More Than We Can Imagine - Ephesians 3:14-21


I want to tell you about four men.  If you want to treat this as a quiz, number a blank spot on your bulletin from one to four and you can attempt to guess who they are.

The first was a college drop out.  He tried his hand as an executive for a technology company.  He was fired.  His first attempt as a businessman failed.  He was even forcibly removed as the executive of a company he founded.

The second man was an English teacher who tried his hand at writing.  However, when he had completed his first novel, it was rejected at least thirty times.

The third man applied three times to the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film, and Television…and was rejected each time.

The fourth man “was fired as a newspaper editor because ‘he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.’  He had to close his first studio because he could not pay his rent.  He was even told one of his ideas “would never work because…[it] would terrify women.”

Do you think you know who these men are?

The first brought us, for better or worse, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad—Steve Jobs.

The second has now sold more than 350 million copies of his more than 150 written works—Stephen King.

The third is now considered one of the most influential filmmakers in history: bringing us everything from Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan to Jaws, E.T., and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among others—Steven Spielberg.

The final gentleman, well his idea that would terrify women has become one of the most beloved characters of all time…the giant mouse on a movie screen, Mickey, along with numerous animated and live-action movies, and the happiest—and very expensive—place on earth—Disneyland, along with Disney World, and all things Disney, brought to us courtesy of Walter Elias Disney.  (Also, notably the only non-Steve name on the list.)[i]

How many of you got all four correct?  I’ll give you a bonus point if you can tell me which one was raised as a Methodist.  It was Stephen King.

All four of these—inventor, author, director, and animator—are men of imagination whose imagination was shot down on numerous occasions.  Their lives likely fragmented in some way by their rejections and dismissals.  Yet they trusted in their gifts and refused to give up, and became some of the most successful folks in their fields.

It was not a good time to be a member of The Way, a follower of the one called Jesus.  Just being connected with those who worshipped the Christ, could get you killed.  From Nero to Domitian to Trajan, there was no love of Christians.  Nero, needing a scapegoat for the fiery destruction of most of Rome especially to get the heat off of himself, blamed Christians for torching the city.  Later on, as his animosity toward Christians increased, he would use Christians for entertainment—crucifying them, dressing them in furs and having dogs attack them, or having them set ablaze to illuminate the night.  Domitian, wanting to honor and maintain Roman tradition, may have been angered by the Christians’ rejection of Roman gods and goddesses and their refusal to participate in traditional Roman activities.  He continued to persecute Christians, increasingly so toward the end of his reign.  That persecution increased during the rule of Trajan where Christians were put to death for being Christians because they refused to worship the pagan gods and the emperor—thus, in many locations, leaving the pagan temples empty and the pockets of those who sold sacrifices for those temples with bare wallets.[ii]

Can you imagine being part of the Church during this time?  It was a time when if you were found to follow Jesus, you might as well be dead because, in all likelihood, you soon would be.  “Didn’t the people meet secretly in order to escape persecution?”  At first, yes, but even secret gatherings became illegal.  Besides, for the true follower of Christ, the worship of God was not limited to just those gatherings, it was in how each follower lived out their lives.  It would be noted by those in authority whether or not you attended worship in the pagan temples or paid homage to the emperor.  A true disciple of Jesus would not—they would refuse to enter those pagan places or bow to anyone other than the One True God.  The true member of The Way would refuse to participate in any activities or traditions that would compromise their faith because everything from athletics to the theatre was laced with pagan worship.  In addition, there is still the command of Christ to His followers to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, making all disciples…a true follower of Jesus could not simply be silent and watch the world go by, yet living out the Great Commission was actually signing your own death warrant.

Imagine the hopelessness that would set in.  At first it had been expected that Jesus would have returned within the lifetimes of those who walked with Jesus.  But it had not happened.  Now all the first generation Christians had been put to death or were passing away.  Now a fragmented second generation of Christians made up the Church and were finding themselves under persecution.  Jesus still had not returned.  Persecution still reigned.  The church would soon be no more.

And the author of Ephesians writes as we hear again:

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 rant that you may strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may 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 all knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

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.

The writer is telling the churches who received this message, “I am on my knees praying for you.  I want you to understand that God is with you in the midst of all of this.  Take heart, have courage, stand strong because God’s Spirit is filling you and giving you strength.  Don’t despair, don’t think this is the end.  I know you can’t imagine the Church surviving this, but remember, those closest to Jesus thought that the end had come when He was upon the cross.  The God we worship, the God who calls us together, the God who commissioned each of us to take the Gospel into a world that is persecuting us, is the same God who raised Christ from the dead.  We may not be able to imagine a future for God’s Church now, but we worship the God who is able to accomplish more than we could ever ask for or imagine.”

That was the message that the churches of Asia Minor received to give them courage in the midst of the persecution they were facing under the Roman Empire.  That is also the message that we, as followers of Christ, are meant to hear today.

There are places where Christians still face cruel torture and death sentences that harken back to the conditions of the Roman Empire.  Consider the young mother in Sudan who is still sentenced to die because she is a Christian, the pastor that has been imprisoned in Iran since 2011 and was recently beaten by prison guards, the more than 200 Christian girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram and forced to recant their faith or who have been sold into slavery, or the hundreds of Christians who have been killed in Nigeria and Kenya over the last six months.

Things are different, yet the same here, in our society.  We may not be facing a pack of dogs seeking to rip us apart as we are wearing animal furs.  We may not be turned into living Roman candles to light up the night.  We may not be literally hung upon a cross.  We may not be facing firing squads, hangings, or the threat of kidnappings.  However, the church is under attack.

There are the atheists who want to suggest there is no God, who want to see God removed from anything public, and who have started their own God-less church and time of worship.  There are the businesses of our society who may not outright attack the church (although some companies advertisements or entertainment belittle the faith in their depiction of Christians of the faith), but simply suggest why spend your time worshipping God when you could worship the goods in our store, the items on our brunch or lunch menu, the players on our ball field, or the comfort of your couch because we’ve worn you to a frazzle the last six days.  Laws and legislation are passed which affect the ability to practice our faith in all aspects of our lives and livelihood.

It is easy for us to become as discouraged and disheartened.  It would be easy to say that “nothing we’ve tried has worked, so why try anything else”; or “that didn’t work the first time, so why try it again.”  It would be easy to say, “we’re too small, we can’t really make a difference”; or “we’re too old, we don’t have the energy”.  It would be easy to give up, lock up, and walk away depressed and without hope.

Yet to do so would be to walk away from God and from His promises.  We cannot walk away from the Church without walking away from God—for the Church is the Bride of Christ, and God is going to preserve His Bride, as He has for all these years.  We need to remember the promises of God’s Word.  Christ said to Simon Peter, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”   He said to Phillip and the other disciples, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”  Then, as we heard this morning that, through us, if we remain faithful to Him, God will do infinitely more than we can ever “ask or imagine.”  With those promises behind us, let us keep the faith in the midst of all we face…because if Steve Jobs, Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, and Walt Disney can achieve all that they imagined relying on their own strength, just imagine what we can do relying upon the strength of God…and know that God will achieve even more than that through us!!!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.   



[i] Info for opening from common knowledge and http://www.businessinsider.com/15-people-who-failed-before-becoming-famous-2012-10?op=1
[ii] Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pgs. 33-41.
 

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