A television commercial depicts three business people sitting in the back seat of a taxi. The taxi is stalled in heavy downtown traffic. One man goes berserk.
He screams that they will miss the crucial business luncheon they were supposed to go to. The important documents they brought with them will not be delivered in time. They will be embarrassed. They will lose the contract. Another of the passengers also becomes frantic with distress.
Calmly, with a knowing smile, the businesswoman sitting between the two men opens her laptop computer, takes out her cellular phone, connects the two, and faxes the documents from her computer to their destination. The two men look amazed and then breathe a sigh of relief.
The apostle Paul had an even better idea. He was far removed from the churches that he knew and loved in Asia Minor. He wanted very much to communicate an important message to them. But, worse than being stuck in a taxi, he was confined to a Roman prison cell. So what did he do? He wrote a letter. Actually, the letter was a scroll delivered to the churches and read to each of the six congregations in the area.
Too, Paul did something else. He used a means of communication more powerful than faxes and cellular phones. He prayed for the church.
Earlier in this letter, we saw that Paul had prayed, thanking God for his fellow believers' faith in Jesus and love for the saints (1:15). He had prayed also for their increased wisdom about the Father's purpose in Christ (1:16-23).
Now, in Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul prays a second time. Paul said, "For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives it name..." Paul pictures himself physically kneeling in prayer. The typical Jewish posture in prayer was standing with the hands stretched out and the palms extended upwards. Paul's picture of himself kneeling may indicate the agony and concern he felt for the church.
What does Paul pray for? He prays that the church may be strengthened internally through the power of the Spirit (3:16). Paul knew what the infant church needed most. What the church needed was greater empowerment of their Christian commitment. With such inner empowerment, the church could confront any obstacle that might arise. But, without this strong, inner empowerment for their commitment, the church would falter at the slightest provocation.
Paul prays for more.
He prays that Christ may indwell their hearts through faith. He wants the church to be a home for Christ as he resides in their hearts (3:17). He prays that the believers may be "rooted and grounded in love" (3:17). Just as a plant must be rooted in good soil to be healthy and productive, even so must the church be rooted in and nurtured by love.
Then Paul comes to the pivotal part of his prayer: "I pray that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God" (3:18-19).
It was as if Paul invited the believers to look in every direction ... to the skies above, to the depths of the sea below; to every horizon whether north, south, east or west ... and suddenly realize that the love of Christ is as large and extensive as that! Paul wanted his readers to "comprehend" ... literally in Greek, to get down clearly in their understanding .... what this love of Christ was all about. Thus, as one New Testament scholar puts it, "There is to be not only a grounding in love to the bottom of our hearts but also a grasping of love to the top of our minds." Let's examine each of these four dimensions of love.
First let's consider....
The Breadth of Love
How wide is the love of God? Is it only as broad as a mountain stream? Or a catfish pond on a farm? Or the might Mississippi River? Or is it wider?
Some would like to restrict the size of God's love. But God's love does not honor our puny borders. His love does not stop just because we hang a sign out that reads: "Keep out!" Rather, God's love is like a giant tidal wave that surges forward whether we desire it or not. It is like a mighty rushing river that overflows our provincial banks to spread goodness on both the righteous and unrighteous.
God's love is not limited to one geographical section, such as the South. It is not restricted to one nation such as the United States. It is not confined to one civilization, such as the Western World. Rather, God's love embraces all people in all places of all tongues on earth.
After eleven years of marriage, a couple was blessed with ten children, none of which was twins. One day the pastor discussed with the mother the tension and difficulties of raising such a large family. He suspected that she would confess to certain neglect of one or more of the children, since the maternal demands were so great. Surprisingly, he heard her say: "No, I never forget a one of them, 'cause they're all precious to me." That is the way it is with God and all of His people. He never forgets one of us. We are all precious to Him.
To recognize theologically God's universal love is good. But we need to move to the next level. We need to recognize it practically. Here's where it gets hard.
During World War II, food was so severely rationed that one lady in Germany saved for months to get enough sugar and other ingredients to bake a tiny birthday cake for her elderly mother. On the appointed day she went to the railway station to catch the train to the little rural town where her mother lived. But as she waited in the station, she saw a Polish mother and her baby.
Both the mother and the baby were emaciated to the point of starvation.
For generations, bitter hostility had festered between Germans and Poles. The Nazi government had gone so far as to deprive its Polish citizens of the basic necessities of life.
Moved by the sight of such desperate hunger this German woman quietly laid her little cake in the baby carriage when the mother wasn't looking. She then prepared to board her train empty-handed. The railway station was teeming with Gestapo agents. One of them, seeing what she had done, stepped forward to ask why she, a German, would do such a thing for a Pole. With quiet courage, that simple servant woman turned to the dreaded Gestapo agent and said, "I did not give it to her as a German to a Pole, but as a Christian to one of Christ's own!"
What is the breadth of God's love? It is as wide as the world. It includes all whom God has created.
Next there is....
The Length of Love
How far back does it go? Does it go back only to the founding of a religious group called Baptists in 1611 in Spitalfield England (just outside of London)? No! Does it go back only to the Protestant Reformation in 1517, when a German monk named Martin Luther turned the church upside down? No! Does it go back only to the life and ministry of Jesus in A.D. 30 in Palestine? No, for there's more!
Does it go back only to the building of the majestic Temple in Herod's day? No!
Does it go back only to the formation of the covenant and the giving of Torah (that is, the Law) at the foot of Mt. Sinai? No! Does it go back only to the liberation of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage in 1290 BC? No! Does it go back only to the call of Abraham to be the father of the nation? No! Does it be back only to the mark of mercy that God placed on the murderer, Cain, after he killed his brother? No! The truth is, the love of God reaches back to the primeval pair in the Garden of Eden, to the creation itself, and even beyond. If you wish to find God, simply follow the trail of love that is etched in the sands of time and eternity.
You see, love is the focus of creation. Why did God create the world? Why did He create us? Love must be the answer. Look at it this way. God created human beings in His own image. One meaning of this truth is that we have the capacity to experience God, to know Him and be known by Him. We have the capacity to experience His love. We experience it not only in our creation, but in our redemption and providential care.
Not only does God love us, but He desires that we love Him. A relationship is dysfunctional when only one member does all the loving. God calls us to love Him, praise Him, and give Him first place in our life.
God also calls us to love one another. In this dry, arid, and parched world, we need to spread a little love around. Make that a lot of love. We need to express the love of Christ. His love is not Eros, the sort of love that only demands from others. His love is not philos, the social or friendship love marked by mutual sharing. Rather, Christ's love is agape ... sacrificial love. This sort of love gives and acts in the interest of the other without thought of return or reward. It is unconditional love.
Third, there is....
The Height of Love
How high does God's love reach? The tallest pine tree? The tallest mountain in North America? Mount Everest? No!
Divine love climbs every mountain, crosses every sea, and overcomes every obstacle until it reaches the very throne of God Himself. John in his vision on the island of Patmos was permitted to see the very throne room of God (Rev. 4-5). God is seated on His regal throne. Surrounding Him are twenty-four elders, representing the twelve tribes of Israel of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New Testament. So, represented here are the corporate people of God.
On the other side of the throne are four living creatures, representing the created order. One is like a lion, symbolizing all wild creatures. One is like an ox, symbolizing all domesticated creatures. One is like the face of a man, symbolizing humanity. One is like a flying eagle, symbolizing all flying creatures. Included in the company is the Lamb, the crucified and exalted Christ.
What is the response to this vast company to the enthroned God and His Lamb? They join in one great chorus: "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever!" (Rev. 5:13).
Why do they praise Him? It's all about love, God's love that He has shown in numerous ways, but supremely in Christ.
The God they praise is the source and supply of love. God's love is not like cotton candy ... all taste, no substance. God's love is not like a sorority or fraternity that admits only a special class of people. God's love is not like a reed blowing in the wind, pleasing and placating only the powerful and elite.
God's love is not vulnerable to economic forces or pressures such as inflation, recession, and floating market values. God's love is not determined by the majority vote of the population. God's love is not just one of many fine qualities of a benevolent Father.
Rather, love is the very ground or essence of God's eternal being. God does not just demonstrate love. He is love (1 John 4:8). Everything God stands for and does is grounded in His loving nature. Because He loves us, He judges us. God's loving nature means that He is a personal God. New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd wrote, "But if the characteristic divine activity is that of love, then God must be personal, for we cannot be loved by an abstraction..."
Then look at.....
The Depth of Love
How deep does God's love reach? Through soft soil until it strikes hard rock and then it stops? Through the good times only to cease at the point of rejection and defeat? No!
In July, 1942, six P-38's and two B-17 heavy bombers left the United States to assist England the allies in their fight against Hitler and Nazism. The plan called for the airplanes to fly from Main to Goose Bay, Labrador. Then on to Greenland, Iceland, and finally, Ireland.
En route from Greenland to Iceland, the flight radioed for instructions to land.
They received a coded radio message that the Iceland airfield was closed. Actually, it was open. Either the Germans intercepted the request and reported false information or the officer on duty read from the wrong code book.
Whatever the case, the squadron turned back toward an air base in Greenland.
Realizing that they were low on fuel, they landed on an icecap in Greenland.
All twenty-five crew members were rescued by US Coast Guard vessels.
For many years the aircraft lay buried beneath a mountain of now created by a succession of snow blizzards. Finally, fifty years later on July 15, 1992, an expedition was made to retrieve one of the planes, restore it, and exhibit it.
The project featured the latest high-tech equipment. Utilizing special radar, the expedition located the airplane buried 268 feet in the snow. This is almost the length of a football field! With hot water pressure guns, they cut a shaft leading to the aircraft. Then they cut a second shaft, where they brought the aircraft, piece by piece, to the surface. At enormous financial cost and personal risk, they succeeded in their mission. Today the P-38 fighter can be viewed in a museum in Middlesboro, KY. Of course, recovering the airplane from such a depth was remarkable.
But God's love reaches even deeper to reclaim us and to bless us.
Indeed, the love of God knows no limits. It plunges to the deepest and darkest caverns of human experience to rescue one person. It travels to the most remote spot, the most unlikely and despicable spot, the place of deepest trouble, to reach one perishing person. This is how deep God's love is.
Think About This
Fred Craddock tells the story of his first church. It was a beautiful little white church on a hill in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The church was beautifully maintained. The pews had been hand-hewn from giant poplar trees that had grown nearby. Little kerosene lamps on the walls provided light inside the church. This little church was 112 years old, and most of the charter members were still living and active in the church. The church had a pump organ, and Miss Mary, the organist played it just as slow as possible. Needless to say, the Spirit seldom moved.
One day, somewhere in the Pentagon in Washington, someone in their wisdom decided to put a nuclear power plant in this scenic, ideal little town. People began showing up with license plates from such places as Pennsylvania, Washington, New York, Oklahoma and yes, God help us all, Texas. In every hill and holler there were to be seen travel trailers and even motorcycles. It was clearly a satanic invasion. The pastor called the elders together ... you know what elders are?... just like deacons except they are more spiritual. He suggested that they begin an outreach program to reach all of these new people in town. The elders were appalled. What if these people were allowed to stay in town, why they might intermarry with our people. Surely we don't want them coming into our church. They probably don't sing our songs. After more discussion it got quiet. Finally, everyone got hungry and decided to go home and resume the conversation next Sunday.
After church the next Sunday, Fred called the elders together a second time.
Before he had a chance to say anything, the number one leader in the church said, "I move that we change the locks on the church and nobody can have a key who does not own property in this county!" And somebody else said, "Amen! I second the motion!" They voted it in unanimously except for the preacher, and they told him his vote didn't count anyway. He became a little nervous since he lived in the pastoreum and didn't own property in the county.
Years later, Fred and his wife were driving through that part of the country. He said to his wife, "Let's go by and see the old church." He said they had a hard time finding it because interstates had been built and things had changed a lot.
But they kept driving around and stopping at stores to ask for directions. They finally found where the church was. It was still on a secondary road. So they drove to the top of the hill, and there is was .... a beautiful little church, gleaming white on the hillside.
But there was a difference. The parking lot was full of cars, trucks, RVs, and motorcycles. People were going in and out of the building. Fred and his wife were thrilled. When they finally found a parking place and began to walk toward the entrance, they finally found the sign. It read, "Oak Ridge, Barbecue."
Fred considered the people who were present at the tables and thought of what the elders had decided so long ago. He said to his wife, "You know, it's a good thing this place is not a church now because these people couldn't come here."
As the church, we can model the love of Jesus as we love and accept people.
Or we can be exclusive in our love and forfeit our calling to be an authentic church.
