This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday and our third week of our Extended Advent series. It may seem as though all of our scriptures so far have been focused on eschatology (the theology of the last days). This is a fair assessment. Even when we follow the shorter four-week Advent schedule, the first of these is always an eschatological selection. This is because our preparations for the arrival of the Christ child parallel our preparations for the second coming of Christ. We do not know the hour or the time, so we must be prepared! To me, the season of Advent is in part a reminder of this.
When Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he greets them with a reminder of God’s power that is already present and already working. I wonder if some of Paul’s audience felt unable to see God’s work in action. Sometimes I feel that way.
For we who wonder if what we are enduring might be leading up to dark times; for we who wonder when Jesus might save us from all we face; perhaps we too need the reminder that God’s power is already present and already working.
Ephesians 1:15-23
15 Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, this is the reason that 16 I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, 19 and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength. 20 God’s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s right side in the heavens,21 far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. 22 God put everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, 23 which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way.
Consider these questions:
- Christ the King Sunday reminds us of the power of Christ over and in the world. Over what part of your life to you need to cede control or power in order to rely more fully on Christ’s power?
- Where have you seen or experienced God’s power in the world? What did that look or feel like? Do you ever talk about this to others? How did it affect you then, and how does it affect you now?
- Paul writes that the church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Christ, “who fills everything in every way.” Do you think the church lives this out? Why or why not? If not, what specific things does the church need to do to reach this goal?