The epistle text for this week draws distinctions in belief and behavior that are as different as night and day, light and dark. Our lectionary reading, part of a larger discussion that begins in Ephesians 4:17 and does not conclude until 5:20, focuses on how disciples are "to walk" in this world.

Both the being and the behavior of those transformed by Christ are discernibly different from the rest of the world--as different as "light" and "darkness." As baptized people, argues the Ephesians text, the faithful have been essentially changed (from beings of "darkness" to beings of "light"). Thus they exhibit exceptionally dissimilar ethical behavior than found in the rest of the still "dark" world.

There is some suggestion that Ephesians takes such great care to draw distinctions between thos…