Ordinary Time Week 9

Psalm: Psalm 14 or Psalm 145:10-18 
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11:1-15
  or 2 Kings 4:42-44 
Gospel: John 6:1-21 
Epistle: Ephesians 3:14-21

This week we have 3 really classic and well-known passages of Scripture. First in 2 Samuel we have the narrative of David and Bathsheba. John 6 tells the story of the feeding of the 5,000. And finally our passage in Ephesians is one of Paul's powerful prayers for his readers and is used around the world every Sunday as a benediction to church services.

I wish I had time to discuss all the readings, but I want to continue our discussion from last week concerning Ephesians.

Our passage this week starts in verse 14, but Paul picks up where he left off in verse 1 of this chapter. "For this reason..." he writes in both instances. Verse 1 is the start of the prayer that is then picked up again here in verse 14. The reason he is praying for the Ephesians, and the reason he is in chains incidentally, is because of the burden placed on him to be the disciples to the Gentiles. We discussed last week Paul's message of  unity in Christ for all peoples--Jew and Greek. We must also remember the struggle and persecution the Ephesians Christians were facing and even the fact that Paul was writing this letter from prison. So that context of fear, hurt, maybe a sense of shame placed by non-christian family members, and doubt perhaps about their Faith all go into the prayer Paul offers to the church in Ephesus.

A few things at the outset before we look at the particular elements. First, notice the prayer is to God the Father. This seems to be the modus operandi for prayer in the New Testament, as Jesus himself taught us in the Lord's Payer, "Our Farther who art in heaven." Second point is that although the prayer is to the Father, it is thoroughly Trinitarian. Both Christ and the Spirit are mentioned.

So lets look at the prayer itself. The first thing Paul prays is that they would be strengthened with power through the Spirit, "according to the riches of His glory." (16) A reader might pause here and ask just how much power is that? Paul answers that question later in the prayer. But first he prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith and that rooted in love they would be able to understand just how great the love of God truly is. Paul wants his readers to "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." (18) The possibility for this flows out of what he said in the preceding verse that Christ may dwell in their hearts. The only way to know Christ's love and to explore its fullest depths possible is to continually let Christ dwell deeper in the believers life. The deeper Christ lives in someone, the deeper the knowledge of Christ can grow. You can't have one without the other. Paradoxically, Paul prays that the reader would be able to comprehend that which surpasses knowledge. So although the believer could constantly grow in knowledge and insight into God's love, there will always be more to learn and ways to grow.

Paul returns now and answers the question of just how much power God has and how much he can strengthen us to live faithfully to his calling. He writes, that God can "do far more abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think." (20) Just as his love surpasses human understanding, so does his power. Human imagination can't even comprehend the bounds of God's attributes. And the crazy and wonderful thing is that Paul says that that power can work within the life of the believer! Next Paul mentions the Church as the place where his glory will be manifested. (And notice also the mention of "all the saints" in verse 18) Paul reminds us at the close of his prayer that it is in the Church, Christ's Body, that the glory of God is shown. Christ is most fully present and God is most fully glorified in the corporate expression of those who follow him.

Paul's prayer is as powerful now as it was almost 2,000 years ago. How much do we also need to explore and grow in the knowledge and depth of God's love for us and his creation? How much more can Christ dwell in us, so that we can grow in Christ? Let us seek after God and pray that he would give us this desire. Paul was praying that the Ephesians would desire this type of relationship, and I think that should be our prayer as well. May we desire to grow in the knowledge of God.

Grace and Peace.