World Day of Prayer 2023

Ephesians 1:16-19

Intro

So good to be here with you all - and to know that our gathering is just one of two in our city, one of many in our province and country - and that more gatherings like this are taking place across many countries.

When we are followers of Jesus, we are part of a family of faith that, as Eugene Peterson would put it, spans “across continents and through centuries.”

And a day like today, an event like this, helps to remember our place in God’s covenant family. It connects us, to God and to one another. Helps us to find our bearings and a sense of belonging - with God and with God’s people.

Text/context

Our text for today comes from a letter written to the church in Ephesus. This letter from the 1st century still resonates with modern readers because in it, the Apostle Paul summarizes the story of the good news of Jesus and then explores how that story reshapes the story of the Ephesian church. And so, even though our context might be quite different from 1st century Ephesus, not to mention from all the other communities around the world who are also reading this text on this day, the struggle remains… how do we as followers of Jesus allow the Gospel story to reshape our story - as individuals, as households, churches, communities and beyond?

What does Paul pray for?

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, to bring you to a rich knowledge of the Creator. I pray that God will enlighten the eyes of your heart so that you may know what is the hope to which you have been called, what are the riches of the glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe, according to the working of that great power.

A spirit of wisdom and revelation

That we might see things as they really are. Dr. Kate Bowler

What does Paul want the Ephesians (and us!) to be able to see?

hope - not optimism or looking for the silver lining, but hope. An anchor in the future when Jesus has promised to make all things new. Anchoring to THAT, means we can live into that now…even if only in part. Hope matters. And it’s more than optimism.

resources - if you knew that in two years you would inherit a million dollars, how would that change how you live now? But what if you and your entire (extended) family were going to inherit a large sum?

In need or lack, the riches of the glorious inheritance - not a personal inheritance, but a family one. A BIG family. With inexhaustible resources.

So if you’re feeling

This is the reality for the family of God. We are the heirs to an incredible `

power -how? By working harder? That sounds exhausting. By doing more? I’m already overwhelmed. By constant self-improvement? No thank you. By the power that belongs to God. The same power that Jesus demonstrated by laying His life down. (Which demonstrates a VERY different kind of power than we’re used to seeing.) And then Paul will go on to say in the next verses… that it’s the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.