The Dark Ages weren’t actually all that dark. When I was in grade school I had a book called “Horrible Histories: The Measly Middle Ages.” It was a book I read and re-read many times. It had all sorts of anecdotes about how horrible life was in the Middle Ages. The food was terrible. The hygiene was terrible. The diseases were terrible. It was terrible to be a peasant. Sometimes it was terrible to be a king.
I got a lot of entertainment out of that book, but it didn’t give an entirely accurate picture of what it was like to live during the thousand years of history that it covered. Sure, there were things we have today that they didn’t dream of back then. And there were times when awful things happened. But there were a lot of good things too. They had a lot of festivals, with food and games and music. People wore colorful clothing. Many led lives that were simple and fulfilling. They worked hard. They built impressive constructions like castles and cathedrals. And even though most people didn’t go to school, there was still learning and knowledge that was passed down from one generation to the next.
It’s really a false modern concept that everything was dark and horrible and measly from the time Rome fell until the Age of Enlightenment came along. But it’s still a common thought, so much that the word “Medieval” is used to describe something that’s primitive and uncultured. The Medieval times weren’t evil. The “eval” in Medieval isn’t spelled the same. Medieval just means “middle age.” The Dark ages actually weren’t all that dark.
Or maybe it would be better to say that they were evil, just not any moreso than the time we’re living in now, or the time that the Apostle Paul was living in. Paul lived a long time before Rome fell and the Medieval times began. But as he considered the life we as Christians live in this world, he wrote by God’s inspiration a warning: Walk wisely because the days are evil.
Here’s what he says in Ephesians 5:
15Consider carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise people. 16Make the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17For this reason, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
It’s good to be careful when you’re walking somewhere so that you don’t trip and fall, but Paul isn’t talking literally when he says we should consider carefully how we walk. Our walk is our Christian life, but with this picture you can certainly imagine going on a journey somewhere. How does an unwise person go for a hike? I suppose he’d be the sort of person who would wander off the trail, forget where he parked his car, sit down to rest in poison ivy. On the other hand, the wise hiker would make sure to use a map and a compass. He’d have studied ahead of time what sorts of plants and animals to watch out for. He’d go into the hike with a plan, and he’d do his best to stick to that plan.
The same sort of thinking applies to everything in this life. What does a wise person do? He uses the tools that are available to him to his advantage. He’s always looking to learn so that he can do better. He’s making plans and doing his best to stick to them.
But of course Paul’s focus here is really on spiritual things. Or maybe you could put it this way: It doesn’t matter how wisely you walk in your approach to family and career and budget and everything else of this life if you don’t also walk wisely in your relationship with God.
This is not something you can put off and worry about later. The days are evil. Not just the days of one time period or another. The Roman days, the Medieval days, the Modern days – every day in this world of every age is evil, because every day we’re faced with our great enemies of the Devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.
So Paul says “Make the most of your time,” or very literally, “Buy the time, redeem the time.” Purchase it at whatever cost. Even the world understands this to an extent. Aesop’s fables include multiple stories about using your time wisely. In “The Tortoise and the Hare” the hare got distracted and wasted time and so lost the race. In “The Ants and the Grasshopper” the grasshopper wasted his time and so was totally unprepared for winter. How much more important is it that we make the most of our time in pursuing righteousness?
Of course it’s one thing to say, “Make the most of your time because the days are evil” and it’s another to do it. I don’t actually know very much about hiking. I’m sure Medieval people would laugh at me if they saw me attempt to make my way through the wilderness. I’m directionally challenged. I don’t know how to use a compass. I don’t know what sorts of things are edible and what is poisonous. I have no idea what I’d do if I ran into a venomous snake or a bear or a mountain lion.
And you might think that walking in wisdom spiritually is easier, but it’s not. The wilderness is indeed wild and primitive. Medieval, maybe, but it’s not evil. But the days are. Satan is seeking to devour you like a lion, only more relentless, using the same tricks and temptations that he’s been using to bring people to ruin ever since our first parents in the Garden of Eden. This godless world calls foolishness wise and wisdom foolish, until you don’t even know what to think anymore. And even your own flesh is at war with you. “I don’t have time for this” it says. “I have more important things to do. I am plenty wise enough. I can handle this walk on my own. I’ll make time later.”
“Don’t be foolish!” Paul calls out after us as we lace out our hiking boots and head out the door. Oh, but now that I look back, what a foolish fool I’ve been! Instead of making the most of my time I’ve taken my time to wander from God. There are some true dark ages in my life, times when I gave into the evil days and my sinful desires. How can I walk in wisdom when I keep on being so foolish? How can I walk wisely when I am not wise?
Paul here gives us the answer, and he does that by answering the question, “What is true wisdom?” The Middle Ages were followed by the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason. More and more people went to school to be educated and there was an explosion of science and learning. Is that wisdom? No, it’s not. Wisdom is not the same thing as education. Wisdom is not the same thing as intelligence. True wisdom belongs to God. It’s something that we receive from him. Paul says, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
He goes on to explain what this looks like, saying,
And do not get drunk on wine, which causes you to lose control. Instead, be filled with the Spirit 19by speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (singing and making music with your hearts to the Lord), **20by always giving thanks for everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.**
This is a vivid example of the difference between the foolishness of this world and the wisdom that comes from God. You don’t have to be a Christian to know that the days are evil. Look around at all the trouble in this world. We’re living in the measly modern ages which are just as miserable as the middle ages and every other age. In every age there’s pain and sorrow and hardship and wickedness and death. We have that in common with every person who has ever lived, no matter where or when they lived.
But how do the people of this world escape it? One way is with drunkenness. Do you have trouble in life? Do you have pain? Drink the pain away. It’s in all sorts of popular songs. Had a tough work week? A weekend of drinking is the cure. Had a painful breakup? Drink until you can’t remember the person anymore. Or are you looking to forget about the responsibilities of life and relax or celebrate? Drunkenness is the way!
This isn’t new to our time. It was the case back in Paul’s day too. But Paul warns us against this. It isn’t wine that’s the problem. But drunkenness? Losing control? This is not walking in wisdom.
Instead of filling up on wine, Paul says “be filled with the Spirit.” The real escape from this world’s trouble and pain is the peace that we have from God. Through the means of grace, the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit works in our hearts so that we have faith to trust in God in the face of this world’s worst temptations and troubles, and so that we have wisdom to walk wisely in these evil days.
Where drunkenness causes people to lose control and become foolish, the Holy Spirit works in us self-control and wisdom. And that overflows into the way that we think and speak and act. I don’t think singing drinking songs at the tavern is quite as popular today as it once was, but what are the songs you know and like to sing along with? Do you know as many hymns as you do lewd radio hits? Perhaps we should spend more time in the Psalms. Perhaps we should spend more time hearing and singing hymns that recount the glory and grace of God. Maybe you’re not good at singing? That’s OK. “Make music with your heart,” Paul says.
And give thanks. A heart that is filled with the Spirit can’t help but see everything in this life as a gift from God. Even in the trouble we face, we see God’s grace. Because you know that on a cross outside of Jerusalem God’s own Son faced every evil these days can muster and he took on your sin and he stripped the power from your death. That same Son of God who died and rose again is the one who is watching over you, forgiving your sins, sending the Spirit with all wisdom as you walk this life to your heavenly goal.
That’s true wisdom, true enlightenment. You with people of every evil age are called out of the darkness and foolishness of this world to walk wisely with your God. So be filled with the Spirit. Sing with all your heart. Give thanks for everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson