Wednesday Preverb – 24July2024 – Ephesians 3:14-21

 

 

 

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father ^[f]of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 

• The basis of Paul’s prayer was his knowledge of God’s purpose.
• This means he confidently prayed according to God’s will.  We can’t pray effectively if we do not have insight into God’s purpose and will.
• In remembering that all God’s family is called after His name, Paul showed that God is Father of both Jew and Gentile.

 

¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  

• We all understand the importance of strength in the physical body (the outer man), but many are exceedingly weak in the inner man.
• According to the riches of His glory: “It would be a disgrace to a king or a nobleman to give no more than a tradesman or a peasant. God acts up to the dignity of his infinite perfections; he gives according to the riches of his glory.” (Clarke).

 

¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; 

• Paul asked that Jesus would live in these believers, even as Jesus promised in John 14:23.
• Two ancient Greek words convey the idea “dwelling in.”  One has the idea of living in a place as a stranger, and the other has the idea of settling down in a place to make it your permanent home.
• The word translated as “dwell” is the ancient Greek word for a permanent home.
• Jesus wants to settle down in your heart, not just visit as a stranger.

 

that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;  

• “Two expressions are used: ‘rooted,’ like a living tree which lays hold upon the soil, twists itself round the rocks, and cannot be upturned: ‘grounded,’ like a building which has been settled, as a whole, and will never show any cracks or flaws in the future through failures in the foundation.” (Spurgeon)
• God’s love is wide enough to include every person.
• God’s love is long enough to last through all eternity.
• God’s love is deep enough to reach the worst sinner.
• God’s love is high enough to take us to heaven.

 

 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.   

 

• Paul wanted Christians to experience life in Jesus Christ, the fullness of God (Colossians 2:9), and to be filled to their capacity with Jesus, even as God is filled to His own capacity with His own character and attributes.
• “Among all the great sayings in this prayer, this is the greatest. To be  FILLED with God is a great thing; to be filled with the FULLNESS of God is still greater; but to be filled with ALL the fullness of God utterly bewilders the sense and confounds the understanding.” (Clarke).

 

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.  

• “This doxology does not only belong to the prayer that precedes it, but also to every glorious privilege and blessing spoken of in the first three chapters. Who is able to bring such things to pass?  Only God can do this because He can do far beyond our ability to think or ask.” ~ David Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SERMON

How to Pray for Others

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NRSVUE)

Prayer is a critical part of a Christian life, and many might identify with the notion of prayer as a conversation with God. Author Richard Foster writes, “And so I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life, a little like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. For now, do not worry about ‘proper’ praying, just talk to God.” There are specific types of prayer we can practice that help us develop an ongoing conversation with God, such as breath prayers or centering prayer. But today we’re going to think about how we pray for others and what that looks like. First, we’ll look at some common problems that can sabotage our prayers for others, and then we’ll consider a broader foundational perspective based on our sermon text.

Though the motivation to have a prayer chain or designated prayer group is generally positive, unfortunately, church prayer groups can sometimes devolve into gossip. Instagram comedian Landon Bryant (@landontalks) shares his funny perspective on prayer chains from his experience growing up in the American South. Bryant compares prayer chains to “newsfeeds” and explains how this happens:

As long as you preface it with some sort of religious reason, you can say what you want and tell all their business because we’re praying for them. This is the Lord’s work; this is not the work of men and their flappy tongues. This is the work of the Lord, and I’m a servant of the Lord doing my very best to uplift those around me by listing off everything someone did that was incorrect. We want clarity with prayer requests – not one of us down here likes an unspoken prayer request – you know somebody’s gonna speak it so it might as well be you. But we don’t gossip – we will never – that is a sin. But we will put you on our prayer list, bless you.

Though Bryant’s comedic routine might be a caricature, it also should give us pause to consider whether we’ve participated in prayer groups in this fashion.

Another hazard of praying for others is prescriptively telling God how to fix someone or something. This issue is often connected to the idea of praying specifically or including prescriptive details to convey to God our fervency and faith. There’s an old joke about a preacher caught in a flash flood at his church. His church was surrounded by water, and so he prayed for God’s deliverance. Two boats and a helicopter came to rescue him, but he shooed them away, saying that God would deliver him. He ended up drowning, swept away by the rising flood waters, and in heaven, he asked God why deliverance never came. God responded, “I sent two boats and a helicopter; what else did you want?”

In this case, the preacher had a specific idea of what God’s rescue might look like, and because two boats and a helicopter didn’t fit that ideal, they were dismissed. The danger of prayer that is too prescriptive is that we will miss the miracles that we didn’t even think to ask, whether for ourselves or others. This is also true when we pray for others.

Our sermon text today allows us to eavesdrop on the apostle Paul as he prays for the believers at Ephesus. We’ll learn how we can approach praying for others from a bigger, more helpful, foundational perspective. Let’s read Ephesians 3:14-21: [Read sermon text].

The context of Ephesians 3:14-21

Looking back to the earlier verses of chapter 3, we read that Paul is writing of the great “mystery” that the Holy Spirit had revealed:

In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:5-6, NRSVUE)

Paul discusses his responsibility to bring this “gift of God’s grace” to the Gentiles and then states that this gift was “in accordance with the eternal purpose that [God] has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 11). Paul’s ministry to share the good news of inclusion in Christ with the Gentiles and Jews is the reason he offers the prayer found in v. 14-21.

Paul offers three big ideas that we can consider when we’re praying for others: being grounded, knowing the love of Christ, and trusting outcomes to God.

Being grounded

Paul begins the prayer emphasizing the unity of believers (“from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name” – v. 15), and then Paul makes his first request: that believers would be strengthened spiritually. The word used in v. 17 for Christ dwelling in us is katoikein, which implies a permanent residence rather than temporary.

This imagery of a permanent residence in us is furthered by the wording “rooted and grounded in love” (v. 17). The imagery of roots firmly entrenched in the soil of love offers a broader perspective to our prayers. Rather than praying that someone might change a behavior we find offensive, which is often subjective and relative, we can pray that their spiritual nourishment and stability comes from the love of God. For author Nadia Bolz-Weber, this grounding addresses the choices people make:

I recently heard someone say that [he’s] started to realize ‘God’s will’ for him is that he lives a life filled with compassion, love, and service. God’s will isn’t that he becomes an astronaut, or that he [is] single, or that he lives hand-to-mouth, or that he [is] super rich – God’s will is that no matter the path he takes, …he takes it with compassion, love, and in service to others. I haven’t stopped thinking about that. Maybe God’s will is more how than what.

Knowing the love of Christ

Next, Paul asks that the church might fully grasp how deeply loved each person is. Notice that there is no caveat assuming any transformation has taken place in them; we are loved and accepted by God as we are, warts and all. When we really grasp the “breadth and length and height and depth” (v. 18), we can’t help but be humbled. Princeton theologian Sally A. Brown writes, “The indwelling presence of God is a sheer and utter gift, not a reward for merit. God chooses to live among us; God’s glory fills us. This is sheer grace, unimaginable possibility, life-giving hope.” Paul uses the Greek uperballousan gvoseos, indicating a love that is beyond what we can comprehend on our own. This love is connected to the mystery of God, and by linking this mystery to our prayers, Bolz-Weber argues that God is both expansive and small:

Prayer is a blessed escape from the tyranny of my petty resentments and annoyances when I miraculously, and sometimes for the 100th time that day, get over myself and remember that God is bigger. And that is the mysterious part. The bigness of God is more unknowable than I used to think it was. And at the same time, God’s bigness infinitely folds in upon itself just enough to fit inside my smallness – like a divine nanobot, doing its redemptive work inside of me.

Recognizing God’s unknowability and mystery while being assured of the security of divine love is a blessing to pray for others. We can ask that they might understand the depth of Christ’s love for them, and we can ask that we might convey that same love to them, too. After all, Christ followers are Jesus’ hands and feet.

Trusting outcomes to God

Verses 20-21 are called a doxology or formal praise to God. In these verses, Paul acknowledges that God is able to achieve much more than we might ever desire or dream. While these verses are sometimes used to support the myth of productivity that is so common in the American culture, Paul is giving us an “out.” Without having us ask or pray, God is influencing people through the Holy Spirit toward more love, kindness, and goodness. We certainly can take part in promoting these qualities in the world, but the outcome is not in our hands. For reasons we don’t completely understand (remember the mystery of God), Paul encourages us to pray for others, knowing that the outcome of those prayers is not contingent on them, on our faith, or on the faith of those we pray for.

However, prayer for others ignites compassion in our hearts, which fuels social justice movements and change. Praying for those who suffer compels us to seek the flourishing of all, not just ourselves. We’re challenged to express this concern for others by taking concrete steps within our scope of influence, and in this manner, we are co-contributors with God in forging new systems and communities that are fair for all. In ways we can’t quite explain, prayer changes things.

When we focus on being spiritually grounded, comprehending Christ’s love, and trusting the outcomes of our prayers to God, our prayers are launched from a broader perspective rather than the nitty-gritty of personal or confidential details or prescriptively advising God on outcomes. Rather than dictating to God what we think should happen, we become agents of change in the world, co-contributors of flourishing, and participants in what God is doing in the world.

Call to Action: This week, ask the Holy Spirit to help you join in his prayer for others. Pay attention to your prayers for others and notice any tendency to devolve into gossipy details or prescriptively figure out a solution. If you catch yourself, try to reframe those prayers to ask for spiritual grounding, an awareness of deep divine love, and the most compassionate response from you toward that person. Ask God to help you see and love others as he does.

 

 

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From William Barclay commentary on Ephesians …

What is the cause which makes him pray?

It is God’s design that all the discordant elements should be brought into one in Jesus Christ. But that cannot be done unless the Church carries the message of Christ and of the love of God to every man.   He is praying that the people within the Church may be such that the whole Church will be the body of Christ.

We must note Paul’s attitude in prayer.  he more than that he kneels; he prostrates himself. The ordinary Jewish attitude of prayer was standing, with the hands stretched out and the palms upwards. Paul’s prayer for the Church is so intense that he prostrates himself before God in an agony of entreaty.

His prayer is to God the Father.

there are two closely interrelated words which have a certain similarity and yet a wide difference in their meaning.

1. There is paternity. Paternity means fatherhood in the purely physical sense of the term. It can be used of a fatherhood in which the father never even sees the child.
2. On the other hand there is fatherhood. Fatherhood describes the most intimate relationship of love and of fellowship and of care.

When men used the word father of God before Jesus came, they used it much more in the sense of paternity — that the gods were responsible for the creation of men. There was in the word none of the love and intimacy which Jesus put into it. The centre of the Christian conception of God is that he is like Jesus, that he is as kind, as loving, as merciful as Jesus was. 

(ii) God is the Father to whom we have access (Eph. 2:18; Eph. 3:12).

The essence of the Old Testament is that God was the person to whom access was forbidden. When Manoah, who was to be the father of Samson, realized who his visitor had been, he said: “We shall surely die, for we have seen God” (Judg.13:22). In the Jewish worship of the Temple the Holy of Holies was held to be the dwelling-place of God and into it only the High Priest might enter, and that only on one day of the year. the Day of Atonement.

The essence of the Christian faith is unrestricted access to the presence of God.

(iii) God is the Father of glory, the glorious Father (Eph. 1:17).

the Christian faith rejoices in the wonder of the accessibility of God without ever forgetting his holiness and his glory. God welcomes the sinner, but not if he wishes to trade on God’s love in order to remain a sinner. God is holy and those who seek his friendship must be holy too.

(iv) God is the Father of all (Eph. 4:6). No man, no Church, no nation has exclusive possession of God; that is the mistake which the Jews made. The fatherhood of God extends to all men, and that means that we must love and respect one another.

(v) God is the Father to whom thanks must be given (Eph. 5:20). The fatherhood of God implies the debt of man. It is wrong to think of God as helping us only in the great moments of life. Because God’s gifts come to us so regularly we tend to forget that they are gifts. The Christian should never forget that he owes, not only the salvation of his soul, but also life and breath and all things to God.

(vi) God is the pattern of all true fatherhood. That lays a tremendous responsibility on all human fathers.   We teach our children to call God father, and the only conception of fatherhood they can have is that which we give them.  Human fatherhood should be moulded on the fatherhood of God.

Paul prays that his people may be strengthened in the inner man. What did he mean? The inner man was a phrase by which the Greeks understood three things.

(a) There was a man’s reason. It was Paul’s prayer that his friends should be better able to discern between what was right and what was wrong.  He wanted Christ to give them the wisdom which would keep life pure and safe. 

(b) There was the conscience. It was Paul’s prayer that the conscience of his people should ever become more sensitive. It is possible to disregard conscience so long that in the end it becomes dulled. Paul prayed that Jesus should keep our consciences tender and on the alert.

(c) There was the will. So often we know what is right, and mean to do it, but our will is not strong enough to back our knowledge and to carry out our intentions.

The inner man is the reason, the conscience, the will.  

 

The strengthening of the inner man comes when Christ takes up his permanent residence in the man. The word Paul uses for dwelling is the Greek katoikein (GSN2730), which is the word used for permanent, as opposed to temporary, residence.

The secret of strength is the presence of Christ within our lives. Christ will gladly come into a man’s life — but he will never force his way in.  He must await our invitation to bring us his strength. 

 

Paul prays that the Christian may be able to grasp the meaning of the breadth, depth, length and height of the love of Christ.  It is as if Paul invited us to look at the universe to the limitless sky above, to the limitless horizons on every side, to the depth of the earth and of the seas beneath us, and said, “The love of Christ is as vast as that.”

It is not likely that Paul had any more definite thought in his mind than the sheer vastness of the love of Christ. But many people have taken this picture and have read meanings, some of them very beautiful, into it.

Jerome said that the love of Christ reaches up to include the holy angels; that it reaches down to include even the evil spirits in hell; that in its length it covers the men who are striving on the upward way; and in its breadth it covers the men who are wandering away from Christ.

• In the breadth of its sweep, the love of Christ includes every man of every kind in every age in every world;
• in the length to which it would go, the love of Christ accepted even the Cross;
• in its depth it descended to experience even death;
• in its height, he still loves us in heaven, where he ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb.7:25). 

No man is outside the love of Christ; no place is out with its reach.

 

Then Paul comes back again to the thought which dominates this epistle. Where is that love to be experienced? We experience it in the fellowship of the Church.

John Wesley’s saying was true …  “No man,” he said, “ever went to heaven alone.” The Church may have its faults; church members may be very far from what they ought to be; but in the fellowship of the Church we find the love of God.   

 

Paul ends with a doxology and an ascription of praise.  God can do for us more than we can dream of, and he does it for us in the Church and in Christ.  

Once again, before we leave this chapter, let us think of Paul’s glorious picture of the Church. This world is not what it was meant to be; it is torn in sunder by opposing forces and by hatred and strife. Nation is against nation, man is against man, class is against class. Within a man’s own self the fight rages between the evil and the good. It is God’s design that all men and all nations should become one in Christ. To achieve this end Christ needs the Church to go out and tell men of his love and of his mercy.  And the Church cannot do that, until its members, joined together in fellowship, experience the limitless love of Christ.