The Church's witness to God's power

[0:00] In our reading that Sanda read from Ephesians chapter 3, she read these words.

[0:11] ! 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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

[0:40] Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in your Son's sight. O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

[1:04] When we speak about God's power that is at work within us in the church, what do you have in mind? What kind of power? Here's an incident I witnessed which may give us a clue. And before I start, I'm afraid it's another conference. I spent 33 years as a working academic and had a very restricted life. I need to get out more.

[1:32] But I once attended a conference on the decline of the Catholic Church in Ireland, at which two of the speakers were the well-known scientist Richard Dawkins, a militant atheist, and the politician and former government minister Shirley Williams, herself a practicing Christian in her own Catholic Church. At one point in the conversation around a large conference table, Shirley Williams spoke movingly about what she saw as the shortcomings of her own church, not least in relation to women in ministry. As she was making this critique of her own Christian tradition, Richard Dawkins could contain himself no longer. He stood up, interrupting Williams and shouted across the table, how can you stay in the church when you're so critical of it?

[2:30] Faced with that challenge, Shirley Williams was put on the spot to give an account of her Christian faith. Calmly and spontaneously, she turned and replied to Dawkins, How can I stay in my church? For two reasons, she said.

[2:54] First, I'm a politician. I deal in power. How to get it? How to use it? But I know of nowhere else where love conquers power than in the cross of Jesus Christ.

[3:11] And second, for all its faults, I see in my church people who are living lives of such goodness and care for others that only their faith in this Jesus can explain it.

[3:28] Shirley Williams, put on the spot by Richard Dawkins to give an account of her Christian faith, went immediately to the heart of the matter.

[3:42] The relationship between power and love. When we speak of the power of God, we do not mean the worldly power of the rulers of this earth, the power of force and coercion in a lawless dictatorship, or even the power of persuasion in a democracy under the rule of law.

[4:07] We mean the power of God's love. Love seen above all in the cross and flowing from the cross into the life of the church.

[4:21] We cannot separate the two, God's power and God's love. As the psalmist says in the 62nd Psalm, Once God has spoken, Twice I have heard this, That power belongs to God, And steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.

[4:49] This week you're very proud of your minister rightly becoming moderator. I come from a village in Fife where we've had three moderators. And one of them is the late Robert Davidson, who was professor of Old Testament at Glasgow University, and moderator in his time of the General Assembly.

[5:12] Speaking of that Psalm 62, holding together power and love, Bob Davidson wrote this, The Bible insists on holding on to a God, who is both a God of power, and a God of love, steadfast love.

[5:32] He writes, This vision of power and love come together in Jesus, who had power, equality with God, yet in love emptied himself to share our human life, submitting himself to death on a cross.

[5:47] And Bob Davidson concludes, This Jesus, challenges us as Christians, to believe that true power, must express itself in steadfast love.

[6:01] And that steadfast love, is ultimately the sole powerful answer, to the needs and troubles, of our world. This relationship between power and love in the Bible, and in the Christian life, is at the heart of Paul's prayer for the church, in today's scripture reading, which Sandra read to us from the letter to the Ephesians.

[6:29] Paul, you remember from last week, Paul began that prayer in verse 1 of chapter 3, and then interrupted himself, in order to tell the church about his calling as an apostle, and how the church shared in that calling, to be witnesses to God's wisdom.

[6:47] And what is God's wisdom? God's wisdom is to reconcile a divided world, into one new humanity, through Christ's cross.

[6:59] The church shows that wisdom, in countless ways, as its members live, as the new humanity. Reconciled to God, and to one another, in all our differences, through our one Savior, and same Lord.

[7:18] If we were to open the secret ballot this week, we might have voted in different ways. And I've quickly learned, that some of us support particular football teams. But we are all one here, in Jesus Christ.

[7:33] This is the wisdom of God, to bring us together, in all our many differences, and experiences of life, around the cross. To reconcile us to God, and to one another, through our Savior.

[7:48] Having set out what he calls, this great mystery, hidden through the ages, but now made known, through his preaching, as an apostle. That the Gentiles, the pagans, they too are included, in the salvation, brought to the Jews, through their Messiah Jesus.

[8:06] We are part of it too, the story, of God's people. Paul then returns, to his prayer, for the church. It is a prayer, not only for the churches, of Asia Minor, in the ancient Mediterranean world, it's also a prayer, for the church today.

[8:22] for this church. For the church. Paul begins his prayer, by calling on God, as Father.

[8:33] The Father of every family, on earth and in heaven. We are familiar, with this name for God, because Jesus uses it, time and again, in speaking about, his relationship with God, and in praying to God.

[8:47] As Abba, Father. Father. His Father uniquely, and our Father, through him. But here in Paul's prayer, we are reminded, of something else as well.

[9:00] In the ancient world, of Paul's time, there were many gods. The gods of the Romans, the gods of the Greeks, and the gods of the local communities, and cultures, around the Mediterranean.

[9:14] But every one, of those gods, was tied to a locality, and a particular group of people, or a family, or a city. By calling God, the Father of every family, on earth and in heaven, Paul is addressing, the living God.

[9:32] The creator of heaven and earth, who is not tied, to any one place, or people, but rather is the Lord, of all places, and all peoples. As Jesus taught, in the gospels, this God makes the rain, to fall on the just, and the unjust, and is good to all.

[9:55] Paul kneels, before this God, the Father from whom, every family on earth, is named, and owes, our allegiance. And he begins, his prayer, for the church.

[10:08] As we listened in, to Kofi Annan's prayer, before he met, a terrible tyrant, in the work of peace. Let's listen in, to Paul's prayer, for us, the church.

[10:25] Paul prays, three things, for the church. In all three, petitions, he is praying, that the church, may understand, the relationship, between God's power, and God's love.

[10:37] First Paul prays, that we the church, will be empowered, by God's spirit, to grow, in our relationship, with Christ.

[10:49] Who dwells in our hearts, through faith. How will we know, this prayer is being answered? We will know, that we are being empowered, by the spirit, to grow, in our relationship, with Christ, when we are rooted, and grounded, in love.

[11:05] The apostle Paul, loved to mix, his metaphors. He says, we will know, we are growing, in our relationship, with Christ, as a church, when we are rooted, in love.

[11:21] That's an agricultural, metaphor. The church grows, when it is planted, in the good soil, of God's love, in Christ. And then he says, we will know, we are empowered, by the spirit, when we are grounded, in love.

[11:38] That's an architectural, metaphor. The church grows, when it is built, on the solid ground, of God's love, for the world, in Christ.

[11:52] At a time, when we, in the church of Scotland, are being offered, many plans, and proposals, for growth. It's good, to be reminded, in Paul's prayer, for the church, that we are to grow, first and foremost, through the power, of God's love, for us, and for the world, in Jesus Christ, who dwells with us, in his church.

[12:18] In other words, we grow, as a church, when we dwell, with Christ, in our midst. The one, who uniquely, showed the world, the power of love, to conquer, the love of power, in his cross, and resurrection.

[12:35] As Shirley Williams, testified so movingly, to Richard Dawkins. And so secondly, Paul prays, that the church, will be empowered, to grasp, how wide, and long, and high, and deep, is the love of Christ.

[12:51] And to know this love, that surpasses knowledge. If Paul prays, first, that the church, may grow, as it is rooted, and grounded, in the love of Christ.

[13:02] Here he prays, that the church, may grasp, something of the mystery, of God's love. That it is boundless, and beyond our understanding, in its limitless reach, beyond all, that we might understand.

[13:21] The drama, that is going on, in the four gospels, in the New Testament, is between those, who would limit, the power, and love of God, to their own understanding, of who is, and who is out.

[13:37] And Jesus of Nazareth, who continually, demonstrates, the power, of God's love, to reach those, seen as beyond, the pale, of godly society.

[13:48] You remember, the gospel stories. Jesus reaches out, to welcome, the corrupt, tax collectors, Matthew and Zacchaeus, to defend the woman, about to be stoned, to death, for adultery, to heal, the unclean lepers, to calm, that outcast man, mentally, and spiritually, tortured, by inner demons, restoring him, to society, clothed, and in his right mind.

[14:19] Honoring, the Roman centurion, in whom Jesus, finds more faith, than among the people, of Israel. Talking with the foreign woman, at the well, to whom he promises, the water of life.

[14:32] Forgiving those, burdened by the weight, of their sin. Paul prays, that the church, may grasp, and be gripped, by the boundless, love of Jesus, seen in the gospels.

[14:47] If you want to know, how high, and deep, and wide, and broad, the love of God is, then we read, read the life of Jesus, in the gospels. And you will see, the lens, to which he will go, to bring God's love, to suffering, humanity.

[15:07] And third, Paul prays, that the church, will be filled, with the fullness, of God. That is, the church, will be filled, with the spirit, and love of Christ, in whom the fullness, of God dwells.

[15:23] Again, as we are rightly, being urged, as a congregation, over the coming year, to have a mission plan, and action points, for growth, Paul's prayer, reminds us, of what must be, at the heart, of it all.

[15:36] The presence, of the risen Christ, in whom we know, the fullness, of God. The fullness, of God's love, and saving power.

[15:48] Without the presence, of Christ, in our midst, all our plans, all our plans, are obsolete. The American, sociologist, of religion, Christian Smith, has recently, written a book, on what he calls, the obsolescence, of religion, as an explanation, of the decline, of the mainline, Protestant churches, in America, since the 1960s.

[16:15] Smith argues, that all these churches, used to offer families, and local communities, things that can now, be found, elsewhere. Exciting activities, for youth.

[16:27] A social life, now online, or in the local gym, or spa. A personal spirituality, suit my own lifestyle. Churches, as America knew them, from the 1950s onwards, have simply become, obsolete, in an affluent culture, that finds what it wants, elsewhere.

[16:48] These churches, cannot compete, with that culture, and it's countless, alluring choices, says Smith. There is much, that is true, in Smith's analysis, in understanding, the church's decline, here in Scotland.

[17:03] Although I think, Craig Lockhart Church, is marvelously, and impressively, bucking this trend. Your church halls, are still at the heart, of this community.

[17:14] Not only for the open day, for the weavers, on May 16th, but also in the welcome space, and in Gordon's youth work, and in the guild, and in so many other, meaningful ways, of being together, as a congregation, and as a parish.

[17:29] But at the heart, of the church's life, whether we are seen, as culturally, obsolete, by some people, or not, Paul's prayer, reminds us, of what endures, in the church, in every age.

[17:45] The church, is to be filled, with the fullness, of God. The presence of Christ, in our midst, is never obsolete.

[17:57] It is our unique, calling from generation, to generation, to be witnesses, to God's power. The power of God's, steadfast love, in Jesus Christ.

[18:12] And so Paul's, threefold prayer, for the church, leads to those, closing words, of praise to God, on our screen. I would invite you now, in closing, to join with me, in saying them together, as our words, of praise to God.

[18:32] 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, to him be glory, in the church, and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever.

[18:54] Amen. May this be our hymn of praise, as witnesses to the power, of God's love, in this place. Amen.

[19:06] Thank you.