Knowing Our Position in Christ

Ascension Day, May 29, 2014

Text Readings: Ephesians 1:15-23; Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53

My first experience with the power of nature that I remember occurred when I was in High School.  Monticello, Indiana sustained serious damage by a tornado on April 3, 1974, part of the Super Outbreak that caused death and destruction across the midwest and south. The aftermath of this storm is recorded in the Herald Journal’s book, Killer Tornado. The tornado was classified as an F4 on the Fujita scale. This storm killed eight people and was part of tornado family that killed 18, causing an estimated $100 million in damage. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, news outlets reported three hundred deaths across the United States and the creation of temporary morgues. A good friend’s father and grandmother were killed. As the wind picked up his father it also lowered him into the safety of a basement. In the aftermath of the disaster, I spent days helping with the cleanup. I saw all sorts of amazing and tragic signs of the power of the wind. The one that has lasted the longest is the memory of a twisted aerial antenna.

• Job 26—What is the thunder of God’s power?
• If nature is but a whisper, where is the thunder of God’s power?

God’s thunder is seen in the resurrection and enthronement of Jesus (1:19b-23).

• Paul prays that they may know three things: the hope of the calling (rooted in 1:3-14 and anticipating 4:1); the riches of his glorious inheritance; and the surpassing greatness of his power.
  • Imagine the four-tiered fountain in which God’s glory spills over into Christ and Christ’s glory pours into the church, and the church’s glory drenches the whole world.
  • Gen. 12 Just as Israel was to be a blessing to the nations. Ah, it did not happen. But God, through one seed still blesses the nation in Jesus. And through the church to bless the nations. And we have failed.
  • But Paul can see the blessings of God clearly. And he uses the past and present tense: “And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
  • And Paul sees it from the pit of a lonely jail cell. Even in the midst of hecklings, beatings, and arrests. Even though blow after blow caused his own suffering, he still with the eyes of faith sees God’s ultimate success. God would succeed. God has already succeeded.
• Every title that can be given …
  • Every military, political, social, religious, corporate power …
  • Placed under Jesus’ feet as a footstool.
  • Christ is the great filler.

God’s thunder is seen in our own resurrection and enthronement (2:1-10). It is seen in the Ephesians’ Power Pack (3:7, 16, 18, 20; 6:10). The power that he prays is comprehended, he also prays that believers apprehend it too.

• And That Power Is Available To Us Who Believe (1:19a).

• 2000-2010, Diana Butler Bass, After Religion, “horrible decade” … and the church is not exempt.
• We’ve seen that look just this past Monday, Memorial Day, as families remember sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, who gave their lives.
• Or, the shooting at UC Santa Barbara, and the memories of other shootings at schools or movie theatres.
• In this broken world, Paul sees the church standing up as first responders. Bringing God’s Kingdom, God’s reign, God’s glory to the earth.
• When churches rise from the ashes from days like this and becomes a blessing to the nations fulfilling “God’s intent that now through the church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,” then we have seen God’s resurrection power at work.
  • And I have seen it, and if you think about, so have you.
    • Faith Works, Grace/Freedom outreach …

And we discover where God lives. We find him still blessing his ruined creation. He was the first to weep, the first to rescue, to first to embrace, and the last to leave. Jesus reigns.

And the stories we will tell, as God reigns over his broken world, are the stories of rescue, peace, healing, reunion.  And Paul prays 1:18-19.  And his power is at work all around us. And no matter how badly humanity mars the image of God, or how far hate and evil assail innocent people, or how cracked the church’s walls are—We face death and sin as our enemy knowing God is still here, bending over us all, his hand raised in blessing. It is he who fills all in all, whose fullness has spilled over into us. It is Christ the Lord. And Jesus is still on his throne. Amen