Christians up until this time. Only Jews were a part of the covenant with God. But here in Ephesus all that is about to change.
Paul recognizes the fact that these Gentiles from Ephesus are diamonds in the rough. Paul makes the important statement that through the sacrifice of Christ they have now come into a relationship with God, right along with the Jewish members of God’s family. This was groundbreaking, Paul was going against everything that had preceded him up to this point. “So then you are no longer strangers” writes Paul, “but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone”.
With those words and actions by Paul everything changes, Christianity is no longer a small sect available to only a few. Christianity is open to everyone. 300 years later it will be the official religion of the Roman Empire. Paul is convinced that the Ephesians are gems, not gravel. He believes that they have real value in the eyes of God, and are precious diamonds in his collection of living stones. But at this point they are still rough, still in need of refinement. So what are they supposed to do?
In today’s passage, Paul reminds them, “once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light”. At one point the Ephesians were rough diamonds, natural, earthy and organic, but now they have the opportunity to sparkle, shine and transmit God’s light like a cut, shaped, disciplined and perfect gem. The key is to live as children of light.
Is this difficult? Yes, but it’s worth it. Once again there is going to be cutting and shaping in this case the cutting involves putting away falsehood, giving up stealing, stripping away all bitterness and wrath and slander and malice, and turning away from greed. This is what it means to live as children of light.
Paul wants the people of Ephesus to shape up, or be shaped. To get rid of all impurities if you will and to be able to transmit and receive the light of God. And Paul wants the very same for each of us. Take a moment to think about the actions and attitudes in your life that tend to block God’s light. What can you do to strip away impurities and become the glistening gem that God wants you to be?
How can we do that, the same as the Ephesians. Be honest with yourself and others, don’t be bitter, reach out to others and don’t behave just for momentary pleasure. “Live as children of light” says Paul, “for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true”. What was good for the Ephesians 2000 years ago is still good for us today.
The people of Ephesus, from what we know were very much like us, after making a mistake they might just shrug it off and say “well I’m only human”. But Paul would say that’s true you are human, but you are destined for something more. You are destined for something greater than a raw, undisciplined and unpolished life, one in which mistakes and bad behavior are excused. As Christians we are not supposed to remain as diamonds in the rough, as people who are only human. The challenge that Paul lays before us is to try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.
The Greek word for try to find out is dokihazo, which also means to discern or test. It is an active word one, which challenges us to put effort into trying to discover what is the best Christian behavior in the face of challenging real-life circumstances.
Dokimazo means to examine and put to the test. And that’s what Christianity is all about, whether you live in first century Ephesus or 21st century America. We need to constantly examine and polish our lives. We need to be gems, so that we reflect the light of God in our souls and lives. We need our compassion and patience and love to create a channel for the light of the Lord to shine through us.
So try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. You have nothing to lose but darkness, roughness and impurity. As you cut away what Paul calls the unfruitful works of darkness, you’ll find yourself getting ever more clear about what a Christian life looks like, your life.
Amen. Let us pray.