Claiming Hope

October 3, 2007

Ephesians 1:15-23

“I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 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.”

Bertha Taylor’s son once told me a story about his days growing up on McAlway Road here in Charlotte. He said that he and his brothers would head out and play their hearts out and as the dinner hour neared their mother would put out the call—a sharp whistle—that meant they’d better get to the table immediately or they would miss out on the most mouthwatering of morsels not to mention nourishment for more playing!

When I read this passage, (which by the way, is in Greek, yet another run-on sentence) I couldn’t help but think about that story. That is what this is about. It is as if God has issued a call to us. For each of us that call may look different, it may play out differently in the practice of our lives but ultimately God grants us each a call to hope. That hope comes in our dedication to relationship with God and when we grasp that hope to which God has called us, what we find on the other side is a remarkable inheritance—not unlike those mouthwatering morsels from Bertha’s table. When we embrace that inheritance, we find that God is suddenly able to work within us in as powerful a way as he worked in Christ to raise him from the dead.

That’s a pretty amazing promise! So why don’t we live at those same powerful levels of Christ? Because we don’t let ourselves! We cling to our hopes instead of God’s because they’re safer! But if we really want to know the magnificence of relationship with God, we have to have the courage to claim God’s hope for our lives and then sit back and watch marvels unfold.

When I have let go of the decisions that seem best in mind, when I have listened to God and then followed, that is when I have found life to be . . . would you believe . . . easy! But I am a sinner and I also make life harder on myself than I need to make it, so today this scripture is for me but I have to hope that you will find value in the admonition to claim or reclaim God’s hope for you too! May we all be full of hope and consequently full of God’s power! Amen.