July 25, 2021
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Ephesians 3:14-21
Length Times Width Times Height
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
In a recent daily devotional by Henri Nouwen, he reflected on intercessory prayer. When someone shares their struggles and concerns, we frequently reply, “I’ll pray for you.” Sadly, that statement often remains only a sentiment of well meaning.
Nouwen addresses how that sentiment becomes more than just a passing thought:
“…when we learn to descend with our mind into our heart, then all those who have become part of our lives are led into the healing presence of God and touched by him in the center of our being. We are speaking here about a mystery for which words are inadequate. It is the mystery that the heart, which is the center of our being, is transformed by God into his own heart, a heart large enough to embrace the entire universe.”
Wow, pretty cosmic. Infinity in our hearts. How can our heart hold so much? It’s not our heart. My heart is way too small for that! But with God, the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s heart is eternal.
In our reading today from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he includes a prayer for them. He prays that they may be strengthened in their inner being. It’s not the head he’s aiming for. It’s the heart, their inner nature. He prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts.
It’s one thing to know about Jesus in our head. We can understand his life story. We can quote chapter and verse from the gospels. We can provide models of how Jesus can be both truly God and fully human.
But Paul wishes more than head knowledge for the Ephesians. He wants them to descend from the mind into the heart, the same thing Henri Nouwen was discussing.
Something altogether different happens when we know with our heart. Heart understanding is like a giant taproot. It keeps us fed and anchored.
Heart understanding can also appreciate something that completely stymies head knowledge. Hearts can absorb this knowledge, but brains are stumped. Our logical brains simply don’t know what to do with mystery. But hearts can grasp and appreciate mystery.
• Hearts stand before the empty tomb and say, “How great thou art!”
• Hearts come with open hands to the feast of communion and leave filled.
• Hearts feel and know the peace that passes all human understanding.
This is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, that their knowledge and understanding of Christ may sink into their hearts. The only way to recognize and appreciate the full breadth and height and depth and length of God’s love is through our heart. Knowing with the mind is not enough. We must allow the Spirit to descend from the mind and into the heart. Only then will heavenly grace and love dwell and take root in all their magnitude and abundance.
We can only pass along to others what we ourselves possess. It’s impossible to share with others what we don’t have or don’t know. An educator can’t teach calculus until they’ve grasped the underlying mathematical concepts. A baseball hitting coach can’t train young players without having stood at the plate themselves. An electrician can’t take on an apprentice until they can troubleshoot and fix any electrical situation.
So as people of faith, we can only pass on the knowledge of God’s grace and actions that we ourselves have come to understand. And there is so much there, Paul knows.
One day, Jesus was invited to dine at the home of a certain Pharisee. During his visit, a particular woman from the village entered the Pharisee’s house. She began weeping over and kissing Jesus’ feet. The Pharisee regarded the woman with contempt. He felt less of Jesus for not rejecting her. “If Jesus was really a prophet,” he thought to himself, “He would know what a sinner she is.”
But this woman knew in her heart what the Pharisee would never know. She knew that she was truly forgiven and washed clean. Jesus answered the Pharisee, “The one who is forgiven little, loves little.”
We can only pass along what we have received. If we are ever to pass it along to others, the full breadth and height and depth and length of God’s love and salvation must first be internalized and appreciated by us.
Paul speaks of the dimensions of this loving grace:
“I pray that you may have the power to comprehend…what is the breadth and length and height and depth and know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”
The dimensions of Christ’s compassion are infinite. No tape measure would be long enough to assess its scope. It’s infinite and ever expanding.
These same dimensions are reflected in the cross. Its beams reach up and down and side to side. St. Jerome reflected on the cross’ dimensions. He stated that the cross reaches upwards to the angels and downwards to the evil spirits. And the breadth of the cross expands to encompass the people of every land and time. The cross holds within its dimensions the expanse of Christ’s saving grace.
In faith, the heart can appreciate the unlimited dimensions of Christ’s love. But we are so easily distracted and diverted. These other distractions take us away from this joyous center of abundance and grace. They lure us:
• To become judgmental – we sit in judgement and condemn not only others, but also ourselves. The tapes of criticism play in an unending loop inside our minds.
• To become exclusionary – These unholy distractions tell us who is in and who is out. We place ourselves at the right hand of God and judge the reach of salvation.
• To become conditional – Yes, yes, there is Christ’s love, but for that love to be made real, you must first reach certain minimum standards in faith and in practice. Salvation and grace are for the worthy.
• To become fearful – When the dimensions of Christ’s love are limited, then there is only a finite amount of grace to go around. More love for others means less love for us.
How often the church of Christ falls into these traps! And when we do, the gospel is not preached in its full height and length and depth and breadth. That’s why it’s important for us to stay prayed up. In our prayers we descend from our minds and into our hearts. And when that happens, our hearts are transformed into God’s own heart. And then, the dimensions of grace expand to their fullness. Then, the one who is at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine. How high and how wide! How great is your love, O Lord! Descend into our hearts! May our hearts be rooted and grounded in your love.
