Ephesians 3:14-21

Introduction:

                Two weeks ago a young Christian asked why should theology be important to him? He felt that his spiritual experience should be more than adequate at this point in his life. My response was: everyone has a theology, that is, a God-view. However, the question is: is this a good or bad theology?

                For the past few weeks we have been studying the first 3 chapters of the book of Ephesians. The focus is on the goodness and graciousness of God. Out of his grace, he has chosen us and broken down the barriers among men, thus creating a new humanity and community, the church. In these passages, we have noticed that there is no instruction regarding actions on our part. The emphasis is on who God is and what he does. However, beginning in chapter 4, we are given specific directions on how to live. From this and other NT epistles, a pattern emerges. That is, a sound theology, a correct understanding of God is the basis for Christian behavior.

                In today’s passage, we learn about how Paul prays for the Christians in the Ephesians church. It demonstrates that a proper understanding of God leads to high soaring prayers, bringing our prayers to another level of height. Theology is not for grand ideas and academics, but for expressing our relationship with God. In today’s passage, we want to see how Paul’s understanding of God affects the content of his prayer. By looking at it closer, it provides us with a model prayer, showing us how to pray for each other.

I.    We pray to the Father in heaven. Vs 14

Whom do we pray to? Here Paul addresses God as the Father, the heavenly father. Like Jesus taught his disciple to pray, “our father in heaven”. V15 further tells us that his is the source of all family on earth. Meaning that he is the source of life. He is the father of all. In the scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, tells of the heavenly father as the one who cares, protects and provides for his children. It is to this father whom we bring our prayers.

1. Posture of prayer. Here Paul writes that he kneels before the father. In the scriptures, different postures are mentioned. Kneeling, standing and with eyes lifted towards the heaven. In many passages it simply states that Jesus prayed, or while the disciples were praying. There is no teaching on what the posture should be. Here, when Paul writes that he kneels before the father, it conveys a sense of urgency and dependency on God.

Isn’t this what prayer is? When we pray, we are really telling our heavenly father how much we need him. We don’t dare tell him to do this or that for us. He is not our servant. On the contrary, we need him desperately.

2. An appeal to God’s abundance. What aspect of God’s character do we appeal to when we pray? In recent elections, the candidates first campaigned hard to appeal to the people. Because the people hold the votes. After the election day, we saw both candidates beginning to appeal to the judges. First on the local level, then state level and finally to the Supreme Court. They were at the mercy of these judges’ philosophy and interpretation of the Constitution. What does Paul appeal to when he prays? He appeals to God’s glorious riches. That God will answer his prayers according to God’s riches and not out of God’s riches.

If I have $1000, and give you $100, it is out of my riches. But if I give according to what I have, it will be more than $100. The more I have, the more I will give. So when we come before God, do we ask that he will give us out of his riches or according to his abundance? Of course according to his riches. It is unlimited, isn’t it?

So, when we come to this father who will give us according to his unlimited resources, what do we pray for? What do you ask for in your prayers? How do we pray for others? How do we pray for ourselves?

II.  We pray for strength in our Christian living. Vs16.

In vs16, Paul prays that the Ephesians believers may be strengthened through the indwelling spirit and Jesus Christ. Why strength?

For the last two sermons, we have learned how Christ through his death breaks down the barrier between the gentiles and the Jews. But remember, this barrier has been around for over 1000 years. Yes, the barrier is gone, but the deep rooted animosity is hard to get rid of. Now they are in the same community, the church. They need strength from beyond themselves to overcome the deep rooted hatred towards each other.

Moreover, chapters 4 and 5 also give us a glimpse of their former way of living. 4:30, “bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, every form of malice, unloving, unforgiving.” 5:3ff, “sexual immorality, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, coarse joking…disharmony and chaos in family life and employer/employee relationships.” Now, having come to Christ, they are to put these away and be children of light. What a tall order. Can they do it on their own? No. this is why they need strength from God.

The same with us. Before we become Christians, our moral and ethical standards are very different from God’s standards. We have engaged in sexual immorality, we harbor hatred and bitterness towards those who have wronged us. We mistreat our spouses and children. We may be unethical in our business practices. But now, we are saints, we are to live like children of light. It’s not easy to get rid of these past sins and habits. We need strength from above to help us reshape our value system and behavior.

Even living in this modern world, is of great difficulty. There are many forces trying to pull us away from God. People used to have to go to certain districts to view sexual explicit materials. But now you can rent movies or with the click of a mouse, go to places you would never want anyone to know. Or your father is visiting you from overseas. He becomes sick and carries no health insurance. Will you ask your doctor to let him be treated by using your name? Or if you are the doctor, will you accept your friend’s request?

In order to stand against the tide, to live as children of light, we too need to pray for others and ourselves for strength from God.

III.   We pray for Love’s permeation in life. Vs17

After praying for strength, Paul now prays that they may be rooted and established in love. He uses two images to bring his point across. First is the image of a tree with roots. The tree is firmly held in place by its roots. The second image is that of a building. For a building to stand firm, it must have solid foundation. We are all familiar with the golden gate bridge. On each side of the bridge is a solid foundation. You know, the total weight of all those cables is 24,000 tons. After attaching to the foundation on each side, each foundation has to stand a pull of at least 63 million pounds. So what kind of foundation are they? The engineers have to dig about 22-30 feet into the bedrock below the water level, then fill it with 32 k cu. yards of concrete. Each foundation is about 128 million pounds. This massive foundation can then withstand the pull of 63 million pounds. Paul is praying that the believers’ love may be deeply rooted and established in their lives like a tree and a building. Love must be our foundation, permeating all areas of life.

Again, we ask why? Yes, now the Jews and the gentiles are worshipping together in this new community. The walls have been broken down. But in their hearts, they may still harbor misgivings. And for this reason, Paul prays that they will be rooted and established in love. They are to truly love each other.

Isn’t this also true with us? In my last two sermons, I have emphasized our diversity. As we see ourselves coming together to worship God and to serve him, we see the multi-color of God’s plan. Each one of us is a story of God’s grace. But at the same time we must be realistic about the differences among us. Not only are we different in background, culture and upbringing, we also differ greatly in our personalities. Such differences often lead to conflicts, tension and broken relationships. Yes, we are together, but we harbor “心病” towards those around us. The walls are broken down already, but disharmony may still exist. This is why we need love. We need love to mend those strained and broken relationships. We need love to reach out to those different from us. Our dialects may be different, but a smile, a handshake, a word of greeting, a visit, and assistance in times of need are ways of expressing our love. We are to pray for love so that whoever comes to this church will feel loved and cared for. As we love each other, the world will then know that we are God’s children, Jesus’ disciples.

IV.  We pray for a deeper understanding of Christ’s love. Vs18,19a

Sometimes, if not most of the time, its quite difficult to love those who are different from us, or those we dislike. Besides praying that God will permeate our lives with love, here Paul also prays that we may know Christ’s love. To know how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know that this love surpasses knowledge.

His love is long that it stretches from eternity to eternity. It is broad because it includes everyone. It is high for it reaches the highest heaven. It is deep for it reaches down to a sinner like me. This is Christ’s love. Some ancient commentators see the cross in this description.

Shall we sing this simple song that helps us to remember the length, width, breadth and depth of Christ’s love.

Whenever we find it difficult to love that person, think of how Christ has loved me. If Christ loves someone like me, is there anyone that I can’t love? The more I understand Christ’s love, the more I will experience his love, and the easier I will be motivated to love. The more I experienced being loved, the more I will love others.

V.  We pray to be filled with God’s fullness. Vs19.

John Stott in his book writes, “this prayer of Paul is like climbing a staircase. It brings our spirit to a higher and higher level.” In vs 19, Paul prays that the believers be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Here Paul must be thinking of believers’ final state of perfection. There will come a day when our mortal body will be transformed into an immortal body. The fullness of God will be in us.

However, the scriptures also teach us that this filling of God’s fullness is a process which begins when we become children of God. As we submit ourselves to God’s instructions in the scriptures, we become more and more like Jesus Christ.

This is the highest point of our praying for each other and ourselves. So often our prayer requests are confined to the material world. Our health, jobs and success. These are important, for they are a part of our lives. But there is something far more important, that is becoming the person God wants us to be. When others see us, they see Jesus Christ.

VI. We pray with the confidence in God’s power. Vs20, 21

This passage begins with God. Paul kneels before God the father and appeals to his glorious riches. And now it ends with God. What do we do after we pray? Very often we are quite cynical. We’ll see if God answers my prayer or not. Its like those standing in the temple, with incense in their hands, hoping the divine with grant their wishes.

How about Paul? He has no doubt what God will do. He is so full of confidence that God listens and will answer his prayer. How? God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power. God not only answers our prayers, but way more than we can ever imagine or ask.

You see what happens when we pray? What God will give us is far more than we ask or imagine. Sometimes we are so upset that God does not give us what we ask for. But here we are told that he will give us far greater than what we ask. If we believe this, it will certainly change our prayer life.

During the thanksgiving season, we came across a thanksgiving list. Among them was this: thank God that he did not give me what I asked for. Why? I only see this much. But what God wants to give me is beyond what I ask or even imagine.

Conclusion:

                Paul begins his prayer by asking for strength, then he moves on to love, and understanding Christ’s love. Then he finishes it off with the request that we be filled with God’s fullness. He is so confident that his prayer will be answered. Not only this, he is also full of confidence that what God will give him is far beyond his asking and imagination. As we follow Paul’s outpouring of his emotions, no wonder he concludes this passage with a doxology: to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

                You see, a proper understanding of God will lead us into a proper prayer. And a proper prayer will always end up directing our attention to this God to whom we pray.

Rev. William Hsueh    Dec. 17, 2000    Houston Chinese Church,  Houston, Texas