Ephesians 3:14-21
In seminary, not only there are classes on how to interpret the Biblical text in English, but there are also classes on Biblical interpretation in Hebrew and Greek (The technical term for these later classes is “exegesis”). In my Greek exegesis class, one of the assignments was on Ephesians 3:14-21. I don’t remember every grammatical point I learned while working on the passage, but I do remember immersing myself very deeply into the text, thinking about what each word meant, how it was used elsewhere in the New Testament, what Paul might be trying to tell us by using it in this context. Studying the passage so very closely, I came away with the distinct sense that Paul’s sentences simply overflow with words. Even if you are reading it here for the first time in a while, you may get that sense, too. Paul’s prayer here for the church in Ephesus is extravagant. He wants them to be strengthened with power, to have Christ dwell in their hearts, to be rooted and grounded in love, to understand the “breadth and length and height and depth” of Christ’s love, to know His knowledge-surpassing love, and to be filled with God’s fullness. It is an amazing prayer when you think about it. I am exhausted just trying to summarize it! Paul is so excited, so astounded by the love of God, and so desperate for us to know how extravagant the love of God is that he can’t control his metaphors and syntax. How do you know something that surpasses knowledge? New Testament scholar and Pauline theologian N. T. Wright wrote in his book, “Surprised By Hope,” “Paul was good at richly mixed metaphors: in 1 Thessalonians 5, he says that the thief will come in the night, so the woman will go into labor, so you mustn't get drunk but must stay awake and put on your armor. As the television programs say, ‘Don't try that one at home.’” It’s a very audacious prayer. Working through it word-by-word years ago, it became a prayer for me and all of those I love, in the hope that we would experience God in all His breadth and length and height and depth. There are many other prayers in the Bible which are good to pray through for ourselves and the world around us (The Lord’s Prayer, for instance), but this is certainly one to add to your list. Two weeks ago, I preached on John 15 and how God wants us to abide in Him so that we may bear “much fruit.” The extravagant love of God is meant to produce an extravagant amount of fruit in our lives. It ought to remind us that, when we are being stingy, (whether it is with money or love or grace or kindness) “God is extravagant.” God has given this whole beautiful world for us to enjoy, and we are fighting over trivial issues like whether the church ought to have a new carpet, for instance. Instead, we ought to be praying that we, His people, might have the power to comprehend together, what is God’s breadth and length and height and depth. I think we ought to try that one at home. And in church, and at work, and everywhere. Lord, help us to know the love that surpasses knowledge and be filled with Your fullness—and then to share it. Amen. Isaiah 1:1-3
If you’re around my age, you might remember a classic series of television ads in the late 70’s that were as entertaining as they were informing. In the middle of some crowded, conversation-filled room, two people were talking about their investments. Then, one of them would say, “Well, my broker is E.F. Hutton. And E.F. Hutton says . . . ” Suddenly, the room became completely silent, everyone leaned in eagerly to hear the wisdom of E.F. Hutton. The voiceover would clarify, in case we missed the point, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Would that this were true when God speaks! Sometimes it is. Other times it isn’t. Sometimes we pay attention to God’s words. But sometimes we don’t. Ambivalence about listening to God isn’t new. It was true centuries ago among the Israelites. Sometime in the eighth century B.C., the prophet Isaiah had a vision in which he heard the Lord speak. God’s message was not just for the children of Israel, however. It was for the whole earth, indeed, the whole universe: “Hear Me, you heavens! Listen, earth!” (Isaiah 1:2). The hosts of heaven and earth should pay attention to God’s words which, in this case, contained an indictment against His people for their rebellion. One result of this rebellion was that Israel did not know or understand God and His ways (Isaiah 1:3). In this, they were even less perceptive than animals. Whereas the “ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger,” God’s own people did not know God. Why did they not know the God who had redeemed them and formed them as a special people? The most obvious reason is that they did not listen when God spoke. Or, perhaps they listened, but soon forgot what the Lord had said. They rejected not only God’s commandments but also His revelation of Himself. When God spoke, they did not listen, nor did they obey. You and I can learn from their example to do otherwise. We can hear and respond positively to the call of Isaiah to listen when God speaks. By God’s grace, we can set our hearts to hear God so that we might indeed know God and His ways. If we’re going to hear God speak, we’ll need to quiet other distractive sounds and voices. If we’re spending every free moment on our phone, for example, it’s not likely that we’ll be in a place to hear God’s voice. The same is true if you’re somebody who prefers the sound of your own voice. Hearing God, really hearing God, requires us to learn to be quiet. Listening to God will also be disruptive at times. Well actually, most of the time. We will be disturbed when God confronts our sin and calls us to right living. God’s word will be disruptive in a different way as we hear the Good News of His love for us in Christ, a love that never lets us go, a love that transforms us and every aspect of our lives. No other disruption is more merciful, more restoring, and more needed today. So, as Isaiah calls us to, let’s be ready to hear from God. When God speaks, may we listen! May our prayer be, “Speak, O Lord, and I will listen! Amen.” John 15:4
In the metaphor of the vine in John 15, Jesus declares that He is the vine and His father is the vine-grower. The careful pruning of branches as part of a growth process. In recent years, we have experienced a stripping and a violent cutting down of things that once were fruitful and flourishing. Things that seemed to work pre-COVID no longer work now. How can the Living Vine speak into life in today’s world? Nothing that I write today will be able to change your circumstances, yet my hope and prayer is that it can change your center. The word “abide” is used nine times in nine verses in this passage. The word as it is used here means: “to remain, to stay, not to depart, to continue to be present and to be held.” It is not a static word. It is an active word, an active response to God’s presence in the face of pain. It is an invitation to believe, to faithfully follow, to persevere and to continue to trust, even and especially when the news can rob us of any hope and peace. The vine remains steady, strong, and steadfast. The vine resists quickness and easy-fixes, just like this writing isn’t a quick fix, because abiding is slow. The vine invites us to resist productivity and instead to be present. If the pandemic did anything it changed my perception of production, which was stripped of any extravagance during the pandemic. Productivity looks different now. The simple vine is our life-giving source that we can return to time and time again in times of anxiety. Our Christian life has a center and a source. The soul of our service and ministry also has a soil. The vine is our starting point, our base, our origin, our beginning and our end. The vine is the Alpha and the Omega and everything in between. The vine is not separated from pain but proximal to it. The vine sustains all things by God’s powerful word in the midst of the storm. The vine also holds us when we stand in the tension and waver between abiding and being apart. The vine invites us to return and remain without question as to why we fluctuated in the first place. To return to the vine is to return to the root: it is thick, strong, deep, and wide. The vine does the work. Our work is only to remain connected as we abide. The fruit we bear will flow from that living connection. I believe the soil is the steadfast and unconditional love of God that nourishes the vine, which in turn holds us and upholds us. The Vine is Jesus and we are the branches in desperate need of abiding. Our service and ministry, indeed every ounce of our lives, must depend on being connected to the vine. May you be deeply rooted in the soil of God’s love and may you be held and upheld, sustained by the source. May the soul of your discipleship grow a thick and deep root in the soil of God’s own love. My hope is to remind you to stay connected to the soil of God’s own love for you and your community. Abide in this love today. The harvest of this abiding will come tomorrow. There’s nothing more that you need to produce today. The vine invites you to be present today. Be present to yourself, to God, and to others. We are in this struggle with one another. You are not alone. Luke 9:24-25
Back in January 2021, there was a BBC article with the headline: “Elon Musk becomes world's richest person as wealth tops $185bn.” As it turned out, Tesla stock value had increased dramatically at the time, propelling Musk (founder of Tesla) ahead of Bezos (founder of Amazon). Elon Musk’s response to the news of his material prominence was rather amusing if not impressive. When Twitter announced that Musk was now the world’s wealthiest person, he tweeted, “How strange.” Followed by, “Well, back to work . . . .” Elon Musk is an unusual person, to say the least. Though he is wealthy beyond what any of us might imagine, he is curiously uninterested in “gaining the whole world.” In fact, he is not sure the world is going to be around for much longer. Musk is spending half of his fortune to establishing “a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure the continuation of life (of all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs or WW3 happens and we destroy ourselves.” Ironically, both Elon Musk and Jesus are less than enthusiastic about “gaining the whole world,” though in different ways. For Musk, the problem lies in the fact that the world might be destroyed someday. For Jesus, the problem with gaining the whole world is what you give up in return. Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9:24-25). If we seek only for success in this world, if we desire only to save and enrich our earthly life, then we will lose our life. Even if we remain physically alive, we will lose our inner life, our eternal life. What ought we to strive for if not for earthy life and financial gain? Jesus said those who want to follow Him should “deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). He suggested that we must not be “ashamed” of Him and His words (Luke 9:26). Rather than seeking our own benefit, we should seek instead to give our whole life to following Jesus, to being devoted to Him and His teachings. Elsewhere, Jesus urged us to “seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). The top priority of our life should be to live intentionally each day with God as the ruler of our lives. We should seek God’s ways in all that we do, offering all we are to God and His purposes. Yes, in a sense we are giving up our lives to Jesus. But, in the process, we are receiving His life in return, abundant life, life as God intended it to be, both in this age and in the age to come. When that happens, we become immeasurably rich, not in dollars, but in God. We have confident hope in “the riches of His [God’s] glorious inheritance in His holy people” (Ephesians 1:18). Though we begin to experience God’s grace right now, we look forward to the time when God will “show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7) Elon Musk is worth only $248 billion these days. Nobody can even measure just how rich you are in Jesus Christ. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)
When it comes to our faith, God doesn’t intend for us to stand still. He wants us to keep moving and growing. In fact, God’s plan for His children includes a lifetime of prayer, praise, and spiritual growth. The journey toward spiritual maturity can and should last a lifetime: As Christians, we must continue to grow in the love and the knowledge of our Savior as long as we live. When we cease to grow, either emotionally or spiritually, we do ourselves and our loved ones a profound disservice. But, if we study God’s Word, if we obey His commandments out of love for Him, and if we live in the center of His will, we will not be “stagnant” believers; we will, instead, be growing Christians and that’s exactly what God wants for our lives. Many of life’s most important lessons are painful to learn. During times of heartbreak and hardship, we must be courageous and we must be patient, knowing that in His own time, God will heal us if we invite Him into our hearts. Spiritual growth need not take place only in times of adversity. We must seek to grow in our knowledge and love of the Lord every day that we live. In those quiet moments when we open our hearts to God, the One who made us keeps remaking us. He gives us direction, perspective, wisdom, and courage. The appropriate moment to accept those spiritual gifts is the present one. Are we as mature as we’re ever going to be? Hopefully not! When it comes to our faith, God doesn’t intend for any of us to become “fully grown,” at least not in this lifetime. In fact, God still has important lessons that He intends to teach every one of us. So let’s ask ourselves this: what lesson is God trying to teach me today? And then go about the business of learning it. I am offering a 6 weeks discipleship boot camp in English from July 8 to August 20: one class on Saturdays at 9:30AM to 11AM and another on Sundays 11:30AM to 1PM. Join me to learn to live as a His Story Maker! “Maturity in Christ is about consistent pursuit in spite of the attacks and setbacks. It is about remaining in the arms of God. Abiding and staying, even in my weakness, even in my failure.”—Angela Thomas Jesus in me loves you & so do I, pe |
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