Reflections Upon Paul’s Ephesians
1:15-23 Prayer – Part Five
With the
eyes of the heart, she saw God’s handiwork in her life. Heretofore, money blinded
her to seeing the mysterious ways in which God sowed the seeds of providence in
her life. On the day of her epiphany, her humility and willingness to consider
that God had mysteriously intervened in her affairs removed those lucrative
scales. The Holy Spirit entered that bank conference room and enlightened her
inner perception thereby enabling her to comprehend God’s favor upon her desire
to teach. Perhaps, you have an experience similar to the banker turned English literature
teacher. Whether work, education, love or a heartfelt dream, the “eyes of the
heart” allows you to look beyond physical realities to see spiritual
dimensions. Idea and activities that have eternal value are more meaningful
than things with earthly worth. Paul begins this prayer for the Ephesians with a
heartfelt hope that they will receive wisdom and revelation to enable them to
see and understand the spiritual dimensions of living in the realm of Christ’s
kingdom.
It is
important to read the entire eighteenth verse. In the first half, Paul prays
for the Ephesian church’s enlightenment. What is the objective of this prayer?
He asks God to enhance their spiritual abilities in order that they may know
the hope into which they have been called. For these people who lived in the
Ancient Near East, hope was not a fleeting emotion in which people cross their
fingers and wish all circumstances interconnect favorably. Hope extends beyond
the heartfelt desires of a precocious and articulate grade school child who
recites prayers that he had been taught. Hope is a well-reasoned commitment to
a cause greater than personal ambitions and desires. It is a determined effort
to realize grand ideals, cardinal principles and achievable goals. Hope
requires knowledge, reason, mathematics, science and social science. Campaign
staffers exercise their hope as they work tirelessly to gain an election
victory for their candidate. For a year or more, they commit practically every
waking hour to the overarching goal of electing a candidate whose platform,
ideas and promises they believe are best for the electorate. Beyond their
positive feelings for their candidate, they live their hope through the
practical commitment of their hard work. As new converts to Christianity,
Ephesian disciples can begin living a life of hope in the Lord’s teachings,
building His kingdom and fulfilling The Great Commandment and The Great
Commission. As they continually experience the infinite blessings of
transformation, renewal and hope in Christ, they understand their dedication to
Him by sharing this hope with others. Within the complexity of living in the
Roman Empire’s social licentiousness, emperor worship, religious pluralisms and
competing marketplace of ideas, recent disciples need practical hope to empower
them to persevere in the Christian faith. They will employ the same
intellectual tools and pragmatic methods as campaign workers. The Ephesian
church begins its campaign for Christ’s teachings and kingdom. Expanding the
church a disciple at a time is the hope to which the Lord calls them.
Additionally,
Paul hopes the Ephesians understand “the riches of his glorious inheritance in
his holy people.” Once in beginning a sermon, I asked all wealthy people in the
audience to stand. Initially, a few people stood. After a few minutes, more
people stood. Then, people began to stand until most people were standing. Some
people did not stand. I asked, “For those of you who hesitated, does this
exercise reveal your concept of wealth? I suspect that most of you initially
gauged your wealth in terms of money. However, money is not the sole
determinant of wealth.” Paul’s use of “riches” in this verse refers to a
greater conceptualization of wealth than examining a financial balance sheet.
Biblical linguists in translating this verse understand wealth to be
cumulative. There is the increasing wealth of knowledge that emerges from
continual scientific experimentation, social science research, composition in
the fine and performing arts and evolving ideas in the marketplace of human
need, desires and interactions. The total volumes of libraries in the world equate
with the wealth of human discovery, knowledge and development. Museums arguably
are more valuable than any bank as they are repositories of collective wealth
of human ideas and imagination about God, nature, love, life, death and
existence. The international space station represents future wealth for
humankind as we learn whether space is inhabitable for mass populations.
Essentially, science, technology, art and cultural expression are mechanisms of
appreciating wealth. Still, there is wealth that people only obtain in
relationship and experience. Marriage, family, work and friendships are
examples of human interactions that impart wealth from the ancestors, history,
traditions, culture and community. It is these cumulative and relational riches
to which Paul refers in this verse.
The
Ephesian disciples are poised to become recipients of incalculable wealth. They
are the recipients of the Lord’s “glorious inheritance in his holy people.” The
Wesleyan and Methodist quadrilateral views the Christian faith from four
dimensions: Experience, History/Tradition, Reason and Scripture. First century
Ephesian disciples inherit the faith of their forebears, specifically the
original apostles and adherents to the Jesus movement. The first generation of
disciples were faithful adherents to the teachings of Christ. They through the
prevalent saying source imparted His authentic principles and lessons as they
primarily witnessed them through their direct experience of Him. The “Beloved
Disciple” and “Fourth Evangelist” testifies to his personal experience. “That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands
have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” (1 John 1:1) Second and third generation disciples
listened to John’s discourse and teachings of his immediate experience of
Christ during the three and a half years of Jesus’ public ministry. Chances are
John also shared lessons from the seminars that the Lord held with the twelve
apostles in private after public preaching, teaching and healing. As the
Ephesians listened and internalized these teachings, they inherited the riches
of the original and authentic faith wherein they became disciples. Paul
expresses his excitement for them that they have received such an invaluable
gift in the collective Christian witness of their forbears. The apostles’
experience forms the historical foundation of Christianity. In sharing the
Lord’s teachings, the apostles discard
false teachings, myths and superstitions.
The church offers disciples the cumulative wealth of Christian
experience which empowers contemporary believers to endure in faithfulness to
Christ regardless of personal and societal challenges. In tough times,
disciples know they can triumph over adversity because their forebears successfully
persevered during hardships. Paul encourages Ephesians congregants to embrace
this eternal wealth instead of falling prey to erroneous teachings and
questionable practices. He assures them that they will mature and contribute to
the developing community of Christian faith. He points them toward eternal
riches which can enrich a disciple’s earthly journey.
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