Prayer For the New Year

Westhill Community Church

Sunday 8^th January 2023

Reading: Eph 1: 15-23

Well here we are, at the start of another new year. Just over twenty-two years ago we were celebrating the new millennium. For some of us it seems as if hardly more than two years have passed since then. Of course for the young people amongst us it was actually a lifetime ago. In another ten years, should God spare us, we will I am sure be celebrating the global Church’s two thousandth birthday since that day in AD 33 or thereabouts when God poured out the Holy Spirit on that small group of believers in Jerusalem. We have been focussing on that infant Church in our studies over recent weeks, trying to understand better how God used that little company to advance His purposes throughout the world. This was a group of people that humanly speaking were weak and ill-equipped to accomplish anything of note. But through their faith in Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit it was said of them that they turned the world upside-down.

In the epistle we read from this morning the apostle Paul was writing to one branch of that early Church – the local church at Ephesus. Actually from the text it seems as though he was writing to far more than just those at Ephesus. You see, unlike his other letters, there are no personal greetings and interactions. In his letter to the Colossians, for example, he sends greetings and words of encouragement or advice to named individuals. But in this letter the only personal reference he makes is to Tychicus, who delivered the letter for him. Tychicus also delivered letters from Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon, perhaps during the same trip. Interestingly in a few of the very early manuscripts of the Ephesian letter that exist there is a blank space where the words “in Ephesus” appear in our version, seeming to indicate that copies were made and distributed to many other local churches throughout Asia. I am quite sure it was intended firstly for the Ephesian believers; after all, Ephesus was the place where Paul spent two to three years of his ministry, teaching and encouraging the growing church in that city. But equally it seems that Paul intended this letter to be distributed far more widely. Indeed he may have realised the tremendous effect that the teaching in this letter would have on God’s people wherever and whenever they lived. I believe that it is indeed quite legitimate for us to read the opening lines of this letter as, “To God’s holy people in Westhill, Aberdeenshire.”

Before we look in more detail at the passage we read from, I think it would be helpful to see something of the context in which this letter was written and read. You see the thoughts we are going to consider are glorious indeed – mind-blowing in their astonishing implications. If you were living in a palace, waited on hand and foot, with every need and aspiration provided for, then you might well nod enthusiastically as you read these words and take them all very much to heart with thankfulness and joy. But for those in quite a different place, for whom things are difficult, and who are perhaps wondering how they are going to get through the next few weeks or months, the temptation will be to lay these words aside with a sigh, and say, “Yes, that sounds wonderful, but sadly it doesn’t really relate to me and my circumstances.” I hope that what I am going to say will dispel any such notion from our minds.

The year was AD 62 or thereabouts, less than thirty years since Jesus had ascended to heaven. Paul’s itinerant ministry was finished; no longer was he travelling by sea and land to more and more distant places proclaiming the good news of salvation and planting churches as he went. He was a prisoner in Rome, held under house arrest until his trial by the emperor Nero. He did not expect ever to be released, nor was he. For almost all of the short period of its existence the Church had experienced hostility and active persecution. Initially Paul himself had been instrumental in carrying out some of this oppression, when the church in Jerusalem was scattered far and wide after Stephen’s martyrdom. But since his conversion Paul had instead been on the receiving end. Everywhere he went as he proclaimed Christ hostility arose, whether from his own countrymen or from the citizens of the towns and cities he visited. Time and again he was opposed, assaulted or imprisoned, and then had to flee for his life, leaving behind a small gathering of believers to suffer the ongoing hostility of their neighbours with nothing other than God’s presence and grace to sustain them. And to make matters worse during this time a famine came to the regions of Judea and Syria, and all residents suffered great need, including the small communities of Christian believers. Part of Paul’s itinerant ministry was to collect funds and supplies within Asia Minor and Greece to help relieve those in need.

As I said, when Paul wrote this letter the year was about AD 62, and within two years, while this letter was still fresh in the minds of its recipients, an event was to take place that would devastate the lives of all Christians throughout the Roman Empire – I speak of the Great Fire of Rome in July AD 64. To deflect blame from himself Nero pointed the finger of accusation at the Christian communities in Rome, and then commenced the most intense and barbaric period of persecution they had ever experienced. We read that Christians were fed alive to animals, nailed to crosses, and set alight to provide night-time illumination. Tacitus, the Roman historian who as a child lived in Rome while this was happening, said that “a vast multitude” suffered under this reign of terror. Tradition has it that Paul and Peter both lost their lives at this time, along with some of Paul’s valued travel companions: Aristarchus of Thessalonica, Trophimus of Ephesus and Erastus of Corinth. This then was the context in which this letter was written and read.

So we come to consider some of the things Paul wrote in the passage we read from this morning.

He starts by saying, “For this reason,” so we must make sure we understand the reason he is referring to. He has just reminded his readers of a list of things for which we should continually praise God: blessed with every spiritual blessing; chosen to be pure and holy; in love adopted as His children; redeemed and forgiven through his blood; recipients of rich grace lavished upon us; bestowed with wisdom and understanding; chosen to proclaim and reveal God’s praise and glory. All this because we belong to Jesus.

That’s the reason for what I am now saying to you, says Paul. So what does he say? I am praying for you, he says. Firstly I am thanking God for you; secondly I am asking God to do something for you. Not just every now and then, he says. Not just once a week on Sundays. All the time this is on my heart, in my mind, or expressed from my lips. Paul said much the same thing in his letter to the church at Colossae (Col 1:9) and also to the church at Philippi (Phil 1: 3-9).

I wonder if you have ever considered how Paul reacted to the fact that he was being held a prisoner? Was he frustrated, do you think, that he could no longer travel and proclaim Christ far and wide. That was, after all, what Christ had called him to do. Now he was surrounded by four walls, speaking only to those who took the time to visit him, and from what he wrote elsewhere sometimes that was very few. To Timothy he wrote, “At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me” (2 Tim 4:16). Was he tempted to think that his time was now mostly wasted, and that he could do little of value? If he was so tempted he didn’t ever say so. In fact he said the opposite; when he wrote to the church at Philippi he said, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel” (Phil 1: 12). And of course from our perspective this must indeed have been the case. For when considering what aspects of Paul’s ministry have had the most important and lasting effect on the Church throughout the years top of the list must surely be those years as a prisoner when he (1) prayed for the Church fervently and continually and (2) wrote letters to encourage and build up God’s people in their faith.

So how about you and me, when things don’t go as planned, when life’s circumstances appear to restrict us and hinder our hopes and aspirations. Do we get frustrated and feel useless? Are we tempted to think we can do nothing worthwhile for God? What Paul writes in this letter shows up any such thoughts for what they truly are – a deceitful lie of the enemy. You who belong to Jesus are chosen by God, he says; ransomed, healed restored, forgiven, in order that you might be to the praise of his glory. Whatever your circumstances, whatever your condition, if you belong to Jesus then God has a purpose for you, for which he chose you and has been preparing you to this very day, that you might proclaim, reveal, demonstrate and shine brightly with the praise of his glory. In some way through you God intends to show what is wonderful and glorious about him to others. And all of the resources of heaven are there to enable it to happen. That same power, said Paul, that raised Christ from the dead and lifted him to the place of highest authority: that power is working for you, to enable you to be for the praise of his glory.

In passing, let me just point out the implications of this wonderful truth on the moves in society at this time to provide opportunity for assisted dying – for euthanasia or assisted suicide. At its simplest the argument goes something like this: if an individual comes to fully understand there is no point in their living any longer, then the kindest act would be to assist them in ending their life. But what Paul writes to the Ephesians exposes the fundamental error at the heart of that statement. For if you put your faith in Christ, while God gives you breath and a heartbeat there is always a reason for living, for God has chosen you and called you to reveal and declare his praise and glory to others, and as you seek his direction and trust his enabling he will surely do it.

So what was it in particular that Paul prayed for and encouraged as he wrote to the believers at Ephesus?

Firstly that they would know God himself better; secondly that they would know more fully what it is God is intending to accomplish; thirdly that they would have a better awareness of the awesome power that is enabling this to happen.

Firstly that they would know God himself better

May [God] give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (v17)

Knowing God, experiencing a deep relationship with Him, is the end that every human being was created for and should aspire to. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says:-

Q: What is the chief end of man?

A: Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Blaise Pascal, the famous seventeenth century Mathematician and Physicist, said “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”

This then, fundamentally, is our prayer for one another, and the objective of all our endeavours to encourage one another and bless one another. It is the objective too of all our ministry as we reach out to the community around about us. We want to see each one come to know God more deeply, more intimately, this year. And through God’s wonderful love and grace we come to know him better as we come to know Jesus better. As Graham Kendrick’s memorable song says,

Knowing You, Jesus

Knowing You

There is no greater thing

You're my all, You're the best

You're my joy, my righteousness

And I love You, Lord

Secondly that they would know more fully what it is God is intending to accomplish

May [you] know the hope to which he has called you. (v18)

As many have said before, the Christian hope is not a wish or aspiration for something uncertain, that may or may not happen. The hope Paul writes about here is a confident expectation of what God has said is inevitable and guaranteed. Peter wrote in his first letter

In God’s great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. (1 Pet 1: 3,4)

You see, when our eyes are fixed on the transient things around us, perhaps on the failures and shortcomings, the obstacles and difficulties, maybe the walls of a hospital word, or in Paul’s case the walls confining him as prisoner, then our hearts sink and our confidence fails. We begin to doubt whether we can do anything meaningful for ourselves, let alone for God and for others. What thoughts do you think went through the mind of Jesus when he staggered under the weight of the cross as he carried it through the streets of Jerusalem, and then sank to the ground physically incapable of lifting it any longer? Well, the scripture gives us a wonderful insight

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12: 2)

Jesus had a hope. Not a wish that things might possibly or even probably get better, but a certain assurance of victory and triumph over sin and death. He had what Peter described in his letter as “joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

And that, brothers and sisters, is our next prayer for one another, and a second objective of our endeavours to encourage one another and bless one another. That we would all gain a greater understanding of what God has in store for his children, and has prepared for us beforehand – God’s amazing purposes as he works them out here on earth and as they find ultimate fulfilment in heaven. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those that love him; but God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit” (1 Cor 2: 9,10)

Thirdly they would have a better awareness of the awesome power that is enabling this to happen

May [you] know his incomparably great power for us who believe. (v19)

This power enables us: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1: 8).

This power protects us: “You through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed” (1 Pet 1: 5).

This power sustains us: “Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Col 1: 11).

This power saves us: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1: 16)

This power far surpasses our wildest dreams: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Eph 3: 20).

And that, brothers and sisters, must be our third prayer for one another, and a third objective of our endeavours to encourage one another and bless one another this year. That we would all grow in our understanding and experience of God’s great power, enabling us, protecting us, sustaining us, saving us and accomplishing those impossible dreams that God lays upon our hearts.

Prayer

Lord, we pray for ourselves as a company of your people here in this corner of Westhill, for the people of this community in which we live, and for all near and far who have gathered with us to worship you this day. Open our hearts dear Lord, that we may know you better and love you more. Give us a deeper understanding of your great purposes being worked out in our lives and in the world around about us. Fill us with indescribable joy as we look forward to the fulfilment of all you are doing. Grant to us Lord a greater awareness of your mighty power as it saves, sustains, enables and protects your people. Give us impossible dreams, and grant us the faith to see them accomplished for your glory. In the name of Jesus.

Amen.