Ephesians 3:14-21 (NRSV)
Read Ephesians 3:14-21 on biblegateway.com
Verse 14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, Verse 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. Verse 16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, Verse 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Verse 18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, Verse 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Verse 20Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, Verse 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Devotion
Clergyman J. B. Phillips wrote a book in the 1960's entitled "Your God Is Too Small." Had the author of Ephesians given a title to this letter he could have chosen the same. The routine of parish ministry so often revolves around the mundane—meetings over budgets, finding Sunday school teachers, ordering curriculum, stocking the coffee cart, etc., etc., etc. Even hallowed pastoral tasks such as hospital visits, leading a Bible study or preparing a sermon lack the excitement in believing that something big is at stake here—that God just might be on the loose!
Author and pastor Roy Oswald wrote, "The clergy's worst sin against the church is not being heretical or unethical, but being just plain dull." Do we believe and proclaim that God can accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, or is our God too small?
Prayer
This is your church, O God; your world and your kingdom. As you are on the move in and through history, give us not only eyes to see, but voices to speak of your great and wonderful ways. Amen.