REDIRECTED BY LOVE
Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
Paul is attempting to unite two very disparate groups—Jews and gentiles within the fledgling Christian church. For the Jews, it was difficult to accept people who were not part of the tradition, men who were not circumcised and people who ate unclean foods. The gentile community was equally guarded. Jews were stereotyped as lazy (for not working one day a week), they were exclusionary because practising Jews refused to intermarry. They were often accused of being anti-social, ‘haters of humanity’ and atheists who ‘worshiped the clouds.’ In general, in the 21st century, it is difficult to connect with the suspicion between the two groups. But imagine the most MAGA supporters and the most Democratic supporters called to worship together as one. Divisions about who is ‘right’ and who has a right to be here are similarly passionate in our century.
Paul’s inclusive approach is to ‘bow my knees before the Father.’ The ordinary way to view the world is to notice how we are different. Paul calls us to remember how we are the same. We belong to the family of God. We are brothers and sisters with a common father. This realization transforms how we view each other—even if we fiercely disagree.
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit.
Our inner beings must be transformed and strengthened by the Spirit. It is a biological imperative that we put ourselves first and compete for resources. Survival of the fittest has allowed our species to survive. It is the most natural way to live. However, if that is all we know, we will spend our lives competing and protecting ourselves. Ultimately, no matter how strong, wealthy or powerful we become— individually or nationally, the treadmill of competition ends in our individual death and eventually, the fall of empires.
Jesus presented an entirely different way. He loved without regard to such secular values. He ignored people’s classifications and rankings. He simply loved the person in front of him. He predicted that our ways could only fail but His way led to life. Choosing to love our neighbor as ourselves—because we see ourselves as children of God, requires insight and revelation that must come from the Spirit. Only when that happens can we begin to interrupt our self defeating patterns. Only then can we be saved from ourselves.
I see clients all the time who are bright enough to see that their modes of coping are hurtful to themselves and others. But that knowledge is not sufficient. It is important but not sufficient. We change, not because we should, but because we are loved—in our limitations—in our sinfulness. That is our promise but it must become our experience. Words can inspire but experiences transform. Such transformation is the work of the Spirit.
I pray that…”Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love”
Our faith is far more about trusting God’s steadfast love that it is about any of our creeds. I asked our Faith in Real Life groups to name experiences which changed how they lived. Linda Huffine’s work with threshold has changed how she gives. Catherine Carter found herself ‘overwhelmed’, as a teenager by a call to mission work. Nesie and Neal described their need to question—and as importantly, the experience of being accepted in their ‘searching’.
Each in their own way described ‘aha’ experiences that their logic did not predict. It could be as dramatic as an entire change or focus and direction in life, as seemingly unlikely as the experience of the presence of a lost loved one, or the ‘simple’ experience of being seen when they expected to be invisible. Our faith is that these are the experiences that teach us that Christ dwells in our hearts. These are the experiences of being loved that empower us. These are the experiences of being loved that root us and ground us.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Paul had such an experience on the road to Damascus. He was an educated man and a religious man. He believed in rules and the need for obedience. He zealously sought to root out the Christian heresy that challenged his beliefs. But he was blinded so that he could learn to see. His life was transformed from violent enforcement and exclusion to a life of inclusion and reconciliation. His dramatic transformation changed the course of Christian history. In ordinary terms, he began to comprehend “what is the breadth and length and height and depth (of Christ’s love) and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. When that happened, he was filled with awe.
Though the experience of such awe is usually associated with extraordinary experiences, most of us will not have such dramatic experiences. But Paul hopes and prays that we all participate in the slow incremental process of opening our eyes to a way of life that surpasses our human knowledge. FYI, a simple discipline of noticing where we are grateful, where there is beauty—even as there is chaos around us, will lead to a “Layered mindfulness” of God. We will begin to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. We will see God with us and that God is always with us. That cumulative experience will redirect your life and open your eyes every bit as much as being struck on the road to Damascus. This is how we “may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
