Text: Ephesians 1:15-23                                                                                 Calvary 052409
Title: Faith and Love
A crowded United flight was canceled. A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers.
Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS."
The agent replied, "I’m sorry sir. I’ll be happy to try to help you, but I’ve got to help these folks first, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out."
The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "Do you have any idea who I am?"
Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. "May I have your attention please?" she began, her voice bellowing throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at the gate WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to the gate."
It is important to know who we are.

What are people known for?
Think of a neighbor, a friend, a family member, and ask the question? Do you have an answer.

Then think of yourself and answer this same question?
Quiet, loud, funny, rude, love to argue, love to help…..

Then think of it from a faith point of view.
Do people know what you believe? Do they know what church you go to? Do they even know that you go to church on Sundays?
If your answer is NO to any of these questions, then perhaps you should be asking yourself what is the purpose of your faith? And what importance does it have in your life?

In the beginning of this letter to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle gives us a picture of the community there.
It seems that they have become known to others as a community that had faith in the Lord Jesus and demonstrated that faith in love. What a wonderful thing to be known for.

How does a church become known for its faith in Jesus and loving service to others? Is it by a reputation or by publicity?
In ancient times people went weeks or months without news of family, friends or business associates, and such news was always treasured. Likewise, in the thanksgiving section of Paul’s letter, he expresses pleasure about some news he has heard about the recipients. In this particular letter the news for which he is thankful has to do with the basic Christian virtues: Faith, Love, and Hope.

It could be argued that all churches have some measure of these virtues, but what impresses the author of Ephesians is that this congregation has a word-of-mouth reputation for them. It says, “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.” What is the difference between a reputation based on word of mouth and one generated through a publicity blitz?

One big difference is the source. We know who is making a recommendation or telling us a bit of news when we hear something by word of mouth. Paul names sources of information about particular churches in some of his letters (e.g., 1 Cor 1:11; 1 Thess 3:6-10). Since Ephesians is a general essay in the Pauline tradition, we do not find specific details, but the opening formula suggests the intimacy of a word-of-mouth report.
Who is giving the report is important, think of commercials, most of the time it’s not the owner who’s telling you about it but the consumer….

We are familiar with the fact that “word of mouth” can take what filmmakers consider a small movie to big-time status. Some record companies started paying teens in tickets, posters, and CDs to talk up their favorite stars on the Internet. But for all the marketing research, focus groups, and big-budget advertising, no one has found a way to turn publicity into reputation.
How does “the buzz” get going around a particular church? Not by advertising. When people come to our worship, our Bible study, our church school, our church suppers, and all the other things we do, they have to feel that special spirit. And Ephesians reminds us that the source of the energy, power, and spirit at work in the church is ultimately God (1:19-20).

Lenard Sweet and star-bucks story

Ephesians' thanksgiving prayer tells us something else about the genuinely successful church. The people in such a church have a goal, a destination. And because they know where they are going, they are people of hope.
Sometimes people find it difficult to distinguish hope from faith, but Ephesians makes the distinction very easily. Faith is “in the Lord Jesus” (1:15); that is to say, faith is entrusting our lives to Jesus today, in the present tense. Hope is about the future, about where it is that our present trust in Jesus eventually leads.

We are not to serve in the church because we have faith and hope in ourselves, but because we have faith and hope in Jesus.
We are not to come and worship because we have faith and hope in ourselves, but because we have faith and hope in Jesus.

Are we here because of routine, because that’s what we grew up doing, or is it because it’s important to us? Is it just a ritual, or is there meaning and value to what we do here?
In the book of Isaiah it says, “These people, they honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”
Scripture teaches us that God does not want our empty rituals. God wants our Hearts.

Conclusion
A kindergarten teacher asked the class to draw something that was important to them. In the back of the room Johnny began to labor over his drawing. Everybody else finished and handed in their picture but he didn’t. He was still drawing. The teacher graciously walked back and put her arm around Johnny’s shoulders and said, “Johnny, what are you drawing?” He didn’t look up; he just kept on working feverishly at his picture. He said, “God.” “But Johnny,” she said gently, “no one know what God looks like.” He answered, “They will when I’m through.”

I wonder, how many Johnny’s we have today, who can say when people look at the portrait of my life they will see God in me because I understand who God is.