Holy Angels Anglican Church
Homily for the Third Sunday in Lent
(March 8, 2026)
Ephesians 5:8-14
From Darkness Into Light
Given by: The Rev. Fr. Vincent J. Varnas
“Walk as children of light: ...” (Eph. 5:8). That is what St. Paul prescribes for our spiritual health in today’s Epistle reading.
And we know that Jesus is the Light of the World, as He said: “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12). And that “light of life” is finding holiness here on earth and the reward of eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom.
St. Paul’s Epistle picks up that prescription for spiritual health and expands upon it, saying: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: ... And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them ... and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:8, 11, 14). That is renounce sinfulness and seek the light of truth.
Sin and sinful living is walking in darkness because it is “...those things which are done ... in secret” (Eph. 5:12). One’s conscience tells us to avoid sin. But some will commit sins and try to hide them or cover-up their sinful deeds in one way or another. Thusly, hiding the revealed truth of evil in the darkness of lies.
We all have consciences that generally tell us when we are committing evil deeds, sinful deeds. Truly, we do not wish others to know of them. We are usually not proud of our sins and we often try to keep them secret. We try to hide them. And where is the best place to hide something? In darkness!
But Jesus is the Light of Truth. He said: “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” (Jn. 12:46).
Jesus is the Light of the World. Wherever there is the darkness of evil and sin, He reveals it by shinning upon it the light of His truth found in Himself.
Thusly, St. Paul tells us to carry the light of Christ and shine it upon evil and lies and sins, as: “... all things that are reproved [i.e., censured] are made manifest [i.e., revealed] by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light” (Eph. 5:13). “But now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: ...” (Eph. 5:8).
“Walk as children of light” --- not just by obeying God’s commandments, but also by actively revealing to others what is evil and sinful and wrong in the sight of God.
In legal practice there is the principle of the “shield and the sword”. That seems also here to apply to the admonition of St. Paul to: “Walk as children of light”. We must not only live our lives in holiness guarded by the shield of faith, but also attack deceit, lies, evil and all sinfulness with the sword of truth that is the light of Christ.
St. John’s Gospel begins: “... the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness; [i.e., evil] comprehended it not” (Jn 1:5). And Jesus said: “If you love me keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15) and to the “rich young man”, He said: “... if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:17). These are prescriptions for obedience to God’s Word. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). And the Word is Jesus; the Son of God.
And also from today’s Epistle, St. Paul provides more detail about, “walking as children of light”, when he says: “... the [Holy] Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth; ...” (Eph. 5:8-9). Shall we also taste of the fruit of the Spirit?
Goodness is one of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22). “Goodness is a quality of moral excellence; ...” and moral excellence is, ... the happiness and flourishing of the human person”.
And about righteousness and truth, quoting the Kerygma of Jesus, St. John, tells us: “... ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free ... Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin ... the Son [i.e., Jesus] ... shall make you free, [and] ye shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:31-32, 34, 36). Jesus tells us that we shall no longer be slaves to sin! Those who live in truth, live in righteousness. “And the truth shall set you free” (Jn. 8:32).
Freedom! That’s the ticket! Yet we must ask ourselves: “What is freedom?”
There are two types of freedom in the context of moral theology: First, the type that is most commonly known, but lacking in virtue is called, “freedom of indifference”. This means that, “... as long as your actions are truly taken on your own, then you are truly free. In this view, it does not matter what you choose to do; as long as the action is truly your own, you are free ... you are free no matter what you choose [good or evil], as long as it is your choice”. Second, there is the type of freedom that embraces virtue. And that is called “freedom for excellence”. And this condition of freedom “... depends not only on whether the action is your own, ... it also depends on what you choose”. Thusly, those of good moral conscience will choose virtuous living.
From the Gospel of St. John, Jesus says that freedom emanates from truth (Jn. 8:32). And Jesus says that He is the truth (Jn. 14:6). Therefore, the Word of Jesus will make you free; not free to do whatever you wish, but freedom for virtuous living. Thusly are we freed from slavery to sin and freed for the goodness of virtuous living.
St. Paul emphasizes that we should, “Walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). This prescription for goodness, righteousness and truth comes from the Wisdom tradition which maintains that there are only two courses in life: the wise way of righteousness and the foolish way of the sinner.
So, you see that there is more needed for holiness that just obeying the commandments, there is also virtuous living. And virtuous living embraces positive action taken against darkness. St. Paul tells us: “... we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against ... the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Primarily, Paul is speaking of our battle against the Prince of Darkness: Satan. But, St. Paul’s listing of evil forces also embraces human factors of evil, such as deceit, lying, anger, hatred, corruption, and other manifestations of the Prince of Darkness to which our weaknesses succumb so often. “The devil made me do it”? While that is often true, our concupiscence and selfishness also may promulgate sin without need of the devil’s direct intervention. That comes from our fallen human nature. So, we must keep control of ourselves by prayer and supplication for God’s graces to give us the strength we need to overcome evil by avoiding sin.
So, during this Lenten season, we do pray and fast; but also we engage in charitable activities, such as almsgiving.
Giving alms or charitable works is that true freedom, “freedom for excellence” that “contributes to our happiness and flourishing as a human person”.
This is why Lent is not a time for distress or dismal outlook on life, but a time for happiness and joy!
As we adopt a virtuous way of living during this Lenten season, we begin to flourish in our humanity. We “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). And, as St. Paul admonishes us: “[we] ... have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11). The works of darkness are sin. But the works of light are virtue.
St. Paul ends today’s Epistle saying: “... arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14). This may have been part of an old Christian song or hymn, but it also recalls St. Paul’s words from his Letter to the Romans: “... if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: ... Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Rom. 6:5,8). Digging deeply into his words, I think that there is more to this passage than just the salvation that Christ brought to us through His death on the cross and His resurrection: more than freedom from captivity to sin and virtuous living. I think it is also a prophesy of the moment of our physical death and the joy of hearing those glorious words from God: “Well done, good and faithful servant; ... enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:23). Joyful is the Light of Christ.
I read a passage from the Ash Wednesday homily of Bishop Robert S. Morse, the founder of the Anglican Province of Christ the King, about “going into the light” at the time of death. He said: “It is reported that in the last few moments of the life of the great intellectual Bishop Gore, he repeated [saying], ‘It's getting lighter, it's getting lighter!’, until he disappeared into uncreated light”.
Thusly, we shall arise from death and be born again into the light of eternal life. When the time comes, shall we go into the light?