Ephesians 1:15-23

I found myself pondering a question this week that maybe has occurred to you once or twice… (or maybe you’ve had but wouldn’t want to admit it to me): “Why do we bother to do ‘this”?  “What is it that motivates us to gather ourselves up on a Sunday morning or Saturday night and come here… week after week?”  What motivates you give up your precious time – you know, especially on some of those beautiful spring, or summer, or Fall mornings, when we could easily be somewhere else really nice?  Or even on one of those prototypical NJ March days, when it’s misting out, and the wind is blowing damp, cold air right through every layer of clothing that you’ve tried to cover up with, and you feel like you are never going to be warm ever again? But you come… 

What drives you to worship, what motivates you as well to give your time and energy in service in so many different ways; what is it that brings you to serve and to give sacrificially, and trust that your gifts will be well used, in an age of great suspicion? 

Why do we do this? And in my really weak moments I start wondering, ‘what do I possibly have to offer you on any given weekend that would make it worth your coming?’ There are many Friday or Saturday nights when I go to bed thinking, “I don’t have much this weekend”… and the Holy Spirit gently reminds me: “It’s not up to you… you knucklehead. There is something a whole lot bigger than you here… and the one’s who see that, get it.  They are coming for me.” 

***

This passage we just read from Ephesians 1 (15 – 23) is, to me, one of the most powerful, awesome prayers, I think, ever prayed. It ranks right up there with the Lord’s Prayer, and it, too, was certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit. And it’s a prayer that speaks to the very heart of our motivation to grow in the Lord, our motivation to worship, and service, and all of that stuff I was just talking about… 

Paul is praying here for the church in the city of Ephesus. Paul, as a missionary/ church- planting evangelist had connections with a lot of churches all around the known world in his time. He was truly the Spiritual Father of many new believers. But there were few, if any, others, that he knew as well as the Ephesians. 

You can see his connection with them in his first statement to them “Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all his people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”  Now, we can read a little bit between the lines, here. Certainly a huge factor in Paul’s wanting to give thanks as he hears about the faith and the love that was being demonstrated by the people in First Church, Ephesus, was because he knew them so well already. 

This was his church. Paul was the one who sent Priscilla and Aquila (his “A Team”) to that city to start the work (Acts 18).  Then Paul himself went to the Ephesian synagogue, and spent three months arguing the faith. When he was no longer welcome there, he (and numerous Jewish converts) went to the town lecture hall (called Tyrannus) and did the same thing with the Greek speaking intellectuals there. All in all he spent three years in Ephesus – the longest stay of his entire ministry. 

The city of Ephesus was passionate and volatile. God did great miracles through Paul in that area – to the point of even healing people with handkerchiefs and aprons that Paul had handled. People just touched them, and they were healed. People turned away from idolatry and witchcraft in huge numbers, at one point publicly (and voluntarily, btw) burning sorcery scrolls worth many thousands of dollars. Because of their faith in Christ. 

A silversmith in Ephesus by name of Demetrius became upset because his business of constructing trinkets and Silver pieces for the worship of the Greek goddess Artemis was not going well. So many people were following Christ that the idol business was suffering. A riot ensued and Paul’s life was in danger. Shortly after that he decided to leave, which he did after an emotional, tearful parting service with the Ephesian church and their elders. 

In that ‘fare-well service’ Paul made a little speech. And we have some of it recorded in Acts 20.

Listen to this:

²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number some will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³² "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified… ³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. 

Ok, in that context, we can maybe understand a bit better why Paul’s heart would be so filled with joy and thanks to God when he hears about their growth in love and faith; when he hears that the work is continuing. That the church is strong.  Especially considering his ominous warning to them: ²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 

Well, they have been spared so far. And Paul is grateful. And that’s when he prays this magnificent, awesome, powerful prayer for them: 

¹⁷ 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.

This is the basis of the whole prayer. Paul is praying for the congregation of 1^st Church, Ephesus, asking that God himself would give them a desire to want to know him better. That they would grow in their God-given hunger for God. Yes, they have a reputation – well earned – of love and faithfulness. They have an admirable history of applying their faith to their world, no matter what the consequences. They’ve had good teaching and it has continued. 

Which is what makes this prayer really amazing: because basically, you can sum it up like this: “Brothers and sisters in Ephesus, don’t stop now! You have barely scratched the surface of the things of God. Don’t give it up now. Don’t be content with a little… when there is so much more for you!”

¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may (begin to) know the hope to which he has called you,[ you may (begin to) know] the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, ¹⁹ and [you may(begin to) know] his incomparably great power for us who believe. 

He’s saying, “You don’t know this yet, but the power working in you is the same power, the same mighty strength that God exerted when Christ was raised from the dead. I want you – not to know about that power – but to know that as a working reality in your life. (And you don’t know it yet!) I want you to know what it means to be rich in God. You don’t know that yet, either – in spite of all you’ve done, in spite of all you’ve been given (all good!) – there is much more. MUCH, MUCH, MORE!! You haven’t even ‘begun’ this journey! 

So don’t let up now.  Don’t slow down in your quest for God. Don’t be satisfied with the appetizers and leave before the serving of the main course!  Pursue God with everything you have.

                                                                            ***
Now we already saw that Paul had some worries about this church. Remember his warning to the elders on the night he left them - of the coming ‘wolves’? Remember their volatile history?  This concern actually continues in Paul’s heart and ministry. 

He wrote a letter to a young pastor named Timothy. A pastor whose first assignment was – Ephesus. And in his first letter to Timothy, the opening verses, are expressing his continued deep concern over the spiritual state of this beloved congregation. Here’s what he writes: 

To Timothy my true son in the faith:
       Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain persons not to teach false doctrines any longer ⁴ or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work—which is by faith. 

Paul is still aware (and very concerned) about an element within this congregation that seems to be getting off track. They are not pressing on to the deeper things of God – those things that Paul mentions in his prayer for them in that previous letter. Instead they are dabbling in ‘controversial speculations’ and false doctrines that are leading people in the wrong direction. I can certainly understand Paul’s deep concern for this church. Especially knowing that he wrote this letter from Prison awaiting his execution.  “What will happen to these people I love?” 

The church in Ephesus gets one more mention in Scripture. The book of Revelation opens with letters to seven churches. These are letters, literally, from Jesus. Now, there is a lot of symbolism in this book, obviously. And these seven churches in some way represent ‘all churches’, truly. But also just as clearly, these were seven real congregations at the time of John’s visions. And what he describes about them is historically accurate.  The time of their writing is debatable, but it was probably about 20 or more years after the letter to Timothy. 

The first of these seven letters is written … to Ephesus. Here’s some of what it says (Revelation 2): It begins with a commendation – i.e., this is what is going well in your church.

² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 

Well, it sounds like they have taken Paul’s instructions very seriously, doesn’t it? They are being careful about their witness, careful about their doctrines, careful about their consistency. But in all that, still, something went wrong. And the next lines are, to me (as a pastor) some of the saddest in the New Testament. 

    ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have left your first love. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.  (The lampstand was a symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their church – their very life.) 

Why do we do …all this?

I think among other really important reasons, we ‘do this’ because we understand what Paul was getting at in his prayer in Ephesians 1 – that as great as the things we have discovered are, there is much more to come. Much more. And we want it – we have that God given hunger for more of him. 

But perhaps another motivator is realizing how easy it is to start ‘mailing it in’ – like the Ephesians later on. And realizing how tragic it would be to hear our Lord say to us… dear friends at 1^st church, Moorestown:  I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you’ve remained pure in your teachings, and you’ve hung in there – even when it was difficult. I know that. I appreciate it. 

But somehow in all that you’ve done… you’ve lost something crucial. Me. 

Discipleship is not automatic, it doesn’t happen in the future because of good past momentum or history. Like any strong friendship, like a good marriage, knowing God requires daily attention. Constant listening, seeking, obeying … the rewards are great. Truly.  But without our diligence, we can lose our focus.

Just ask the Ephesians. 

And now my friends, my family at First UMC, Moorestown…

“¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give us all the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we may begin to know the hope to which we have been called, the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in all his people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” 

And I pray that you’ll join me in that prayer, and in that quest.