Immeasurably More

Ephesians 3:14-21

Today is a before and after moment. The last Sunday of the year is one of those. I will call out at the end of the last service in December, “See you next year,” in hopes of getting at least a few smiles. The night before I got married was one of those moments in time. I went to bed single and the next night was married. The day before I took my drivers license was another of those moments. One day I had to have someone in the car with me when I practiced driving and the next I could drive off all by myself.

Today is our last service in this building. Next week we will meet for our worship service in Villa 91. For all the forty years RIC has existed, we have benefitted from the hospitality of others who have allowed us to use their building. For the thirteen years I have been pastor of RIC, I have wished that RIC could have its own building and use the building how and when we wanted to.

Almost three years ago when we found ourselves in an emergency situation and needed a place to meet, Assemblee Chretienne welcomed us into their church building and graciously allowed us to share their space. For this we are very grateful. Next Sunday, if you come to this building for our worship service, you will not find us. We will be meeting in our new villa, Villa 91. For the first time in the history of RIC we will have our own church home. Tomorrow we will get a Honda truck and transport the few things that are ours over to Villa 91 and get ready for our celebration and dedication service. This is a very exciting transition.

The Bible has before and after moments and the one from which I have been drawing inspiration is the crossing of Israel across the Jordan River into the promised land of Canaan. What was it like the week before Joshua led Israel across the Jordan? What were people talking about? There was certainly discussion of the giants in the land the twelve spies had all spoken of forty years earlier. There were still strong fortified cities and tall, strong men defending them. I imagine there was also discussion about how they would cross the Jordan River. The Adam bridge now stands at the spot where Israel crossed the Jordan, but the ancestor of that bridge was still 2,600 years into the future for Israel. How were they going to cross the swollen Jordan River?

We read the account knowing what happened. We know the river stopped flowing because of a landslide upstream. We know that the walls of Jericho fell. We know how God won battles for Israel in city after city. But Israel, standing on the other side of the Jordan River, did not know any of that. They stood at the side of the Jordan River with questions, uncertainties, and anxieties.

Today we stand on this side of meeting in Villa 91. We are facing increasing responsibilities and challenges. We have an increased budget to meet. We have the responsibility of using the building well and keeping it maintained. We have new audio and video technology to master. We have uncertainties. How will our new neighbors react to our presence? We have been there for a couple potlucks, a Seder meal and many smaller gatherings. When we begin to come regularly, each Sunday morning, how will they react to the cars being parked and the increased traffic on their quiet street? How will they react to the music of our service? And above all of this, we have new opportunities for ministry. What will we do with Sunday School? Will there be new opportunities for teaching and training? What will we do with all the new potential that comes with this villa? Will we make good use of this gift we have been given?

I have questions, uncertainties, and anxieties so it was encouraging for me to pick up my Bible this past Tuesday morning and read the text assigned for me to read that day. (Joshua 1:6–9)
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Be strong and courageous. Be strong and very courageous. Be strong and courageous. The fact that God felt it necessary to say this over and over again tells me that Joshua was feeling uncertain and anxious. It is comforting to know I am not alone.

Next Sunday I will share, once again, the story of how we came to this point in time. All I will say today is that God has led us to this point and so this exhortation to be strong and courageous is very encouraging. Because God has brought us to this point, we have confidence as we make our move. It is the strong sense of God’s leading us that has given me the faith to press on.

The benediction in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in chaper 3 is an encouraging one for us to hear as we make this move. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

God certainly did immeasurably more for Israel than they could ask or imagine. Who among them could have predicted that they would walk around Jericho and without attacking the walls, they would collapse? Who among them could have predicted the way God would win battles for them?

For hundreds of years Israel anticipated the Messiah. They had an understanding of what he would be like and what he would do, but they had no conception of the wonder of Jesus and his defeat of death. God, because he is God, will do far more than we can ask or imagine.

Who could have predicted that Saul, the persecutor of followers of Jesus would become Paul, the great evangelist of Jesus to the Gentiles?

God continues to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. God did this for Israel under the leadership of Joshua and he does it for us, but there is a big difference between the confidence Israel had as they crossed the Jordan River and the confidence we have as we move into our future. To show the difference, let me go back to the final words Moses spoke to Israel before he died and the leadership of Israel was passed to Joshua. Moses reminded Israel of the importance of obeying the law God had given. (Deuteronomy 30:11–20)
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The unfortunate truth is that Israel did not obey the law and they suffered the consequences. Soon after the victory over Jericho, Israel was defeated at a much smaller city because one of the members took for himself what God had said was not to be touched. Israel was drawn away to bow down to the gods of the land of Canaan and worshiped them. Israel sinned and earned the punishment Moses warned them about and eventually, after God gave them every opportunity, they were conquered by the Babylonians and sent into exile. Moses exhorted them to choose life but by their actions they chose death.

The unfortunate truth is that we are all incapable of obeying the law. No matter how hard we try, no matter how well intentioned we are, we break the law of God. We choose ourselves over others. We choose ourselves over God. We break God’s law and deserve his punishment. It is for this reason that Jesus, God in the flesh, came to rescue us, to save us. Jesus did for us what we are incapable of doing for ourselves. Jesus died, taking the punishment we deserve on himself. God became man so we could be rescued. Amazing love, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

This brings us to the difference between Israel when they crossed the Jordan River and us as we move to Villa 91. When Paul prayed for the Ephesians, the foundation he urged them to stand on was not obedience to the law but a deep awareness of the amazing love of Jesus. Let’s take a look at what Paul prays before he pronounces his wonderful benediction.
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

One of the absurdities of the Christian church today is that many think God is at work to make us wealthy and healthy. But this mocks the work of Jesus on the cross. The work of Jesus and the riches of God are given to us not so we can powerfully make our way through the world, seeking and attaining success, not so we can win in the competition for finite resources, but
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

This is why Jesus gave up the prerogatives and privileges that were his, and took on flesh. Jesus did not come to make you a better person, he came to rescue you from certain death. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit in you, you will become a better person, but that is a consequence of his coming, not the primary goal.

As the Bible talks about salvation, it does so in three tenses. It says we have been saved. It says we are being saved. And it says we will be saved. Our rescuing is a process and it is our responsibility to cling to Jesus through all of life’s events, good and bad, easy and difficult, celebrations and tragedies, so that at the end, we will be carried safely into our eternal home.

The true wealth of the riches of God is the love of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that seeks us, reaches out to us, comes to us, and rescues us from certain, eternal death.

This makes Jesus the focus and center of our lives. We get a glimpse of the love of God when we first come to faith but our experience of the love of God grows over the years as we cling to Jesus. And Paul prays for us that our view of the love of Jesus will continue to expand.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Do you see the difference between the exhortation of Moses and the prayer of Paul? Israel knew God’s demand for justice and experienced his wrath when his law was broken. They saw the power of God and feared him. We see the power of God and know we are loved by him. Israel stepped into the immeasurably more with caution. We step into the immeasurably more with confidence because we have experienced the grace and mercy of Jesus. As the writer of Hebrews put it: (Hebrews 12:18–23)
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.

It is on this foundation, being loved by Christ, that we stand as we receive the benediction that follows.
20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We have the privilege and pleasure of serving an immeasurably more God. God takes our words and deeds and uses them for his kingdom immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

The Samaritan’s Purse conference I attended in Florida celebrated the 100,000,000th shoebox sent out to children in over 100 countries of the world. Samaritan’s Purse began the distribution of shoeboxes filled with gifts in 1990 when they were delivered to children in Romania which had suffered under the Communist rule of  Nicolae Ceausescu.

At the conference a woman spoke who, in 1990, was a 12 year old girl living in Romania. While her parents were at work, she and her brother found a Bible hidden under the floorboards of their house. When they returned that night, the girl and her brother told them what they had found and their parents were angry. They told them to put it back and never take it out again. At the time, it was dangerous to have a Bible.

But since their parents had told them not to, now, each day, they would take it out and read it, keeping watch for the return of their parents so they could put it back before they came into the apartment. A man in the neighborhood began telling stories to children and they went to hear the stories. The girl recognized the stories from her reading of the Bible and told the man she had a book at home with those stories. He took her aside, told her not to mention this to anyone, and began to give her more instructions. He encouraged her to pray.

This happened in December and what she most wanted was to have snow for Christmas so she prayed for this. After a week of no snow, she told the teacher prayer did not work but then he gave her a very important lesson. He told her God always hears our prayers but sometimes answers them in different ways than we expect. So she continued to pray. Christmas came and there was no snow. The next day some trucks arrived in town and people rushed after them, eager to see what they might contain. With food shortages, there were always lines waiting to buy whatever was available.

The trucks were the first delivery of shoeboxes and a woman came to this young girl and gave her a shoebox. When she opened it, right on top was a snow globe. When you shook it there were flakes of snow. At the conference when she told her story, she showed us the snow globe she has kept all these years. Of all the boxes, she received one with an answer to her prayer. God will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

In 1993 Samaritan’s Purse went to Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia when the Bosnian War was still being fought. One of the distributions was in a schoolroom where all the windows had been shot out and the cold of winter came into the room. The children sat around the room and the boxes were distributed.

Children from the US had filled these shoeboxes and each one was different. Samaritan’s Purse did not know what was in the boxes. They handed them out to the children and then had them open them together, at the same time. At the conference we watched a video of this distribution and among the children sitting there, one boy had no coat. All the children in the classroom were wearing winter coats except this boy. When he opened his box, guess what was inside? A winter coat.

Now, who would put a winter coat in a shoebox to be given as a gift? Little toys, a model truck or car, some candy, these are things you would think to put in a shoebox and yet someone, for whatever reason, decided to put a winter coat in the box and that box made its way to the one boy in the room who did not have a coat. God will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

Another boy, from Romania, spoke of living in an orphanage where the twenty boys all shared one towel for their weekly shower. When he opened his box, there was a washcloth. He didn’t know this was used just to wash your face. He looked at it and was delighted to know he had his own personal towel and did not have to dry off from his shower with a wet towel. God will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

Boxes are packed by children in the US, in Canada, in Germany, in England, in Australia and sent to children living in countries around the world. It is not much, just a box with some gifts, but God can take that gift with its unique contents and direct it to the specific child he wants to bless with those contents.

These stories were so encouraging to me and they reminded me of the power of God to reach out and touch us. If we were all to take a turn sharing the story of how we came to faith, we would have example after example of God’s amazing love that took the simple actions of his followers to let someone know God loved her. That someone loved him.

God used Billy Graham as he spoke to millions but he also uses our smiles, our acts of kindness, our words of encouragement and compassion to let people know they are loved by him.

Every time we take a step of obedience and move out into the world to be light for Jesus, God takes what we do and say to build his kingdom. We don’t know the outcome of our actions and words. We simply love people in his name and then God does immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.

As we make our move next week to Villa 91, our new church home, I want us to carry with us this sense of being loved by Jesus and the expectation that God will do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine with this villa we have been given.

We have a room on the top floor that is dedicated for prayer. I am hoping many will be drawn to this room to pray for God’s work among us and in this land. What miraculous work will
God do in this room? How will lives be changed in this room? How will God use the prayers prayed in this room? God will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

We will have more space and time in our service and I wonder how God will use that. We can offer opportunities for people to receive prayer during and after the service. We will have more freedom to respond to our sense of God’s leading during the services. There are so many possibilities that will open up.

We now have the space to allow our ministry to expand with more opportunities for teaching from the Bible, more opportunities for fellowship, more opportunities for classes to encourage the different parts of our community.

We fasted and prayed on September 17, 2012, asking God what we should do and this move is the result of his answer to us that unfolded over the weeks. We stepped out in obedience by approving a budget in November that allowed for the increase in expenses. We took an extra step and raised the funds needed for setup costs.

I don’t know exactly what we will look a year from now but I know we will be a stronger, brighter light for Jesus. How do I know? I know because God has led us to this move and he will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

And whatever happens, we will join with Paul and say
21 to [God] be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.