©2003 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship
|
11/02/03 |
To God Be The Glory Pt. 2 |
Ephesians 3:20-21 |
To God Be The Glory Pt. 2
I was involved in some conversations this past week
that lead me to believe
we need to spend a little more time
on some of the things I shared with you last Sunday.
I know it’s been a full week of real life since we were together,
a week filled with all sorts of thoughts and feelings and issues
that have taken our minds far away from where we were a week ago,
so I’ll offer a little review
to help get us back into what we were looking at.
Our study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians
has brought us to the last two verses of the 3rd chapter.
These two verses contain a single sentence,
a sentence in which Paul reveals to us
the only reasonable response of the human spirit
when we have correctly heard and understood
what he has shared with us up to this point in his letter.
In Ephesians 3:20-21 Paul says,
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond
all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him
be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and
ever. Amen.
In those first three chapters
we listened to Paul describe for us
the way in which, through the work of Jesus Christ in our lives,
God has created between Himself and His people
a relationship in which He places His Spirit within us
and then lives out His life through us on this earth on a daily basis.
We become the physical body of Christ on this earth.
Our lives,
our actions and thoughts and choices and relationships
take on a significance far beyond anything our minds could have imagined
and ...the manifold wisdom of God... is now
...made known through the church...through us... to the rulers and the
authorities in the heavenly places.
And as we were talking about that truth last week,
and then placing it in context
with Paul’s affirmation in 3:20 about how God is now able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
I shared with you
the pattern that I see God following
as He accomplishes this work in our lives.
He creates for each of His children
a sphere of influence
that is perfectly matched both to His unique design of us
and to what He wants to say through our lives.
And then, within the context of that work He is doing in and through us,
He assures us that He both can and will
equip us for the life He has called us to live.
Now, when we got to this point in our study last week,
I shared with you
the way I see this being lived out in our lives on a daily basis.
God’s commitment to us
to equip us for the life He has called us to live
is an absolute certainty of our life with Him.
And I shared with you last week
that the beginning of our understanding of how this works
requires a firm commitment on our part
to the acceptance of those things he has given us to do
and just as firm a rejection of those things He has not given us to do.
And then I shared with you
the greatest tool I’ve ever had
in learning how to tell the difference between the two.
Only when we begin to think in terms
of taking care of the people God has given us
rather than in terms of accomplishing projects
will we ever be able to distinguish between
what God has and has not given us to do.
God begins by showing us the people around us
that He has entrusted into our care.
And once we realize
that it is those people
who form the heart of the life calling He has given us,
from there we have a basis for evaluating what He has given us to do
and what He has not.
When we want to figure out whether some opportunity is something God has given us to do,
or whether it’s just some distraction brought our way from Satan to clutter up our life,
the first thing we do
is to ask ourselves - what kind of affect it will have on our relationship with our Lord?
The second thing we do
is to ask ourselves - what kind of affect it will have on the most significant relationships God has entrusted into our care.
If we’re married,
at the top of that list will be our marriage partner.
If we have children in the home,
they will be next on the list.
If we can see that it will have a negative or destructive effect on any of those areas
then we reject it
knowing it is not something God has for us.
From there we then move out to the next circle of relationships given to us by our Lord.
With all of us
there are a number of other relationships
that He has entrusted into our care,
the people we work with,
our employer or our employees,
our close friends and neighbors,
people for whom we know we have been given responsibility in a special way.
And there again we ask the same question - will this have a negative or positive impact on them?
And the most amazing thing happens
once we start thinking in these terms.
All of the sudden
it becomes far easier to recognize what God has given us to do
and what we’ve simply chosen to pick up ourselves out of our flesh-based sense of need.
And when Paul says, Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us...,
he is making that comment within the context
of those things God has given us to do.
OK, now it is right here, at this point
that we need to do a little more work
before we move on in our study of Ephesians.
You see, from the comments I received this past week,
I think some of you realized
that what our Lord is offering us here
is not just some additional duty we are to tack onto our lives,
but rather a totally different basis for viewing and approaching our lives.
Now, I know that, with some of you,
this whole idea of approaching life on the basis of relationships entrusted into our care
came across as utterly impractical and simplistic and impossible to apply in real life.
And before we end this morning
I will share some thoughts that I hope will help with those concerns.
But first of all
I want to lay a little more background for why God says what He says to us in this whole area.
And let me begin by stating the obvious -
what our culture offers us
when it comes to finding true fulfillment in life simply doesn’t work.
We live in a culture
that is built upon the premise
that greater affluence, popularity, and power bring greater fulfillment in life.
Though we certainly would never state it this way,
we as a culture genuinely believe
that, if we could increase our income 10% we would be 10% happier and more fulfilled.
If we could increase it 50%,
we would be 50% more satisfied with life.
And if we could win the Lottery
all of the hurt, and emptiness, and pain inside us would just melt away forever.
Now, when I state it like that,
of course most of us would deny any such thinking.
But the truth is,
even though we are surrounded by countless lives
that utterly disprove such a value system,
people who are extremely wealthy,
or extremely popular
and yet extremely miserable and filled with pain,
still, unless we consciously recognize and resist the lie,
we still tend to buy into it and base our lives upon it.
Parents faced with work choices that give them more time with their family for less income
or greater income with less family time choose the income,
and even do it telling themselves, “It’s for the family.”
It’s difficult now in our society
to find a family unit that can maintain it’s chosen lifestyle
without two full-time incomes to fund it.
We are so certain that greater affluence produces a better life
that we just automatically make our choices on that basis.
I have noticed some noise and vibration recently
coming from the front end of our Subaru.
I knew what the problem was.
The driver’s side CV joint was going out and needed to be replaced.
This past Monday I finally called the repair shop and told them I was bringing it in.
On the way there I stopped at the Post Office,
and as soon as I turned into the parking lot
our car started making the most horrible noise,
stopped moving altogether,
and four huge ball bearings dropped out of the front end onto the ground.
It was 8:45 in the morning,
I had an appointment at 9:00,
no cell phone,
and no idea what to do.
As I was gathering up chunks of my car from the ground
a good friend and one of our church members drove by, stopped, and asked if I needed a ride.
Do you know what I said?
I said, “I don’t need a ride, I need a new car!”
I have thought a great deal about that response ever since it popped out of my mouth.
I’ve thought about what I was really saying and feeling.
What I was saying, of course, is that my needs at that moment could be met by greater affluence.
But even more than that,
I was saying that my God was failing me.
He was failing to provide what I needed
for the life He had called me to live.
As I sat there in my immovable car,
wondering what in the world to do,
wondering why my God had abandoned me in my hour of need,
I glanced over at the parking spot next to me
and suddenly stopped my moaning long enough to see what was parked there.
It was a tow truck, and the owner was just coming out of the Post Office.
I don’t recall ever seeing a tow truck parked at the Post Office before.
I got out of the car,
and asked him if he had time to tow me to my mechanic.
Ten minutes later my car was sitting at the repair shop.
Two hours later it had a new front right axle,
and now it runs as well as the day we bought it.
And once again I’d gotten it wrong.
I didn’t need a new car.
What I needed was a powerful reminder
that my God loves me with an everlasting love,
and that His timing in my life is perfect in every respect,
and that His commitment to meeting my needs as His child is eternal and unconditional.
But those cultural lies are so deeply ingrained in our thinking.
Greater affluence will bring a better quality of life
and if I invest my life in achieving that greater affluence
I will reap greater fulfillment.
It isn’t that affluence in itself is wrong or evil.
In fact it frequently comes to us as an expression of our Lord’s kindness to us.
God did not place Adam and Eve in a desert,
He created for them the most ideal physical living situation imaginable.
It’s just that our affluence,
or for that matter success, or fame, or power are all incapable of bringing us the fulfillment we long for.
So then were does fulfillment come from?
The answer to that question
is rooted in the purpose for which God designed and created us.
He didn’t bring us into being
just because He wanted or needed workers to take care of His creation.
We are not His ant colony
or His worker bees.
He designed us for relationship.
That is why we exist,
first for relationship with Himself,
and then for relationships with one another.
And if there is only one thing you hear me say this morning
I hope it is this -
we have been designed by God in such a way
that our relationships form the central purpose for our existence,
and, as such, they are the only enduring source of true fulfillment and satisfaction in life.
In fact, let me state it this way.
We will find fulfillment and satisfaction in life
in direct proportion to the success or failure of the relationships in our lives,
and the more significant the relationship,
the more powerfully it impacts our potential for fulfillment.
We can go to work
and find there a whole group of colleagues who praise us,
and honor us,
and think we’re the best one on the job.
But if, when we go home,
our marriage partner turns away from us when we walk in the door,
all those other voices are powerless to compensate for that one rejection.
A man or woman can live a life that brings tremendous recognition and applause from those around them,
with walls lined with plaques and trophies,
but, if their adult son or daughter refuses to speak to them,
it will override all the other voices put together.
Now why is that?
It’s because we have been designed and created by God for relationships,
with each of us being entrusted by Him
with certain relationships in our lives
for which we have responsibility.
And our ability to derive a deep sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in life
is directly linked to the priority we give those relationships
and how well we handle them.
Now, obviously, I’m emphasizing family relationships here
because with most of us they will be the most significant relationships
that our Lord ever entrusts into our care.
But these relationship trusts given to us by our Lord
are by no means limited to the family.
The truth is
every relationship that enters our life
should be viewed as a trust given to us by God,
and the more contact we have with a person
and the more significant our role is in their life,
the more important the trust.
Now, with all of that as background,
let me take us back once again
to those comments I made last week
about God equipping us for the work He has for us,
and how we go about understanding both what He has given us to do
and what He has NOT given us to do.
I shared with you
my own mental process
by which I reach those conclusions.
I said that when some ministry,
or project,
or opportunity,
or activity presents itself,
and I want to figure out whether it is something God has given me to do,
or whether it’s just some distraction brought my way from Satan to clutter up my life,
the first thing I do
is to ask myself - what kind of affect will this have on my relationship with my Lord?
The second thing I do
is to ask myself - what kind of affect will it have on Sandee,
and on my relationship with her?
If I can see that it will have a negative or destructive effect in either of those areas
then I reject it
knowing it is not something God has for me.
From there I move out to the next circle of relationships given to me by my Lord
and ask the same questions.
Now, I know there are probably some of you here
who heard me say those things
and then thought to yourself, “My! Isn’t he spiritual! What a godly way to live.”
Well, you’re certainly free to think that if you choose,
but that is not why I make those choices in that way.
I do it because, like everyone else on the planet,
I really do want a fulfilling, meaningful, satisfying life.
We all only get one shot at this thing
and I really want to end up with the best possible life I could ever have.
And once we understand
why we were created by God,
how we were designed by Him to operate,
and what brings true fulfillment in life,
making choices consistent with that knowledge
is not some great burst of spirituality,
it’s the only logical, sensible thing to do.
The problem we run into here, of course,
is that none of us start this process from zero.
By that I simply mean
that we all bring with us into our walk with the King
a fully functioning life system
that has been constructed upon all of the lies and deceptions handed to us by our culture.
And with all of us
we have major areas
in which we have structured our lives
so that making decisions on the basis of the relationships involved
would deeply threaten what we have allowed ourselves to believe
we must have for security or happiness in life.
I was watching a TV show this past week
in which a lawyer was working 60 or 70 hours a week.
And he was one of those lawyers
who was giving his time and effort
to help truly needy people who could pay him little or nothing.
He was married,
with two grade school children at home who were crying out for the love and attention
of a daddy they almost never saw.
The final seen of the program
showed the man coming into his house late Halloween night
after having done one more good deed for a desperate client.
His little boy was in the kitchen sound asleep,
his head resting on the kitchen table,
and his trick-or-treat candy all in neat piles around him,
ready to show daddy when he got home.
Was he a “good man”?
Probably.
Was he a smart man?
No! He was a fool,
throwing away the one who mattered most of all
for the sake of those who mattered very little.
I understand that all too well.
When Joni was 4 years old
we were living in Dallas Texas
and I was working for an office furniture company,
installing panel systems in high-rise office buildings.
I loved the work,
and I was good at it.
The company was growing at an incredible pace,
and I had a boss who was making more and more demands on me and my time,
lining me up for more weekend jobs, more evening work, keeping me later each day.
I remember one evening toward the end of that year,
coming home from work
and finding my little girl waiting for me at the door.
As soon as I came in
she grabbed my fingers in her little hand,
pulled me into her room,
and then ran around behind me and slammed the door.
She wanted to make sure her daddy didn’t leave again.
I had a friend share with me this past week
that he thought the guidelines I shared last week were simplistic.
I understand exactly why he said that.
I would have said the same thing at that point in my life so many years ago in Texas
because so often we have made major life choices
that have structured our lives in ways that make it seem as if we really have no other choice.
It was not an easy thing for me to begin restructuring my life at that point
in a way that was more consistent with what I knew really mattered.
It wasn’t easy, but it was possible.
But it will never happen
unless we first reach a point
where we will trust the voice of our Lord enough
so that we will let go of our allegiance to the cultural lies we’ve been handed.
Employers who begin to view their employees
as people who have been entrusted into their care,
rather than as tools with which to achieve greater success
or accumulate greater wealth,
will very likely find that it will cost them
when they choose to construct work schedules for their people
that give them time with their family,
or when they choose to pay them what they really need to live on
rather than the minimum they can get away with.
But every choice we make
that places a relationship above cultural success
is a choice that will in the end
bring about greater peace with ourselves,
and a much deeper sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in life
because we will find ourselves approaching life
in a way that is consistent with the way God has designed us.
And just to protect myself from misunderstanding here,
I’ll add one more comment before I close.
Choosing to place relationships as our highest priority in life
is not the same thing
as understanding how to make wise or healthy choices in those relationships.
Just as our culture has handed us a deeply flawed pattern for life priorities,
so it has handed us a deeply flawed concept of how to build and maintain strong, healthy relationships with those around us.
And once we have accepted God’s relationship priorities for our lives,
we then need to trust Him to show us what love really looks like.
And it may come as no surprise
to learn that Paul invests a good portion of the last half of his letter to the Ephesians
into explaining to us what it really means for us to love those around us.