A Pastor’s Prayer
Ephesians 1:16, 18-19

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Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

The apostle Paul prayed for his people, and he told them about it. He wrote to the Christians living in Ephesus, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which [God] has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:16, 18-19 ESV). This is a beautiful prayer for people who lived in a city where being Christian was difficult and dangerous. It was, I am sure, a blessing to the people to know that their founding father, the apostle Paul was praying for them. I pray for you as well, as a congregation and individually, but I don’t know that I have ever told you that I pray for you. This morning I want to share with you the prayer of the Apostle Paul for his people and my prayers for you, the people whom God has entrusted to my care.

The Christians in Ephesus faced many difficulties and dangers. Paul’s own experience in Ephesus had been less than peaceful—in fact, it had been quite a riot, literally. Paul preached in the synagogue for three months, until they finally kicked him out. Then he preached in a place called the hall of Tyrannus for about two years. People from around Asia Minor, in what is today Turkey, heard the good news of Jesus Christ, how he is the true god. After two years, Paul decided to head out of Ephesus and into Macedonia, but “About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way” (Acts 19:23 ESV). You see, Ephesus was the center of worship for a goddess named Artemis, and the craftsmen of the city made lots of money by making shrines to this goddess. Well, as Paul preached, people began to turn away from worshiping Artemis and other gods and goddesses, which meant that the craftsmen in Ephesus saw a disturbing plunge in sales. They stirred up a riot—crowds gathered, some of Paul’s companions were dragged into the theater to give an account, and when the crowd found out the companions were Jews, they chanted “Great is Artemis”—for two hours they chanted. Finally a city official managed to quiet the crowd down, and Paul was able to leave Ephesus, but he left behind a small church surrounded by angry pagans. That, as you can imagine, was no cake walk for these new disciples of Jesus.

Later on, when Paul was heading toward Jerusalem—and, he knew, toward imprisonment and affliction, he met the leaders of the small Ephesian church and told them what they would have to face in the future. “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30 ESV). The little church in Ephesus would face persecution and affliction from the pagans who surrounded them, and the little church in Ephesus would face factions and false doctrines from within. Not exactly encouraging words, if you ask me. Yet Paul left them with words of comfort: “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32 ESV). Within a month or two, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem. Soon he was put in Roman custody, and eventually he ended up under house arrest in Rome. It was there, as a prisoner of the Lord, that he wrote to the Christians in Ephesus to encourage them in their faith, because they were and would be surrounded by difficulties and dangers from within and without. Writing from prison, he does not complain about his situation, but glories in it, but more than that, he reminds the Christians at Ephesus that they are in his prayers, and he reminds them of the hope they have in Christ, the inheritance God gives them through Christ, and the power at work in them because of Christ’s ascension into heaven.

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, . . . that you may know what is the hope to which [God] has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:16, 18-19 ESV). You see, the challenges faced by the Christians in Ephesus could be pretty discouraging, but the wondrous gifts we have from God are more than enough to encourage them. We may face persecution and affliction here, but Jesus Christ has won eternal life and salvation for us. That is our hope: that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18 ESV). We may face less business and lower income and even confiscation of property here, but we have an inheritance in heaven that can neither spoil or fade, because our Savior Jesus, who died on the cross to win forgiveness for us, has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven where he has prepared a place for us. We may face persecution and pressure from others to deny our Savior Jesus, but the same God who raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him to his right hand is now at work in Christians, pouring out his Holy Spirit through the good news of Jesus Christ to strengthen us in our faith. Paul prayed that our heavenly Father would open the eyes of the Christians in Ephesus so that they would see the hope which is theirs in Christ, the inheritance God has in store for them, and the power now at work in them.

That is Paul’s prayer for his people. And that is my prayer for you, the people whom God has entrusted to my care. We certainly do not live in Ephesus—there is no pagan temple supporting all the craftsmen in town. In fact, Bolivar is downright friendly when it comes to living as a Christian. People talk openly about their faith, people invite one another to church, and, as one person in the community recently told me, “I’ve never seen a town where church and community are so deeply intertwined.” But we have our own struggles as Lutherans. I remember one young member of this congregation who was harassed at school because he had been baptized as a baby. “That baptism didn’t count, so you’re not saved,” he was told. If you hear that enough—and I know the young man was not alone—if you hear that enough, you begin to wonder whether you’ve done the right thing. And even if you don’t begin to wonder whether you’ve done the right thing, you still have to live with the grief. I actually got a call once from a woman who wanted to know what Lutherans teach about baptism, because she had been baptized elsewhere as a baby by her Lutheran parents. She is now a Baptist, and when I explained that we believe baptism delivers the forgiveness of sins which Jesus Christ won on the cross, and that we believe immersion is not necessary, she began to lecture me on how she has studied Greek and she knows that baptizo means immerse. That was pretty much the end of the conversation, even though I was more than willing to study the Scriptures with her. As Lutherans, we face a certain amount of suspicion in Bolivar, or at least a certain amount of ignorance. I’ve actually been asked, “Are you guys Christians?” We get a certain amount of grief from other people, from coworkers, from friends, even, sadly, from family members. That can be discouraging, to say the least.

It’s the same being a member of a small church. It is so easy to look around at big churches and ask, “What’s wrong with us? Why can’t we grow like they do and be big like they are?” We live in a society that still values—although this is changing—but it still values size and success. “Bigger is better,” we’re taught. Books give the impression that every church can be become big, if it just follows the steps to growth. Hogwash. If it were as easy as following ten easy steps, then there would only be one book on how to make your church grow, not the bazillion and one that are out there. The problem is, all that hot air leaves the impression that smaller churches are somehow less successful or lacking in some way. Hogwash. Jesus promises, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20 ESV). What makes a big church church is precisely what makes a small church church: that God the Father has redeemed us through the blood of Jesus and given us victory over sin, death, and the devil through the resurrection and ascension of Jesus into heaven, and that Spirit has gathered you and me to hear that good news of our risen Savior and to share that good news of our risen Savior with one another and with the people around us. There is nothing more to church than that, my dear friends: our gracious Father’s call to hear his word and receive his forgiveness in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, because he loves you and has given you victory and success and whatever else you need through the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven.

And that, my dear friends, is my prayer for you: that you would look away from the difficulties and discouragements of this life to the wondrous hope which is yours in Christ Jesus. It would be nice to get some respect from fellow Christians about baptism, but our true hope is the inheritance of eternal life which is yours through baptism. It would be nice to have a somewhat larger congregation, but our true inheritance is not size or money or success in earthly terms, but the blessing of victory over this world and the devil and the blessing of eternal life in the age to come, “where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20 ESV). And the “the immeasurable greatness of [God’s] power toward us” (Ephesians 1:19 ESV), which turns our eyes away from the difficulties and discouragements of this world, is nothing other than the good news of our risen Savior Jesus, whom God “raised him from the dead and seated . . . at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:20 ESV). The ascension of Jesus into heaven guarantees that you have true victory and true success and true life. And I pray this for you: that your eyes would be opened to these wonderful blessings.

I know from talking with you as your pastor that life has its difficulties and discouragements. I know from my own personal experience that life has its difficulties and discouragements. I know that you are, at times, discouraged by these difficulties and beat down and that you wonder whether things will get better. Know that they will, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, because our risen Savior has ascended into heaven. Know this too: what Paul wrote to the Ephesians, I also say to you, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, . . . that you may know what is the hope to which [God] has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:16, 18-19 ESV).

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.