October 19, 2014 – Ephesians 1:18-19a

HIP Spirituality

 I pray that the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:18-19a

Intro: This is the second part of Paul’s prayer for his readers

There are several “eye-opening” stories in the Scriptures (from Baalam in Numbers 22:31 to Paul in Acts 9:17-18)
– there is one in particular that has some resemblance to Paul’s prayer
• the prophet Elisha was staying in a small village (2 Kings 6)
◦ upset that Elisha kept spoiling his plans, the king of Aram sent troops to capture him
• one morning, Elisha’s attendant rose early and seeing a massive army surrounding the village, he panicked
◦ reassuring him, Elisha said, “Don’t worry, there are more on our side than on theirs”
◦ then he prayed “O LORD, open his eyes that he may see” — suddenly the attendant saw a much greater army “of fire”
– that is what Paul does for us
• if our eyes were opened, we would be amazed to see what we have going for us

Paul is praying them into something deeper
– last week he prayed that they would be equipped to know God – epignosei
• gnosis is “to know,” acquired, personal knowledge — the prefix epi enlarges knowing
• what we knew from distance we now know up close — it is an intimate knowing
– this week Paul prays that we would perceive what God has for us 
• in essence his prayer is that we would know God and then through him come to know ourselves
• or what is ours in God

Paul uses an unusual phrase – “the eyes of your heart”

Even if we never heard it, we immediately understand what he means
– the “heart” represents a persons inner life
• our devotions and commitments (Mt. 6:21)
• our belief system – what we take for “reality”
• our passions and aspirations
– the heart determines the direction a person’s outer life moves
• words and actions – (Pr. 4:23)
• Jesus: it’s not what you eat that spiritually defiles (Mt. 15:7, 15-20)
◦ what you eat enters the stomach, not the heart
◦ regarding the spiritual life, be more careful about what goes into the heart than the stomach

The heart has eyes (Mt. 5:8)

Bernard Ramm explained that humans have an inward ability or faculty that is “deeper than the ordinary cognitive powers . . . an intuitive power for recognizing God and his truth.”

– “pure,” that which consists of one thing, without alloy
• a complete devotion to one thing, a total focus on one point
• why do the eyes of the heart have to be enlightened?
• because what the heart must perceive cannot be taught
– “that you may know” – this is a different way of knowing
• it is not even the same knowing in verse 17
• oida is first to see, then to perceive, to be aware
◦ it is also to grasp the meaning of something

We receive a lot of information unconsciously — for example, through sense perception
– it does not require intense concentration
• information about our environment just comes to us
• in fact, our nervous system processes tons more data from the surface of our skin data than we imagine
– my staff and I once received training from a retired detective regarding people who posed threats to children

He told us, “Most people we interviewed had a bad feeling about a person who turned out to be a child-molester. So  it is wise to trust your gut-instinct”

Intuition is one way that the heart is enlightened

“Enlightenment” is wonderful experience but not the goal
– some people get only this far – they revel in the feeling of receiving insight

Gerald May advised spiritual directors, “The experience is only one way in which God is working in the person’s life, one of many ways that constitute a lifelong journey towards deeper reconciliation. . . It is not our task to trust experience, but to trust God–and this requires that we stay awake.”

So what is the goal of having the eyes of our heart enlightened? It is threefold (each part preceded by “what is”):
– Hope,Inheritance, and Power — HIP
• note that we do not produce these, but all three, “His”

1. the hope of His calling
   – God’s calling on a person’s life can be difficult
   • but that isn’t what controls our thoughts and attitude about life
   ◦ there’s a “blessed hope” beyond the difficulties (Titus 2:11-13)
2. His inheritance in the saints
   – how does Paul describe the inheritance?
   • “riches of His glory”
   • a pile of treasure in movies (or especially cartoons) sometimes glows
   ◦ the sheen of gold, silver, jewelry and gems
   ◦ I may have glimpsed that treasured inheritance, but I’ve mostly lived ignorant of it
3. His power toward us who believe
   – how does Paul describe that power?
   • “surpassing greatness”
   ◦ surpassing: hyperballon (which comes into English as ‘hyperbole’)
   ◦ break it down, it is to throw beyond, excessive
   • greatness: megathos – a power that goes way beyond any other

This whole section is magnificent (vv. 17-19)

If true, we can’t talk about an “ordinary Christian life” — there’s no such thing
– every Christian’s life is extraordinary
– but is this our experience?
• Paul brings these things to God in prayer because they are not humanly achievable
• what we can do is pray that we will be enlightened to God’s hope, inheritance and power
◦ and we can prepare ourselves to be enlightened

Two of the most underrated words for in our Christian prayer vocabulary are seek and wait
– yet they appear throughout Bible

Seek is a prayer of focused attention – it can include:
– rational, analytical meditation as we examine and serious think about scripture
– fasting – not just food, but any normal distraction
– by a process of elimination
• my friend, Bill Landreth suggests taking an elevator down to our spirit
◦ the doors open at the top floor, which is our intellect — “Nope, that’s not my spirit”
◦ we descend the the next floor and the door opens to our emotions — “That’s not it either”
◦ and so we continue until at last we are at the level of our spirit

We are supposed to take control of our minds
– so often it seems impossible when we sit in silence, holding our attention on God, seeking his face

Paul said we have “weapons” that are “divinely powerful” in “destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5)

• and it is not only our thoughts we must surrender, but our destructive emotions as well
• you will find that in doing in doing this, love is more powerful in getting you there than will-power

Wait is a prayer of watching – but we cannot think it is an inactive state
– we empty our hearts, minds and souls as if pouring water out of a bottle
• so we can be filled with grace, light, love — whatever the need of the hour — whatever God has for us
• we abandon our petty thoughts to make room for God’s “higher thoughts”
– there is a difference between thinking and being aware
• I can be aware of fact I am thinking – of thought
◦ we need to be able to discern the difference
• breathing doesn’t require thought
◦ so I can be aware of my breath without thinking about it

One teacher suggests, “Every time you stumble, start over. Take it one breath at a time. This is the level of the game where you can actually win.”

We learn to alternate between seeking and waiting
– do the hard work until we tire out, then rest in his presence
– this is the rhythm of prayer, seek and wait – breathe in and breathe out

Conc: Here is your  homework assignment for the next two weeks

Ask God to enlighten the eyes of your heart, but do not beg him over and over
– ask him and then start thanking him – you’ll soon realize how much he has already enlightened you
• and you’ll start to see it more, even as events are unfolding

We will get better at this
– it is what Jesus wants to accomplish in us
– Jesus the Lord with whom we walk
the One who opens the eyes of the blind and gives hearing to deaf ears
and softens callous hearts so they can feel again the gentle impulses of his Spirit