Cockroach. Just saying the word causes one’s nose to wrinkle in disgust. When I first moved to the south, I think the thing that was the hardest to get used to was all the cockroaches. You see where I grew up the cockroach was synonymous with filth. It was common to find cockroaches in an abandoned crack house deep in the slums, but if you kept your house moderately clean you never saw a cockroach. So, you might imagine my shame when I moved to the deep south, and I continually spotted cockroaches scurrying from shadow to shadow inside my house. It didn’t matter what I did, I would bleach my entire kitchen (on a daily basis) but still there would be cockroaches hiding behind the toaster, under the refrigerator, and occasionally (just to spite me) on my bleach-stained washcloth.
I eventually confessed my failings as a housekeeper to some of my neighbors. They laughed at me and said, ‘Oh those are just palmetto bugs. They are everywhere in the south.’ That made me feel a little less dirty… until I googled palmetto bugs and discovered “palmetto bug” is just the name southerners give to cockroaches! But, calling a cockroach, a palmetto bug doesn’t make it less repulsive. Call them what you will, they still have those creepy antennae, they still leave little turds in the back of your cabinets, and their furry legs still drag disease across your countertops.
Now, I can live in peace with a cockroach in the wild, but when they come into my house, I see it as an act of aggression that must be met with greater aggression. As far as I am concerned a cockroach in my kitchen deserves to be stepped on, squished, swatted, crushed, poisoned, whacked, whatever it takes to kill them in such a way that will warn the others. But have you ever tried to kill a cockroach? It’s easier said than done. The cockroach doesn’t have the integrity of the sugar ant who has the decency to walk across a countertop in the light of the day so that it can easily be disposed of. The cockroach is a scoundrel who prefers to do its dirty deeds under the cloak of night. The cockroach is a bold bug when it thinks no one is watching. But as soon as the cockroach senses it is being watched it scurries from shadow to shadow and hides in the deepest, dankest, darkest, crevice it can find. Cockroach!
It is a disturbing thought, but it has occurred to me, maybe the reason I so loath the cockroach is because, spiritually speaking, I have so much in common with it… and I would be willing to bet you do to. Think of the worst thing you have ever done. Don’t worry I am not going to ask you to dwell on that painful memory long. But think of the thing you are most ashamed of, the skeleton in your closet, the dirty secret you are going to take to your grave. I would be willing to bet my jeep that, for the majority, that thing you did was done when you thought no one was watching. Oh, I am sure you have done plenty of sinful things in broad daylight with a room full of witnesses, but the most shameful things (humanly speaking) I bet were done when you were acting like a cockroach. As a matter of fact, I bet still today you prefer to do your dirty deeds under the cloak of night scurrying from shadow to shadow and hiding in the deepest dankest darkest crevices where you think no one can see what you are up to. I bet still today you have cockroach tendencies.
You have that in common with the Christians in Ephesus. In the verses[1] proceeding our section Paul mentions the sort of things the Ephesians did when they thought no one was watching. In chapter 4 Paul mentions things like lust, unwholesome talk, bitterness, slander… but you know what, I don’t think I need to share the whole list with you, I don’t think you need me to tell you what sort of things spiritual cockroaches do when they think no one is watching. I think you know. Besides, as Paul writes in verse 12, “it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.” You can almost see Paul wrinkle his nose in disgust, can’t you.
You know what sort of things the disobedient do in secret, don’t you? Yeah, I do too. Which is why I also know you are going to be tempted to scurry for the shadows when I tell you someone was, and someone is watching. In verses 13-14 Paul writes, “13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible.” God is that light that exposes your shameful secrets and makes your sin visible. There is no point scurrying for the shadows. The Psalmist cries out to God “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.”[2] There is not a crevice deep enough, dank enough, dark enough for you to hide in. Through the prophet God asks, “Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the Lord.”[3] There is nowhere we can scurry off to and do our dirty deeds without someone watching. The light of the Lord shines on spiritual cockroaches like you and me and exposes our shameful secret sins.
But the Lord does not shine His light on us so that He can crush us like a cockroach. Rather, the Lord shines His light on us so that He can correct us as Christians. This section, as I have already said, is proceeded by examples of shameful sins done in secret, but proceeding those examples is the great “it is by grace you have been saved”[4] section. It is good for us to remember the light of the Lord does not just expose our sin, but it also reveals our Savior. It shines a big ole spotlight on a bloodstained cross where even our shameful secret sins were forgiven and illuminates the empty tomb where Jesus our substitute and sacrifice rose from the dead and secured our salvation. The light of the Lord assures us that the Holy Spirit has already woken you from your spiritual slumber and raised you from dead unbelief. Because of God’s great love because of God’s rich mercy, you are not cockroaches, you are Christians. Paul seeks to remind you of this when he writes in verse 8, “8 For you were once darkness, but now (NOW!) you are light in the Lord.” You are not dirty cockroaches; you are redeemed Christians.
But, because the temptation to give in to those old cockroach tendencies is so strong, our heavenly Father, through saint Paul, encourages us to live like Christians, to “8… Live as children of light.” Living in the light of the Lord means living your life like someone is watching. Think about it. You are a better parent when you know people are watching. You speak calmly and clearly to your children; you patently correct them and gently rebuke them. It is amazing how many of us are progressive parents when we think people are watching. But boy when they aren’t, how quickly we resort to “because I said so” and “one more word and I am going to paint your back porch red” or the classic “stop your crying or I am going to give you something to cry about”. Likewise, children, you are a better child when you think people are watching. What parent hasn’t gone to a parent teacher conference and listened as they started describing a child who is polite and kind respectful and obedient and thought, they must be talking about someone else’s kid? Because children, when you are home, where no teachers are watching, there tends to be a lot more whining and complaining sassing and backtalk. Further, you are a better boss when you think your employees are watching and better employees when you think your bosses are watching. You are better friends, better neighbors, better people when you think people are watching.
So, what would happen if instead of living one way when you thought no one was watching and another way when you thought someone was watching, what would happen if you just lived your entire life in the light of the Lord, what would happen if you just lived your entire life like someone was watching? Paul tells us what would happen in verses 9 where he writes. 9 (the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)”. When you live like someone is watching you tend to be good to others. Your opinions of them are charitable, your actions for them are supportive, and the words you speak about them are kind. When you live like someone is watching you seek righteousness before the Lord. You resist the temptations that attract spiritual cockroaches, and you give glory to God as you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. When you live like someone is watching you know the truth about yourself. You know what you once were and what you have done, but you also know what by the great love of God you now are and what by the rich mercy of God you can now do. You are children of light. What would happen if you lived every moment of your life in that light, what would happen if you lived your life like someone was watching? Don’t you want to find out? I know I do. I want to live as a child of the light, I want to find out what pleases the Lord, I want to have nothing to do with fruitless deed of darkness.
Instead of living like a cockroach who does its dirty deeds in the darkness I want to live like a Christian who lives in the light of the Lord. I know it won’t be easy. This side of heaven the temptation to scurry off to the shadows is constant. So, I ask you to please pray for me and I assure you I will be praying for you.
I haven’t noticed as many “palmetto bugs” now that I have moved to the northern part of the south, but still, every now and then one scurries from the shadows and wrinkles my nose. But the next time I see one I am going to try to first confess my cockroach tendencies and then as I try to step on, squish, swat, crush, poison, and whack it I will also try to give thanks to God who did not (and does not) crush us for acting like cockroaches, and then finally as I dump it’s cockroachie corps into the trash, I will pray for the strength to live a Christian life in the light of the Lord; to live my life like someone is watching. Amen.
[1] Ephesians 4:19-31
[2] Psalm 90:8
[3] Jeremiah 23:24
[4] Ephesians 2:1-10