Ephesians 1:15-23
Open your eyes
Christ Church, May 2002
A vicar was
having trouble with his newly elected PCC - can you believe it? They couldn't agree on anything. The
churchwarden said, "Vicar, this can't continue. There has to be a meeting,
and we have to settle all areas of dispute once and for
all." The vicar agreed.
At the appointed time the vicar, the churchwarden and the PCC met around a
magnificent mahogany table in the conference room of the church. One by
one the issues were dealt with and on each issue, it became more and more
apparent that the vicar was a lonely voice in the wilderness. The churchwarden
said, "Come, Vicar, enough of this. Let's vote and allow the majority to
rule." He passed out slips of paper and each person made his or her mark.
The votes were collected and the churchwarden said, "You may examine them,
Vicar. It is eleven to one against you. We have the majority."
Offended, the vicar rose to his feet and said, "So, now you think because
of
the vote that you're right and I'm wrong. Well, that's not so. I stand
here," and he raised his arms impressively while looking heavenward,
"and
call upon the Lord of all things to give us a sign that I'm right and you're
wrong."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth when there was a deafening clap of
thunder and a brilliant flash of lightning that struck the mahogany table
and cracked it in two. The room was filled with smoke and fumes, and the
churchwarden and PCC were hurled to the floor. Surrounded by rubble the
vicar stood erect and untouched, his eyes and smile flashing with triumph.
Slowly, the churchwarden lifted himself out of the rubble. His hair was singed,
his glasses were hanging from one ear, his clothing was in disarray. Finally
he said, "All right, eleven to two. But we still have the majority."
Who has the authority? Who do
you have confidence in? Is God's voice the
voice, or is it one voice among many?
The truth is that as much as we would wish otherwise, sometimes God's
voice or his influence in our lives seems like just another viewpoint-perhaps
that Sunday evening viewpoint. There
are many things that made hearing and seeing God difficult. One is that if you know your Bible at all you'll
know that his voice often comes as a still small voice after the thunder and
the earthquake. He comes in subtle ways
rather than walloping us over the head, after the earthquake, the wind and the
fire. He doesn't force himself at all. He is a God who always invites
us. And he is a God we can get
distracted from-either because the events in our lives are too chaotic, or
because the temptations are too appealing.
And sometimes, let's face it, we don't want to hear him-we would rather
be the ones having it our way, being in the majority, even if we do end up
getting singed.
So we know it's difficult, but if you are anything like me you long to
know that God is in control. Not only
because the world is such an uncertain and sometimes frightening place to be at
the moment, but on a more personal level because I am prone to being so
insecure in my faith. I am prone to
depression and doubt. The psalmist
writes of a person of faith as someone who “cannot be moved, but abides for
ever.” But I am moved. I am full of faith one day and empty with
doubt the next. I wake up one morning
full of life, the next day I am dismal and moody. I'm a thermometer that goes up and down with the weather. I feel insecure because I know that bad
things can happen-illness may suddenly come.
I feel insecure because people I know of strong faith now have no
faith. When I was a child, and
sometimes even now, I used to like walking along walls. And sometimes my so-called friends would try
and distract me and make me fall off.
There are those for whom faith in Jesus Christ is like this. Walking along a wall. We might just make it if we try.
But let's face it, we are in good company. We come as sinners and doubters. And we come with the fickle people of Israel, and the up and down disciples as our ancestors. And these Christians in Ephesus-well, they were worried about being an insignificant group among many, they were worried that their beliefs might get swallowed up by the other voices in the society. Sound familiar? Insecurity is not a new thing.
That's why Paul effectively wrote this to them: open your eyes. Look and see. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you a
spirit of wisdom and Revelation so that, with the eyes of your heart
enlightened, you may know. Know
what? Your inheritance – what he has
done for you in the past. The
immeasurable greatness of his power – what he wants to do now. And the hope to which he has called you –
your future certainty. Are you
beginning to feel a bit more secure about things. As if it doesn’t particularly matter how you feel on a particular
day? Open your eyes. Tonight, at this Ascension time, God calls
us to open our eyes. Open your eyes and
drink in this sight: Christ is far above all rule and authority and power and
dominion, and above every name that is named.
What rulers can you think of?
Christ is far above them. What
authorities do you know of? Christ is
far above them. What things claim power
over you? Christ is far above
them. Our insecurities are met when we
open our eyes to know that all things are in him, to know that the mustard seed
of our faith is held maintained by our own efforts, but held in the palm of his
hand. Open your eyes.
One of my favourite stories in the Bible is when Elisha the old
Testament prophet and his servant are surrounded by enemy troops who want to
capture him and kill him. The servant
wakes up early in the morning and goes out to find a huge army with horses and
chariots all around the city where they are staying. The servant says “What shall we do master?” Elisha replies “Don't be afraid, for there
are always more with us than with them.”
Then Elisha prays, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opens the eyes of the servant
and he sees; the mountain is full of horses and chariots of fire all around
Elisha.
We
can only be what God made us to be when we aware the privileges and power that
God has given us. And this is bigger
than our own feeling of security.
Because the Christ who rules the cosmos gives us as the church a
privileged place in his purposes. We need
to open our eyes so that we will no longer keep the immeasurable greatness of
his power to ourselves but will have the confidence to be his body at work in
his world. At the beginning of
Christian Aid week it is good if we can learn to take our eyes off ourselves,
to grow in maturity to be able to cast our gaze at the ruling Christ and his
purposes for his world.