Dan Herold | Ephesians 1:16-23 | May 8, 2016
(Sermon starts at 18:53)
Do you remember what it was like to be at school on the last day before summer vacation? From what I remember in grade school it was pretty exciting! It was exciting because I knew that after that day was over I got to go home and I didn’t have to go to school again for around 3 whole months. I would get to play outside with my friends, there might be a family vacation coming up, and best of all—no homework.
But as I got older I remember other feelings being part of the last day of school as well. I started to not be quite as excited about not getting to see my friends from school as much over the summer. Then, later in high school and in college summer vacation was still exciting but it meant a whole lot of work as well. Summer became the time to find a job and work full-time hours or more. The last day of classes in my college years became a bittersweet day. It meant no more papers or exams for a while, but it also meant moving out of the dorm and not seeing most of my friends for a few months. Then there came Seminary, and as much as we all looked forward to graduation and assignment day, leaving the relative safety of the classroom and campus and heading out into the real world to be pastors was a frightening idea too.
On the day that Jesus ascended into heaven I’d imagine the disciples there felt like it was the last day of school. Even though they rejoiced and praised God, they were probably a little scared about the future. However, it became clear in the following days that Jesus’ ascension wasn’t the end. God continued to work through the disciples and gave them instructions as their role shifted from followers to leaders. Jesus would no longer physically walk alongside his disciples, but he had not abandoned them. That is why in our text we are encouraged to never stop giving thanks. Paul emphasizes that we should give thanks for God’s continual blessings and for Christ’s unending reign.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul describes a church which has been greatly blessed by God. Paul tells us about all that God has done and gives thanks for the continual blessings which God showers on those who believe in him.
As he begins his description of the church, Paul offers a prayer of thanksgiving. He begins with prayer, something we don’t do often enough. Not only does he begin with prayer, but it is a prayer of thanksgiving. Listen to what Paul says,
“I have not stopped giving thanks.”
Wow! How different is that statement from the way we usually think and pray?
Typically, if we remember to include it at all, thanksgiving gets tacked on somewhere as an afterthought in our prayers. We usually give thanks as a response to having received something and then we stop. In other words, when we give thanks it is far from continual. We have a holiday in November, eat some turkey, and then give thanks again the next year. Paul says he hasn’t stopped, though! The idea is almost so foreign we can’t get our minds around it! Paul is continually giving thanks, and he does so because it’s what God deserves.
Paul goes on to thank God for specific gifts—gifts which were especially important and beneficial to the church after Jesus ascended. He gives thanks for all that God has already done and asks that he continue to bless the church by providing a,
“Spirit of wisdom and revelation.”
God had already blessed the Ephesians with knowledge of their Savior, but there is always something more to learn. The disciples would especially benefit from the “revelation” that Paul requested because they didn’t quite understand what the Ascension meant. They were so lost that they asked Jesus if this was the time at which he would restore the kingdom of Israel. Clearly, they needed wisdom as they stood there confused and staring at the sky as Jesus ascended into heaven.
There are many things that we don’t understand. Often we wonder why bad things happen, why loved ones die, why natural disasters occur, why countries go to war, and so on, and it can be very difficult to understand why God allows those sorts of things to happen. That is why Paul prays, as we also can pray, that God bless his people with a spirit of wisdom. God has all the answers and in his grace he gives us some of them. Understanding is one of the greatest gifts God gives because it sets our troubled minds at ease and brings us peace. Sometimes the answers are obvious, but it takes time to see them. Sometimes we never do get to see them, but God always does. God is faithful to his promises so we can trust that he will work for our good even if we never understand how.
That is why Paul goes on to pray that,
“The eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you.”
Paul says the “eyes of your heart,” because he is talking about spiritual things which aren’t always tangible. Some of the answers that the disciples were looking for, that the Ephesians were looking for, or that we may be looking for could be right in front of us—and God will reveal them to us in his own time. In the meantime we can put to use the knowledge and gifts which God has made known. The disciples were reminded of that by the angel who spoke to them in Acts 1. The disciples had been told many times that Jesus would return, but until then they had work to do. They had been commissioned to be Christ’s witnesses to the world. It was time to stop staring at the sky and get to work!
When things we don’t understand happen we are tempted to stand around dumbfounded like the disciples, and Satan loves it when we stop and stand still. Jesus, however, gave us a job to do. He commanded us to make disciples of all nations, and we can’t do that by standing and staring into the sky waiting for Jesus to come back. Paul prays that we would know the,
“…riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.”
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Paul’s prayer is a model for us. He prays emphatically, joyfully, and specifically. Paul thanks God for his blessings and asks that he continue to shower blessings upon his church as they carry the message of salvation to the world.
It can be a trying experience to go through a difficult situation that we don’t understand. The disciples faced an incredibly difficult future without Jesus physically at their side. Up until that point he was always there to explain things. However, the disciples’ ministry was still blessed by God and the church on earth wasn’t abandoned. The disciples had been commissioned to go out and preach, to carry on the ministry of Jesus, and to take his message to the ends of the earth.
That same Jesus, whom the disciples loved, is now seated at the right hand of God. He has been put in a place of authority by the Father, and he is the ultimate ruler. He is different, though, from all other rulers which we know. First of all, we know Jesus as our friend and Savior. We know him and he knows us.
He is also different from earthly rulers because his power comforts us. For earthly rulers there is always the threat that a larger army may rise up and take his power, but nothing can rob Christ, our King, of his power. Most importantly, we have seen our King conquer our greatest foe–death. When Jesus was raised from the dead our salvation was sealed. Jesus told us,
“Because I live, you also will live!”
Paul tells us that Jesus is,
“…seated in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
He has power over all!
Not only has God done all that but he has also,
“…placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.”
Paul uses military terms here to describe Christ’s victory. A Roman general would often, as a show of victory, place his foot on the throat of a conquered general as he lay on the ground. That image shows how severely Christ has defeated his enemies. Jesus totally destroyed the devil’s power over us.
Now it becomes clear that with Jesus in his position of authority at the Father’s right hand the church is lacking nothing. A body without a head is useless, but a body with Christ as its head is able to accomplish anything. Some would try to argue that when Jesus ascended he left the disciples to fend for themselves, however that couldn’t be further from the truth.
When Jesus ascended to heaven he wasn’t running from the fight. He was taking his rightful place of victory. Jesus didn’t give up the fight. He trained more soldiers—the apostles and the church as a whole—to carry on the battle.
The powers of this world will tempt and torment us, but none can conquer us. They will try to rob us of our security, but Christ continually fills us back up. He is the one who fills everything in every way! God gives us all we need and he even gives us more than we need! At the ascension we are reminded that Christ hasn’t left us. The Ascension is not an end, but rather a transition. Jesus may no longer be on the earth, but he is certainly not absent either.
It just so happens that we celebrate Ascension around the time of spring graduations and the end of the school year, but the two have some similarities. Both could potentially bring some uneasiness as life changes, but that is what the festival of Ascension in the church year signifies…change, not an ending.
The Ascension was a visible display of God’s power that he used to prepare the disciples for his next display of power at Pentecost. The Ascension prepared them for their future as they served as his witnesses to the ends of the earth. At the same time the Ascension wasn’t only for the disciples’ benefit…but also for ours. It reminds us that we still have an active God who richly blesses us. We also have an almighty eternal King who rules over all creation from his heavenly throne. Paul said he never stops giving thanks and neither should we! On this day when we celebrate Jesus’ return to his heavenly throne give thanks; both for God’s continual blessings on his church and also for Christ’s unending all-powerful reign as our true heavenly king.
Amen.