"A Prayer for the New Year"
The value of nurturing faith
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. David McMaster
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Text: Ephesians 1:15-23
As we approach a new year, many conversations broach the important topic of new year resolutions. Earlier in the week, I did a web search on “resolutions” and came across a website devoted solely to them. Individuals can go onto this site, create a profile, specify their resolutions, and interact with others resolving to do similar things in order to help each other keep what they have resolved to do. As I scanned through the site, I found all kinds of interesting resolutions. In the midst of the usual ones to lose weight, stop drinking too much, give up coffee, chocolate or smoking, here are a few that grabbed my attention:
One individual resolved to “practice toxin-free living in the new year.” (The first thing that entered my mind when I read this one was “Get out of Love Canal,” though that is old news. Probably this one has something to do with a crazy diet).
Another individual seeks to “Enjoy Christmas together - without fighting.” (So much for peace and goodwill in that family).
One that I found quite intriguing went like this: “Stop killing and robbing; love and respect more.” (Yeesh! I won't dwell on that one).
Stop procrastinating - in February!
And my personal favourite: “Practice soccer more with my brother.” (Poor TEMC that has to listen to not one but two preachers who grew up living for soccer).
The thing about resolutions, of course, is that very few of them are kept for any length of time. I have always been amused at the number of people who hit the gym at the beginning of January. In December, one can go to the gym and use whatever machines and weights one would like without a problem. But in January, the place is packed and there are line-ups for the better machines. You have to sign up for them and then wait 20 minutes - it is crowded! Then comes February, and it's back to normal. People, you see, have great intentions as the year turns, but often they lack the power to see those intentions through.
I'm reminded of a story told by a renowned preacher, the late Harry Emerson Fosdick. Fosdick asks us to think about Demas. Demas is mentioned only three times in the New Testament. Few Christians have heard of him but his life illustrates one of the most familiar human tragedies - a lack of staying power. He lacked the power to see it through.
We first meet Demas, says Fosdick, in Paul's letter to Philemon in which he sends greetings from “Demas and Luke, my fellow-workers.” Demas, it appears, was standing by Paul in his Roman imprisonment, a devoted and promising disciple, perhaps even considered above Luke given his place in the order of the sentence. Then, in Paul's letter to the Colossians, greetings are sent from “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas.” Fosdick wonders why Demas and Luke, who were praised together at first, were separated in this passage as though Luke retained Paul's confidence as “the beloved physician,” while Demas became merely Demas. Third, in The Second Letter to Timothy, one of the last messages Paul ever wrote, we read, “Demas forsook me, having loved this present age.” Three points on a curve, thinks Fosdick, which enable us to plot a sort of graph! Here, he says, is the sort of a man who made an excellent beginning and a wretched ending: “Demas, my fellow-worker,” then just “Demas,” and then, “Demas forsook me.” Apparently, Demas lacked the power to see it through. Something was missing in his faith such that time or adversity took it away. As with new year resolutions, he probably began with great intentions, but had no staying power.
That brings me to our passage today, Ephesians 1:15-23. Written, in all probability, while Paul was imprisoned in Rome, he writes with his usual care and support for his flock. He is writing to people who are already Christians; he praises them for their faith and love. (v.15) Then he goes on to say that he is praying for them.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe... (vv.17-19b)
Maybe Paul has the Demas-es of this world in mind as he prays for the Ephesians. He is praying that they move forward in faith and continue to deepen their relationship with God, so that they will not miss out on the prize at the end of life's race.
Some beautiful words jump out at us as Paul prays that their faith may grow. He says,
May the Father of glory give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened you may know …the hope to which he has called you.
“With the eyes of your heart enlightened.” That image tells us something about the kind of wisdom and revelation Paul is speaking about. He is not speaking here of the type of wisdom one gets by going to university and studying physics or philosophy. It is not the type of wisdom that comes through going to a technical school and learning how to become an electrician or mechanic. While these may be useful and beneficial, Paul is not speaking of mere mind-knowledge; Paul is speaking of something deeper, something that comes from the Spirit. In the preceding verses, Paul mentions a Spirit of wisdom and revelation. The Apostle John speaks of the Holy Spirit being sent to teach believers all things (Jn.14:26; 16:13) and here Paul has some special bestowal of the Spirit in mind. It is something that enters not only the mind, but also the human heart. In the ancient world, and even today, the word “heart” is used as a metaphor for the part of our constitution that is the deepest part, the most authentic part, what we sometimes call our inner being or the soul.
Perhaps some of you have spent some years studying piano as a child or young person; I know others have a great appreciation of music. Have you ever really listened to pianists? There is a great difference between one pianist and another in how they play. Some pianists are very good technically. They can play any piece of music you set before them exceptionally well. Other pianists, however, are not only good technically; they seem somehow to feel what it is they are playing. When they play, the music comes from the very core of their being - it is an extension of their being. They seem to enter into the mind of the writer, move beyond, and take the perceptive listener with them. The technically correct can play very well and many of us can enjoy their accomplishments, but when we hear someone who is not only technically good but also has music in their heart, what they do becomes very beautiful indeed. Some inner power takes the music to another level.
The analogy may not be exact, but Paul prays that the eyes of the believers' hearts be enlightened, that Christians gain wisdom and revelation about God and that wisdom and revelation enter into them deeply. It is an almost inexplicable dimension - the inner being, the soul, the heart. Paul prays that the believers go from strength to strength in faith by getting to know God better and better in the very deepest parts of their beings, and that with “the eyes of their hearts enlightened,” they will find the assurance of hope and eternity. (vv.18b-19a)
This is a prayer for nurturing one's faith. When faith is nurtured, some amazing things can happen in life. There are incredible results in terms of the power to see it through to the end. I want to contrast a couple of scenarios involving people I know, people who have experienced tremendous adversity. One of them is a university professor. This is a person who became a Christian as a young man, trained and studied for the ministry and served for a short time in the United Methodist Church. However, he was far more interested in the academic study of religion than in the more practical aspects of faith, so he went into the ivory towers of university life and let the practice of his faith slip. He maintained a semblance of faith, but it was then that adversity struck.
He and his dear wife suffered one of the most tragic events that parents can ever experience. They lost a son. This friend of mine was completely distraught and he told me he used to cry out to God, “Why have you taken my son?” That is a legitimate expression. Certainly, it is legitimate in times of grief. You only have to read the Psalms to find the psalmist crying out to God all the time - even crying at God. However, he didn't stop there. After a while, he determined that no God could do such a thing and he left the faith. It is now a good number of years later and he will have nothing to do with the church or God.
I compare that with something that is going on in another family just now. It was only a number of weeks ago that some of us were thinking about having a New Year's Eve party. John and Theo were first on the list. Then adversity hit. They were on holiday celebrating John's 50th birthday. He didn't feel well, so when they returned he went to see the doctor. Last week, after numerous tests, he learned that he has inoperable and advanced cancer and has a few months.
As I read Theo's e-mail, which went out to all the family members, I couldn't help but feel that how she expressed things came from a very deep faith. They have gone through all the emotions, through grief and everything else that anyone would feel. But then she wrote very calmly about the diagnosis and upcoming chemotherapy, which is palliative, not curative. At the end, there were these words:
Thanks to all of you who have sent greetings, words of wisdom and comfort, and I know so many of you are praying for us and thinking about us. We're not finished yet. We are on this journey together. A lot of living can be done in a few months. Love to you all, Theo.
Here, there was no talk about throwing God out the window. In fact, the next day they sent out a Christmas picture - a family picture - and I was amazed. All of the family had donned T-shirts that had printed on them derogatory things about cancer (I won't share with you what they were) but behind them they had deliberately set out some symbols on the mantelpiece. At one end there was a globe representing creation; next to it was an apple representing sin in the world; next to that was a nativity scene, a crèche representing the coming of Christ; next to that was an empty cross representing salvation and resurrection; then another globe signifying the new world - the hope. This picture and the words they shared with many people were coming from a tremendous place of faith. They are a tremendous statement of faith in what I am sure in the lives of that family is a nightmare.
I know how they grew up and the church they grew up in, and I think it has given them a mature faith to keep going - to see it through to take hold of the prize that is at the end of the race. No matter what happens, the eyes of their hearts are enlightened because they have taken the time over the years to nurture their faith and seek out a spirit of wisdom and revelation, the sort of thing that Paul is talking about in this letter.
Here we come to the new year, to the beginning of 2008. It is a time when many of us are making resolutions. One wonders if, with Paul's prayer, we should add one to our list - one about moving forward in faith so that we get to know “the hope to which he has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” So that we, like John and Theo, can keep going - even when adversity hits - and ultimately gain the prize that lies before us.
William Barclay, the late New Testament professor of Glasgow University, gave some practical advice for Christians. He said:
Growth in knowledge and grace is essential. Anyone who follows a profession knows that he dare not stop studying. No doctor thinks that he has finished learning when he leaves the classroom of this university. He knows that week by week, and almost day by day, new techniques and treatments are being discovered. If he wishes to be of service to those in illness and in pain, he must keep up with them. It is so with the Christian. The Christian life could be described as getting to know God better everyday. A friendship that does not grow closer with the years tends to vanish with the years. So it is with us and God.
As we stand at the doorway of 2008 we have to ask ourselves: Will we be like Demas, who had a great beginning but fell off? Or will we go forward? Will we build on what we have already, nurture our faith and take it to a stronger, more mature level? I think Paul's prayer is a good prayer for the new year. I would pray as well that each of us would have “the eyes of our hearts enlightened.” Amen.