Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,  15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, dear brothers and sisters.

God Is Able to Do More than We Ask or Imagine.
A.     Imagine yourself as an Israelite slave at the time of Moses. (If you have seen the Charlton Heston movie, it’s easy to do.) Stomping in the mud, chopping straw, making bricks and dragging monuments around for the king. What kind of prayers would you pray? “Lord, deliver us.” “Get us out of here.”  “Lighten our burdens.” How did God answer the prayers of his people? With signs and wonders. Today’s First Lesson was the account of the first of the ten plagues... the Nile turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death followed. God struck one strike after another against the false gods of Egypt. Pharaoh thought he was a god and said, “Who is this God that I should obey him?”  so God showed him, and then showed him again. When Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued the Israelites, all the way into the Red Sea, God swept him and his army away. Then he led the people for 40 years like little children and fed them daily. How did God answer the prayers of his people? With a display of his power beyond anything they could ask or imagine. Imagine that couple at the wedding of Cana. Did they even know that they were running out of wine? Jesus’ mother knew and  whispered in Jesus’ ear: “They have no more wine.” At that time it was the custom for young men to provide wine at a wedding. It’s likely that Mary expected Jesus and his disciples to go to people who sold wine and get some. Jesus told the servants to fill jars with water, and then it wasn’t water anymore. It had turned into around 150 gallons of wine. It wasn’t a crisis. It wasn’t a hardship like Israel had in Egypt... still, Jesus answered the request beyond anything anyone asked or imagined. St. John tells us, “He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” How did Jesus meet their needs? How did he answer the request?   With a display of his power beyond anything they could ask or imagine.

B.     Very often our prayers are problem focused– crisis focused. “Fix this.” “Get me out of this.” “Help me through this.” “Cure this.” That’s not all bad. Our God does invite us to “Call on [him] in the day of trouble” (Psalm 50:15). But where is our attention. On the problem, or on the power of God? This is St. Paul’s point here. God has power. Jesus displayed the power of God to show who he really was. God’s power has no limits– and there is no way we can limit him– but do we limit him, at least in our own minds, when we pray focused on a crisis alone. Jesus taught us to pray and he himself prayed, “Not my will but yours be done.”  God’s plans are bigger than your plans. His promise is bigger than your problem. In faith we entrust ourselves to his will. He has promised to work all things for your good. He will not lie to you.

C.    Look at St. Paul’s words and phrases that emphasize the power of God. “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power...” “I pray that you ... may have power... to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.... Immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.”  Comparing God and his power to our understanding of God’s power is like comparing the ocean with a drop of water. Think of the psalms that begin with a bold statement of God’s power. “God is our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46). “The LORD is my light and my salvation,.... the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid” (Psalm 27). “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge” (Psalm 18).  Trust in God because he is worthy of your trust. Believe in him simply because of who he is– your mighty Maker, Preserver, Redeemer. Then apply that holy truth to your problems. Confidently say, “God can help me because he is powerful.” “God will help me, as he knows best, because he has promised to.”

D.    God makes no deals. I would imagine that he laughs at the deals people try to make with him.  “Get me out of my problem and I will give money to the church.” “Get me out of my problem and I will quit smoking or drinking.”  What does that kind of deal-making do but take the responsibility for the solution to your problem and put it back in your own hands. Such deals and promises are often forgotten when the problem passes anyway. We should rely on God alone for solutions to our problems. We should appeal to his mercy rather than try to bargain with him since we really have nothing to bargain with.

E.    As St. Paul prays for the Ephesians, he isn’t praying about any one specific problem, but rather is praying for spiritual blessings.  “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”  In other words, “I pray that you may know the Gospel promise, and know that you are forgiven, beloved children of God.” When a Christian has this comfort in God’s promise, nothing else matters. Nothing else matters because you know that the worst things that can happen aren’t the worst at all. St. Paul knew all the hardships that a Christian can endure. Hunger, thirst, trouble, persecution, hardship, loss and threat of death. Nowhere does he even hint that a Christian’s life will be free of trouble. But he does say, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” He does say, “None of these things can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (See Romans 8:35-39). You have that love of God through Jesus. Jesus suffered the worst losses of all. “All this he did that [you] should be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in righteousness, innocence and blessedness.” That is “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”  Nothing else matters.

F.    Sometimes God does just that– he solves our problems in ways that are beyond anything we can ask or imagine. Sometimes, after years of hardship, God turns everything around for you and heaps blessing on top of blessing. It really does happen. God really does do it. He did it for Israel in Egypt. He did it for the couple at Cana. He has done it countless other times. Sometimes God goes beyond what we ask or imagine in ways that are not so obvious to us. In the Catechism, we learned that God delivers us from evil by turning evil around and making it serve for our good. Sometimes hardships and losses refocus our minds to see what is important and what isn’t... to see that God does indeed take care of our needs... but not all of our wants. Sometimes God stands back and allows some evil so that we will be driven back to him. Sometimes God waits, and delivers us from evil by finally taking us out of this world of sorrow to himself in heaven. In all of these, God is working all things out beyond anything we can ask or imagine. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Amen.

 

© 2010 Pastor Paul C. Stratman
St. Stephen’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Beaver Dam WI
http://www.saintstephen.org
pastorstratman@saintstephen.org
pcstratman@gmail.com