To Know the Love of Christ
If I were to chose one passage of scripture that would serve as the theme of my ministry, it would be Ephesians 3:18-19. “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.” There have been at least two times in my life when the windows of heaven were opened to me and I was given the opportunity to see the fullness of eternity and experience the love of Christ. Both of those occasions defy description and I know that now, my memory of them does not come close to the actual experience itself. Each moment was fleeting… a mere heartbeat of time in human terms… and yet the vastness of them created the conviction in me that this was something I wanted… not just for a lifetime, but for eternity… and with that came the equal certainty that you and I can never ever fully know the love of Christ or be completely filled with the fullness of God… not in this reality in which we live.
My first experience was a vision in which I looked toward heaven and I saw a hole in space. Standing in that hole was the figure of a man whom I could not describe… for I only saw him as a dark shadow standing before the brilliant white light emanating from the hole. Yet I knew with absolute certainty that this was the figure of Jesus Christ. He beckoned me forward into the hole and, instantly, I was there. And for an instant in time, nothing… absolutely nothing in this world mattered at all any more. And I cannot describe it beyond that. Nothing mattered… nothing… not people… not things… not time… nothing mattered. It was as if it did not exist at all. This life… this world… this moment in time… disappeared… and I did not care… for it did not matter. It is not that it was not important… it just wasn’t there. What I saw was the vastness of eternity and the cosmos. The verse that came to mind in that moment was Psalm 8:4 “What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?”
My second experience was not a vision… for my view of everything around me was blocked by what seemed to be a warm, amber cloud of pure love that surrounded me and a voice that I heard in my heart that called me by name and told me that I belonged to God… and that I was loved by God… despite all that I had done in my life to that point. The totality and the purity of the love that surrounded me was something I have never experienced before or since. It lasted, again, but a heartbeat of time, but long enough for me to know that that love had no limits… and that I was the sole focus of it… the sole recipient of it… or that it was undiluted by being shared with anyone else. Its power… its totality… its purity… its boundlessness… I could not even begin to sense the edge of it… the end of it. I was drowning… then and now… in an unending tsunami of love. The verses that came to mind in that moment were Isaiah 43:1 and 4: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine… you are precious and honored in my sight, and… I love you.“
If these are my experiences of grace… and Ephesians 3:18-19 are the theme of my ministry… that you should know these as I know these… how can I translate that into my work in your midst? How might each of you be transformed by the knowledge of the vastness of the love of Christ… and how would our church be transformed if we could all tap into the fullness of God?
For me, the answer comes in three ways. The first is that we would simply be there for each other. In Matthew 28, Jesus told his disciples, “I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.” If one of us needs a friend… an advocate… a comforter… someone to lean on… will we make every effort to be there for them… even as Christ has always been there for us. This is something that transcends time and distance… and yet, at the same time, it is rooted in the knowledge that we are not God and that we are human. What does that mean? Simply this: it does not matter what time it is… or where someone is when they call, we can be that friend… advocate… comforter… someone they can lean on. We can set aside that time to talk… to pray with them… to hold their hand… not to solve the problem for them, but to listen… and to just stand with them. It is amazing how much strength we can draw from those who simply stand with us during those long, dark hours of helplessness… pain… confusion… misery… and despair.
But I said that this was also rooted in the knowledge that we are not God and that we are human. The hymn that we sang at the close of worship last week said, “we should never be discouraged: take it to the Lord in prayer.” God relies upon us to share with him all that troubles us. In the same way, we rely on each other to share with us what is troubling. Just as I cannot read your mind or know what you struggle with unless you tell me, each of us is dependent upon those open lines of communication that offer a glimpse into the pain… the struggle… the exhaustion… the despair that we share as humans living in this world. “Jesus knows our every weakness,” the hymn tells us, but he still asks that we “take it to the Lord in prayer.” As human beings, we do not know each others weaknesses and, therefore, it become more important that we share our joys and our sorrows with each other, not only that we might become truly one in Christ… a family of God… but that we are then more able to respond in times of need. That kind of sharing, however, comes with understanding that what is shared is a sacred trust among members of the family that protect and guard it as their own… rather than add it to the gristmill of gossip that small towns… and small churches…seem to thrive on.
If the first sign of transformation into a community that comprehends the love of Christ and lives into the fullness of God is simply being there for each other, the second sign is openness to others as the children of God… created and loved by God… whether or not they know it. Probably one of the greatest challenges of living a Christian life… a life that reflects Christ himself… for me has been learning to love and accept everyone… all other human beings… as creatures created by and loved by God. Whether or not my neighbor is a Christian… whether or not the person who cut in front of me in line is a believer… whether or not I approve of the lifestyle of those I meet each day… when I read the gospels, I do not find any example of Jesus rejecting a human being. He loved them. He touched them. He fed them. He healed them. He taught them. He clothed them. He challenged them. He calmed their fears. He prayed for them. But he never… ever… rejected them. Gentiles… adulterers… convicted criminals… those with incurable diseases… the poor… the wealthy… the ignorant and uneducated… the sophisticated and powerful… the old… the young… the ugly… the blind… all were welcomed… and even the nonbelievers knew they would not be turned away. How can we transform our church into a haven of hope… even for those who are not Christians? How can we become so known for our openness and acceptance that those who are angry... those who are different… those who are down on their luck… those who have no other place to go… can know that they are welcome here?
Any of you who have ever walked into a new and strange building know that what is familiar and comfortable to us can be intimidating and fearful for a stranger. I wonder how many people drive past our church and wish they had the courage to open the door and walk in. I believe so strongly in efforts like Vacation Bible School that reach out to our community to offer something to children… to parents… and provide the opportunity for them to come into our building without feeling they must make a commitment. How much more comfortable it is to return another time when they then “know the lay of the land.” How much more comfortable it is when they hear stories of love and acceptance from the children who have been taught during VBS… or are surrounded by laughter and encouragement in our Wii Games. I am sure that the Outreach Committee struggles in each meeting to decide the best way to use their limited budget to help people overcome that barrier of “strangeness”… to move from stranger to friend. The question is not “How do we communicate love and acceptance to those who are here today?” The question is “How do we communicate that to those who have never been to church at all?” When we stop to consider that more than half of our population did not grow up in the church, that barrier of “strangeness” is stronger that we can conceive. How can we make the invitation to come so enticing that it overcomes their reluctance to travel into the unknown?
If the first sign of transformation into a community that comprehends the love of Christ and lives into the fullness of God is simply being there for each other and the second sign is openness to others as the children of God, then the third sign is our own fearlessness or lack of anxiety. If we know that we have been called by name and claimed by an all-powerful God who loves us unconditionally and is always with us, then we should greet each day with the confidence that our lives are in God’s hands and that he knows what we need and will provide it. Jesus told those who heard his Sermon on the Mount, “do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' for it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In saying this, Jesus did not mean that our lives would be without any troubles. In fact, the gospel of John records that Jesus told his disciples, “in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Whatever the world throws at us… whatever evil lurks in the heart of individuals we encounter… whatever carelessness or neglect fosters any attempt to steal our dreams… God will provide what we need to survive the day and carry us through it.
Do we greet each moment with the conviction that God is with us? Do we meet each situation in life with the absolute certainty that God will provide what we need? Do we radiate the calm that comes with knowing that God is in charge? ... that we are loved without exception? … that life is a gift and everything we encounter in life is another opportunity to share the love and grace of God with others? Does that peace that passes all understanding reside so deeply in our souls that it cannot be dislodged? Are there tangible ways that we can share that peace with others so that we become a living example of our faith in God by what we do… and what we do not do?
How can the depth of Christ’s love and a glimpse of eternity change us? The rock group U2 released a song in April of 1989 that appeared on their “Rattle and Hum” album entitled “When Love Comes to Town” that describes the transition. The first stanza says: “I was a sailor, I was lost at sea. I was under the waves before love rescued me. I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread. Now I stand accused of the things I've said. When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train. When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame. Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down, but I did what I did before love came to town.” A later stanza brings the singer’s new knowledge even more starkly into focus: “I was there when they crucified my Lord. I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword. I threw the dice when they pierced his side, but I've seen love conquer the great divide. When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that train. When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame. Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down, but I did what I did before love came to town.”
To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge… to catch a glimpse of eternity in a heartbeat of time… can change us… and we can change the world, if we are filled with all the fullness of God. Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus is my prayer for you… for us… as a church… as a community of faith that is the reflection of Christ in this place. That we might be there for each other in all our times of need. That we might be open to all of God’s children in the world… Christian or not. That we might have the confidence and calm of knowing that God loves us and cares for us… and will provide for our every need. And finally, as Mother Theresa said, that we ”keep in mind that our community is not composed of those who are already saints, but of those who are trying to become saints. Therefore let us be extremely patient with each other's faults and failures.” “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.”
Ephesians 3:14-21