INTRO:
Aren’t batteries amazing? I don’t really understand how they work – I just know that somehow they give a mechanical device the power they need to perform what it was designed for. The bad thing about batteries is they get old and worn down, and eventually don’t work any more.
Last summer I had that common experience of not being able to get my car started. I called my mechanic, and he came to see what was wrong – he gave me a jump start and told me to go immediately to get a new battery. So I got in the car and headed to Les Schwab. On the way there, I decided to turn on the radio. Bad idea. After about 5 seconds the car engine shut off. Seems the battery was so weak that just that little bit of extra power needed to give the radio it’s power sucked the energy out of that old battery. It just couldn’t handle any extra demands.
Sometimes I feel like that. Sometimes I feel like my inner battery has been sucked dry of it’s power to sustain me and keep me functioning in all the capacities I’m called upon as a father, husband, and pastor. And then if something else happens that is stressful or requires my energy – it can feel like I just want to shut down. Can anybody relate to this?
I think it’s a common experience to most of us that we can feel like what is being required of us is taking out more energy than we have in our emotional/spiritual/physical batteries. The good news is there is a solution, and God has something even better than an Energizer bunny for our souls.
Last week I talked about the idea that “God Likes You”. In that message I shared what I believe to be true – that we can only obey God over the long haul if we love him – and that we can only really love God if we first receive his love for us. I went on to say that God’s love in our lives is the fuel we need to live for him.
There is more to the story, however. Because God does not just give us his love, he gives us Himself, as we’ll see in our scripture passage for today.
Turn with me now to Ephesians 3:16…
As I read this look for how God wants to empower and fill us – there are three ways Paul mentions. This is one of two fantastic prayers that Paul prays for the church in Ephesus – but I believe we can learn so much from this prayer and pray it for ourselves as well.
Ephesians 3:16-21 (NIV) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
How can we be strengthened? 3 ways are mentioned.
1. We are strengthened through his Spirit in our inner being. (v. 16)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…
When that car battery is dead what it needs is someone to come and give it a jump start. It cannot just rest and on it’s own summon new power. It needs an outside source.
Good news - All believers in Christ are given this outside source – the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 1:13-14 (NIV) And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory.
Paul prays that the believers in Ephesus would not just receive that seal or deposit – but that through the Holy Spirit you might be strengthened out of the glorious riches of power that he has.
Paul has experienced for himself what it is to receive power from the Holy Spirit when he had none himself to give, and he wants everyone in the church to know what this is like. This is my desire for you as well!
TRANS: Paul goes on to say what the result of this power at work in our lives should be. And it leads in to the second way God wants to empower us…
2. We are strengthened through Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith. (v. 17)
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…
Not only do we get the Holy Spirit, but through his miraculous work in our lives, he creates a place in our hearts where Christ may dwell – the term speaks of a long term residence, not a short visit.
In the classic devotional booklet My Heart, Christ’s Home, Richard Boyd Munger wrote an allegory of how he invited Christ to come and live in the “home” of his “heart”. He then proceeded to show Jesus around the different “rooms” of his heart and talked about how, room by room, Christ gently brought changes to what he found, as the man in the story gave him permission to do so. (It’s a great resource and you can read it on the net – just search for My Heart Christ’s Home.)
The only way that Christ can take residence in our hearts and in our lives, though, is by us putting our faith in him and trusting him to be the authority in our lives.
As Munger relates in his allegory, at the end of the story the man actually takes the deed for his “house” and signs it over to Christ. Instead of seeing Christ as the visitor, he finally came to a point of giving his entire life over to Christ and putting himself in the place of the servant.
I think the more we understand this, the more we can tap into the power that Christ, dwelling in our hearts, can give us.
TRANS: Paul goes on to pray that we will know and experience the 3rd source of strength God has for us...
3. We are strengthened by being filled with the love of God. (17b-19)
Eph. 3:17b And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
Eph. 3:18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Eph. 3:19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
This goes back to what I was talking about last week – when we start to truly understand God’s heart toward us – that love will begin to fill us and strengthen us for fulfilling our role in God’s Kingdom.
Paul prays that they would somehow be able to understand - even though it surpasses knowledge - the great love of Christ.
That it is so wide that it reaches the whole earth and beyond.
That is is so long that it stretches from eternity to eternity.
That it is so high that it can raise both Jew and Gentile to heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
That it is so deep that it can rescue sinners like me and you from sin’s degradation and from the clutches of Satan himself.
The problem is, too many people have a wrong idea about the character of God. Instead of a loving father, they see a stern schoolmaster ready to rap their hands any time they fail.
ILLUS: In his book, Connecting, Larry Crabb writes:
A friend of mine was raised in an angry family. Mealtimes were either silent or sarcastically noisy. Down the street was an old-fashioned house with a big porch where a happy family lived. My friend told me that when he was about ten, he began excusing himself from his dinner table as soon as he could without being yelled at, and walking to the old-fashioned house down the street. If he arrived during dinnertime, he would crawl under the porch and just sit there, listening to the sounds of laughter.
When he told me this story, I asked him to imagine what it would have been like if the father in the house somehow knew he was huddled beneath the porch and sent his son to invite him in. I asked him to envision what it would have meant to him to accept the invitation, to sit at the table, to accidentally spill his glass of water, and hear the father roar with delight, "Get him more water! And a dry shirt! I want him to enjoy the meal!"
Crabb goes on to say, "We need to hear the Father laugh.”
One of my prayers for my children is that they will know, deep down in their heart, that no matter what they are loved. They are valued. They hold my heart as their father no matter what they do.
This is God’s desire for you and me, too. That we would know, deep down in our hearts, that God loves us. That his heart is one of compassion and forgiveness toward us. That in Christ, he gave everything He had to purchase our salvation.
Paul prays that the church would know this love that surpasses all knowledge, and that this love would “fill us even to the measure of the fullness of God!”
CONCLUSION
So if you feel like your spiritual, emotional, and physical batteries are running low on power, first of all you need to understand that God has power for you.
1. From His Spirit in your inner being.
2. From Christ dwelling in your heart.
3. From the love of God filling you.
But I can’t stop there – I’ve got to finish out the chapter because the result of all that God has for us is so incredible!
Eph. 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Did you catch that? It says that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. You know what that means to me? It means that God has much bigger dreams for what He wants to accomplish through me and through this church than I do. It means I can never “outdream” God. It means I should be praying more for BIG DREAMS that could only happen by faith.
ILLUS: Last week our family went to see the Watoto Children’s Choir in concert here in town. They are AIDS orphans from Uganda who tour the US to raise support for the ministry that supports hundreds of AIDS orphans there. A great part of the concert was when each of the 20 or so children shared their age, and what they dreamed of becoming. Each of them had a dream: doctor, pilot, pastor, accountant, even a bus driver! The leader of the group reminded us that before they were brought to the village where they are now cared for – none of these kids had dreams beyond just trying to live. Now, because of what the church has provided for them, and because of the love of Christ – they have dreams.
I came home wondering to myself, “What is MY dream?” And I realized that I have stopped dreaming – I’ve stopped asking God for incredible things. How about you?
I’ve been reminded that because of the power God has for me, not only can my batteries be recharged – God can do immeasurably more than I think is possible through me, through you, through this church.
God’s power is there for us – but we must tap into it. He has given us resources, but if we choose not to tap into them we will get burned out, tired, and stressed out.
Paul prayed that the church would experience all the power God had for them – and I want to pray for you, too. If you want to “tap into” this power and experience it more in your life I will invite you as we pray to simply raise your hands up to the Lord.
Ephesians 3:16-21 (NIV) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
