Not Finished, Yet Complete

It's always that one fork.

You know what it's like to get everything in the kitchen clean, put away, and you're just about to get out of there when you see it. The fork. It's still dirty. The dishwasher is full and started, the dishwater is drained, but that fork!

What do you do? Do you leave it for the next washing? Put a whole bunch of soap onto it and wash it off? Stop the dishwasher and jam it in there where it really doesn't fit? Look around to see if anyone's watching, runs it off, dry it aggressively, and throw it back into the drawer (ew!)?

When I start the job, when I determine to get something done, I hate to find something that reminds me that I'm not done yet (especially when I thought I was).

Paul is determined to leave nothing incomplete. OK, I know that may seem a lame comparison. The stakes are much higher with the Church. But if there was one left incomplete that could have been complete, Paul would have a hard time with that.

As I read and considered Ephesian 3:14-19, I was struck by a man who did not want anything left incomplete. The passage is a revealing to the Church what Paul is praying for them about.

There is context. Ephesians 3:1-13 tells us what Paul is thinking about ("When I think of all this…" in verse 14). This tells us two things (in summary): (1) God's plan to extend grace to all, Jew and Gentile; (2) God's purpose to use the church to reveal His plan and wisdom… grace to all, and His accessibility in Christ.

Then, in verse 14-19, the desire is for the plan and purpose to be complete. If you go back to John 10:10, you'll read what I like to call Jesus' personal mission statement: "My purpose is to give them (My sheep) a rich and satisfying life" (NLT). Other versions say "life to the fullest." Paul, in Ephesians 3:19, writes, "Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life."

And what is completeness?

(1) Grow in God's love. Paul writes his wish, that "Your roots will grow down into God's love." Roots allow trees to grow and to stand against all kinds of weather. Roots bring nourishment from soil and water. Roots anchor the tree in the soil. The soil has to carry quality of nourishment and be solid itself. Lots of trees topple if the topsoil they are anchored in slide away.

To grow in anything other than the love of God is to grow into sloppy, shoddy soil. One of the big messages of the three angels has to do with who you worship… who your roots are growing in, as it were. If your roots are growing high, wide, deep, and long in His love, you are going to be solid… complete. If your roots grow in anything that diverts your attention from God's love, even things that appear to be good and worthy and "Godly," you're bound for a fall.

(2) Understand the dimensions of God's love. Paul is pretty clear that no one can completely understand the love itself, but we can understand its dimension--heigh, depth, length, width--the solid soil for our roots.

It's more than what feels good. It's what makes us live to the fullest. It's seeing God's love in the entirety of Scripture, even those things that seem boring, that seem cruel, that seems difficult (or even legalistic on the surface). God's love is in all of it, and it's in everything He created.

(3) Experience God's love. It's the first time you give yourself over entirely to Christ. It's the first time you get a glimpse of His sacrifice. It's the first time you lead someone to Christ. It's the first time you understand His love in the midst of the most trying of circumstances (see: Paul in prison, John on Patmos, the Church in persecution that sticks it out anyway…). Are you able to experience the love of God in Christ in anything? Do you look for it at all times and in all circumstances?

God's love is for all! His grace is for all! And all can grow, understand the dimensions of, and experience God's love!

How is this real in life? (This is where chiming in with discussion can really help someone, by the way.)

How do you picture God?

If you know rejection and pain in your relationships, how can you come to understand God's love in a personal way?

If you know injustice at work, how can you grow your roots in God's love?

If you know bullying at school, how can experience God's love? If it's your child being bullied, how can you help your child experience God's love in a personal way? OK, let's make that one tougher yet… how can you help the bully experience God's love?

What do you pay attention to (or worship) in your life? The difficulty, or God's love? The rules, or the love the rules are there for? Are you paying attention to anything but the cross?

Praying today that you grow, understand (as best you can), and experience the great love of God in Christ today!