Setting: Geneva, 1559. Henri enters the pastoral office of John Calvin in need of council. Calvin welcomes him, asks about his family and his work; then he asks him how he can help. “Pastor Calvin, I’m feeling deeply depressed lately—and I’m having trouble relating to God. I can’t seem to pray because I keep thinking that God is distant and mean. I know from your sermons that he’s totally sovereign and perfectly wise, so he certainly doesn’t need me to tell him how to run the universe. I’ve also learned that God’s will must be done in this world, and that it will be done whether I pray for it or not. So, every time I pray, I struggle because I don’t know why I need to pray, or what prayer is supposed to do. I need help.”

Calvin ponders Henri’s problem for a few minutes. Then he says, “Henri, your theology is certainly correct. God is totally sovereign; his will must be done; he doesn’t need us for anything at all, much less to tell him how to run things. And your feeling that God is distant flows from this proper theology; God is separated from us by a wide gulf because his divine nature is so different from our human nature and because his absolute purity is so different from our sinful nature. In fact, I would say that ‘no man is worthy to present himself to God and come into his sight’” (Institutes, 3.20.17).

Henri, looking a little stunned, says, “Uh, Pastor Calvin, this doesn’t really help me very much.”

“Good,” Calvin replies. “It’s important, Henri, that you feel the distance between you and God; it’s important for you to understand this enormous gap that stands between you and him; it’s important for you to recognize that God doesn’t need anything from us at any time.”

“Now I’m more depressed than ever,” Henri mumbles while his chin drops into his chest.

“Listen, Henri,” Calvin continues, “This great gulf between God and us is not a cause for depression; it’s actually the basis of great rejoicing. Think about this: the God who needs nothing, whose purity makes him hate our sin, who has all wisdom and sovereign power, has chosen to bridge the gap between us and to meet with us. He has provided the only possible way for there to be a relationship between us and him. We could never have made our way over to him no matter what we did or how hard we tried, but he has made his way over to us. He has given us Jesus Christ. When we contemplate his sovereignty and holiness we could easily feel a ‘shame and fear, which might well have thrown our hearts into despair;’ but God ‘has given us his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to be our advocate and mediator with him’ (Institutes, 3.20.17). The very thoughts you’ve had about God’s distance from us become—through Jesus Christ—great evidence of his grace and mercy to us.”

“Okay, I think I understand. You’re saying that what I’ve learned about God should make me feel like he’s distant and aloof from me; but then—when I remember Jesus Christ—those same truths should show me how gracious he is to me.”

“That’s right. And not only that, but because of what God has done in Jesus Christ he now commands us and calls us ‘to seek him in our every need, as children are wont to take refuge in the protection of their parents whenever they are troubled with any anxiety’ (Institutes, 3.20.34). The great sovereign of the universe actually encourages us to pray to him; he encourages us first by commanding us to pray and then by promising to hear us. ‘So, then, all the passages that keep occurring in the Scriptures, in which calling on God is enjoined upon us, are as so many banners set up before our eyes to inspire us with confidence. It would be rashness itself to burst into God’s sight if he himself had not anticipated our coming by calling us’ (Institutes, 3.20.13).”

“Wow!” Henri exclaims. “Even though God is who he is and doesn’t need me, he provides a way through Jesus Christ for me to come to him, then he calls me to pray and promises that he’ll listen. So now, instead of being too afraid of God to pray, I see that God actually wants me to pray!”

“That’s right.”

“But wait a minute, Pastor Calvin. I still have a problem. Doesn’t God already know everything about me?  When I pray to him and tell him what’s troubling me, doesn’t he know—even better than I do—what my problem is?  And doesn’t he also know—without any suggestions from me—what’s the best way to handle my problem?”

“Yes, all that is true,” Calvin answered.

“Then why do I even need to pray?  Why am I telling God what he already knows and why am I asking for things when he knows what’s best for me?  It seems ‘in a sense superfluous that he should be stirred up by our prayers—as if he were drowsily blinking or even sleeping until he is aroused by our voice’ (Institutes, 3.20.3).”

“You’ve got things all turned around again, Henri,” Calvin responded. “You’re talking as if prayer was established by God because he needs it; but the truth is, ‘he ordained it not so much for his own sake as for ours’ (Institutes, 3.20.3). We do not pray, Henri, ‘with the view of informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were reluctant.’  Actually, we ‘pray in order that [we] may arouse [our]selves to seek him, that [we] may exercise [our] faith in meditating on his promises, that [we] may relieve [our]selves from [our] anxieties by pouring them into his bosom’ (Commentary on Matt 5:8).”

“So, I’m praying because I need to pray, because I need to be with God, because I need to tell him my needs. That makes sense; thank you, Pastor. But I have one more question: If prayer is for my benefit, not God’s, then what other kinds of things should I expect prayer to do in me?”

“That’s a very good question, Henri. There are actually six things that prayer does in us, and I’ve written about them in the newest edition of my book, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was just published. The discussion is in Book 3, Chapter 20, Section 3. But quickly, prayer gives us a desire to seek and serve God; it prevents shameful desires from coming into our hearts; it prepares us to receive what God has promised to us; it leads us to meditate on God’s kindness to us; it makes us love even more the things we have received from God in prayer; and it confirms his providence to us through our experience.”

“Thank you for your time, Pastor Calvin. This has really helped me. By the way, can I get that book at the local Lifeway Store or should I just order it from Amazon?”

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength 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, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The goal of this prayer is to have Christ dwell in our hearts (that is, to have an intimate relationship with Jesus) and then, once we’re rooted and grounded in Jesus’s love, that we’d be able to comprehend how deep and wide and high and long God’s love is, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that we would actually be filled with all the fullness of God. This is a prayer with the loftiest of goals, and if God answers this prayer, we’d be able to keep the greatest commandment.  That’s Paul’s goal, but that’s not Paul’s prayer request.

Paul is praying for strength: strength in our souls so we can have this intimate relationship with Jesus—strength in our souls so we’ll have the capacity know God’s love. He’s asking God to stretch the capacity of our minds so we can understand the love of God that’s beyond human understanding. Yes, the goals of this prayer are amazing, but it’s really a prayer for the inner strength and power it will take to have these goals become a reality in our lives.

Why does Paul pray like this? Why doesn’t he just pray that Christ will dwell in our hearts? And that we would understand the length and breath and height and depth? And that we’d be filled with all the fulness of God?

He prays that way because if these things were to come flowing into our lives, we wouldn’t be able to handle them. Jesus in our hearts would overwhelm our hearts. Seeing the extent of God’s love would overtax our brains. And understanding what’s beyond understanding would overload our souls.

We can keep the greatest commandment only if God first loves us. But God’s love is overwhelming and we need strength in our souls to be loved by God. So, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians—and our prayer for ourselves and others—must be for the strength that can only come to us by the power of the Holy Spirit who is at work in us. Then, and only then, will we be able to keep the greatest commandment.

1. Our love for others is linked to our love for God, which means that God graciously provides us with the resources to keep this commandment. Since we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19), then our love for God and our love for others flow out of the love God has given to us.

2. God’s purpose in our salvation is our relationship with him. Sin is separation from God and Jesus’s death reconciled us to God. And heaven is being with God in a face to face relationship forever. So, the reason we’re saved isn’t so we can go to heaven. The reason Christians go to heaven is to be in the presence of God. And our salvation comes with a gift of eternal life, because it takes an eternal life to know an infinite being.

3. Theology and ethics are not ends in themselves, but the goal of both is love. All theological study is a complete waste of time and energy if it doesn’t lead us to love God more fully and deeply and intimately. The saddest thing in the world is a theologian who never sings. And it’s the same for ethics. A PhD in ethics is useless if it doesn’t lead us to reach out to others with an active, engaging love.

4. All sin is a failure to love God. Every time we sin, we’re showing that we loved something else more than we loved God in that moment. So, although a Christian’s sin doesn’t condemn him, we should grieve over every sin because we have actually loved something evil more than we’ve loved God.

5. Sanctification is growing in our love for God. Sanctification can sometimes be aided by rules and accountability and obstacles put in place to keep us from falling into temptation, but freedom from sin comes as we grow in our love for God (Colossians 2:20-3:5).

6. Ministry is sharing our love for God with others. When we minister, whether it’s cross-cultural missions or personal evangelism or mentoring other Christians, or counseling people who are struggling, we are, essentially, sharing our relationship with God with another person. And our goal for every person we minister to should be the same: that they would love God, and then love him more fully and more deeply.

There are two applications to this proverb for the church. The first is that we need to preach the gospel to everyone because those who are chosen are first called by the gospel. God has ordained that people be saved by his people in his church sharing the gospel with the lost around us. God uses the means of the gospel to bring people into his kingdom. Our job isn’t to try to identify the elect and then share the gospel with them. Our job is to preach the gospel to everyone so we can identify the elect. The only way we can know who God has chosen is by calling everyone and see who responds.

The second application—the surprising application—is that people will reject the call of the kingdom. The promise of sins forgiven; the promise of reconciliation with God; the promise of being more like Jesus; the promise of eternal life will be spurned and despised by people all over the world. People will cling to false hope while turning away from their only hope. Our job isn’t to make the message more pleasing to our audience so they’ll be inclined to accept what we say; our job is to be faithful to the message of Jesus Christ through the gospel and rely on the power of God to shine the light into their blindness and sin.

Many are called—that is, we preach the gospel to everyone every where. Few are chosen–that is, God saves his people from their sins through the preaching of the gospel.

Leader:

Our Father, we confess that life in this world sometimes overwhelms us. We confess that sometimes we feel so busy that we miss out on your greatest blessing—knowing you and walking with you. Our deadlines scream at us—but you wait quietly and patiently for us.  We rush to take care of urgent tasks in front of us—but ignore your presence inside of us. We are involved in many things—but let you in on so little of it. Forgive us for presuming on your kindness, forbearance, and patience and remind us that your kindness toward us is meant to lead us to repentance.

Congregation:

And so, we repent that we regularly read our favorite blogs but frequently miss reading your sacred Word.

We repent that we never miss our favorite shows but often neglect secret prayer.

We repent that we year to hang out with others but neglect to gather with our church.

And we repent—most of all—that by squandering these great blessings—we are missing out on knowing you!

Fill us, we pray, with a desire for you.  Not for your gifts or your blessings or your rewards, but for you. To walk with you and know you and love you. Forever and ever. Amen.

And we know these blessings, these gifts, and this love have come to us because of the perfect life lived by your Son on this earth—and because he gave his life as a substitute for our lives and as a sacrifice for our sins—and because you raised him from the dead in the power of your Spirit

And we rejoice in the message of your Son—the message of the gospel—that was shared with us by a faithful Christian—which you then used to bring us to the cross.  And we rejoice that the message of the gospel has travelled all around the world—proclaimed by faithful witnesses and believed by people of different nations, languages, customs, and beliefs—people whose minds were blinded by the god of this world, but who believed because you said “Let light shine out of darkness” and revealed to them the light of the gospel of the glory of Jesus.

But we are also sad today, Father. We are sad because ten years ago today people who hold fervently to false ideas about a false god showed the world the consequences of blindness to the light of the gospel—their hatred for those who have different beliefs—their intolerance toward those who live different kinds of lives—their willingness to attack and kill those against whom they have taken offense.

And we are not merely sad that such unbelief exists—but we are sad that the greatest light and power on this earth—the gospel of Jesus—has seemed so weak and has shed so little light throughout the Muslim world.  Your witnesses have been beaten and imprisoned and killed—­sometimes for proclaiming the gospel but sometimes for just believing the gospel.  Your message has been distorted and twisted and misunderstood within that culture.  And your name has been blasphemed and your Son has been ridiculed among them for centuries.

And we pray for them today, Father.  Not that coalition armies would kill them—not that Western culture would swallow them—not that humanism would defeat them.  We pray that the gospel would conquer their hearts, that Jesus would enlighten their minds, that the Holy Spirit would transform their souls.  We pray that they would be saved and redeemed by the blood of Jesus through the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.  We pray that you would glorify your name­—by calling those who’ve killed your saints—by justifying those who’ve exalted their own righteousness—and by glorifying those who’ve rejected you most fervently.

Our hearts desire and prayer to you for the entire Muslim world is that they would be saved—that you would shine the light of the knowledge of your own glory in the face of Jesus Christ into every mosque in this world—that a revival would sweep this false belief out of existence—and that you would receive all the glory as your kingdom advances and your people exalt you. Amen.

Finally, we are your neighbors and we want to be a helpful part of this neighborhood. We have two events coming up that we hope will be of interest to you. First is something we call Total Tutoring. Starting on October 5th, we will open up our building on Wednesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. for elementary through high school students to get help with their homework. We call it Total Tutoring because we will serve your children’s minds through tutoring, their bodies with a meal, and their spirits through our Wednesday evening children’s service (called Kingdom Kids) and our youth group. If you would like your child to participate, please email me at pastorsteve@ccclouisville.org and I will send you a registration and permission form that your child will need to join us.

Our second event is a class I will be teaching on Friday evenings in October on personal financial management. Before becoming a pastor, I practiced law for 15 years, specializing in estate planning, taxes, and other financial issues. I would like to share with you some helpful and practical things I have learned through my own experiences to help you better handle your own money in these difficult times. If you are interested in attending these sessions, call the church or email me and I will give you more information about dates and times.

Thank you for reading this letter. We are praying for you and hope to meet you soon.

Steve Matteucci

Pastor

I was encouraged by one other thing today, but it isn’t directly related to our outreach. It was that so many of our members participated in this event: praying, stuffing envelopes, bringing food, giving tours, and just being friendly and having good conversations with our neighbors. I thank God for all of you.

Keep praying. Pray for the Christians we met, that their ministry to their neighbors would be fruitful and that we can be partners with them in ministry. Pray for the seekers we met, that they would have a strong desire to come to our gathered worship. Pray for the people who read the letter but didn’t come, that the Spirit would draw them to Christ and to our community.

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

You have brought us to the valley of vision,

where we live in the depths but see you in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains of sin we behold your glory.

Let us learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter your stars shine;

Let us find your light in our darkness,

your life in our death,

your joy in our sorrow,

your grace in our sin,

your riches in our poverty,

your glory in our valley.