Sermon Tone Analysis

*Preparing to Live*

*Living Requires a Foundation of Love (1)*

(Ephesians 3:17)

 

 

All of which illustrates the importance of a firm foundation.

Now, already in the book of Ephesians we’ve seen that Jesus Christ is the foundation for our salvation, and for our life in Christ.

Paul says in I Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

That’s an established fact and a done deal if you’re a Christian – “in Christ”, as Paul so fittingly puts it.

We’ve also seen that the apostles and prophets were foundational to the church.

Their work in establishing churches and their writings which we now have in Scripture are foundational for our lives together as believers.

But today, we study another foundation */– the foundation required for the successful day-to-day living for a true believer./*

We are studying Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21 under the title of “Preparing to Live,” because in this most elevated and audacious of all the prayers in Scripture, Paul is praying for his Ephesian friends to have five elements that he considers absolutely crucial if they are going to be able to conduct themselves as described in chapters 4-6 --  to live a Christian life with a capital “L” – a life of joy, happiness, and fruitfulness – even in the /midst /of hardships.

We’ve said those five items are rungs of a ladder leading a worldly, self-centered mere existence at bottom to a life of full blown victory and heavenly blessing at the top.

Rung one was that they be */strengthened in the inner/* being so that they would be capable of receiving all that God has to offer.

Rung two was that they */have Christ indwelling their hearts/* and we noted that means Christ being at home, comfortable, familiar, in every corner of our life -- sin and self being cast out, Christ being invited in.

Now, rung three on Paul’s ladder is noted at the end of verse 17.

He says, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love.”

The words rooted and grounded are */foundational/* words, referring to what is absolutely basic and fundamental to living a truly Christian life.

And that one foundational thing is – love.

Simply, but profoundly – love.

Now, note the placement of these items.

These rungs are not randomly positioned.

Christ indwelling comes first.

Nothing lovely happens until He is genuinely settled down and at home in our lives.

But once He is, then we become rooted and grounded -- in love for God and for others which prepares us for the next step -- understanding the indescribable reaches of Christ’s love for us.

We can never experience the love He describes here if Christ is not indwelling.

He is the source.

Of course, the word “love” is /agape/ which as we’ve seen before, is different from our modern American concept of love in two regards.

/Agape/ love is a decision rather than an emotion response.

It is not dependent on the attractiveness of the object, but is an act of the will.

I saw a telling interview with Charles Manson a few years ago.

I’m sure you remember Manson.

He was the hippie cult group leader who masterminded the killing of Sharon Tate and others through young girls who were part of his cult.

He was sentenced to life in prison as were three of the girls.

At the time of the interview, they were well into their 50’s and Manson had not seen any of them in nearly 30 years.

His reaction – “Wow – they got old on me!”  His care for them apparently depended on their looks and as they aged, whatever attraction he felt was gone.

/Agape /love is not like that – not dependent on the attractiveness of the object, you see.

Then, second, it is a love that always seeks to give – never to get.  */It differs from our normal concept of love which gives in order to get.

Agape gives regardless of any getting/*.*/

/*So – Paul’s prayer is that foundational to their lives there be a decision to love God and to love others regardless of circumstances.

Now, to make his point, Paul employs two metaphors.

To dramatize the fact that the chief characteristic of the daily Christian life is to be love, he gives us two pictures -- ‘rooted’ and ‘grounded’.

The first picture immediately makes one think of a tree; the second makes us think of a building – it’s an architectural term.

In both cases, of course, Paul is emphasizing the */foundation.

/*The tree is */rooted/* and the building is */grounded/*.

And Paul’s suggestion is that what the roots do for the tree and the foundation does for the building in somehow */analogous to what love does for our daily Christian life./*

The question is – in what ways are these analogous – and over the course of the next couple of weeks, I want to suggest four foundational characteristics of love suggested by Paul’s analogy to help us see just how critically important it is – how fundamental to successful Christian living.

These characteristics are that love is strong (the most obvious point of the analogy); it is sustaining (taken from the tree); it is selfless (neither the foundation nor the roots exist for themselves);  and it is steadfast.

Thus when it forms a deep foundation to our lives, good things happen.

Let’s look in more detail.

*I.

**Love is Strong*

* *

What is the primary purpose of a building foundation or the roots of a tree?

They are to provide strength, right?

I’ll never forget hearing someone ask John Brodie, all-star quarterback for the San Francisco 49er’s in the old days, why he, as such a high-priced player, held the ball for extra points.

His answer ignored the high-priced part and went to the heart of the matter:  “If I didn’t hold it, it would fall over.”

So the function of a foundation is to hold up the structure that is being built upon it.

Why are there so many towering skyscrapers in New York City?

It is because the ground there is almost solid rock.

This is not true in LA where there are comparatively fewer tall buildings because the much less solid ground itself cannot support their height.

The higher the building, the strong the foundation must be.

The Empire State Building which towers 1250 feet above the sidewalk (over 1400 if you count the tower on top) was the tallest building the world for 40 years after it opened in 1931.

What you don’t see is the foundation which is 55 feet deep – more than five stories down into solid rock.

It has withstood plane crashes and hurricane force winds over the years because it has a strong foundation.

Similarly, when we see a strong, stately oak tree, we realize that it is supported by miles of roots unseen beneath the ground.

Lack of a strong foundation can be disastrous.

It reminds me a bit of a man and his wife and who were looking over some New Jersey ocean-front property with a young real-estate agent.

The sales pitch was appealing, but the man couldn’t help looking at the ocean, which seemed fearfully close – especially on a day when a storm was whipping up waves.

Noticing the apprehensive glance, the agent remarked, “Sir, I would like to emphasize our houses are built on very firm sand.”

That wouldn’t be very comforting to anyone who knows anything about foundations, would it?

So, if Paul is suggesting love as our foundation for daily living, it must be strong, right?

And guess what?

Love /is /strong; it is unbelievably strong – */foundationally strong./*

Part of our issue is we don’t always think of it that way.

In fact, sometimes, love is thought of as weak, as a more feminine characteristic; it’s almost like if it were a movie it would be a chick flick, right?

But nothing could be further from the truth.

To the contrary, there is nothing in life that is stronger than love.

Love is like the atomic bomb of human relations.

When really unleashed, it can change our whole existence.

Think about the things that Paul did /not/ choose as */foundational/* to a Christian life.

He did not choose */character/* as foundational.

He did not choose our */talents, personality, or spiritual giftedness /*as foundational.

He did not say you must apply yourself to */learning/* as foundational to Christian living.

He did not say, it is your */will/* that is the foundation.

You must make right decisions.

He did not say it is */joy/* or */goodness/* or */faithfulness/* or */wisdom/*.

He passed over all of these virtues, all of which are very important in their own place, and said that which is /foundational/, most basic and fundamental -- which you can least do without, which will be the strength of a life well lived, */that which is foremost of the foremost?/*

It is love.

Now, he didn’t choose love because it is weak, fickle, arbitrary or unsure.

/Eros, romantic/ love is all those things, but not /agape.

/Quite the opposite it is stronger than all, superior to all when it comes to how we live.

Love is /alive, /and it has the power to change you, me and everyone around us.

It is that powerful and strong.

It is the strongest inanimate force on earth.

You don’t have to be in the business world for long before you hear that */information is power/*.

Companies go to great effort and expense and sometimes even illegal methods to get information on their competitors.

They want to know what they are planning, what is their cost structure, how many people do they employ.

In any organization, it become readily apparent after awhile that those who know the most  advance the fastest.

Information is power.

But I must tell you – love is stronger.

According to New Testament teaching it is love and not knowledge that makes us strong Christians.