“The Power of God”
Ephesians 1:15-23
We are two weeks away from one of the most important days for the church – Pentecost, the day when God breathed God’s spirit into the first believers and gave life to the church.
For the last five weeks, we have
been making a transition, if you will, from Easter to Pentecost. In this time, we have been reminded that the
message of Easter is more than just about one day, it’s about our ongoing hope
and testimony of the promise of God that we have eternal life through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But, we have also been reminded of
something else as well, that we are Easter people
precisely because it is the Spirit of the living Christ who calls us to be
Easter people. Jesus is the Lord of
life, not because the tomb was empty, but because Jesus is the living Lord of
life, who calls us to always follow him and testify to the truth of his
gospel. This is the transition we have
been going through for the last five weeks, the transition from Easter to Pentecost,
from Easter people to Spirit-filled people, from faith to testimony.
But what
makes this transition even possible in the first place? What event makes it possible for us to be
able to not only speak the testimony of God, but also be a church that puts
God’s testimony to action? For us in the
church, it is the ascension of Jesus Christ, when Jesus was lifted up to sit at
the right hand of God.
Without the
ascension of Jesus Christ to the Father, Pentecost would be meaningless, and as
we shall see next week, the promise of Jesus himself would be nullified. The ascension of our Lord stands as the
testimony that Jesus did not just fade off into the sunset after the
Resurrection, but became the living Lord of life, the living and active Lord
that is present with us even now.
Much has been written about the
historical Jesus, about his life on earth, about how he might have lived and
worked, what he might have worn and eaten, and even about what he might have
really said to those who followed him. This
search for the historical Jesus is all well and good and important for Biblical
study, but it has also left many people wondering about the truth of the one
who is our Lord and Savior, and grasping for their own identity.
If all Jesus is to us is an
historical figure, then we are most to be pitied, because it means that we are
left to fend for ourselves, to decide for ourselves what is the purpose of our
creation and the meaning of our identity as God’s children. We confess Jesus is Lord, not just because
Jesus walked the earth, and not just because Jesus was raised from the dead,
but also because God seated him at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, far
above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that
is named, not only in this age but in the age to come. It is the church’s confession and belief and
testimony that Jesus Christ was more than just a traveling, Jewish peasant, but
that he is the very Son of God, the Word of God incarnate, who even now lives
and reigns with God and the Holy Spirit in the eternal realm.
The power of God that is at work
in the lives of the faithful is a reminder for us that our Christian faith is
not just based on the events of the past, but on God’s testimony about the
present, about what is happening now. It
is God’s testimony that God in Jesus Christ is living and active in the world
today through the Spirit of the living Christ, that God is even now still
electing, still saving, still reconciling, still
redeeming all of God’s creation.
The power of God is another
testimony, a powerful testimony about the importance of Jesus’ ascension to
those who believe. It is Paul’s prayer
for the believers that they come to know what the power of God means in their
lives of faith, because it is through the power of God in Jesus Christ that
they have come to know him, the hope to which they have been called, the riches
of his inheritance that has been given to them, and the immeasurable greatness
of his power to those who believe.
For Paul, the
ascension is not just about the lifting up of Jesus Christ in glory and honor
and power; the ascension of Jesus Christ is the declaration that they too have
been lifted up by that same power. The
same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at God’s right
hand is the very same power that lifts up the church to divine
significance.
In fact, Paul is so confident of
the divine significance of the church that he is willing to make a bold and
startling claim that the fullness of God doesn’t just dwell in the church, but
that it is the church! The power of God
not only lifts up the church, but it makes the church the very instrument of
God’s saving power at work in the world.
The divine
significance of this testimony is truly astounding. Can it really be possible that the church is
the fullness of God? Isn’t it rather
arrogant for us to think this highly of ourselves? Certainly, we know that history has shown too
many times what can happen when a church thinks too highly of itself. Certainly, we can attest to the problems that
can come when one group of people think they have claim on the truth, that they
are the saved ones, with special status and privilege. Do we dare think we are that important to God
and God’s plan of salvation? Brothers
and sisters, how dare we think otherwise!
The church’s
temptation is not that it thinks too highly of itself, but that it thinks to
low of itself, that it thinks it doesn’t have divine significance. We cannot ever believe that the church is insignificant
to the work of God in the world. We
cannot ever believe that the church has no real role to play in salvation
history, or that the faithfulness of our lives is a matter for only God and
ourselves.
We the church
are the key to God’s very plan of salvation. Through us, the very power of God is at work
to save the entire cosmos. We must
always be cautious that we don’t make ourselves equal with Christ. The church does not serve itself. The church, you and I, serve Jesus
Christ. He is the ascended and glorified
and living Lord.
But, Paul
reminds us, that we are his body in the world, his very hands and feet, his
very heart and mind. We are the way in
which the living Lord continues to make himself know to the world in human
history. By the grace of God, the church
is not left to fend for itself or come up with its own mission and ministry or
faith and life.
Through the power of God, we the
church have been made the bodily presence of the Spirit of the living
Christ. To belittle ourselves and seek
to make the church only a private affair between God and ourselves, we deny our
own vocation. Thanks be to God that God
has chosen to call the church into existence.
Thanks be to God that God has chosen to give Christ’s church flesh and
blood. Thanks be to God that God has
breathed the Spirit into us, and has made us the vehicle and instrument of
salvation for all of creation.
It is the
power of God at work in us and through us that we must always remember that
nothing we do in the church is just for the sake of doing it. Everything we do, from traditional practices
to new practices, should always be done with intentionality behind it, because
everything we do has divine significance.
Coming to Sunday school and
worship, giving of our money, time, talents and ourselves, actively
participating in the life and ministry of the community of faith, living and
growing as disciples, sharing the good news with others, preaching the good
news of the gospel with words and actions, and testifying to the truth of Jesus
Christ – all has divine significance, for all of what we do in the church is a
testimony to the power of God at work.
Even ringing
the bell Sunday morning has divine significance and is a testimony to the power
of God at work. The ringing of the bell
is so much more than just a time piece to signal 11am, it is the church’s
testimony to the whole community that God has called God’s people to worship
and that this particular church is answering that call. By ringing the bell, we make a bold claim
about the one who lives and reigns over our lives of faith.
On Pentecost Sunday we will change
our order of worship as a testimony and proclamation of the power of God at
work here at Finley. On Pentecost
Sunday, the very first act we will do in worship is to ring the bell as a
communal call to worship, then we will have the prelude music for us to prepare
our hearts and minds for worship.
It is our proclamation to the
community in which we live that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he alone has the
power to transform and change the lives of all those who believe in him, that
he alone has the power to shape and direct the character of every moment of our
lives, that he alone has the power to bring our community, this nation, and the
world abundant and eternal life. Amen.