エフェソの信徒への手紙3:18-21 Ephesians 3:18-21,
わたしたちの内に働く御力によって、わたしたちが求めたり、思ったりすることすべてを、はるかに超えてかなえることのおできになる方に、 教会により、また、キリスト・イエスによって、栄光が世々限りなくありますように、アーメン。 （エフェソ3:20-21）
パウロは神の栄光をたたえる「頌栄」の祈りを記しています。「頌栄」とは神様の栄光をほめたたえるという意味です。（中略）この「頌栄」の祈りは、3章15節から19節までのエフェソの信徒たちのためのとりなしの祈りを締めくくっています。そして、それだけでなくこの手紙の1章から3章のパウロの教えを締めくくるものであると言ってよいでしょう。1章から3章まで、パウロは父なる神様の秘められた計画について、神の子キリストの救いのわざについて、教会に満ちてくださる聖霊の働きについて教えてきました。そして、それらの教えに基づいて、4章からはエフェソの信徒たちにクリスチャンとしてどのように生活するべきかを教えています。つまり、3章20節と21節はこの手紙の前半の部分を締めくくる「頌栄」の祈りなのです。
「わたしたちの内に働く御力」とは、父なる神の霊でありキリストの霊である聖霊の力のことです。「わたしたちが求めたり、思ったりすることすべてを、はるかに超えてかなえることのおできになる方」とは、父なる神様に私たちが祈ることをはるかに超えて実現してくださる力があることを表しています。日曜日の礼拝とともに、信仰の生活において大切なのは日ごとの祈りです。そして、日ごとの祈りを続けていると、自分は神様に願ったけれども実現しなかったという経験をすることがあります。それは自分の願いが神様の御心に沿っていなかったということでしょう。しかし、それだけでなく、自分が神様に願った以上のことが実現したという経験をすることもあります。そのような経験は、しばしば自分の願いが実現することによって、喜びとともに苦しみをも担うことになる場合に起こります。しかも、苦しみを担って終わりではなく、その苦しみがさらに神様の力によって恵みになるという二重の喜びをもたらす場合があります。そのような経験をすると、神様は「わたしたちが求めたり、思ったりすることすべてを、はるかに超えてかなえることのおできになる方」であることがわかります。 （5月11日の説教より）
The Bible teaches us to love God and love our neighbour. And if you are a Christian, it is natural that you would want to be such a loving person. And many people who are not Christians may also want to live a life of love.
In her book Shiawase wa Anata no Kokora ga Kimeru (Happiness is Determined by Your Heart,) Dr. WATANABE Kazuko, a Catholic nun who served as chancellor and after that chairman of the board of directors of Notre Dame Seishin University, wrote the following statement under the title “To Develop the Ability to Love.”
After more than fifty years of contact with schoolgirls, I notice that many girls of this age think that what is necessary for love is to meet a wonderful object.
This is not wrong, but the question is whether it is possible to continue loving the object even when it loses its “wonderfulness.”
Whether we can continue to love the person when the one who once was healthy falls ill, or the person when the one who once was promising suffers a setback, depends on whether we have nurtured the ability to love within ourselves.
In his book, The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm states emphatically that “loving is not a mere passion. It is a decision, a judgment, a promise.” This statement can be said to point to the essence of love.
Just like someone who doesn’t practise the piano but thinks they can play well if they find a nice piano, or someone who doesn’t practise drawing but just looks for beautiful scenery, you must not just wait around for a wonderful person to come without practising to “love” them.
In order to develop the ability to love, it is first important to be grateful (Arigatai in Japanese) for the matters, people and things that we take for granted in our daily lives.
When we can find meaning even in things that seem to have no value, in misfortune, disaster, and suffering, and when we can be grateful for these things, we become loving and happy human beings who can find things to love everywhere and even recognise the value of people who are difficult to love. (Translated by MIYOSHI Akira)
If you read this text by Dr. WATANABE over and over again, you realise that although the writing style is clear and gentle, it is very difficult and demanding to implement what is written. She says, “When we can find meaning even in things that seem to have no value, in misfortune, disaster, and suffering, and when we can be grateful for these things, we become loving and happy human beings who can find things to love everywhere and even recognise the value of people who are difficult to love.” But is this possible? Is it possible to find meaning even in misfortune, disaster, and suffering and to be grateful for them? Is it possible to be a loving, happy person who recognise the value of people who are difficult to love? Common sense tells us that it is impossible. But what if we base it on faith in Jesus Christ? By faith in Jesus Christ, we can do those things, even if only a little, and we can live our lives aiming to do more of them.
In 3:16-17, which precede today’s Bible passage, the Apostle Paul offers the following intercessory prayer for the believers of the Ephesian church.
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love (NRSV).
“Through his Spirit” means through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God the Father. The Spirit of God the Father is also the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Our salvation was accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross to atone for our sins and his resurrection to a body of eternal life to guarantee us eternal life. And it is through the work of the Holy Spirit that that accomplished salvation becomes ours in reality. That is, as stated in verse 17, it becomes a reality when God the Father gives us the Holy Spirit so that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” For those of us who cannot change ourselves, the Spirit of Christ dwells in our hearts to change our thoughts and our actions.
How does the Spirit of Christ change us? As stated in the latter half of verse 17, he changes us to be “rooted and grounded in love.” That is, He transforms those who lacked true love into people who are “rooted and grounded in love.” This is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Efforts to change one’s own personality do not last long. This is because the will to change one’s own personality does not last. However, what if the Spirit of Christ dwells within us? It is not our own will but the will of the Spirit of Christ that seeks to transform us into people who are “rooted and grounded in love.” Therefore, the will of the Spirit of Christ to transform us into people who are “rooted and grounded in love” will last as long as we have faith. And as we worship God in church and live our daily lives praying to God, our actions will be transformed without us even noticing. This is the work of the Spirit of Christ who dwells within our hearts, and it is truly amazing.
In verses 18 and 19 of today’s passage, Paul continues his prayer as follows.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Paul prays that the believers of Ephesian church will comprehend “what is the breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ. “What is the breadth and length and height and depth” is a metaphoric expression of the magnitude of the love of Christ. It is interesting to note that after the prayer for Ephesian believers to comprehend “what is the breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ in verse 18, Paul then writes in verse 19 that he prays for them “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” That is, even though Christians should comprehend that Christ’s love is great, the love of Christ “surpasses knowledge.” In other words, the love of Christ is so great that it cannot be expressed in words or understood by human knowledge. Furthermore, even though the love of Christ “surpasses” human knowledge, Paul prays that Ephesian believers will come to “know” it.
One key to understanding these enigmatic prayers is that the Greek word ginōskō (γινώσκω), which is translated “to know,” has richer nuances than the Japanese and English. A quick look up of the word in the Greek lexicon of the New Testament reveals that in verse 19, “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,” the Greek word ginōskōis is used in the sense of “to grasp the significance or meaning of ~.” However, the word ginōskō, i.e., “to know” also means “to have sexual intercourse with ~.” That is, it has the nuance of having marital intercourse. You may remember that in Matthew 1:25, which is often read at Christmas time, we read that Joseph “had no intercourse with her until her son was born” (REB), after hearing a message from an angel. In English Standard Version, this verse is translated literally into the phrase that Joseph “knew her not until she had given birth to a son.” The biblical word “to know” has had the meaning of marital intercourse since Old Testament times. That is, “to know” through intercourse. In Ephesians 5:22-33, the nature of the relationship between husband and wife is taught by the nature of the relationship between Christ and the church. In view of these things, “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” means that the Spirit of Christ dwells in the heart so that the Christian does know Christ’s love not as mere knowledge, but by the communion experience of “I am loved by Christ.”
What does the phrase “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” in verse 19 mean? In 1:23 of this letter, Paul said that the church is “his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” As I preached in my exposition of this verse, “him who fills all in all” refers both to God the Father and to Christ. And the place where Christ is full through the Holy Spirit is the church. The Spirit of Christ fills the church and also the heart of each believer. Believers who are firmly connected to the church receive the Spirit of Christ, “the fullness” of God, and are filled with the Spirit of Christ. Paul wants the believers to be filled with the Spirit of Christ. Do you desire to live filled with the Spirit of Christ? Aren’t you saying, “I think Christianity is good and I believe in it, but I will do what I want with my daily life”? Every day, we want to receive the grace of forgiveness of sins and eternal life, to know the love of Christ and to live lives filled with his Spirit!
Furthermore, at the end of today’s passage, Paul writes what is called “doxology,” a prayer to the glory of God. The word “doxology” means to praise the glory of God, and the song we sing at the end of worship to praise the glory of the Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Spirit, is also a “doxology.” The concluding prayer of the Lord’s Prayer, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever,” is also a doxology. Paul sometimes ends his letters with a “doxology.” For example, at the end of the Epistle to the Romans 16:27, Paul writes “to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” In verses 20-21 of today’s passage Paul writes as follows.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
This “doxology” concludes the intercessory prayer for the Ephesians in 3:15-19. In chapters 1 through 3, Paul has taught about the hidden purpose of God the Father, about the saving work of Christ, the Son of God, and about the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. From chapter 4 onwards, he tells the Ephesians how they are to live as Christians. That is, 3:20-21 is the “doxology” that concludes the first part of this letter. “The power at work within us” refers to the power of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God the Father and the Spirit of Christ. “Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” indicates that God the Father has the power to do far more than what we pray for.
Along with Sunday worship, an important part of the Christian life of faith is daily prayer. And as we continue to pray daily, we sometimes experience that we have asked God for something, but it has not come true. This may mean that our wish was not in line with God’s will. But there are also times when we experience that more has come to pass than we could have ever asked of God. Such experiences often occur when the fulfilment of one’s wish causes one to suffer as well as to rejoice. Moreover, the suffering is not the end of the event, but it can bring a double joy, as the suffering becomes a blessing through God’s power. Such experiences show that God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.”
Paul’s words, “be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,” show the importance he attached to the church. To pray, “be glory in the church” is something you can only do if you really believe in the church because the church on earth has many problems. There is no such thing as a perfect church on earth without problems. But, as I said before, the church is the place where Christ is “full” through the Holy Spirit. By being members of the church, we are filled with the Spirit of Christ, we know his love, and we develop and nurture our “ability to love.” By being members of the church, we experience being taught the profound meaning of the Japanese word “Arigatai” (to be grateful), which originally means “it is difficult to exist.” It is a profound experience that being alive is not something to be taken for granted, but something “Arigatai,” i.e., to be grateful for; that being forgiven for one’s sins is not something to be taken for granted, but something “Arigatai,” i.e., to be grateful for; and that being given the ability to love others is not something to be taken for granted, but something “Arigatai,” i.e., to be grateful for.