Opening the Eyes of Our Hearts

                                                     Ephesians 1: 15-23

 

 

          The last few weeks, we have been taking a look at the early church, the church that Jesus ordained as his instrument of evangelism until he returns. We have been looking at Peter and John and Philip…at some very courageous and creative and, most of all, spirit filled persons. After Pentecost, armed with the Holy Spirit, these men along with many others began a work that continues to this day, the work of making disciples for Christ.

          The second half of the book of Acts is largely devoted to the work of the apostle Paul, as he moved from persecutor of Christians to a champion of the faith. Near the end of his second missionary journey, Paul paid a brief visit to Ephesus. Priscilla and Aquila accompanied him and actually stayed behind when he went on to Jerusalem.  He later returned and stayed for about three years. Ephesus has been said to be Paul’s home base for the evangelization of Macedonia and thus Asia Minor.

          The book of Ephesians was written late in Paul’s ministry.  It is probably one of Paul’s prison letters, most likely written from Rome where he was confined. It appears to be a letter written for general circulation among the churches of the region, and it is a sublime and beautiful statement of the unity of the church and all creation in Jesus Christ.  In today’s passage, we can see from Paul’s view some of the implications of the Christian faith. It is a magnificent view.

          The first three chapters of Ephesians are doctrinal, but even so, they are written as a thanksgiving. The first half of chapter one forms a blessing and praise, while today’s passage acts as an intercession.  Paul’s intercessory prayer has a familiar ring to it, for he is praying that God might endow the Ephesians and all who hear with a “Spirit.” It is the spirit who can bring wisdom, the one who can bring revelation. This wisdom and revelation reveal to the Ephesian Christians to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So it is not just any spirit that Paul prays for, but the Holy Spirit. Paul prays for the Holy Spirit we read about in Acts, who infused Peter with such courage as he stood before the Sanhedrin and said in Acts 4 that “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Paul prays for the Holy Spirit who transported Philip to the desert of Gaza and the chariot of an Ethiopian government official to evangelize. He prays for the Holy Spirit who gives saving knowledge to the Ephesian Christians and to all who hear and believe. He prays that the eyes of their hearts will be opened.

          What are the eyes of the heart? What does Paul mean? Can the heart have eyes? Can the heart see? Paul thinks so. So does Matthew. In Chapter six of his gospel, he quotes Jesus: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?”[22. 23].  The writer of Proverbs four had something to say as well about the heart: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” John J. Parsons offers these comments: “How you choose to see defines the world you inhabit. The eyes follow the heart, and therefore seeing is a matter of inner attitude.”

          People are staying away from church in America today in record numbers. When interviewed, many say that the church people they know are hypocrites, that they lead double lives. The generation we call millennials doesn’t have a lot of patience with such people, and they are mistrustful of the church because of it. And yet others from that same generation do come to church and participate in church activities. What is the difference? Are those who come just a new generation of hypocrites? Paul would say that unlike their stay-at-home counterparts, those who come to church have had the eyes of their hearts opened. And when our eyes are so opened, we are enlightened, says Paul… “that we may know the hope to which he has called us.”

          But Paul knows that while the heart is the ultimate master of both logic and reasoning, the heart can be blinded to the truth. It is Paul’s prayer for the people of God that their eyes be opened by the Holy Spirit. It is only in this way that they can experience the hope of our calling, the richness of our inheritance as God’s children, and the power of Christ to fill us all as his body, the church, for we do not come to church—we are the church!

          George Carlin was a famous American comedian. He died in 2008, and in his passing, America lost a brilliant social critic. Carlin was brilliant but he wasn’t always right. When he took on God, he missed the mark. Carlin didn’t like all the things wrong in the world, so he surmised that there was no God. He said he would worship the sun, because he could see it and that gave the sun credibility. He might have taken some counsel from Paul, who had this to say about seeing God: “For what can be known about God is plain…God has shown it…For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made”  [Rom. 1: 18-22].

          Carlin ended his monologue about religion and God by saying that if there is a God, may He strike him dead. Of course, it didn’t happen. He took that as proof of no God, never taking into account not only how much God loved him, but also how little influence a mean spirited prayer will have on God.

          After all, isn’t it a matter of choice? We choose to see what we want to see [Jn. 12: 40]. If we do not see God, it is because we have turned away from his presence just as Paul pointed out. Seeing is, in the end, more an act of will than an act of perception. We cannot see God; we cannot feel the Holy Spirit, when the eyes of our hearts are closed.

          When I read about the great apostle Paul praying for the church of Ephesus, thanking them and praising them for their love and their faith, I take heart. Even though I am inspired by the likes of Peter and John and Philip and Paul, I need to know that all of us count. According to Paul, we count big time. The church of Ephesus had no big names, yet Paul used it for inspiration and prayed for its continued good health. We need to keep in mind that all those incredible acts of courage and strength we read about in Acts were made possible by one reason: every single time, every single person, was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what George Carlin was missing and what the Ephesian church had. The Carlins of the world look out into the darkness and the church looks out into the light.

          As Paul closes his intercession for these believers, he reminds them, and us, that while the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts as believers to see Jesus Christ, while God makes Jesus head over all things to the church, it is the church which is the body of Christ. It is the church which is the fullness of Christ. While it is Christ who fills each and every one who believes, it is we who believe who are to act as the body of Christ. No one, not the millennials, or the generation which follows them; no one will come to a saving knowledge of Christ if we who are called to be the church do not act.

          So if your eyes are not open, you might want to ask why. The eyes of your heart are always looking, always seeing. The question is what they see. It you are having trouble seeing God, perhaps you need a dose of the Holy Spirit to clear your vision. Vance Havner, preacher and author, puts it this way: “Some are not filled because they must first be emptied. Even God cannot fill what is already full.” Empty yourself and receive the Holy Spirit, and you will receive a fullness that you have never known.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.

Open the eyes of my heart.

I want to see you.

I want to see you.

                                                Michael W. Smith