Thomas J Parlette
“Loopholes for the Devil”
Ephesians 4: 25 – 5:2
8/11/24
I have a soft spot for real estate shows. You can find them everywhere – from House Hunters to Beach Front Bargain Hunt, from First Time Buyer to Selling Sunset. There is something to suit everyone’s taste.
My favorite is Million Dollar Listing on Bravo. There have one series that takes place in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. I enjoy them because you get a chance to see some houses that I could never have guessed existed. They are truly mind-boggling. Floor to ceiling, sliding glass windows and doors, infinity pools, kitchens fit for a chef , all in Italian marble, and 10 car garages that make you feel like Batman.
And these houses have a room for everything. Workout room – check. Sauna – check. Home theater, seating 20 – check. A wine cellar – check. Perhaps you prefer an English pub – check. Maybe a golf simulator room – yep, we can do that. A Primary bedroom with a walk-in closet that looks like a high end department store, with 8 guestrooms, all with their own en-suite bathrooms. Mind-boggling. I can’t imagine living in a home like that – but it sure is fun to look at!
But in all these episodes featuring high end real estate, there is one room that none of these houses ever have. A room for the Devil. Perhaps they are following the wise words that we hear from Paul in today’s passage from Ephesians: “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.”
The letter to the Ephesians was probably written by Paul, but there is some scholarly debate on that point – some think it was one of Paul’s associates that may have written the letter, a common practice in the ancient world. The letter can be broadly divided into two sections. First, there is the teaching or theological section that consumes the first three chapters. Paul opens by pointing out God’s choice for us to be God’s people, and he talks about Christ’s achievement in bringing us to salvation. He gives a quick historical overview of how humanity was once separated from God, but now, through Christ, we have brought back into a relationship with God. Then Paul talks about the unity of the Church and offers his prayers for the Church.
Section Two starts with Chapter 4, as Paul turns his attention to how to live together as a new creation. He focuses very much on day-to-day, face-to-face relationships. And he is pretty direct, he does not pull any punches. Martin Luther once described the list of behaviors to avoid listed here as a “domestic bulletin board,” (1) much like a job board or post-it notes on the refrigerator of chores that need to be done:
“Put away falsehood.
Put away anger.
Put away stealing.
Put away unwholesome talk.
Put away every form of malice.”
These are the household chores to be done to live as a new creation.
Perhaps some of you remember Dikembe Mutumbo. Mutumbo was an NBA basketball player in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. At 7 foot 2, his specially was blocking shots. But his greatest claim to fame was probably the commercials he made for Geico Insurance, where he would block accidents from happening like he would block a basketball shot – and follow up with his trademark finger wag, saying, “Not in my house, No, No, No.”
Paul seems to be channeling Mutumbo in his words to the Ephesians – lies, anger, stealing, gossip – I don’t think so. Not in my house, no,no,no.
Keep in mind, Ephesus was a major port city, with a thriving shipping industry, right up there with the city of Corinth. Goods and people from all over the known world passed through Ephesus – you could get literally anything you wanted. And people took advantage of this. Pagan temples were on every street corner, dishonest merchants and thieves lurked in every alleyway and the brothels and bars were well-populated.
It’s not too surprising that many of the new converts joining the fellowship in Ephesus were a bit lax in some of their morals and ethics. Paul will have none of this, not in this house, no, no, no. All these behaviors run the risk of making room for the Devil.
The trouble is, we don’t take the Devil very seriously in modern times. When we talk of the Devil, we do so a bit tongue in cheek. You probably remember the well-known quote from Charles Baudelaire, who said, “The greatest trick the Devil ever played was convincing the world he did not exist.” To a large degree, in our modern world, it appears the trick has worked. A man named Ken Ammi, added to Baudelaire’s thought when he wrote “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he was a good guy.” Another trick that has worked.
But if we take Paul at face value, on his own terms, we must take the Devil and his influence seriously. The whole letter to the Ephesians is meant to show how different life as the body of Christ should be from the pagan life previously led by the Gentile Christians, the life they saw all around them in the city of Ephesus. This means that we must not make room for the Devil.
When studying the Bible, it’s always interesting to compare translations, especially with this text this morning. In our NRSV translation, the word used is “room” – as in a resting place. Give no resting place to the Devil - “Not in my house, no, no, no, you can’t stay here.”
In the New International Version. The word for room is translated as “a foothold” – don’t allow the devil to get a foothold, meaning a secure grip or vantage point in spiritual terms. It signifies any area of life where temptation can gain influence or control. As Arnold Glasow once said, “Temptation usually comes in by a door that has been deliberately left open.” (2)
The New English Bible has probably my favorite translations of the phrase Paul uses here. It says, “Leave no loophole for the Devil.” A loophole suggests a gap, a potential vulnerability that might allow negative or harmful forces to enter one’s life. A loophole is an opening in a system of defense or policy that can be exploited to our advantage, even when we know in our hearts that our behavior is violating the spirit of the law we’re trying to get around. Simply put, a loophole is a workaround. For accountant’s, this is part of their job, especially at tax time. Nothing unethical about it – they just want to give their clients every advantage under the law they can.
But in our context, Paul cautions us not to look for loopholes or work-arounds when it comes to moral, ethical or spiritual behavior. We must resist the temptation to rationalize taking advantage of others.
Henry Beard has written an interesting book called Rationalizations to Live By. He points out the many and varied rationalizations we come up with to cut corners in life. For instance, in golf – “I’m only moving the ball to where it should have landed.” Or, my favorite – “The course owes me a better score.” I know better, the course owes me nothing. Here are some other examples you might recognize:
“All this shopping is good for the economy.”
When booking an expensive flight – “I’m earning frequent flier miles.”
“All those video games are good for my kid’s motor skills.”
“Picasso didn’t do his best work until he was 70.”
“I only smoke at parties.”
And the classic – “Everybody does it.” (3)
These rationalizations open up subtle loopholes for the Devil. The comedian George Carlin once said: “I’m not concerned about ALL hell breaking loose. I’m concerned that a part of hell will break loose. It’ll be much harder to detect.” (4) Exactly Paul’s point.
The original Revised Standard Version of the Bible translates this passage as “Give no opportunity to the Devil.” That word opportunity comes to us directly from the Latin Opportunus, meaning “fit, convenient, suitable, favorable.” These translations of opportunus derive from the interesting phrase ob portum veniens, which means “coming toward the port” – a reference to an approach to a harbor – especially appropriate given that Ephesus was a port city. (5)
So when Paul warns us to give no opportunity to the Devil, he is invoking a metaphor from the maritime world – Don’t give the Devil a compass heading to your port. Do not, at all costs, allow the Devil to drop anchor in your harbor.
We’ve covered a lot of “don’ts” this morning – it’s time to talk about some “do’s.” In this passage, we are called to be imitators of God. As Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message – “Watch what God does, and then you do it… Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with God and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
When it comes to directions about how we should live as children of God – I have two favorite verses that I think sum it up perfectly.
First, is the passage from Micah: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with you God.”
My other favorite are these words from Ephesians. Let’s sing that song again, because if you take nothing away with you today but that camp song, well, the morning has been worthwhile.
“Be ye kind, one unto another,
Tender-hearted, forgiving one another,
Even as God, in Christ’s name has forgiven you.
Do, Do, Doodle – Dee, Do. Ephesians 4: 32”
I think you’ll be humming that song for the rest of the day…
And for that, May God be praised. Amen.
1. Harold Warlick, “Sweet-Smelling Fragrance”, Sermons on The Second Readings, CSS Publishing Company, 2002, p. 314.
2. Homileticsonline, retrieved 7/8/24.
3. Ibid…
4. Ibid…
5. Ibid…
