Soaring Prayer

Good morning church family!  That’s got a good sound.  I like that.  You have shown us great kindness in the seven months that Diane and I have been here.  We are already developing a warm and deep affection for you.  We are indeed family together.  And it is right that we should feel this way towards each other because we are partners in this enterprise together.  Last week, we looked at the opening verses of the book of Ephesians.  There we discovered all that God had done for us.  We have been invited into “The Father’s Grand Story.”  That’s what makes us family!

Some people think I’m a Luddite – you know – a person who is averse to new technology because I don’t have a smart phone.  I used to have one; or, should I say, the church used to let me use one that they purchased for me.  But I’m cheap.  I’m now back with a simple flip-phone.  Don’t feel sorry for me.  It was an exchange I gladly made. 

They say that new technology is always better.  Maybe for some, but not for me.  My favorite vehicle was a ’91 Chevy S-10 pick-up.  Five-speed manual transmission and manual windows.  Steering was done with an oversized wheel because it had no power steering.  Nothing fancy on the truck to go wrong so it rarely needed repair.  I loved that truck…until a deer totaled it one dark night on a country road near Wabash, IN. 

Now phones aren’t cars, but my smart phone had just about everything on it so that it could run my life.  Of course, there was the phone itself.  But it constantly chased me around with email.  It had apps for everything: shopping, maps, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Skype, youtube, web browser, angry birds (I did like that one), even a Bible app.  The touch screen drove me crazy.  It wouldn’t respond when I wanted it to and it did things I never asked it to do.  And the screen would go black while the phone was asking for some sort of response on my voice mail!  I gave my phone a nick-name when I got frustrated with it: “Stupid Smart Phone!”  Of course, as one of my younger, more savvy musicians pointed out to me, there are no stupid smart phones; only stupid people.

Touché.  Point taken.  If you like your Smartphone, more power to you.  But there was way too much stuff on that phone for me to ever use.  I know.  I’m gonna have to get one someday.

Have you ever felt like that?  O I know, there are techies and then there are people like me who just kind of go along to get along.  If you are a computer user, chances are you are using only a small portion of the capacity of your machine and your software.  You know, if you use a word processing program there are a whole bunch of small little buttons on the top or options in the pull-down menus that you’ve never used.  Get into the graphic or other specialized programs – well, the world would be almost ours if we would take the time to learn the full capacity of the software program! 

The Word

God’s Word is the owner’s manual to the programing that He has embedded into our lives when we came to faith.  Most of us have barely begun to utilize all that we have in Christ.  This morning’s passage reveals the resources that have been given to those who have chosen to live the Father’s Grand Story. 

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 1:15-23

The book of Ephesians is unlike any other epistle in the New Testament in that it is not addressing a specific problem.  More than a letter, it is a speech of sorts, a kind of pep talk on super steroids.  Paul’s sentences are long.  When we considered the first part of this chapter we discovered that in the original writing, vss. 3-14 were all one long sentence.  Most of the rest of the book is like this.  One glorious statement leads to another.  Paul makes his point and then he amplifies is several times over.  In musical terms, he’s pumping up the volume.  So when Paul writes, “for this reason,” we should ask ourselves “what reason?” – which gives us a perfect opportunity to recall and review the things we learned the last time we were together.

In Paul’s gushing account of God’s story in vss. 3-14, he lists seven things that the Father has done for us:

1.     He blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 

2.     He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. 

3.     He predestined us for adoption as not as little children, but for adult sonship. 

4.     He lavished redemption and forgiveness on us. 

5.     He revealed the mystery of His will to us. 

6.     We were included in Christ. 

7.     And finally, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit as a down-payment on our eternal destiny in union with God. 

That is the Father’s Grand Story and the Ephesian believers fully embraced it.  Vs. 15 says that they have responded to God’s initiative in faith.  And that faith is shown in how they love believers – Gentiles or Jews, is Paul’s clear intention – everywhere.  Jesus said it. Paul repeats it.  We have sung it:  the world will know we are Christians by our love for one another. 

Knowing God

The Apostle then launches into his request for them:

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people…

What Paul is asking for on behalf of the Ephesians is at the heart of God’s desire for His people – and that is to know God.  And this knowledge is not just book learning or dry doctrine.  The clear sense of the language here is that we would know God fully and experientially.

Consider this illustration.  A lot of us just date God.  We go out with Him once a week and we have a good time.  If the worship seems good and really moves us we might even embrace God, so to speak.  But God calls us to a covenant, daily relationship with Him.  He invites us to know Him intimately.  In a sense, God calls us – not to date Him – but to marry Him.  There are problems with that analogy, I know, but you can carry the meaning out just about as far as you can imagine.   God calls us to know Him – to know Him experientially and intimately.

It has always been that way.  God has always sought people who would know Him.  In the Garden, God pursued Adam and Eve.  Abraham walked with God even to the point where he was called a friend of God.  The writers of the psalms demonstrate a passionate and close relationship with God.  And when Israel got in trouble and became idolatrous, it was because they did not know God.  The prophet Jeremiah put it this way:

This is what the Lord says:  “Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches.  But let him who boasts, boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things.  I the Lord, have spoken!” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

This is no casual acquaintance.  The Apostle prays for the Spirit of wisdom and understanding so that our hearts will be flooded with light in order that we might understand the fullness of God’s blessings for us and the glorious destiny that we have in Him.  The Father’s Grand Story is that He blessed us, He chose us, He predestined us, He redeemed and forgave us, He included and enlightened us and He sealed His promise with the Spirit of God who lives within us.  But we only live the Father’s Grand Story as we know Him through a personal relationship with Christ.

Only way to know God is through Christ

I’ll bet most of you know this verse:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.  John 14:6. 

The only way to know the Father is through Christ.  The Apostle Paul focuses on the power we have in Christ to know the Father as he continues his prayer for the Ephesian believers:

[I also pray that you may know] … his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Friends, here is the great mystery into which we have been joined.  We have been united with Christ and his resurrection power.  This is where the rubber meets the road.  The same power that destroyed death through the resurrection and made Christ the ruler of the entire cosmos is resident within us and at our disposal for God’s purpose.  This revealed mystery – this truth – is pervasive throughout all the New Testament:

·       …just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.  Romans 6:4b

·       Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power.  Colossians 3:1

·       Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature.  II Peter 1:2-4

As those who live out the Father’s Grand Story through faith in Jesus Christ, we have become partakers of the divine nature – his power is at work within us.  Pastor Eugene Peterson calls it, “practicing resurrection.”

That besetting sin that you constantly wrestle with?  It is dead to you, defeated at the cross of Christ.  That grudge or bitterness that you hold in your heart against someone?  Give it up.  It has no claim on the life of one who has been raised with Christ.  Those worries about the concerns of life that erode your faith?  Refuse them.  How would God – who has given us everything in Christ – fail to give you what you need for living this life?

Princes and Paupers

Mark Twain, America’s greatest story teller, spins a tale of royal power given…but not possessed.  The Prince and the Pauper is a fictional tale based on the historical character of Prince Edward VI.  In the story, the prince exchanged his royal clothes on a whim with a street kid only to find that he could not gain access back into the palace no matter how hard he tried.  While on the street, Edward was not treated as royalty, but rather had to suffer the indignities of a life of poverty.  He was mocked, beaten, and imprisoned.  His role in his unfortunate circumstances was that of a panhandler and his abusive father is a drunken thief. 

Many of us live our lives that way.  

We are the crown princes of heaven…

and yet so often we live our lives like poor beggars on the street. 

Remember that “stupid smart phone?”  Well, it’s not so stupid really.  I just never realized the power that was contained in that little device.  The Christian life is like a smart phone.  We have all the power that we need through Christ Jesus for life and godliness. Our critical need is to learn how to use it.  And that is a lifelong journey that comes through knowing God and walking with Him in the company of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Knowing Christ and Experiencing His Power Together

It is significant that most of the New Testament was written to communities – people called together in the name of Christ – rather than individuals.  The Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation, but rather together with other believers.  What would happen, church family, if we could begin to grasp and live out the truths in this passage together? 

Oh, we get so easily sidetracked.  Our agenda gets filled with secondary things:

·       What can we do to get more people here in our church?

·       Should we spend a huge amount of money from our reserves so that we can welcome Knox Prairie Community Kitchen and their outreach into our facility? Or should we do something else?

·       What is the future of our church ten years from now?   

       

Friends, those are important questions.  But they aren’t the first order for us.  I want to practice resurrection.  I want to live a holy life and become more like Jesus.  But I can’t do it alone.  And neither can you.  I need you.  You need me.  We need each other.  Imagine what it would be like if the people of First Baptist Church, Galesburg set always as their first priority to know Christ and the power of his resurrection in our lives.  What if our deepest yearnings weren’t for bigger attendance or offerings, but for the manifestation of Christ’s presence in us as we gather to worship.  I believe if those were our deepest longings, then, we would begin to see the glorious inheritance that God has for us. 

Response:

The Word of God always requires a response.  In light of this morning’s word, I think the question of the moment is this:

Are you just dating God?

Or is knowing and experiencing God your highest passion in life?

I’ve lived a lot of life.  I’ve had a lot of great experiences.  I’ve had the opportunity to conduct Handel’s Messiah with choir and orchestra several times.  I love my model boats.  I’d love to go back to Kenya.  I can’t wait to turn the soil to plant my garden and catch a mess of crappie in Lake Storey.  Diane and I have our vacations already planned out for this summer and fall.

But none of that lasts.  I’m not taking my boats and my books with me to the grave.  Like the Apostle Paul, all my accomplishments and all my experience are, really, nothing but garbage in comparison to knowing and experiencing God.  I’ve had a taste and there is nothing else like the presence of God in my life. 

People want practical sermons.  You know, do A, B, & C and you’ll have a better spiritual life.  I could talk to you about quiet times, Bible reading, and spiritual disciplines.  The fact is, everyone is different in how God speaks and works in our life.  But this one thing is universal: you won’t know God and his power for your life unless you want to.  And you gotta want it more than anything else.  It starts with intention.  If you’re hungry enough for God, he’ll make sure that you find your way to him.   God has so much more for you and me.  It is my prayer that God’s word today will sink in and disturb you so that you will be satisfied with nothing less than knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection in your life.

May the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians be the heart cry of the people of First Baptist:

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. 

Philippians 3:8-10