Ephesians 3:14-21
Early in the week, I elected to prepare a sermon on our
"Epistle Lesson,"
rather than the "Gospel Lesson," because I have never
prepared a sermon on
this text from The Letter to the Ephesians---and, I may not have
another
chance. Secondly, I have prepared at least a dozen sermons on our
Gospel
Lesson and I was convinced that I had little more to say about
"The Feeding
of the 5,000." However, after making this decision, I
discovered that I had
even less to say about Paul's Epistle! I needed help and
Thursday evening's
worshipers willingly gave me that help with their solicited
comments during
and after the service.
Our text from the 3rd chapter of Ephesians is rather obscure in
spite of its
beauty and majesty. It's only notoriety seems to be a debate among
biblical
scholars concerning whether the letter, written by Paul from a
prison cell,
was written specifically to the church in Ephesus, or as an
epistle to be
distributed to churches throughout Asia Minor. While there may be
debate
about the letter's intended audience, there is no debating the
thoughtfulness
or the poetic power of what Paul is saying or, I should say,
praying.
Paul does not want any person in the church to "lose
heart" over his
suffering; and, as persecution and imprisonment become distinct
possibilities
for all Christians, he is concerned about the faith and vitality
of the
entire Christian community. In this particular passage, Paul
suggests that
something larger than meets the eye is unfolding; namely, the
"universality,"
the "all inclusiveness" of God's love. Paul begins
by saying:
"For this reason I
bow my knees before the Father, from whom
every family in heaven and on earth takes its
name."
That sentence alone should catch your eye and ear.
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom
every family in heaven and on earth takes its
name."
No longer should Jews or Gentiles struggle over who is included in
the
kingdom, for it is not their struggle. It is no longer an "us
vs. them"
proposition, but an all-inclusive "we." According to
Paul, God the Father
names every family of the earth! Furthermore, those included as
part of the
family of God, are not even limited to humanity; "heavenly
beings" are
included as well.
Issues of imprisonment and even suffering are, therefore,
inconsequential
compared to the universality and timelessness of the love we
receive from the
God we are permitted to call "Father."
Listen again to the prayer Paul actually prays:
"I pray that, according to the riches of his glory,
he may grant that you may be strengthened in your own
inner being with power through his Spirit,
And, (I pray) Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
And, I pray, that you may have the power to comprehend,
with all the saints, what is the breadth and length
and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who, by the power at work within us,
is able to accomplish abundantly
far more than all we can ask or imagine,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations,
forever and ever. Amen.
As we can plainly see, the prayer has three petitions---all having
to do with
strengthening the faith of the community.
The first petition Paul directs to God---praying that God will
strengthen the
"inner being" of the believer with power through the
Spirit (v. 16) and
suggesting that those who have such faith do not need to be
afraid.
The second petition calls upon Christ to dwell, through faith, in
the
believer's heart (v. 17). And yet, the believer is not merely a
passive
recipient; the one who would be so grounded, must have the faith
to accept
and believe that Christ can do this; that Christ can dwell in ones
heart.
The third petition focuses on the members of the church. Paul
prays that the
believer can "comprehend" the full richness of God as
made known in the love
of Christ, even though (Paul's says) the love of Christ
"surpasses knowledge"
(vv. 18-19).
There is no contradiction here---between "comprehending"
and "knowing." For
instance, one can comprehend the sun's rising without precise
scientific
knowledge of why or how it rises. So it is with faith. One
can comprehend
one's experience of grace, even if the knowledge of the "hows"
and "whys" of
grace are beyond understanding.
All that matters to Paul is that, when the inner mind and heart
are opened,
and the faith of the believer enlarged, one can catch a vision of
God's
Spirit, moving throughout all of creation, and become caught-up in
that
vision!
The prayer concludes with praise to God. Even though Paul has
invited the
reader into a larger, universal view of God's purposes, he is
quick to point
out that God is far grander than anything a human can imagine or
ask for.
Hence, the believer stands before the Almighty---in awe instead of
fear---in
praise rather than complaint---in wonder, not cynicism---in faith,
not
futility.
What more could one say---in Paul's generation or, for that
matter, in any
generation? This passage is an awesome description of God's grand
design;
setting all the tiny, insignificant concerns of human beings smack
dab in the
bright and beautiful light of God's redemptive plan in Christ!
At the beginning of this message, I said that I had received some
help from
Thursday evening worshipers. One in particular, who wouldn't
want to be
identified, summed it all up with this statement.
"Tony, Paul was simply
asking God to fill the hearts of his Christian friends with the
same Spirit
that, by the grace of God, had given Paul so much faith and
hope!" There you
have it from one of your St. James friends. I could have
said that in the
beginning and saved myself ten minutes of time and energy.
AMEN.
|