Overwhelmed: Ephesians 3:14-19, Part II

As Paul writes this letter to the church in Ephesus, things are not going well in that metropolis of trade and shipping. The church there is experiencing fear AND hostility. Culturally, Ephesus was a strong city that had many marks of a bustling metropolis of the ancient world. Its harbor provided shipping and trading opportunities and its former claim to fame, the Temple of Artemis, still provided opportunity for local artisans to profit by making idols, little silver and wood statues. Paul’s teaching about Jesus though turned people from and against idol worship and therefore deprived these artisans from their source of income. In the Book of Acts one of these artisans, Demetrius, states,  Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. So things are bleak as persecution persists against the Ephesian Christians. So what does Paul do? He prays for them, “Lord grant them better jobs, that they may be satisfied in their work; change those they’re quarreling with, so they don’t have to change themselves; cater to their every want and need, so they can lead comfortable, safe, and cushy lives.” Umm, no. Not once in this prayer does Paul, the great apostle to the gentiles, pray for the Ephesian church’s external circumstances. It’s just not there. Because you know why, there are things far Far more important…us; you and me realizing that in the end its all about our relationship with God. So let me unpack this passage we have before us. In the first verse Paul writes, ‘For this reason,’ ok, what reason is that? Well, Paul in the previous verse says we are, ‘not to lose heart,’ we are not to be dismayed, depressed, scared, ashamed, tossed about when things don’t go according to what we think we need or want. And this, from Paul, a guy that is writing from a prison in Rome, what does he have that we don’t!?  He must have something so powerful, so magnificent, so life shattering that even a prison stint doesn’t faze him. He is so steadfast and sure of what he has, which is that deep, unfathomable, profound personal relationship with Jesus, that he desperately wants the same for the Ephesian Christians and for us. In prison then, he gets down on his knees before God the Father to pray. For when we really come to know the holiness of God, so holy that sin is utterly consumed and destroyed in His presence, we cannot help but fall to our knees. It’s a sign of surrender, of respect. I think of the song “I Can Only Imagine,” by Mercy Me, its chorus flows, “Surrounded by your glory what will my heart feel, will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of you be still, will I stand in your presence, or to my knees will I fall, will I sing hallelujah will I be able to speak at all, I can only imagine.” Well friends, Paul didn’t have to imagine what he would do, he met Jesus, or rather Jesus met him on the road to Damascus that fateful day that’s recorded Acts. So now, he willingly bows to God in utter humility and respect, “from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” God is the Creator as Genesis 1 teaches and says, “In the beginning, God created,” so quite literally He is the father of all, creator of all. But it’s more than that.  For those of us here that are Christian, that have yielded our lives to Jesus, ‘Father’ takes on even richer meaning. One of the definitions of the Greek word patēr or Father is this; “God is called the Father of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as a stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father.” God doesn’t need us, he has no needs, he’s self-existent, all-powerful, and all-knowing, rather; he wants us. And so, as our hearts are softened, we turn to him and his love is poured out on us.