Apocalypse NOW! (Ephesians 3:14-21)

These past few weeks we have been studying the letter to the Ephesians. The letter is written as a guide for the 1st century church and to keep it going in the absence of the disciples, the apostles, church leaders, and worst of all; no Jesus. 

The early church had been told that he was on his way, he was almost here, but he never appeared. At least not the way that they had hoped or planned. A church without Jesus really isn’t much of a church, wouldn’t you agree? The first century church thought so. If they couldn’t have Jesus, well, what was the point? They wanted Jesus but they wanted Jesus their way, just like us. The early Christian church was certain that the second coming of Jesus Christ was right around the corner. 

They stood by waiting and waiting and waiting. Many gave up everything, including possessions, marriage, and status because they knew they couldn’t take it with them. Some just sat around and did nothing, leaching off of the community because they believed this world wasn’t really worth the effort, after all, they were waiting for the Jesus train so why try? And wait they did, until they started to question if either they had missed the train or maybe, just maybe, the train wasn’t coming at all. Failed predictions of Jesus’ return was followed by the community’s disappointment.

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William Miller

In 1843 William Miller, a baptist preacher, also predicted that the end was near and Jesus Christ would return that year. When his prediction never came to fruition he reassessed his date and claimed he was off by a few months, but as we all can see, this prediction also never came to pass. When his final prediction of October 22, 1844, came and went, his followers were so distraught that the event became known as “the great disappointment”. Many of Miller’s followers, who have come to be known as Millerites, gave up their beliefs, some even completely rejected christianity and religion outright. 

They, too, were disappointed by the notion of a church absent of Jesus. The apocalyptic end times Jesus, the Jesus that would assure their admission onto the Jesus Express.This isn’t the first time we have witnessed these kinds of predictions. These types of predictions began in the 1st century and barely a year has gone by without such predictions since. We even hear of them today; if you can recall the predictions of Chuck Smith in 1981, Pat Robertson in 1982, Harold Camping in 2011, and the list goes on and on and on but here we sit waiting and waiting and waiting. 

It is in this state of waiting and disappointment that this letter, the Epistle to the Ephesians is written.

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Today’s reading from Ephesians chapter three is a prayer. It is a prayer for the Church, not just the church at Ephesus but the Church, God’s Church, inclusive of all of creation. The prayer calls for the Body of Christ, the Church, not just them (the first century christians), but everyone from the beginning to the end of time, to respond to the God that surpasses our human understanding. This prayer assures us that even if we grasp a fragment of God’s being, riches, power, glory, or love we will overflow beyond our ability to comprehend or understand. 

Before Jesus as the Christ breaks into our human conscience, our human history, there is no context for us to fathom the love of God but now, in this letter the author of this prayer doesn’t just predict Christ’s future return, he prays for a radical shift in the theology of the first century church. A shift from awaiting the end of time and the physical return of Jesus to a strengthened state of existence with God, a new foundation for living.

The author doesn’t pray for a zombie apocalypse, a global catastrophe, or some other variation of imaginative end times scenarios, the author prays that God will redeem and reclaim the Church by allowing the community to respond to Christ’s presence, right there, right then, in fact, right here and right now. By receiving the gift of God’s grace and love this first century church, and we, are not only receiving faith but we are participating in faith and that participation creates us anew. It creates us anew in prayer, in our confession, at the table, at the font, and in the Word.

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But much like that first century church our understanding of the gift of faith and grace has had a tendency to cause apathy, lethargy, and general laziness in our response to that gift.

Martin Luther argued that point in a sermon on John’s Gospel (6:28-29) claiming that “Faith is a work that man must do, and yet it is also called the work of God” 

It seems to be a far cry from the American Christianity Bonhoeffer critiqued in his book “The Cost of Discipleship” hundreds of years after Luther, when he proclaimed “Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before.” 

He goes on to say; 

“Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin.”

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A mentor of mine once told me a story about getting his certificate from an auto mechanic’s course. 

Graduation day from the course came and his wife dropped him off to receive his certificate shortly before the informal ceremony. She dropped him off right next to his broken down economy sedan in the parking lot. Upon receiving his certificate, a classmate and new friend in the back of the class shouted to him; “Hey! Now you can go out into the parking lot and wave your certificate at your car so you can drive yourself home!”

You see, my friend and mentor had received certification to be a mechanic but he never got that car up and running. 

He ended up teaching Hebrew. 

Just because we receive the grace and love of God through Jesus Christ doesn’t mean we just wave it at the world waiting for the engine to turn. It’s an invitation to start anew. 

No. It’s more than that, it is an invitation to BE something new, to participate in something new, the new self, reconciled with God to be who God always intended for us to be. No longer predicting the apocalypse as we look at our watches and calendars waiting and waiting and waiting. 

Apocalypse is an old word, probably one used in the early Church, derived from Greek, literally meaning to be “uncovered” or a disclosure of something hidden. It is a revelation, a revealing, and yes, with that it is a destruction. It is a destruction of the old, the old self, the tainted creation, the tainted church, the tainted world in which we live.  It is, Sisters and Brothers, apocalypse now, right here, right now. It is the turning away from our selves, myself, turning toward the Christ that resides within us, within this body. It is an apocalypse because it is a response to that love.

So let me share another version of this prayer, written by Queen and David Bowie from 1981; 

Cause love’s such an old-fashioned word and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night, And loves dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves this is our last dance this is ourselves; Under Pressure

And so I pray today;

Oh Infinite, indescribable, and in-comprehendible God; dare us with your love, dare us to be changed by it’s apocalyptic power to change this world, to change us, to change me. 

Amen



Sources:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 1st edition (New York: Touchstone, 1995). Page 43-44

Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 2: The Reformation to the Present Day, 2nd edition (New York: HarperOne, 2010). Page 340

Jaroslav Pelikan, Luthers Works Volume 23 Sermons on the Gospel of John (St. Louis, Missouri: CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, 1959). Page 23

Queen, Queen: Greatest Hits I & II, Audio CD (Hollywood Records, 2000). Disk 2 Track 2