One way of telling what a Christian’s chief concerns and priorities are is to study the contents of their prayers. We all tend to pray about what concerns us, and tend to forget to pray about the things that don’t. At the same time it can be good to listen to others prayers so we can learn and broaden our own prayer life. So it’s a good thing that Paul records for us in a number of places the content of his prayers for his converts. We looked a few weeks back at the prayer in chapter 1 that the Ephesian Christians would have their hearts enlightened so that they would know in a personal way the hope to which God had called them and the incomparably great power of God for those who believe in Christ. So too today we find a prayer of Paul for the Ephesians, that God’s eternal plan would be fulfilled in their experience.
The Privilege of preaching the gospel
Paul has just finished explaining to them how God’s plan is that all people should be brought together into a new single humanity, and now he turns to prayer.
He begins "For this reason, I Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--" And then he stops. It’s as though he’s just had a thought, as though he thinks to himself, "There’s more that I can say about the reason for this prayer before I actually say what the prayer is. The fact that I’m a prisoner shows just how much I believe in this prayer. And at the same time he thinks that he doesn’t want them to be discouraged by the fact that he’s a prisoner on their behalf.
In fact not only shouldn’t they be discouraged, the opposite is actually true. The privilege of sharing the gospel far outweighs any suffering that might accompany it. I wonder do you struggle with this sometimes? Whether it’s worth the cost of being active as a Christian. I remember when I left engineering and went to Ridley, people would say how amazing they found it that I would give up all that to be a minister, as though the cost was too much. Others have found that to be a person of integrity in the workplace has meant speaking out and losing favour with those in power. But if you ask them whether they’d do it again they’ll probably say yes. Because the privilege of being an ambassador for Christ far outweighs the cost involved.
Look at what Paul says. He outlines two great privileges that are his in being a servant of the gospel. Both are accompanied by the phrase: "God’s grace that was given me". As we look at these I want you to also think about how these gifts, these privileges are yours as well.
- The revelation of the mystery of the gospel
First he says "surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, 3and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words." The first outpouring of God’s grace to Paul was the revelation of God’s plan for the world, given to him on the Damascus Road when Jesus spoke to him and called him to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles. He refers to this as the mystery. Now to our minds a mystery is something that needs to be unravelled by a detective, to solve a crime. But in Paul’s day the term was used of the inner workings of a religion that were revealed only to the initiated. That is they were truths that some people knew about and so could reveal to others. But here, the mystery, we’re told, was known to no-one but God. Not even the angels in heaven knew about it until it was revealed through the apostles and the prophets (NT prophets that is.) But now the mystery has been revealed. In fact Paul himself has been instrumental in revealing it to all peoples. You could liken this idea to those scientists who are working to unravel the secret of DNA, so they can understand more of the mystery of life. The more they unravel, the more the mystery is revealed.
So what is the content of this mystery? (v6) That the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel of the same promise, the promise to Abraham; that they’re fellow members of the same body; and that they’re fellow sharers in the promise: of eternal life, of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, of forgiveness, etc. And this shared privilege is at the same time "in Christ" and "through the gospel." In other words, it comes about as the Gentiles are incorporated into Christ. And how does that happen? Through the preaching of the gospel.
That takes us to the second privilege.
- The commission to reveal that mystery to the nations
In fact Paul hints at it in v2. The word translated commission there is the term stewardship. That is, he’s been made a steward of the gospel. The result of the revelation of God’s grace is that he’s given the responsibility of telling others about it. He says in v7 "Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. 8Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ." It isn’t a burden to him. On the contrary it’s a great privilege. He says "I was the least of all God’s people. But look what’s happened to me. In God’s grace I’ve been allowed to share the gospel with the Gentiles." "I’ve become the instrument by which this mystery has now been revealed to all peoples." Again, he repeats the content of this mystery: (v10) "that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places."
Now notice how he’s expanded on what he said in v6. In v6 it was simply that the Gentiles are co-heirs, etc., with the Jews. But now it’s that through the Church the wisdom of God might be made known. The Church, you see, is critical to God’s plan. It’s through the Church that the rulers and authorities will see God’s wisdom being worked out. We have a part to play. So how is that to be? It’ll come about as the Church reveals the sort of unity and desire for reconciliation that we heard about last week. It’ll come about as the Church shows what it means to be united as a single family with Christ as its head.
A Prayer for Power
"For this reason", says Paul, "I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name." Now that first phrase, in itself, is an interesting one. You see, the usual position for Jewish prayer was standing with the hands upraised. But here, Paul falls on his knees in prayer. He’s so earnest in this prayer that he falls on his knees before God. So what is it that drives him to his knees? I think the answer is twofold. First this is such an important issue for the Church. He’s spoken of this one issue all the way through the letter so far. He’ll say more about it in the next chapter. This issue of unity in the church is of primary importance. But, secondly, he realises how difficult a thing it is to achieve. I mean we don’t have to look too hard at the worldwide Christian Church today to see how difficult this is. How many different denominations are there? How many independent churches? There are thousands! So at a worldwide level, although 2000 years have passed, they’ve only brought us further division. Even at a denominational level you don’t need to look too far to see the range of issues and opinions that separate us from other Anglicans. And at the local level, just think how easily we can be diverted from unity by some issue or other that in the end is far from eternal in its significance, as important as it may be at the time.
So Paul sees the difficulty in achieving this most important of goals. In fact he probably realises that humanly speaking it’s an impossible goal to aim for. And so he falls to his knees in prayer. And who does he pray to? To the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. You see, if there’s to be any hope for the Church, it’s this: that we’ll become more like our Father. That we’ll grow closer to him. Imagine the family of God as being like a cone, with the Father at the tip of the cone. The idea closer we grow to the Father, the closer we’re brought to each other.
- Inner strength
But let’s look at what he prays for them. The first thing he prays for is that they might be strengthened in their inner being with power through his Spirit, according to the riches of his glory. This is a combination that he’s already mentioned in his first prayer for them in ch 1. The power he speaks of there, is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in glory. That is, it’s life-giving power. One of the reasons we find it hard to achieve unity as a church is that we still struggle with our old dead nature. God has given us new life in Christ, but there’s part of us that still needs to be brought back to life. Well, God has that power, and exercises it through the working of the Spirit in our inner being. The same idea comes out in the next phrase, as he prays that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
I guess most of you have moved into a new house or apartment at some time? What was the first thing you did apart from unpacking all those boxes? It might have been to put up some pictures. It might have been to take down that awful red and orange wallpaper. Or maybe to put up some red and orange wallpaper. You might have decided to repaint the walls. You might have dug up the front lawn and planted a cottage garden. Whatever it was, your aim was to make your new house or apartment your home. To modify it to reflect your character, your likes and dislikes. Well, that’s what Christ does when he comes to dwell in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. He starts to work through the various compartments of our lives and clean them out. He changes them around; gives them a new coat of paint, cleans out the mess, opens the windows and lets the fresh air of the Spirit blow through, until we become a dwelling place suitable for the Son of God.
- A foundation and experience of love
Related to this, Paul prays that they would be rooted and grounded in love, (deep roots and firm foundations) and be able to comprehend the vast dimensions of Christ’s love. In fact more than just comprehend it.. He says he wants them to know it, even though it surpasses knowledge. Now this isn’t just an intellectual knowledge. It’s experiential as well. One of the first Scripture verses that Christians used to learn was John 3:16. We learnt about God’s love from an early age. But Paul is talking about something far richer than just knowing about God’s love. He wants us to know it from experience. It’s a bit like discovering that your wife or your husband loves you. My wife could have told me she loved me every day, and I would have believed her, because she’s a trustworthy sort of person. But it was only when she held me in her arms and kissed me with the passion that comes from that sort of love that I really knew it was true. It’s the same with our children. We can tell them we love them, but they really know it, as their experience confirms what we say. I was talking to someone this week about the way teenagers push the boundaries with their parents. How many times have teenager and parent ended up in a screaming match, with the teenager telling the parent what they think of them, using all sorts of crude language. I’ve done it, and I’ve had it done to me. And what do they discover later, as they think back on what they said, as they feel guilt and shame for the way they spoke? Well, hopefully they discover that their parents haven’t disowned them, that they still love them for who they are. And so their understanding of being loved grows. (or the child who wanders off in the bush and gets lost.)
Well, that’s what Paul prays for us. That we’ll experience what it feels like to be fully accepted by Jesus Christ. That we’ll experience his love that defies definition. But again, notice that he says in v18, "that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints." The individual Christian can certainly know something of the love of God, but it needs the whole people of God to comprehend the whole love of God. Part of this is the experience of acceptance and forgiveness within the body that reflects what we receive from God.
- The fullness of God
Finally, he prays that they may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now this is a phrase he comes back to in ch 4:13 where he says "until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." So the idea of the fullness of God or the fullness of Christ has to do with maturity. That is, to becoming someone truly made in God’s likeness, reflecting all the characteristics of God. Notice that this is the natural outworking of knowing the love of Christ. The two are bound together. As we experience Christ’s love in our lives, we’re changed. As we begin to accept that Christ has accepted us, has forgiven us, we begin to show that same acceptance and forgiveness of others, and so we begin to grow to the fullness of God.
- The glory of God.
Well, Paul ends his prayer with a doxology, that at the same time gives a basis for confidence in expecting his prayer to be answered and a motivation for us to work towards allowing it to happen in our own lives. I hope you’ll have noticed that it’s the same verse that’s on the bottom of our mission statement. He says "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." What sort of power do you think is necessary for wilful human beings to be united as a Church? It’d take enormous power wouldn’t it? Almost too much for us to even think of asking for it. No, he says, the sort of power you’re talking about is already at work within us. This power, already at work within us, is able to accomplish far more than we could even imagine. This power is greater than that of an atomic bomb. Greater than a neutron bomb. All we need, Jesus said, is faith the size of a mustard seed, and we could move mountains.
And the motivation for all this? The motivation for us to be united as a Church? God’s Glory! He says "to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." What we’re aiming for as a Church is that God would be glorified through us. And how will that come about? As we work together in unity. As we seek reconciliation with each other. As we forgive each other just as Christ forgave us. Then the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places will see God’s eternal wisdom, his eternal plan, coming to fruition.
Let’s pray that we would be so filled with the power that comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, from knowing Christ and his love for us, that we would show forth God’s glory in all we do.
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