I really like to write and I enjoy public speaking, but I had a hint of my tendency to wordiness when my first time in seminary produced a comment from one of my favorite professors. I had just finished a fairly intensive philosophy paper for his class and was really sweating the grade he would give me. Most everybody got their papers back quickly, but mine wasn’t in the first batch handed out. And it wasn’t in the second batch! Now I’m worried.
Finally, after sheepishly approaching my professor, he gave me my graded paper. While I was happy with the grade (it was an A) I still remember the comment he wrote on the front page: “Dear Mr. Powell, you remind me of a German theologian – why use two words when twelve would do just as nicely!” OK, doc, I get it!
But sometimes the ideas and concepts are so BIG, so cosmic, it just takes a flood of words to try to do the subject justice!
Look at our lesson today in Ephesians 3:8-21:
BRETHREN, to me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him. So l ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fulness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.
Notice that this passage is just FOUR sentences! But just look at what’s packed in there: Through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God is made known; God’s Eternal Purpose was to do this; Paul’s sufferings are not wasted but for the Church’s benefit; BECAUSE Christ dwells in your heart through faith; Being Rooted and Grounded in LOVE you will have the POWER to COMPREHEND with all the saints the Breadth, the Length, the Height, and the Depth, and Know the Love of Christ which SURPASSES knowledge.
Amazing! Because of the Love of Christ, we become capable of knowing the unknowable! Love sets us free to expand beyond the borders of our limited creatureliness to become by grace what Christ is by nature! Huge! Cosmic! Mind-blowing! Let me ask you, is this how you experience your faith? Seriously! If not, WHY NOT?
Tell me honestly, are you getting this kind of spiritual development in your life? Were you aware of just how huge the spiritual journey you were on really was? This Orthodox Christian Way, with all its beauty, soaring architecture, mysterious liturgies, and constantly involved and purposeful disciplines, are all meant to communicate to you this huge and vast faith you have at your disposal to expand your understanding and your own soul! Remaining in the dark about this awesome treasure of Faith has very real and tragic consequences for you and your children!
Today, I want to challenge you to step to the edge of your comfort zone and peer into the vastness of just what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I want you to seriously take some time today – as much as you can spare – to contemplate the message of our Orthodox Christian faith that God Himself has come among us to take us by the hand and bring us back to Himself. Contemplate the love, the concern, the eternal care our God has for you and for all the people you meet today. Think about the gift given to you today in the air you breathe, the life you live, the love you experience, and know all this is because of the grace and kindness of God in Christ even in the face of our thoughtlessness, our selfishness, and our lack of thankfulness. Embrace the cosmic invitation to be Orthodox on Purpose!
P.S. O Lord of Glory, Uncreated, and beyond knowing, You make Yourself known to us because of Your immense power and love. You make me able to enter into communion with You, blessed Trinity, and to finally know the unknowable through love and faithfulness! And in this communion, You are not diminished and I am made able to become who You created me to be. Lord, what joy, what wonder, what sheer cosmic awe! I stand amazed at Your condescension and love for me, Your creature, made to be Your companion. Amen.
