Ephesians 3:14-21 (NRSV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I just came home from a graveside service today. I presided as a friend of mine laid her mother to rest. I also presided at the graveside with this family four years ago as their father was buried. As I thought about what I might share with these good folks today, it occurred to me how untethered they must feel now with both parents gone. Having lost both my dad and my only sibling, my mother is now the person who helps me feel most “tethered” on this earth. She is my connection to my family of origin. I know if she goes to be with the Lord before I do, I will feel somehow set adrift from some of the things that most identify who I am as a human being. Before I was Laura Parker, I was and remain at my core Laura Ann Lambert, the oldest daughter of Gene and Ann, bossy big-sister to Sharon. My mother’s presence in this world still grounds me and connects me to the cozy family cocoon to which I was born.
I love Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and the passage I share today is one that I often choose for funeral sermons and wedding homilies. Paul reminds the people who make up the church at Ephesus that they are part of a family, too, a family unit that is way bigger than mother, father, brothers and sisters. Like the Ephesians, we are part of God’s family and that knowledge is so great and important that the only response is to kneel and worship before the one who claims us as His very own.
In all honesty, I feel a little untethered these days. My circle is small! I work at home. I have a few friends with whom I share social distancing. I record worship weekly with my colleagues. I spend time on Zoom for staff planning, church meetings and Monday morning devotionals. I am able to look at familiar faces and have conversations, but these virtual windows on my computer in no way provide the satisfaction provided by living life IN PERSON. My mother and I communicate mostly by text. I spend too much time looking at social media, sometimes confusing this with the “real world.” (Spoiler alert: It is not!) I talk to my dog quite a bit. You will be happy to know I have not heard her speaking back to me! We are doing our very best to live full lives these days, but it is a poor substitute for our “normal” life together in community.
The Apostle Paul helps us remember that we are rooted and grounded in something bigger than ourselves when we consider the great love of Christ that claims us as part of the family of God. These are days when we must nurture that connection above all others. We are embraced by something so much bigger than we can possibly understand. Our God has much more to pour into our souls and spirits than we are ready to receive. I am getting somewhat weary of how small and unsatisfying my world is these days. But God…but God—two of the most powerful words in all the world—but God is able to do so much more than I can imagine, even within the confines of the COVID 19 reality in which we live. So, I will lean into this great love every day! It transcends knowledge and it is deep and wide, reaching far and near. It will keep me rooted in days when I feel “untethered” and it might yet again give me wings to fly!
Dear God in heaven, I accept today for myself and my well-being the prayer Paul prayed so long ago for the good people who were a part of the church in Ephesus, that I will be strengthened in my inner being through the Spirit of Christ. And as Paul prayed this for the Ephesians, so I pray for my brothers and sisters who are part of the Church in Fairhope. May they be rooted and grounded in you and strengthened as well for all the untethered days that may be ahead of us!
In Christ I pray, Amen.
Rev. Laura Parker
