Pastor Rich Knight

Central Congregational Church

June 25, 2023

 

One of the main themes of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is the phrase “In Christ.” He wants the Ephesians to realize all that is theirs living their lives in Christ.

Ephesians 3:14-21

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶ I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸ I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ 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, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 

 

There’s so much to love about this passage.

It’s written in humility – “I bow my knees before the Father.”

With that humility he feels a oneness with all humanity, with the entire human family – “every family in heaven and on earth takes its name” from the Creator.

It’s a deeply spiritual passage – ¹⁶ I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

It’s deeply spiritual, but the end result of the type of spirituality that he’s talking about is love – “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.”

But what strikes me most about this passage is he’s trying to explain the unexplainable –

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Think about the words he uses – Paul wants us to comprehend that which surpasses knowledge. How do we comprehend that which is beyond our knowledge? And how are we to be filled with all the fullness of God? All the fullness of God? That sounds like a lot. And he asks us try and comprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s Love for us.

How wide is God’s Love?

How long is God’s Love?

How high is God’s Love?

How deep is God’s Love?

I think Paul is trying to expand their minds and overwhelm them with the idea that God loves them more than they realize, more than they could ever imagine, but he’s urging them to try and imagine it.

 

Have you ever had the experience of something being far bigger and better than you could have imagined?

Imagine a Classical Music Lover going to their first symphony concert and seeing all that talent on stage playing to perfection. “This is better than I even dreamed of.”

 

Or imagine a Baby Boomer going to their first 4 hr Bruce Springsteen concert.

 

Or, how about a Swifty going their first Taylor Swift Concert. Did you see on the news that many people who go to Taylor Swift concerts report having amnesia after the concert. The 3 hr concert just overwhelms their brains. It’s tough being a Swifty!

All of these concerts would be bigger and better than one could imagine.

Disney World. I once heard a young child who was about to go to Disney World say this:“I’m not that excited about it. It’s just an amusement park.” Needless to say, Disney World was bigger & better than he imagined.

We went to the Grand Canyon two summers ago. I knew it was big . . . but it was much bigger and better than Id ever imagine!

Kids, you think you realize how much your parents love you, but it’s even bigger and better than you can imagine. God’s Love is just like that – we’ll never fully grasp it this side of heaven, but the Apostle Paul is telling us that it’s much, much greater than we can ever imagine.

 

Let me shift gears here . . .

Sometimes Christianity has overemphasized human sinfulness.

I certainly believe in sin, as Chesterton said, “It’s the only doctrine of our faith for which we have irrefutable proof.”

The NT says sin is missing the mark, falling short of the bullseye.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, sin is breaking Covenant with God.

But nowhere in the Bible does it say that our sin makes us unworthy of God’s love. But Christianity has taught this at times, and it’s still taught in some churches today.

The most extreme example I can think of is the famous sermon by the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire . . . you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.”

What does that have to do with the Good News of Jesus Christ? Our sins, our missing the bullseye of perfection, does not cancel out the love of God!  It doesn’t make us unworthy of God’s love!

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son!

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans that nothing we’ll ever face in life or in death can ever separate us from God’s love – that includes our sins, our mistakes, our imperfections

The Prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures used poetry to convey God’s love for us, and much of it reads like love poems!

Zephaniah said God exalts over us with loud singing. (3:17)

Isaiah said God has called us by name and said, “You are mine!”  (Is. 43:1)

Jeremiah wrote that God loves us “with an everlasting love.”

We’re not sinners in the hands of an angry God. We’re flawed, imperfect people in the hands of a God who loves us with an everlasting love!

The words “God is love” roll off our lips quite easily, but sometimes we forget how significant those words are. They’re not just about God – though those words are the highest attribute ever given to the Divine – God is pure, sacrificial, unconditional, unending love. But those words aren’t just about God. They’re also about you. They’re about you because love must be shared! They’re about you, because God’s love is not generic – sent out into the world with no intention or true recipients. No, God’s love is specific and personal. It’s for you!

Brennan Manning wrote a wonderful book entitled, The Ragamuffin Gospel. In it he wrote:

“God has a single relentless stance toward us: He loves us. He is the only God man has ever heard of who loves sinners.”

When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.”  (Brennan Manning is a recovering alcoholic) He concludes: “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it.”  

Can that be the deepest awareness of yourself? – that you are loved and accepted?

Can that be at the core of your identity – that you’re a beloved Child of God?

Can you believe that God’s love is greater than the mistakes you’ve made?

Can you believe that God’s love is wider, longer, deeper, and higher than any doubts or questions you have?

The great Protestant reformer Martin Luther had his doubts and struggles.

One of the things he would say to himself during those times is, “Martin, remember that you are baptized. Martin, remember that you are baptized.” Luther said that because baptism reminds us that we’re children of God – loved with an everlasting love.

And just like Baby Elliot who was baptized this morning,  we didn’t have to earn that love. God simply says, “I love you. You are loved. You are accepted. You are my child.”

I know you can believe those words are true for Elliott, but do you believe that those words are true for you, too?

“You are loved. You are accepted. You are God’s child.”

Let me close by reading the passage once again:

Ephesians 3:14-21

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶ I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸ I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ 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, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Amen.