Finding Inner Strength

Our scripture reading this morning comes from the book of Ephesians, chapter three, verses 14 to 21. Hear these words.

For this reason, I bow my knees before the father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. As you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him, by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine. To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Okay, so we are in our third week in our series on Ephesians as we walk through Ephesians together, as a church. But the as you heard them talk about our theme for the weekend of the cross weekend, Living in Love came out of First John. And so, I’ve kind of had both on my mind all week. And, you know, God kind of showed me a connection, how they might be connected for us this morning. So, let’s take that journey together. Now, our passage this morning in Ephesians, it opens by saying, for this reason I bow my knees before the father, whom every family in heaven on earth takes its name. And anytime you get a fun little phrase like for this reason, it’s a good idea. It’s a good indication that we need to back up and see if we can identify exactly what that reason is. Now, it’s no secret that Paul ends up in prison a few times during his ministry, but one of the things I find most interesting about Paul’s time in prison is the way he talks about it. He never references himself as a prisoner of Rome, but instead says that he is a prisoner of the Lord. Right. Chapter three, verse one I, Paul, I’m a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. So again, Ephesians. That’s a circular letter meant to be read by more than one church. And so, as Paul mentions his imprisonment here, for the sake of Jesus Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles.

He then is going to sidetrack and explain what that means for those who might not have heard it, or, you know who didn’t get the hint in chapters one and two. The great mystery of God’s will that has been revealed to him is the fact is that the gospel of salvation is for everyone. Jesus died to save us all. Not just the Jewish people. All believers, no matter their race, ethnicity, origin, or lifestyle, can call on the name of the Lord and be saved. It’s a mystery because the Jews did not always think this way, and they could not fathom anyone outside of their group being counted as part of God’s family, part of the citizens of the Kingdom. Last week, Doug talked about the power of our passports and how your American passport not only gets you into a lot of different countries, but it gives you full, unhindered access to this country because that is precisely your right as a citizen. And that got me thinking. Did you know that America not only allows more immigrants than any other country in the world, but it also allows more paths to citizenship than any other country in the world?

As most of you know, I spent five years in Cambodia and my wife is from there. But it doesn’t matter how long I’ve spent there, how well I speak their language to what degree I would adapt, their mannerisms, their culture, who I’ve married. I can never become a Cambodian citizen, live there the rest of my life, be married, have kids, live there forever. I will always be a foreigner and an outsider. And my wife, on the other hand, by extension of her relationship with me, has been granted full citizenship to the United States. And when we get to Ephesians five in a few weeks, Paul is going to talk about us, the church, as the Bride of Christ. And what we need to understand is that our relationship with Christ is not about finding the right path to the Celestial City. Learning the language, adopting the actions, the culture of God’s people, all that will come. But it’s not what being a citizen of the kingdom of heaven is about. So, a big part of becoming a citizen. It’s not only about learning the history and the culture of the people, it’s also about pledging to uphold the rights, the responsibilities and the duties of a citizen.

This is why Paul prays that we would come to know the same power and understanding that he has experienced through becoming a servant of the gospel, because in verses ten and 11 of chapter three, it says that God’s intent in bringing the Jews and the Gentiles together as one people was that through the church, the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, and that this was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. Did you catch it? The church isn’t built with brick and mortar on foundations of stone to exist as beautiful buildings. It’s built on the blood of Jesus Christ for the purpose of making God’s manifold wisdom. No. That’s why Second Corinthians five teaches us that as citizens of God’s kingdom, we are not only ministers of reconciliation, but that God is making his appeal to the world through us as ambassadors of his kingdom. And as I sat and try to grasp the weight of what that means, the implications it has for my life, I’m stopped again by Paul’s prayer that we might be able to comprehend the breadth, length, heights, depth of Christ’s love. How is that possible? If it’s a love that surpasses all understanding, how can we be filled with the fullness of God’s work? If that work is also far more than we can ever ask or imagine? Seems like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Yet I have no doubt that we fully believe both of these things, that there is a depth of God’s love, that I have the ability to know through Christ Jesus, and that I can be filled with the fullness of God, and yet still not be able to imagine the depths of what is possible. So how then, is it possible for us to maintain this joyous mystery of the faith? Because verse 17, it’s all done as we are being rooted and grounded in God’s love. When we were living in Cambodia before we had kids, Lida and I would go for a walk down at the park and then we would stop somewhere along the way, eat at one of the street vendors, for the night, and Pnom Pen, It’s a crowded city. So much so that if you’re eating at one of these street vendors, it’s not uncommon for a complete stranger to come up and join your table. If you are the only two sitting at a table of six. Well, we’d like to sit down and eat too, please. And that’s weird and uncomfortable until you are the one who needs the seat and you’re like, yeah, okay, I get it now.

Now the sharing of tables, it doesn’t necessarily require that, you talk to this stranger that has joined you. But on one particular evening, the gentleman who had sat down, he spoke English very well. And so, you know what’s coming. We’re about to have a conversation. I pidgin through trying to order my food and come I. And there you go. He starts a conversation about how well I ordered the food. And yes, I figured out how to order my food without all of the stuff. Right? And he was a nice man. The conversation went well and he’s teaching me things. And then he starts giving me the sales pitch about how wonderful the city is and how great the people are. He doesn’t know I live there. I already know these things. But it’s when we were done that, I found out what was most interesting about this conversation and this gentleman, somebody told me, and as it turns out, this man was the ambassador for the Kingdom of Cambodia. Now, let me remind you where we are. We aren’t at a fancy restaurant.

They have those, though we are not there. We are on the street next to the traffic and the trash. I kind of still question if it’s even true. The ambassador, a high-ranking government official who in this culture would want to keep his status and his reputation as a high class elite. He is sitting here with me on the street, a nobody foreigner, and he’s eating the same food as the common folk. Is that how he stays rooted and grounded with his people? And if that’s true, that’s how you know you got the right man for the job. It’s literally his job to represent his country to foreigners. And so, he’s as he’s out and is he’s staying rooted to his own people, in his own culture, remembering his own roots. He sees me a foreigner, and he comes over and I’m sure not even in his mind, just doing his job, making sure that the foreigner feels welcome and a nation that will never accept me as one of their own. And if that’s what it looks like for the ambassador of the Kingdom of Cambodia to stay rooted and grounded, what does it look like for ambassadors of the Kingdom of heaven to stay rooted and grounded in God’s love? Truth of the matter is, is that we give ourselves over to that which we love. We’ve all heard the insane amount of time and attention that professional athletes give to their sport. It’s all they do. And for the great ones, it’s all they’ve done for their entire lives. We hear the stories about the pain they endure to be at the top of their game, and we marvel that they keep going despite injuries and setbacks. And what do they give is the reason they endure it all and continue to play well after the money is stacked up higher than anyone can count.

So, it’s not for the money anymore. What do they say? It’s for the love of the game. For better or worse, through blessings and curses, there is no limit to what we will give ourselves over to when it comes to something we love. And we’ve all said we loved our three-year old’s drawing. Cover his ears, dear. We’ve all said we loved our three-year-olds drawing even when it could be entered for the next Picasso. Why? Well, part of that is you being a good parent. You’re instilling confidence in your child. But part of that is the fact that you really do love it because it came from your kid. They made it with you in mind, and it is because he loved us so much that God gave his only son as a sacrifice for our sins, that we who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And since God loves us so much, brothers and sisters, we also ought to love one another. How’d you like that? We just made it to first. John. Did you catch it? And love has been perfected among us in this. John says that we may have boldness on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. And as they were in the early stages of planning for weakening of the cross, the leadership team decided, you know, the kids should probably be in on this. And so instead of a bunch of adults deciding what the theme in the verse for the weekend should be, they went to the youth, and that is the verse that the youth chose as the theme and the scripture for the weekend.

Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness on the day of judgment. Why? Because as he is, so are we in this world are being filled with the power of God to accomplish more than we could ever ask or imagine. Our ability to comprehend the knowledge that surpasses all understanding, our ability to have confidence on the day of judgment. It all comes from being rooted and grounded in God’s love. And I love this idea of God’s love being perfected within us. It’s one of the reasons that John Wesley insisted on using the term Christian perfection. And that’s a doctrine, by the way, that we still hold very much to who we are as Methodist. What we believe since biblical perfection is not about making, it’s not about not making no mistakes. I said that, right. English professors know, okay. In the original language of the Bible. Biblical perfection is about being transformed, being consumed by the love of God through Jesus Christ. It’s about becoming the hands and the feet in the world so much that it gives us confidence on the day of judgment, because we know that when we stand before God to give an account of all the things we have done and all the things we have left undone, we have confidence that as God looks upon us, he sees His Son. It’s about giving yourself over to that which God loves, because it’s God’s love that now reigns inside of you. I don’t forget Paul’s story. If this isn’t the story of being transformed and consumed by the love of God. I don’t know what is. Paul’s not only affair. These the top of his class under the teaching of Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers of their time. If anybody knew the scriptures, it was Paul. If anybody knew the letter of the law, it was Paul who, remember, we get introduced to as a bounty hunter for the Jewish leaders, tracking down and killing those who are trying to follow Jesus. But on the way to round up some of these bad Jews, Paul meets Jesus and everything changes.

Paul not only realizes the error of his ways; he becomes a convert. He not only becomes a convert, he becomes one of the greatest missionaries of the first century, possibly of all time. And his entire legacy is bedrocks in the fact that God’s love and grace is for everyone, especially the outsider. Paul found great joy in the fact that God revealed this mystery to him, and he found joy in taking the message to others. Paul rejoiced to the point of calling himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ our Lord, fully surrendered to his will because his heart beats with the love of God, and his relationship with Christ compels him into connection with his neighbor. And that is why John can come alongside Paul and encourage the church with such a bold statement like there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. I don’t know about you, but it seems like John is saying that perfection in love is attainable. Because remember, it doesn’t mean not making mistakes. It means being fully consumed, fully given over to the love of God. But we mustn’t let fear win. Now listen to me now. Right? Having no fear doesn’t mean not being scared of all the crazy things that God is going to ask you to do.

I mean, have you read Paul and what he endured during his missionary journeys? A little trepidation might indeed be a natural response. And let’s pretend like Paul didn’t have it. But fear is not a more powerful force than our God, who beat death and the grave, and who desires to lavish grace upon us at every turn. That’s why Paul prays that you might be strengthened in your inner being with power through his spirit. Ephesians 316. You not only need the revelation of Jesus as the Christ to get the job done, you need the power of Christ strengthening you in your inner being. It’s the only way we are able to continue the mission well after the trials and tribulations of life. Try to beat us down or win our walk with Jesus seems a little less exciting than when we first began. Ever since his call and his commissioning on the Damascus Road, Paul gave his life over to spreading the gospel. And that became something more valuable to him than anything he would endure. It wasn’t only a calling; it was that Christ put the power within his inner being. Ever since your baptism, as you identified with Christ in His death and resurrection, you also were born again into a newness of life. You also were commissioned with this very same mission and instilled with this very same power and confidence. So, the Gentiles of antiquity were Paul’s distinct commission for him to spread the gospel. But if we also are disciples of Jesus Christ, and therefore we also are sent out with his message, what is our distinct commission specifically in your life? Where and to whom is God calling you to spread the gospel? The answer can’t be nowhere, and with no one.

That’s not how this works, citizen. That’s not how this works. Ambassador. So, if you don’t know, let’s start where you find yourself every day. God has you interacting with the people you interact with, even if you only meet them once to gather all things in heaven and on earth under the Lordship of Christ. That was his purpose in building the church. So don’t assume that people know the gospel. Don’t assume that people know Jesus. Jesus didn’t say assume. He said, go and preach. It’s not your job to question whether or not somebody does or does not know Jesus. It’s your job to question whether or not there is an opportunity to make his name known. And God has placed you where you are so that you might be a light in the darkness, pointing people to the way out. It’s a humbling task that we will only be able to accomplish if we are rooted and grounded in his love and strengthened in our inner being by His Holy Spirit. And while all that might seem like a well-worn message you hear preachers talk about all the time. So much so that it’s become a cliche. I also know that sometimes even I let fear win, and that there’s places in my life where God has to convict me because I’m not being the citizen, the ambassador that he has called me to be.

And don’t get the order mixed up on me now. That’s my duty as a Christian, not as a pastor. Pastor is simply the primary avenue by which God has called me to live that out. So, the method will look slightly different, possibly for each one of you. But if we believe that God is going to use us to accomplish far more than we could ever ask or imagine, and if we believe that this is indeed the purpose of his church, then we have to give ourselves over to being about our father’s business.

Let’s pray.

Father God, open our hearts and our minds to receive Your Word deep within our souls. Fan the flames with which we first began. And renew within us this spirit of power and confidence that we may be for the world. Christ. Putting everything at your feet for your kingdom. Amen.