Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Ephesians 3:20-21

“Who, What, Where, When, and Why?”

Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

Now to him, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

When you’re talking about a particular person to another person, its important that you are clear who it is you are talking about. I could say to you, “Hey, did you know it’s Glenn’s anniversary today?” You might say, “Glenn who?” “Oh you know, Glenn, who has the garage up in Doylesburg.” “You mean, Glenn and Betty Campbell?” “Yes. It’s their anniversary today.” Now see, to make sure you knew which Glenn I was talking about, I gave you a couple of descriptors about Glenn. He had a garage. The garage is in Doylesburg. Then you knew I was talking about Glenn & Betty.

As Paul was in the middle of his letter to the church in Ephesus, he breaks into this beautiful prayer for the church. And he says as the prayer comes to a close, “Now to Him…” Him, who? “Now to Him, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…” Oh, that Him. Paul is talking about the One who can bring more out of our lives than we could ever ask for or imagine on our own. He is talking about the One who spoke, and the world was created. He is talking about the One who loves so greatly that He could not, and would not leave us in our sin without hope of being saved. He is talking about Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- our Savior, our Creator, our God of pure mercy and pure justice.

“Now to Him…” Okay. We know to whom Paul is referring. That’s the Who.

“Now to Him,” what? What is Paul saying we should give to Him? “Now to Him be glory.”

Glory in this context means, “honor, treasure, abundance, riches, and wealth.” Psalm 115:1 tells us, “Not to us, not to us, O Lord, but to Your name be glory!” Paul is pleased with this church body in Ephesus. Unlike his letter to the Galatians which scolded and corrected, Paul is earnestly encouraging the Ephesians to praise God- to enjoy God’s good blessings- and to give all the glory to God. “Now to Him be glory.” That’s the What.

Now, how about the where? Where are we to give glory to Him? “Now to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.” Paul is telling the people of Ephesus, and he is telling us that we are to make sure we give honor, treasure, abundance, riches, and wealth (Glory) to God in the church- which is the earthly body of Christ in the world. We are not supposed to be making a little piece of heaven for ourselves right here on earth with our over-scheduled treasured time, hoarded money, and wasted gifts from the Lord for ministry. We are supposed to be using our time, our money, and our gifts of compassion, teaching, craftsmanship, music, administration, wisdom, mercy, listening, counseling, organization, etc.- we are to be using all of these things in and for the church- and therefore in Christ Jesus. And yet, how many of us carve out treasured time for the Lord on Sunday mornings only at 10 or 11 a.m.? How many of us do not serve in the church and give glory to the Lord in any way other than one hour for our worship gathering? For our Bible School meeting on Thursday evening, only 4 people showed up. Do only 4 people in this congregation care about reaching out to the children through Vacation Bible School? No. I don’t think that’s true. I think many of you care about it. But I also think many of us think things like, “Oh, let the others do it.” Paul says, “Now to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.” If you’re part of the church, you are called by God to invest the best of what you have for his glory- not what you have left over, if anything.” That’s the where question. “Now to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.”

How about the when? “Now to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” What’s the answer to the when question? Forever and ever, starting right now by repeating and passing on the practice of giving glory to God in the church to all generations, and especially to each new generation. Otherwise we cannot fulfill the “forever and ever” part of this prayer, can we?

Now to the why question: Why should we give glory to God in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever? Please raise your eyes a couple of lines to Ephesians 3:14-19. Paul prays for us, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and the Christ ma dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Wow. This is what Paul wants for us. He wants us to be strong, full of faith, grounded in love, somehow able to know how much God loves us through what we understand of the cross, and he wants us to be filled up with God. This is the answer to the Why question. Paul is telling the church (that’s us), that if we pour ourselves into giving glory (time, treasurers, gifts, honor) to God through the ministry of the church, then we will be in a position to receive inner strength, faith, love, wisdom, and all the fullness of God.

If a quarterback throws the ball according to a present running pattern, but the receiver doesn’t run the right pattern, the receiver will not be in position to catch the ball. Paul is telling us how to be in the right position to both give and receive all that really matters in this life. He wants us to have it all! That’s why we should give glory to the Lord by being actively involved in the ministry of the church. He doesn’t want us to have some cheap substitute for the greatest life we can live. He wants us to have the real thing!

One more question. This one isn’t on the list. It’s not in the sermon title. It didn’t start with a ‘W,’ and so it didn’t fit the alliterated title.

How? How do we do what Paul is telling us we must do?

Please, look back at verse 20. “Now to Him, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…”

Look up a little farther back in v. 19b. Paul is praying that we be, “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Which is where we get the power within us- that’s the ‘how.’ We do this by his power, not our own.

Think of this in this way: I can stand along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean and see water as far as my eyes can see. But if I get a jar and allow the ocean to rush into my jar, in an instant my jar is filled with the fullness of the Atlantic Ocean. Of course, I could never put the fullness of the whole Atlantic Ocean into my jar, but at the same time my jar is filled with the Atlantic Ocean.

Whenever we, as a vulnerable, finite human being dip the tiny vessel of our life into the fullness of God, we instantly become full of his fullness; we instantly become full of his power to do more than we ever thought we could. Amazing things can and do happen through us because the Lord is pleased to be invited to more within us. Those areas of our lives that were not bringing honor and glory to the Lord can become areas of testimony, blessing, and purity. Those areas of our lives that we were withholding from the Lord for nothing buy reasons of self-glory and comfort, becomes those areas that can bring the most glory to the Lord and satisfaction to our souls.

Now to him, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory I the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

In such a little prayer, Paul has said a mouthful. May each one of us take Paul’s prayer for us to heart. May we open ourselves up to a greater fullness from the Lord, and may all the generations represented here today take very seriously God’s call on our lives to pass on a strong practice of bringing glory to the Lord in all that we do in the church and in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us pray:

O Lord, I pray Paul’s prayer for this church today, that according to the riches of your glory, you may grant that we may be strengthened in our inner beings with power through your Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, as we are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that we may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. And now, to him, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

7-9-06